Last Week at the AZ Legislature...

AzNA tracks bills based on our Public Policy Agenda. This agenda focuses on the health of all Arizonans and the professional practice and work environment of our Arizona nurses.

March 12, 2018-

Last week was another busy week at the Capitol. Closed door meetings on the budget began and it looks as if, thanks to 11-year-old Jax Weldon, Arizona is on it's way to having an Official State Dinosaur.

An updated AzNA Nurses List (a list of bills AzNA is watching this session) can be found on the AzNA website. We have adjusted the list layout for ease of use - bills still alive and moving on top, bills that didn’t make it and are labeled “dead” on the bottom.

SB1470 sunrise process; health professionals; modifications passed out of the Senate and continues its journey through the Arizona House of Representatives. This bill started as a somewhat benign effort to make a few revisions to the sunrise process but, while the bill was being heard in the Senate, a very extensive amendment that makes many changes to the process was added. AzNA supports some of these changes as we recognize that this process needs to be revised. However, there are a number of other provisions that are problematic, in particular because of their lack of clarity.

Most recently, the bill was heard in House Government Committee on March 8th in a 2 hour long contentious hearing. It passed narrowly out of the Committee with 4 yes, 3 no and 1 abstention, making it pretty clear that unless healthcare stakeholders meet and agree on some of the contentious areas, this bill may not pass a floor vote. A stakeholder meeting will happen this week.

Position: Neutral

AzNA, fearing unintended consequences from the aforementioned provisions, has adopted a neutral position and asked for a stakeholder process in which the problematic areas can hopefully be revised or deleted. It is possible that we might move to a SUPPORT position if the stakeholder meeting yields improved language for the areas of concern.

HB2197 health professionals; workforce data This bill continues to pass unanimously through every committee hearing. This week it will be heard in Senate Commerce and Public Safety. AzNA members and lobbyists have been meeting with members of this committee to explain the intent of this bill. We are hoping for another unanimous committee vote, but we don’t want to be greedy and will settle for a majority vote.

AzNA Position: Support

AzNA has been the primary driver behind this bill because Arizona lacks a comprehensive system to project the future of our nursing workforce. Proper data collection assures a strong and sustainable supply. Be on the lookout for a Call to Action/Letter writing campaign through our Phone2Action advocacy tool. If you haven't registered to receive text alerts, take a minute today!