The proposed bill introduces amendments to various sections of the Arizona Revised Statutes, focusing on residential care and the imposition of civil penalties for violations. The bill establishes the Health Services Licensing Fund, which will be administered by the Department of Health Services and funded by monies from specified sections. It changes the director's discretion from "may" to "shall" when assessing civil penalties, increasing the minimum penalty from $500 to $5,000 and setting a maximum of $10,000 per violation. The bill also adds new considerations for determining the penalty amount, including the number of injuries and deaths caused and their severity.

Additionally, the bill creates the Indigenous Peoples Protection Revolving Fund to support the resiliency and healing of indigenous peoples, with specific allocations for tribal colleges, restitution payments, and behavioral health services. It mandates that residential care institutions and sober living homes operating without a license are guilty of a class 6 felony and subject to the same penalty range as other violations. The bill also stipulates how penalties collected are to be distributed among various funds and exempts the Department of Health Services from rulemaking requirements through June 30, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 36-414, 36-431.01, 36-431.02, 36-431.03, 36-2063, 30-654, 32-1308, 32-2805, 36-405, 36-765.05, 36-766.06, 36-851.01, 36-882, 36-897.01, 36-1903, 35-190, 36-409, 35-146, 35-147