Weekly Legislative Reports

Governor Ducey held a press conference on June 29th to provide an update on the continued COVID growth in Arizona. He solemnly indicated that “Arizona will remain on pause” as we struggle to contain the spread. His slides contained a new theme of “stay healthy, safer at home” as he encouraged Arizonans to stay home as much as feasible as the expectation is that the numbers will continue to worsen over the next couple of weeks. When Arizonans do need to go out, he strongly encouraged them to please wear a mask. The state continues to focus on testing and building testing capacity.

As Arizona faces a surge in COVID-19 cases across the state, Governor Ducey provided an update on the state of the public health emergency. The Governor began with saying that this virus is now widespread in Arizona and is growing fast and that anyone can contract it and anyone can spread it. He noted that at his last press conference he said the numbers were going in the wrong direction and they continue to worsen. Governor Ducey emphasized that the trend is unacceptable and it's time to step up our personal responsibilities regarding this process.

We are providing the following update on Governor Ducey’s COVID-19 press conference from yesterday afternoon. For the first time since these public health updates started, the Governor arrived sporting a mask and emphasized the importance of wearing one when in public and unable to social distance. He also encouraged Arizonans to continue to adhere to all other CDC sanitation guidance to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Arizona Legislature formally ended its 2020 Regular Session, with the Senate adjourning sine die. After the Arizona Senate first voted to adjourn sine die more than two weeks ago, the Arizona House reconvened last week and passed over 30 mostly non-controversial Senate bills. The House hosted various committee hearings and moved forward with bills prior to motioning to follow the Senate and bring an official close to session last Thursday evening (May 21), just prior to the start of the Memorial Day weekend

With just over 24 hours before Governor Ducey's “Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected" order was set to expire, the Governor held a press conference today to extend his order (attached) with some slight modifications through May 15, 2020. He thanked Arizonans for their support and sacrifices and asked that they continue to adhere to the Order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The following is a quick summary of Thursday, April 9th, Legislative Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) discussion of Arizona’s revenue projections and budget update, as well as the Governor Ducey’s press conference this afternoon to summarize his latest “Good Samaritan” Executive Order protecting frontline healthcare workers.