End of Session Report
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2014 End of Session Report ARIZONA PEST PROFESSIONALS ORGANIZATION Prepared by: Capitol Consulting, LLC 818 N. 1st Street Phoenix, AZ 85004 www.azcapitolconsulting.com P a g e | 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dear AZPPO Members: Sine Die! On April 24, 2014, the 51st Arizona Legislature adjourned sine die at 1:46 AM after 101 days in session. By rule a session can last 100 days with provisions in place for extending it. As you recall, those provisions were put to the test last year with the uncomfortably long 151-day session. The 51st Legislature, 2nd Regular Session officially commenced January 13, 2014. A total of 1,205 bills were introduced by the legislature and of those, 276 have been signed by Governor Janice K. Brewer. The session began as usual with the governor announcing policy priorities for the year during the State of the State address. The governor’s priorities were perhaps met with a little more attentiveness from the legislature after a rocky end to the 2013 session. As you may recall part of the Governor’s ambitious 2013 agenda meant crossing political boundaries at the expense of the most conservative within the state’s GOP. In 2013, the governor muscled her way to pass the Medicaid expansion. After weeks of stalled budget negotiations, the Governor called a Special Legislative Session in an effort to bypass House and Senate leadership and call Medicaid to question. The move sparked rumors of a legislative coup and drove a wedge straight through the Republican caucus, dividing the moderate and conservative members. During her final State of the State address in January, Governor Brewer focused on two priorities including a complete overhaul of the state’s defunct child protective services and a proposal to create new incentives for manufactures to set up shop in Arizona. In December Governor Brewer formed the Child Advocate Response Examination Team or ‘CARE Team’ to provide oversight for the investigation of the 6,554 uninvestigated child abuse cases and to examine the Arizona Child Protective Services (CPS) system to identify areas of concern. Following their recommendation, Governor Brewer, through an Executive Order, abolished CPS, removed it from the Department of Economic Security and replaced it with a stand-alone Cabinet-level agency that reports directly to her. In order to make the new agency permanent, the governor also requested that the legislature pass necessary statutory changes. Those changes were not passed and the legislature only funded $59 million of the $80 million that Governor Brewer requested for the agency. However the legislature did include language in the budget package that essentially committed to revisiting the issue, most likely in a Special Legislative Session once the CARE Team releases its next set of recommendations sometime in May. As far as her other policy priority that issue was met with a little less resistance. The Governor signed SB1413, a bill that eliminates sales tax on electricity purchased by manufacturers and smelting facilities. Though Governor Brewer insists the incentive is pivotal in attracting new manufacturers and retaining those already operating in Arizona, it is estimated that the incentive will cost the state around $17 million. ----------- This year AZPPO chose to take more of a defensive posture as compared to last year’s legislative agenda. As you recall, AZPPO was the impetus in passing SB1290, the bill that provided for the permanent transfer of Prepared by: Capitol Consulting, LLC | 818 N. 1st Street | Phoenix, AZ 85004 | www.azcapitolconsulting.com P a g e | 3 administrative authority from the Office of Pest Management to the Arizona Department of Agriculture and made various changes to the pest management statutes. Since the statutory overhaul, the Department of Agriculture has been in the process of a rules update in order to implement the new law. It’s typical after such a comprehensive statutory change that clean-up legislation is needed in order to clarify or make technical changes. We will have a better sense of those potential changes (if at all needed) once the rules are implemented. Two bills were introduced this year that would have had a direct impact on AZPPO members. HB2596 introduced by Representative Michelle Ugenti (R-Scottsdale), would have allowed a homeowner to choose to have the business licensee or certified applicator complete a termite action report form. Representative Ugenti indicated that the bill was the result of her home being treated for termites and subsequently appearing in the on-line report. Rep. Ugenti believed that the online reporting impacts home values and is not necessary for anyone who is not in the process of selling their home. The bill was ultimately amended via a “strike-everything amendment,” thus eliminating the proposal, in the House Government Committee. HB2437 (public committees; repeal; sunset) was signed by the governor on April 24, and will take effect on July 24, 2014. The bill repeals inactive statutory committees and provides sunset dates for active committees. Prior to the start of Session, legislative staff compiled a list of statutory committees that were inactive either because the committee fulfilled its statutory duty, the committee had membership vacancies or the committee had redundant duties. Initially the bill included the repeal of the Pest Management Advisory Board; however, we successfully amended the bill in the Senate Government and Environment Committee to preserve the Board. ----------- Included in this report are legislative proposals that AZPPO monitored and engaged-in over the course of the Session and subsequent actions. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have on this year’s session or any of the AZPPO’s government affairs programs. Very truly yours, Courtney LeVinus President Capitol Consulting, LLC Prepared by: Capitol Consulting, LLC | 818 N. 1st Street | Phoenix, AZ 85004 | www.azcapitolconsulting.com P a g e | 4 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 2 CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 LEGISLATIVE ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 ST ND 51 LEGISLATURE, 2 REGULAR SESSION ........................................................................................................................... 5 Leadership ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Senate Members ................................................................................................................................................... 6 House of Representatives Members ..................................................................................................................... 6 Statistics ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Session Highlights ................................................................................................................................................. 9 FY2015 STATE BUDGET .................................................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTERED LEGISLATION ............................................................................................................................................... 10 HB2389: Transaction privilege tax changes ........................................................................................................ 10 HB2437: Public committees; repeal; sunset ........................................................................................................ 11 SB1108: Department of agriculture; fees ............................................................................................................ 12 SB1160: Registrar of contractors; discipline grounds ......................................................................................... 12 FAILED LEGISLATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 HB2596: Office of pest management; reports .................................................................................................... 13 Prepared by: Capitol Consulting, LLC | 818 N. 1st Street | Phoenix, AZ 85004 | www.azcapitolconsulting.com P a g e | 5 LEGISLATIVE 51ST LEGISLATURE, 2ND REGULAR SESSION LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE Janice K. Brewer SENATE PRESIDENT Senator Andy Biggs (R-Gilbert) MAJORITY LEADER Senator John McComish (R-Phoenix) MAJORITY WHIP Senator Adam Driggs (R-Phoenix) PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE Senator Gail Griffin (R-Hereford) MINORITY LEADER Senator Anna Tovar (D-Tolleson) MINORITY WHIP Senator Steve Gallardo (D-Phoenix) ASSISTANT MINORITY LEADER Senator Lynne Pancrazi (D-Yuma) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE Representative Andrew Tobin (R-Paulden) MAJORITY LEADER: Representative David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista) MAJORITY WHIP Representative Rick Gray (R-Sun City) SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE Representative Javon “J.D.” Mesnard (R-Chandler) MINORITY