Arizona Legislative Update

The University of Arizona’s psychologists licensure bill HB 2561, sponsored by Representative Dunn, passed unanimously out of the Senate Health and Human Services committee last week. This is a critical step for the bill since it has already passed out of the House of Representatives and now only needs approval by a vote of the full Senate before making its way to the Governor for signature. The bill eliminates a regulatory obstacle for a subset of students who graduate with a PhD in psychology by creating parity between two accrediting agencies in statute. If signed into law, the bill will streamline graduates’ transition into the workforce and help address Arizona’s shortage of clinical psychologists.

An effort to allow community colleges in Arizona has also advanced. A bill introduced earlier this session by Representative Nutt passed out of the House but did not receive a hearing in the Senate due to the unlikelihood that it would pass out of Senate Committees. The bill, however, was added as a strike-everything-amendment (completely replaced the underlying bill) to another bill (SB 1453) in the House Education Committee where it passed. This new bill now only requires passage by the full House and then the full Senate before being transmitted to the Governor. The legislation would allow community colleges statewide to offer four-year degree programs, with some limitation on the total number of programs that may be offered. The Board of Regents voted to oppose this measure earlier this year.