Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey acted on 388 bills during the 2016 legislative session, signing 374 into law.
A majority of those enactments will take effect this Saturday, August 6 – excluding more than a dozen that went into effect immediately under an emergency clause, and a handful of others that will not take effect until 2017.
Among these actions are landmark reforms that support job creators, embrace entrepreneurism, promote educational excellence, protect children and families, safeguard constitutional liberties and keep Arizona on the leading edge of innovation and job growth. They include:
- SB 1350 – Home sharing companies like Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO have made revolutionary contributions to the travel industry. SB 1350 eliminates red tape for home sharing platforms, allowing entrepreneurs to share their homes with tourists visiting our state.
- SB 1524 – Provides broad regulatory protection to the sharing economy as well as any new business model or industry by prohibiting the state, municipalities and counties from taking any new action to increase regulatory burdens unless there is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public.
“As our economy advances, our government and our laws need to modernize too. Arizona should be to the Sharing Economy, what Texas is to Oil and what Silicon Valley used to be to the tech industry. I want startups in the Sharing Economy to know: California may not want you, but Arizona does." – Governor Ducey, State of the State 2016
- HB 2452 – Removes the “grandmother penalty” to ensure that grandparents aren’t being financially punished for doing the right thing and taking care of their grandchild. This ensures kids and caregivers have the resources they need in the absence of parents.
“In many cases, a grandmother actually receives fewer dollars to raise her own grandchild, than a stranger would. That’s wrong. This session, let’s end the Grandmother Penalty and keep more families together.” – Governor Ducey, State of the State 2016
- HB 2666 – Establishes the Office of Economic Opportunity – a one-stop economic development shop that will focus on getting government out of the way of job creators, provide a direct link between the business community and the workers and capital they need to be successful, cut down on government overlap to make taxpayer dollars go farther, and create a more unified and effective approach to job attraction and marketing of Arizona. The office will use real-time data to analyze how Arizona fares against other states, identify ways to drive down regulatory and tax burdens, and develop a statewide workforce plan that aligns with Arizona’s economic development priorities.
“The goal is simple – to grow our economy, to take full advantage of our geography to better address the needs of businesses fleeing California and other states on the decline, and to ensure job creators who are already here, stay and thrive.” – Governor Ducey, State of the State 2016
- HB 2613 – State licensure is the most restrictive regulation on individuals looking to earn an honest living. Licenses should only be required when they are truly designed to protect the public health and safety. With HB 2613, Arizona has started the process of chipping away at unnecessary licensing regulations.
“Arizona requires licenses for too many jobs. The elites and special interests will tell you that these licenses are necessary. But often they have been designed to kill competition or keep out the little guy. So let’s eliminate them.” – Governor Ducey, State of the State 2016
- SB 1283 – Targets “doctor shopping” by requiring physicians in Arizona to access and update the Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program (CSPMP) database before prescribing a controlled substance to a patient.
- HB 2355 – Allows a pharmacist to give Naloxone without a prescription to a family member or community member in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose. This life-saving tool gives family members a chance to save a loved one’s life.
“We found in a single month – through a voluntary online database – that hundreds of Arizonans were doctor shopping, and receiving highly-addictive and dangerous drugs from multiple physicians at the same time. Imagine how many more people we could help with a requirement that doctors use that database. It’s time for us to make that happen.” – Governor Ducey, State of the State 2016