ACP Arizona at the Legislature 2026: An Update

Published June 10, 2026

We had an incredible Legislative Action Day at the state capitol on March 4. Led by Dr. Eladio Pereira, chair of the ACP Arizona Advocacy Committee, and Vice Chair Dr. Nikhil Sood — who made sure we arrived thoroughly prepared — we drew a great turnout of physicians, residents, and medical students. We watched several committees in action and came away seeing how readily we could make presentations to them ourselves in the future. Our meetings with legislators went off smoothly, thanks to the tremendous efforts of our Executive Director, Rachael Lowery. What follows is a review of where the health bills we tracked this session actually landed.

The 2026 session of the Arizona Legislature followed a now-familiar pattern. A steady run of practical, often bipartisan health bills moved forward — measures about who is allowed to deliver care and what insurers have to cover. Alongside them ran a much larger collection of ideological bills: anti-vaccine measures, a ban on fluoride in drinking water, unproven cell therapies, and a thick stack of legislation targeting transgender people. By late spring, most of that second group had stalled, while the first group inched toward the governor’s desk. Then the whole session collided with a budget fight that has become the real story.

A quick note on how to read this: when a bill “clears committee,” a small group of legislators has approved it and sent it on; when it “passes the House” or “passes the Senate,” the full chamber has voted yes; and when it is “signed,” the governor has made it law. Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat facing a Republican-controlled Legislature, has used her veto pen heavily — as of the latest update, she had vetoed 22 bills this session…

State Health Policy

ACP’s State Health Policy program helps internal medicine physicians gain influence in their state capitols on issues affecting them and their patients. Learn more about key policy issues impacting states, how ACP members can act, and other available tools and resources.

Resources

• ACP Legislative Action Center: ACP’s LAC is a digital advocacy hub which empowers ACP members to take action on critical health policy issues, such as connecting with your legislators, joining AIMn, and sharing your perspective.
• Toolkit: Policy and Advocacy on Scope of Practice – ACP has prepared this toolkit to assist members in advocating for physician-led health care teams that enable health care professionals to deliver care commensurate with their training and strengths.
• The ACP Advocate – a bi-weekly e-newsletter that provides ACP members with news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care.

Resolutions

ACP Board of Governors Resolution Guide for ACP Members – A how-to on drafting a resolution that allows members to shape ACP policy that impacts the practice of internal medicine.
Electronic Resolution System – find Chapter Sponsored Resolutions – You may need to login to purchase.
The Policy Library – a repository of ACP’s current and historic policies and the Policy Compendium – You may need to login to view.