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WOW! It’s officially 2026, and not to mention, we’re already in February! As you may know, the Arizona legislative session is off to the races and boy has it been a wild one so far.
As of this writing, there have been 1614 bills introduced, which doesn’t account for the 113 additional total Memorials and Resolutions. The House, with its 60 members, are the main culprit for the large number of bills with almost 1000 (978 to be exact with a week left to introduce new bills). However, looking at the ratio of bills per member, the House (16.3 Bills/Member) is soundly defeated by the Senate (21.36 Bills/Member).
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Beyond all of this, we’ve got a few areas that we are paying close attention to this year.
AARP Arizona’s Bill
For those of you who’ve been with us the past few years, you know that improving residential care settings has been a key focus of ours, and we’ve had some HUGE wins in this area for Arizonans. We’ve passed legislation and created health department rules to create a standard for “memory care” in Arizona, we increased fines for bad actors who consistently demonstrate their willingness to ignore the law and protect the residents that live in facilities, and we’ve helped secure funding to create and execute a statewide plan on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.
But if you’ve been following this issue, you also know that we’ve been trying for years to enshrine the right of individuals or their families to put a camera in their own rooms to monitor the care they receive. We’ve been unsuccessful thus far, however, we just saw our bill introduced last week! This version is bigger and better than ever, not to mention, we received a unanimous vote from the Vulnerable Adult Legislative Study Committee in December that will propel our legislation forward. You can check out the bill version HERE!
Our champion on this issue is once again Rep. Nguyen from Prescott, and he is as passionate as ever about seeing this get across the finish line.
AARP Arizona Supported Bills
While residential care improvements is at the top of our minds, our most recent legislative win actually came from our Anti-Fraud work. Last year we passed legislation around preventing scammers from stealing your money at Crypto Currency Kiosks and even provided an opportunity to get your money back should you be defrauded. If you have been, the Arizona Attorney General has posted a form online (HERE) for you to fill out so share that with anyone who’s been scammed, it can help them get their money back!
Looking to this year, we are keeping the pressure on the scammers by supporting a couple of bills related to fraud:
Anti-Spoofing
If you’ve ever found yourself on the “Do not call” list and still receive solicitations, be cautious, because it may very well be a scammer “spoofing” the number that they are actually dialing from. In simple terms, the scammer is making the caller ID different than it actually is to seem like a local call with a familiar area code.
HERE you can find the bill that we’re supporting that will give law enforcement the tools they need to do more crack downs on this area to better protect you!
Anti-Deed Fraud
In addition to the Anti-Spoofing work, we’re also supporting efforts to make changes to various aspects of the law around Deeds. We have seen and heard of many cases where folks are losing their homes out from under them, and now there’s a bill that will try to close the various loopholes and create stiffer penalties for those who try and take someone’s home away from them.
If you’re interested in reading more about this legislation, you can find that one HERE.
Alzheimer’s-Related Bills
Lastly, we’re supporting a pair of bills that the Alzheimer's Association is working on. The first (HB2202), which is already on its way through the legislature and is approaching the House floor for a vote, would create a program for tele-mentoring program to teach providers about dementia and how to spot it. The second bill (SB1249), which will be heard Wednesday morning in the Senate Health Committee, provides money to be utilized for the Alzheimer's State Plan. For reference, this is the same plan that AARP Arizona has been advocating for and actively participates in as a core member of.
Of those over 1600 bills we’ve been tracking a number of them, with a keener eye on a significant handful. Thank you for your diligence, we look forward to having your voice heard this session as we work to get these important pieces of legislation across the finish line!
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