Key Legislative Initiatives for ADOH

On March 31st Governor Doug Ducey signed Senate Bill 1196 (Arizona department of housing; continuation) which officially extends the Department’s statutory life through 2025. The success of this legislative initiative is, in large part, due to the hard work and dedication of our sponsor, Senator Kate Brophy McGee. We owe the Senator, legislative members & staff, our gratitude for all of their efforts in accomplishing this vital task that will allow the Arizona Department of Housing to continue its mission. That mission is to lead and collaborate with our community partners, to create, preserve and invest in affordable housing. The Department is also indebted to ADOH employees, comprised of a diverse group of professionals, who have chosen to serve Arizona and their fellow citizens who are pursuing an enriched life. The community came out, officially expressing their support of the Department and our Director; we cannot thank them enough. Director Trailor represented the agency extremely well during three legislative committee hearings.

Here are links to his presentations in the Committee of Reference, Senate Commerce and Public Safety Committee and the House Commerce Committee. Check these out if you are interested in learning more about the Department and the accomplishments that were chosen to highlight.

In addition to SB 1196, the Department also worked with Senator Brophy McGee on another legislative change to conform newly adopted statutes that moved the Department of Fire, Building and Life Safety’s, Office of Manufactured Housing to Housing in 2016. This bill went through several iterations since it’s inception in order to ensure all stakeholder concerns are resolved. While the majority of the changes are technical, there are two major provisions that will allow the Department to better serve our customers. Currently fees collected are deposited into the State General Fund and then once per year are allocated back to the agency. This might not have mattered if the Department received an amount equal to the fees deposited, which, unfortunately, was not the case. Fortunately, the Governor included this change in his budget proposal. The Department worked hard to ensure the passage of SB 1218 before Sine Die (end of session). Here is a link to SB 1218 if you would like to learn about the bill and see its progress. The effective date of the changes in SB 1218 is August 9. Thank you, to all those who took action in support of SB 1218!