Legislative Update

The only committees that met last week were Rules and Appropriations. The other standing committees (e.g. Health and Human Services) have finished their work. The House Appropriations was particularly dramatic with several strike-everything bills and tensions running high- but nothing really tied to the public health bills we’re interested in. 

We have a whole bunch of bills that need to make it through the Rules Committees (especially the House Rules Committee) before they can go to the floor (the Rules Committee’s job is to basically make sure the bill is constitutional). 

Lots of the bills that we care about will be heard this week in the Rules Committee Monday at 1:30pm (here’s the agenda). I put an asterisk by the bills below that will be heard Monday. If they all pass- they could move quickly to floor votes (3rd read) this week. Here’s this week’s spreadsheet summary of the bills.

Bills that have been amended in the opposite house will need to return to their house of origin for another vote.  If there isn’t agreement on the amendments, there may need to be conference committees set up to hammer out a solution.

In other news, we were delighted to see that the Senate Health and Human Services Committee this week unanimously recommended that Jami Snyder’s confirmation by the full Senate to be the new AHCCCS Director.  Her nomination will now go to the Senate floor for confirmation.

Steve Pierce was appointed to fill Representative Stringer’s seat in District 1 late in the week- which is why there was no floor action in the House this week. 

Bills that still need Floor Votes (3rd Read)

* Means bill will be heard in the Rules Committee Monday (1:30pm).

* SB 1040 Maternal Mortality Report (Brophy-McGee) – AzPHA Position: YES

Passed the Senate 30-0. Bill Passed the House Health Committee 9-0. Rules Committee this week. 

* SB 1085 Association Health Plans- 

Passed the Senate 24-6.  Passed the House Health and Human Services Committee 6-2-1. Rules Committee this week. 

SB 1088 Dental Care During Pregnancy (Carter) – AzPHA Position: YES

Passed the Senate 27-3.  Passed the House Health & Human Services Committee 8-1.  Passed House Appropriations 7-4. Rules Committee Next. Will still need to get into the final budget.

* SB 1089 Telemedicine Insurance Coverage (Carter) – AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed Senate 30-0. Passed the House Health & Human Services Committee 9-0.  Rules Committee this week. 

* SB 1165 Texting and Driving Prohibition (Brophy McGee) – AzPHA Position: YES

Passed Senate 20-10. Passed the House Transportation Committee 5-1-1.  Rules Committee this week. 

SB 1174 Tribal Area Health Education Center – AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed Senate 30-0. Passed the Senate Education Committee 13-0. Rules Committee Next.

* SB 1211 Intermediate Care Facilities (Carter) AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed the Senate 30-0. Passed the House Health & Human Services Committee 9-0. Rules Committee this week. 

* SB 1247 Residential Care Institutions (Brophy McGee) AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed the Senate 30-0.  Bill passed the House Health Committee 9-0. Rules Committee this week. 

SB 1245 Vital Records- Death Certificates (Brophy McGee) AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed the Senate 30-0.  Passed through all House Committees- ready for a Floor Vote.

SB 1354 Graduate Medical Information & Student Loan Repayment (Carter) AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed Senate 28-2.  Passed House Appropriations Committee 10-1, Withdrawn at the HHS Committee, but can still move forward if it can pass the Rules Committee. This is the most important access to care bills this year- it would do a great deal both in the short-term by boosting the primary care loan repayment program and really enhancing graduate medical education residencies over the coming years (important because where a practitioner does her or his residency greatly influences where they ultimately practice).

HB 2125 Child Care Subsidies (Udall) – AzPHA Position: YES

Passed House 46-13.  Passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee 7-0-1. Rules Committee Next.

* HB 2488 Veteran Suicide Annual Report (Lawrence) AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed House 60-0. Passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee 7-0-1. Passed 29-0 in the Senate, sent back to House because it’s different than the original bill.  

SB 1009 Electronic Cigarettes, Tobacco Sales (Carter) – AzPHA Position: YES

Passed the Senate 30-0. Assigned to the House Health and Human Services Committee but didn’t get a hearing- not a good sign.

* SB 1355 Native American Dental Care – AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed Senate 25-5.  Passed the House Health & Human Services Committee 9-0. Rules Committee this week. 

SB 1456 Vision Screening- AzPHA Position: Yes

Passed Senate 29-0. Passed the House Health & Human Services Committee 9-0. Rules Committee Next.

* SB 1468 Suicide Prevention- Schools- AzPHA Position: Yes

Requires school districts, charter schools, and Arizona teacher training programs to include suicide awareness and prevention training and requires the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System Administration (AHCCCS) to make suicide awareness and prevention training available. Rules Committee this week. 

SB 1060 (Strike-all Amendment) Electronic Cigarettes. Smoke Free Arizona Act (Carter) – AzPHA Position: YES

Passed the Senate 28-0. Assigned to the House Health and Human Services Committee- but not heard.  Not a good sign. Probably dead.

 

Bills that Have Been Passed & Signed by the Governor

SB 1109 Short Term Limited Health Plans- extension – AzPHA Position: Opposed

This bill has passed both chambers and has been signed by the Governor.  It authorizes the sale of short- term limited health plans in Arizona for terms up to 3 years.  The previous limit was 1 year.  These plans don’t cover pre-existing conditions and have limited consumer protection because they aren’t required to cover the essential health services under the ACA and can drop enrollees.  We urged a not vote because of the poor consumer protections.