On May 10, Governor Doug Ducey signed SB 12 71 into law, increasing the long term supply of fully licensed physicians. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Barto, passed both chambers with bipartisan support.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons applauded Ducey and Barto for their work on SB 1271, which they say “puts in place commonsense reforms that benefit benefit patient care facilities, medical graduates, and patients in Arizona in both the short and long term.”
SB 1271 directs the Arizona Medical Board (AMB) and the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery (ABOE) to grant a one-year transitional training permit (transitional training permit) to qualified applicants.
The bill also establishes training permittee eligibility, qualifications, permitted duties and supervision requirements.
Physician say the new law offers expanded options for those who unmatched graduates, who currently have no opportunities to train or serve. For facilities, say the physicians, SB 1271 increases the pool of “high caliber individuals available to serve under supervision.”
The physicians believe the reforms also benefit residency programs as they strengthen the skills of future applicants.
On Friday, Governor Doug Ducey ordered flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset tomorrow, Saturday, May 15, in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Every May 15, Peace Officers Memorial Day pays tribute to local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice or been injured in the line of duty. The observance takes place during Police Week.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serve in the United States today. Each year, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial adds new names to the wall. The average is 163 deaths per year. Fallen law enforcement officers represent all levels of law enforcement, including local, state, federal, tribal, and military law enforcement. They are family members, husbands, wives, parents, sons, and daughters.
The day honors fallen LEO across the nation and offers support to their surviving family members and officers.
“Arizona’s peace officers are on the frontlines every day serving our communities, protecting others and putting their lives on the line — and some don’t return home after carrying out their duties,” said Ducey. “Arizona is grateful to the heroic men and women who wear the badge, and we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. This Peace Officers Memorial Day, we take a moment to pause and remember the officers who died in the line of duty and thank those who bravely protect our communities every day.”
PHOENIX — Across the state, chambers of commerce are applauding Governor Doug Ducey’s decision that Arizona will no longer be taking the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, and instead will offer one-time bonuses to returning workers, along with child care support, educational opportunities and rental assistance.
The announcement follows reports from employers that they are having trouble competing with the federal government’s unemployment payments, which are paying individuals more to stay home and not work than to find a job.
Arizona will stop taking the federal government’s pandemic unemployment benefits effective Saturday, July 10. Instead, the state will offer a $2,000 Back To Work bonus for eligible workers — with a goal of getting as many Arizonans as possible to rejoin the workforce by Labor Day, September 6, 2021.
Arizona will also provide support for unemployed individuals seeking to upskill their careers with adult education programs as well as additional child care opportunities.
“In Arizona, we’re going to use federal money to encourage people to work…instead of paying people not to work,” Governor Ducey said in a video.
“The best social program is a job.” – President Ronald Reagan
Arizona is back to work!
Effective July 10th, Arizona will no longer be paying the $300/week federal supplement to unemployed workers, and instead we will be helping Arizonans get back to work. 1/ pic.twitter.com/lNXPhTrWxm
“With ample supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine on hand and millions of Arizonans vaccinated, people feel safer and are finally returning to life in Arizona as we knew and loved it before,” said Ducey. “People are back in the office, restaurants are at full capacity and tourists are flocking to our state.”
“There is dignity in work. Ronald Reagan said the best social program is a job. I agree with that,” Ducey said.
“We have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure those who were displaced received the support they needed for themselves and their families,” said Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) Director Michael Wisehart. “Now that employers in all sectors are hiring, we’re ready to transition and enhance our assistance to families, job seekers and employers. We are committed to ensuring the long-term strength of Arizona’s economy to provide self-sufficiency for Arizona’s families.”
The Governor’s Back To Work program is garnering support from community and business leaders across the state:
“Governor Ducey is breaking down many of the barriers that prevent people from returning to work. Getting people funding for GED programs, community college, providing funding for childcare, and bonus money for their hard work is the hand up Arizonans need,” said Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Mignonne Hollis.
“After last week’s disappointing federal jobs report, Arizona is implementing a common-sense, conservative plan to ensure we continue our state’s strong economic rebound,” said Prescott Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sheri Heiney.
“Across Arizona, restaurants of all sizes are ready to hire new employees and expand their teams,” said Arizona Restaurant Association President and CEO Steve Chucri. “When it comes to the food and beverage industry, things are much different than they were a year ago. Millions are vaccinated, we know how to keep patrons and staff safe, and people are ready to eat at restaurants again. Restaurants need to ensure they have enough staff to meet the demand, but many are struggling to fill positions. I’m grateful to Governor Ducey for encouraging Arizonans to find new employment opportunities so we can get our restaurants fully staffed and continue to move the state’s economy forward.”
“We’re excited to welcome new team members and provide great jobs for Arizonans,” said Westroc Hospitality President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Nassikas. “After weathering the pandemic, we know Arizonans are looking for employment opportunities. We’re ready to hire, along with countless other businesses across the state.”
“Arizona’s tourism and hospitality industry is poised and eager to welcome visitors,” said Arizona Tourism and Lodging Association President and CEO Kim Grace Sabow. We are prepared to offer safe and unique experiences to both leisure and business travelers. An array of quality jobs are available for those seeking a rewarding industry career path — and we’re ready to hire today!”
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s latest annual Rich States, Poor States report shows Arizona’s economic outlook ranking is slipping.
Of the 15 variables the report uses for its economic outlook ranking, Arizona received poor grades for its top marginal personal income tax rate (42), state minimum wage rate (44), and sales tax burden (45).
“While we slipped three places in the ranking, are no longer in the top ten, and are approaching what could be a crisis of competitiveness, hope still remains that we can correct course,” said Chad Heinrich, Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
“To help small businesses the State Legislature must focus on fixing the disparate tax treatment of commercial property, reforming Arizona’s individual income tax code with small businesses in mind, and making our unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund solvent without raising taxes on Main Street enterprises, the latter of which is not measured in the Rich States, Poor States report,” said Heinrich.
The NFIB poll released yesterday showed an increase in small business optimism over the previous month’s increase but keeping the small-business economy from soaring is the drag of record highs in unfilled job openings.
“Gov. Doug Ducey’s signing of liability protection legislation will help Arizona’s small businesses open with confidence as we return to pre-pandemic business operations, as will Arizona conforming with several small-business-focused tax provisions in the federal CARES Act. The two big questions Main Street entrepreneurs have are: Will they be hit with a double whammy if the legislature increases unemployment taxes while UI rates have also increased due to the pandemic and how deeply would a federal effort to raise the minimum-wage rate to $15 an hour affect their operations,” said Heinrich.
Arizona’s Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL) is no longer permanent, after Gov. Doug Ducey signed one of Arizona’s most important pieces of election integrity legislation in years on Tuesday.
The Arizona Senate approved SB1485 earlier in the day to ensure Arizona voters receive a mail-in ballot only if they signed-up to and now wish to continue automatically receiving a ballot before each election. It provides for a voter’s removal from the newly named Early Voting List (EVL) if a voter did not cast a ballot in at least one of four consecutive elections and did not respond to messages from their county recorder to remain on the list.
“This bill is a modest, but critical step toward restoring confidence in our election system,” sponsor Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita stated in a press release.
Proponents of SB1485 touted its cost-savings impact for counties from only printing and paying postage for early ballots a voter expects to use. But the main impact, they said, would be ensuring that tens of thousands of early ballots are not mailed out to voters who no longer utilize the option.
Opponents of the bill deflected from the election integrity benefit and tried to characterize the bill as targeting minority populations to make it harder to vote.
However, being dropped from what is now EVL has no impact on a voter’s right to vote and all voters remain registered to vote. That was a message the governor focused on in his comments while signing SB1485 a short time after its passage in the Senate on a 16 to 14 vote.
“Let’s be clear — despite all the deceptive and heated rhetoric being used by some partisan activists to lobby against this reform, not a single Arizona voter will lose their right to vote as a result of this new law,” Ducey stated in a video his office released to announce that SB1485 had been signed.
Ugenti-Rita’s bill was amended several weeks ago to win the support of more Republican lawmakers in the House. The amendment softened the bill, according to experts, so that a voter would have to miss all elections within a two-year period -including any city or other minor elections- to be dropped from the EVL.
Ducey used the bill’s signing to push back on national companies inserting themselves into Arizona’s election laws.
“These big businesses have seemed to embrace a static view of elections,” he said. “Freeze the systems the way they are and view any change suspiciously. It’s wrong. Dead wrong.”
