Lobbyist Report – March 2020 – Bobbi

Following is an update on the two bills we are running this year (HB2630, HB2285), and a list of numerous additional bills that we are following.

A number of these are veteran related. The bill number is followed by a short description of each of these bills. You will receive a summary of each of these bills and if they passed or failed, at the end of the session.

If you have any questions regarding any of them, please contact me directly at [email protected].

HB2630: motorcycle safety fund
Sponsor: Reps Bolick, Biasiucci, Blackman, Nutt
The Director of the Department of Transportation is required to deposit $1 of each motorcycle registration fee collected in the Motorcycle Safety Fund through June 30, 2025, extended four years from June 30, 2021.

* HB2630 – passed the House TRANS committee with 9 Yes, 0 No, and received a 60 Yes, 0 No vote on the House floor. It is currently in the Senate. It passed the Senate TRANS committee with 7 Yes, 1 No and will be heard on the Senate floor anytime soon.

HB2285: motorcycle operation; passing vehicles
Sponsor: Rep Campbell
THE OPERATOR OF A TWO WHEELED MOTORCYCLE MAY OVERTAKE AND PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE THAT IS STOPPED IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF TRAVEL IN THE SAME LANE AND MAY OPERATE THE MOTORCYCLE BETWEEN THE LANES OF TRAFFIC ONLY IF ALL OF THE FOLLOWING APPLY:
1. THE OPERATOR IS ON A STREET THAT IS DIVIDED INTO AT LEAST TWO ADJACENT TRAFFIC LANES IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF TRAVEL.
2. THE OPERATOR IS ON A STREET WITH A SPEED LIMIT THAT DOES NOT EXCEED FORTY FIVE MILES PER HOUR.
3. THE MOTORCYCLE IS TRAVELING AT A SPEED THAT DOES NOT EXCEED FIFTEEN MILES PER HOUR.
4. THE MOVEMENT IS NOT MADE UNTIL THE OPERATOR HAS FIRST ASCERTAINED THAT THE MOVEMENT CAN BE MADE WITH SAFETY.

* HB2285 – This bill would have allowed lane filtering in Arizona. It will not be heard this year.

HB2032: civil forfeiture; criminal conviction
Revises the issuing of seizure warrants from before and after a determination of liability to before and after conviction. Adds property subject to forfeiture following a conviction. Removes probable cause for seizure paragraphs. Adds the ability to request a pretrial hearing to determine validity of seizure. Burden of proof is on the state.

HB2035: appropriation; veterans; services; benefits counselors
Makes a supplemental appropriation of $1.2 million from the general fund in
FY2020-21 to the Department of Veterans’ Services to hire additional benefits
Counselors.

HB2040: abandoned vehicle fees
Establishes specific dollar amounts of $50 and $200 for specific abandoning of vehicles. Removes the ability for the ‘Director’ to determine the fee.

HB2043: voter identification; school ID cards
Adds requirement of proof of citizenship and eliminates using a high school, college or university identification card as a form of ID. Removes use of utility bill, bank statement, AZ vehicle registration or insurance, as well as property tax statement as forms of ID.

HB2055: civil traffic violations; community restitution
A person who violates traffic and vehicle regulation statutes may perform
court-approved community restitution in lieu of paying a civil penalty, surcharge, assessment or fee. The court is prohibited from assessing the time payment fee (set elsewhere in statute and currently $20) on civil traffic violations.

HB2060: autonomous vehicles; safety features; prohibitions
A person is prohibited from overriding the safety features of a fully autonomous
vehicle or partially autonomous vehicle by modifying the vehicle’s computer program, mechanically modifying the vehicle, or placing any physical device, including a weight, on the vehicle’s steering wheel.

HB2086: tuition vaiver military; veterans; family
The Arizona Board of Regents and community college districts are required to provide a tuition and fee waiver scholarship at any university under ABOR jurisdiction or community college under district jurisdiction to a member or former member of the U.S. Armed Forces who resides in Arizona, entered the service at a location in Arizona, declared Arizona as the person’s home of record at the time the person entered service, and who meets other specified requirements, including for length of service or disability rating, or to that person’s child or spouse. Other scholarship requirements are specified, including a cumulative limit of 150 credit hours.

HB2096: security guard registration; discharged veterans
Before the required background screening for a security guard registration applicant are complete, the Department of Public Safety is authorized to issue a 30-day security guard registration certificate or a 30-day armed security guard registration certificate to an applicant who is an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. military.

HB2135: veteran suicides; annual report
Information that the Department of Health Services must include in the annual report on veteran suicides is expanded to include utilization and encounter data for a nonprofit veterans’ services organization that provides services related to reducing suicides among Arizona’s military and veteran populations.

HB2139: appropriation; veterans; services; benefits counselors
Makes a supplemental appropriation of $1.2 million from the general fund in
FY2020-21 to the Department of Veterans’ Services to hire additional benefits
counselors.

HB2155: motor vehicle insurance; non-renewal
Insurers are authorized to fail to renew a motor vehicle insurance policy if the named insured, any person who resides in the same household as the named insured and who customarily operates a motor vehicle insured under the policy or any other person who regularly and frequently operates a motor vehicle insured under the policy has had at any time during the 36 months immediately before the notice of non-renewal three or more at-fault accidents under any motor vehicle insurance policy issued by the insurer in which the property damage paid by the insurer for each accident exceeds the threshold amount of property damages in this subsection as determined by the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. The Dept is required to annually adjust and publish the threshold amount by the percentage change in the all items component of the consumer price index for all urban consumers of the U.S. Department of Labor. The insurer is
prohibited from exercising its right to fail to renew a motor vehicle insurance policy under these provisions if the named insured has been insured for standard automobile bodily injury coverage for at least 10 consecutive years with the same insurer before the most recent accident that makes the policy subject to non-renewal. An insurer is prohibited from failing to renew more than 0.5 percent of its policies annually under these provisions.

HB2183: funeral escorts; funeral board licensure
Responsibility for licensing funeral escort vehicles and military escort vehicles is transferred to the State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, from the sheriff in each county. The Board is required to license funeral escort vehicles, military escort vehicles, drivers of funeral escort vehicles and drivers of military escort vehicles as prescribed by the Board by rule. The Board is authorized to establish and collect a fee for licensing funeral escort vehicles, military escort vehicles, drivers of funeral escort vehicles and drivers of military escort vehicles in an amount to be determined by the Board. A motor vehicle liability insurance policy for a funeral escort business or for a nonprofit corporation that provides military processions is required to list the State Board of Funeral Directors as the certificate holder on the certificate of liability insurance.

HB2220: property tax exemption; veterans’ organizations
Property owned by a U.S. veterans’ organization that qualifies as a charitable
organization and that is recognized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code is exempt from taxation if the property is used predominantly for those purposes and is not used or held for profit. Effective January 1, 2021.

HB2288: state licensing; fee waiver
The list of persons that state agencies are required to waive any initial license fee charged for, with some exceptions, is expanded to include any active duty military service member and the member’s spouse and any veteran.

HB2303: mandatory vehicle impoundment; exception
The list of reasons for which a peace officer is required to cause the removal and either immobilization or impoundment of a vehicle is expanded to include if the peace officer determines that the person’s driving privilege is suspended for any reason except for failure to pay a civil penalty or failure to appear as directed for a scheduled court appearance. A peace officer who needs to be immediately present at an “emergency” (defined) is not required to immobilize or impound a vehicle if the location of the emergency is different than the location of the vehicle.

HB2340: autonomous vehicles; adot director’s duties
The Director of the Department of Transportation is required to develop standards for testing the operation of “autonomous vehicles” (defined) in Arizona, including a statewide training curriculum for operators of and passengers in autonomous vehicles and for emergency personnel’s response to an autonomous vehicle emergency. By November 1 of each year, the Director is required to submit a report on the operations of autonomous vehicles in Arizona to the Governor and the Legislature. Information that must be included in the report is specified.

HB2378: motor vehicle transactions; notices; dealers
Various changes to statutes relating to motor vehicle transactions. If a motor vehicle dealer agrees to pay off any outstanding loans on a trade-in vehicle, the dealer is required to pay the agreed on amount in full within 21 days after receiving the trade-in vehicle. At the time a customer purchases or leases a motor vehicle through dealer-arranged financing or leasing and before the customer receives approval from a third-party financial institution, if the dealer allows the customer to take possession of the motor vehicle, the dealer is required to provide the customer with a separate document containing a specified notice, which must be signed by the dealer and the customer. If a third-party financial institution does not approve the financing term, the dealer is required to notify the customer in writing within 10 days, and the motor vehicle dealer or the customer is allowed to cancel the sale or lease if the parties do not agree to new terms. A buyer cannot waive these rights. When advertising the price of a motor vehicle, a motor vehicle dealer is required to clearly and conspicuously disclose the price of the motor vehicle that is available to all customers, not including potential rebates and including all costs or fees for goods or services that are not optional for the transaction.

HB2384: vlt and registration fee exemptions
Establishes an exemption from vehicle license taxes and registration fees for a veteran who is a bona fide purple heart medal recipient or for that veteran’s surviving spouse, if the purple heart recipient sustained an injury resulting from a list of specified actions and the recipient served in at least one of a list of specified theaters of operation. The exemption from vehicle license taxes and registration fees for a veteran with a 100 percent disability or that veteran’s surviving spouse applies only if the disability resulted from combat related injuries sustained in any of a list of specified theaters of operation.
The exemption from vehicle license taxes and registration fees for a surviving spouse or surviving dependent of a deceased member of the U.S. military who was killed in the line of duty or who died from injuries suffered in the line of duty applies only if the death or injuries occurred in any of a list of specified theaters of operation.

HB2442: highway safety fee repeal
Repeals the highway safety fee that was previously required to be in an amount
established by the Director of the Department of Transportation annually in order to fund 110 percent of the Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol budget for each fiscal year.

HB2473: criminal speeding
A person is guilty of excessive speeding, a class 3 (lowest) misdemeanor, if the
person exceeds the posted speed limit by more than 20 miles per hour, instead of
exceeds 85 miles per hour, in locations other than those specified for other speeds.

HB2485: parked vehicles blocking sidewalk; prohibition
The prohibition against a person stopping, standing or parking a vehicle on a sidewalk includes stopping, standing or parking a vehicle so that any part of or attachment to the vehicle blocks an area of a sidewalk and impedes continuous pedestrian use of the sidewalk in a manner that is not consistent with the Americans With Disabilities Act. A person who stops, stands or parks a vehicle on a sidewalk is subject to a civil penalty of at least $500.

HB2490: appropriation; street and highway purposes
Appropriates $200.5 million from the general fund in FY2020-21 to the State
Treasurer for a onetime distribution to counties for highway and street purposes. The amount allocated to each county is specified.

HB2566: vehicle emissions; California standards
Department of Environmental Quality rules on motor vehicle and combustion engine
emissions are required to incorporate the standards adopted by the California Air

HB2590: ADOT; signs; driving on right
The Department of Transportation is required to place on state highways and routes signs that educate the public about the requirement to drive a vehicle on the right half of the roadway except in specified circumstances.

HB2606: transportation infrastructure study committee
Establishes an 11-member Transportation Infrastructure Study Committee to study the feasibility of constructing, maintaining and improving transportation infrastructure to Phoenix from an international point of entry in the southern part of Arizona. Appropriates $300,000 from the general fund in FY2020-21 to the House of Representatives to pay for the study. The Committee is required to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by December 15, 2020, and self-repeals January 1, 2021.

HCR2009: veterans; disability; property valuation protection
The 2020 general election ballot is to carry the question of whether to amend the state Constitution to allow an Arizona resident who is a “veteran” (defined) with a service-connected disability of 50 percent or greater or who qualifies for individual employability by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to apply to the county assessor for a veteran property valuation protection option on the person’s primary residence, beginning with tax year 2021. Other qualification requirements, including maximum income amounts, and application procedures for the protection are specified.

HM2002: military sexual trauma; service members
The Legislature urges the U.S. Congress to support the survivors of military sexual assault through funding and gender-specific health transition training, and to provide funding to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for extensive outreach to those service members separating from the Armed Forces and provide continued funding for modernization of Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense health records.

SB1094: vehicle accidents; financial responsibility verification
When the Department of Transportation verifies the financial responsibility of the owner of a motor vehicle involved in an accident in Arizona, the Dept cannot suspend the driver license or registration privilege of the person appearing as the registered owner of the vehicle in Dept records if the person is able to provide proof the the vehicle was sold before the accident “occurred,” instead of before “the date of the accident.”

SB1112: veterans’ home facility; Mohave county
Appropriates $25 million from the general fund in FY2020-21 to the Department of
Veterans’ Services to construct and establish a veterans’ home facility in Mohave county. Emergency clause.

Bobbi Hartmann
Modified Motorcycle Association of AZ
Designated Lobbyist