The proposed bill, HB2756, mandates that municipalities in Arizona cannot reduce the annual operating budget of their law enforcement agencies below the budget of the previous year. If a municipality does reduce the law enforcement agency's budget, it must notify the State Treasurer, who will then withhold an amount of state-shared revenue equal to the reduction from the municipality. The withholding of funds will continue until the municipality restores the law enforcement agency's budget to its previous level. The bill also defines a "law enforcement agency" specifically as a municipal police department.

The bill includes exceptions to these requirements. If a municipality does not have the necessary funds to maintain the law enforcement agency's budget at the previous year's level, state-shared monies will not be withheld. Additionally, the State Treasurer will not withhold any funds that the municipality certifies as necessary for debt service on bonds or other long-term obligations that were issued or incurred before the budget reduction. The bill also makes technical and conforming changes to the Arizona Revised Statutes.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 9-500.49, 42-5029, 43-206, 35-146, 35-147, 42-1116, 42-5014, 42-5070, 42-5010, 42-5155, 42-5010.01, 42-5164, 42-5205, 42-1118, 42-1254, 42-5030, 42-5030.01, 42-5031, 42-5032, 42-5032.01, 42-5032.02, 49-282, 17-273, 42-5061, 15-2084, 15-1648, 15-1472, 42-5031.01, 15-971, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 15-154, 15-154.01, 15-241, 43-1072.01, 15-977, 41-2257, 41-2258, 42-5033, 42-5033.01, 42-6010, 9-626, 41-194.01, 15-1402, 15-1403, 15-1409