AFCCA Legislative Update – April 17, 2026

You can track the status of these bills on your live interactive tracking link found here –Skywolf AI– this link will automatically update as the bills move through the process.

On Monday morning, Governor Hobbs signed 32 bills and vetoed 20. Shortly after, she announced that she will veto any new legislation sent to her desk, with the exception of two public safety bills, until majority leadership in the House and Senate publicly release their budget proposals. This comes nearly 90 days after the Governor unveiled her executive budget and three weeks after her office walked away from formal budget negotiations.

The Governor has since vetoed three bills that were sent up to her desk, citing the moratorium and once again calling for legislative leadership to release their budget plan. However, as indicated in her original press release, on April 15, Governor Hobbs signedHB1503 (first responder; state death benefit). This bill adds law enforcement employed pilots to the list of first responders entitled to state death benefits.

The FAC met on Thursday to deliver an update on Arizona’s fiscal outlook. Under the April projections, General Fund revenue has declined compared to the January Baseline, reflecting increased economic uncertainty tied to the Iran conflict. As a result, available GF resources over the next three years are now estimated at $378 million, down from $577 million in January. Under any projected  scenario, however, the state is expected to face continued challenges in addressing major budget priorities, including tax conformity and ongoing one-time expenditures. Inflation also continues to impact household spending and contributes to a “stagflation” scenario as costs of energy and food continue to climb.

The Arizona State Troopers announced this week they need an additional $4.75 million to cover staffing related costs as they deal with over 400 vacancies.  The shortfall is already impacting public safety, with short-staffed squads in metro Phoenix leading to increased response times, and less troopers patrolling our highways.

The funding crisis is the result of multiple unbudgeted expenses this year, including nearly $2 million in unexpected fuel costs and the deployment of resources to Gila County for flood assistance. Governor Hobbs has previously directed $1 million in emergency funds to cover some overtime.

Efforts to address the shortfall have so far stalled at the Capitol due to disagreements over bill language. Governor Hobbs recently vetoed HB 2993 (DPS; legal representation; appropriation), noting that the proposed funding source would have stripped consumer protection programs; she has stated she is willing to sign a clean bill that pulls from the Highway Patrol Fund. Subsequent attempts to move the requested $4.75 million through HB 2812 (DPS; appropriation) failed in the Senate, as members from both sides of the aisle clashed over provisions that would allow the department to hire outside legal counsel. With the budget deadline approaching, the department remains at the center of a political tug-of-war while trooper vacancies continue to grow.

When legislation is returned from the second chamber in a different form, the chamber of origin can concur and accept the amendments made by the second chamber, or they can refuse to concur and request that a conference committee be appointed.

A conference committee is a joint meeting of two committees that are appointed by the Speaker and the President, and their meetings are open to the public and public testimony may be allowed, there are two types:

A simple conference committee is restricted to addressing only the provisions where the House and Senate versions differ, and it may either strike the language or select between the competing versions.

A free conference committee has broader authority, it can introduce new provisions beyond those in the House and Senate versions, but it cannot adopt a “strike everything” amendment.

If the House and Senate cannot reach agreement on a bill, the President and Speaker may dissolve the conference and revert to a prior version or the bill fails in conference and moves no further in the process. Once the conference committee report is signed, along with any minority reports, it is transmitted to the Speaker and President, who refer the measure to their respective caucuses. Following caucus review, the report is taken up for a vote, first in the second chamber and then in the chamber of origin, where it is either adopted or rejected.

Typically these committees are expected to conclude their work by the 97th day of the session, however with leadership approval they tend to run all the way up until sine die, though they become more informal as we get into the waning hours of the session.

Last week, when the deadline to file a challenge against a candidate for office passed, twenty-four challenges were filed. Since then, all but five challenges have seen some form of resolution. Representative Walt Blackman, the incumbent from LD7, had the challenge against him dismissed. Incumbent Senator Brian Fernandez, Reps Alma and Consuelo Hernandez had their challenges resolved, though we may see an appeal of the court ruling in the Alma and Consuelo challenges.  Eleven challenges resulted in withdrawal from races and one resulted in removal.

Days of Session: 96

Bills Introduced: 1966

Bills Passed: 109

Bills Signed: 64

Bills Vetoed: 45

Opening Day: January 12th, 2026

Senate Bill Introduction Deadline: February 2nd, 2026

House Bill Introduction Deadline: February 9th, 2026

Last week to hear bills in committee in chamber of origin: February 16th to February 20th

Final week of committees: March 23rd to March 27th

100th day of session: April 21st, 2026

Budget Deadline (constitutionally required): July 1st, 2026