Government Affairs Update

We’re about halfway through the Arizona State Legislative Session and
there’s a lot to report, so we apologize for the length of this
message in advance. This year, there is a lot of good news. Here’s a
breakdown of some bills at the Legislature that will affect us all:

House Bill 2164: This is our laser bill designed to prohibit/punish
those who intentionally or knowingly aim a laser at an occupied
aircraft. In order to get the bill passed we made a compromise for a
juvenile misdemeanor, but adults will still be charged with an F5. The
bill passed the House 58-2 and is now in the Senate.

House Bill 2323: This bill establishes the “Blue Alert” system, which
allows DPS to make immediate notifications to Law Enforcement Officers
and Agencies whenever an Officer is injured or killed. The
notification would include the suspect description (if available). The
Blue Alert system would function much like the Amber Alert does. This
is a major step forward for Officer and Public Safety and this is
something we’ve been working on for several years. The bill passed the
House 60-0 and is now in the Senate.

House Bill 2562: We have spent the last year working with the
Legislature on a comprehensive reform to ARS 38-1101, which contains
all of our rights as Peace Officers. One of the major changes is that
there will now be a built in consequence to management missing
discipline deadlines, up to and including the dismissal of the
discipline. The bill is waiting for a vote before the full House. This
bill will be beneficial to Law Enforcement Officers around the State
and would not have been possible without the efforts of the Combined
Law Enforcement Associations of Arizona and the Arizona Police
Association.

House Bill 2199: This bill corrects our brake light which will allow
us to again make traffic stops for broken tail lights. The bill passed
committee is awaiting vote of the full House.

We started the legislative session with a multitude of bills designed
to reduce our pension benefits. We’ve been telling you for several
years how the Legislature has considered reducing your benefits, and
we’re very happy to report that this year, none of the bills seem to
have traction. This is truly a testament to the relationships we’ve
built over the years at the Capitol.

Your CLEAA Team