March 26, 2019

CNS Bill: Stakeholder Negotiations a Success

HB2068, clinical nurse specialists; prescribing authority, was not heard last week but is on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee agenda this week. Our AzNA lobbyist and public policy leadership team worked hard with the Arizona Medical Association (ARMA) to address and resolve their concerns. AzNA is pleased to report ARMA has agreed to an amendment and will now be neutral on the bill. This is great news. AzNA anticipates HB2068 passing out of the Health Committee and continuing to progress through the Senate.

Other Good News

SB1096; health professionals data; repository; appropriation; has successfully passed through the Senate and just cleared two House committees: Health and Appropriations. It is heading to the House Rules Committee this week. This bill has been trending well with legislators and AzNA anticipates continued success.

One Assault Bill Dead; One Moves Forward

HB2503, assault; healthcare practitioner; classification; which increases the penalty for assault on healthcare workers, is likely dead for the 2019 session. The Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Eddie Farnsworth, had expressed his disagreement with the bill during RN Day at the Capitol in January. He has not scheduled it for hearing by the Committee. While the bill sponsor, Rep Shah, and others tried to persuade Rep. Farnsworth to schedule the bill, he would not. After the end of the 2019 legislative session, AzNA will work on new legislation for the 2020 session to address this problem.

HB2041, hospital assaults; testing; reporting; sanctions; passed out of the House and has already passed through the Senate Health and Human Services and Rules Committee. It requires reporting of assaults by the institutions. That data will then be studied to determine where there are problems in the system and where additional actions may be necessary. Since this bill has not met much resistance along the way, it has a chance of passing out of the Senate within the next few weeks. If this happens, the next stop is the Governor’s desk.

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