In the last year, a total of 369 bills were passed in the Arizonan legislature. Most of the laws have been effective in August, and eight laws were left to be implemented from the first day of the New Year.
The eight new laws include laws related to diverse fields starting from abortion to driving tickets.
Here are the details of the eight new laws you need to know.
- Abortion patient questionnaire- Senate Bill 1394 now mandates the doctors to ask more questions to the patients who come to an end their pregnancy. The questionnaire includes the reason for ending the pregnancy, and if the will to end is elective or because of sexual assault, health considerations, domestic violence or incest. The patient has the right to refuse to answer any question asked. Doctors need to report the answers to the Arizona Department of Health Services, which is already taking a lot of answers from the abortion patients. The identity of the patient is to be kept confidential.
- $4 Fee on Traffic Tickets- House Bill 2527 now increases the fee for drivers who receive tickets by $4. The money will be utilized for new training equipment for the Arizona Department of Public Safety and advertising campaign to advise drivers on how to act during traffic stops. The law also increases the fee for motorists a court-ordered defensive programme from $5 to $9.
- $9 Fee on tickets- House Bill 2313 now takes $9 more on every fine or forfeiture on every criminal offense, traffic ticket or violation of state game and fish regulations. The money will be routed to Arizona’s Victims’ Rights Fund which offers counseling and emergency housing to the victims. The victim restitution fund also will be created to route the money from the fine.
- $32 Fee on all vehicles- HB 2166 now will take $32 for every new vehicle registration. It’s not a tax but a fee as per the Government. The fee will apply to any kind of vehicle starting from cars, trucks to bigger Lorries. At the time of legislation passing in the house, the fee was said to be $18 per year, but the Arizona Department of Transportation has now declared the fee to $32. Some lawmakers wanted this fee to be canceled, but after the support from Governor Ducey, it seems evident that your pockets will be slimmer by $32 if you get a new vehicle.
- No Renewal for disability windshield placards- HB2317 now allows the disability placard to stay forever for the disabled persons. Previously, they needed to renew them every five years. Now the placard will be valid until the time the disability remains.
- Surprise medical bills- Senate Bill 1064 now will help the patients from getting out-of-network billings. It will prevent the instances when a patient receives service from a doctor who is part of the patient’s insurance provider network and later to be billed by an out-of-network provider who was only a part of the chain care. Patients can now appoint an arbitrator in insurance cases requesting the Arizona Department of Insurance.
- Online real estate class- House Bill 2655 now allows real estate agents and broker to take online classes. Previously they were required to attend a mandatory 90 hours class before applying for the license. But, all examinations for the license need to appear in person.
- Driver’s License suspension- House bill 2169 now ends the blanket suspension of Driver’s license in case they fail to show up for a court appearance for road incidents. Now the ADOT will cancel the license only if the charge is of criminal nature. Failing to appear in civil cases will not automatically cancel the Driver’s license.
These are the new laws that have taken effect from the start of the New Year. For the knowledge of the readers, a bill discussed and passed by both houses of the legislature becomes law only after the signature of the Governor on the bill. The governor has the power to veto the bill. Once it records the signature of the Governor, it goes to the statute and becomes permanent law.
Everyone should be well aware of the laws of the land and the rights of an individual. We hope to see many such required laws and amendments in the next session. It should be reported here that the next session starts from January 14.
