Legislative and Board of Accountancy Update - January 2024

A new legislative session has started, and the ASCPA's advocacy team has your back. Scroll to read details on the start of the year's legislative session, income tax conformity legislation and more. 

Arizona's 2024 Legislative Session

The Second Regular Session of Arizona’s 56th Legislature officially began on Jan. 8 and Governor Hobbs delivered her second State of the State Address to the Legislature. In her address titled “Arizona Resilient,” the governor focused on lowering taxes and continued job creation. Read the governor’s full speech and watch the governor’s address online.

 Following the State of the State address, the governor released her FY 2025 Executive Budget Proposal. This is the Governor’s budget recommendation for FY 2025, and will serve as a starting point for negotiations with the Legislature. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee also released its FY 2025 baseline projections. This is an estimate of available General Fund resources after statutory spending requirements are taken into account and it is not a budget proposal.

Income Tax Conformity Legislation

Among the hundreds of bills introduced thus far, Representative Neal Carter, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Senator JD Mesnard, Chair of the Senate Finance & Commerce Committee, have introduced income tax conformity legislation in their respective chambers.

Rep. Carter introduced HB 2379 (income tax revenue; conformity.), and it was heard in the Ways and Means Committee this week and passed by a vote of 10-0. Sen. Mesnard introduced SB 1057 (income tax revenue; conformity.), and it is on the agenda for Monday, Jan. 22. Because these "mirror bills" have the same language, they move through each chamber simultaneously which expedites the timeframe in which the legislation can be passed, and ultimately signed by the Governor.

2024 CPA Day at the Capitol

With the 2024 legislative session underway, we are just a few weeks away from the 2024 CPA Day at the Capitol. Building on the successes from 2023, this event reinforces that the ASCPA and its members are a resource for state legislators. If you wish to be included in next year's event, contact advocacy@ascpa.com. 

ASCPA PAC Contributions

The 2024 election cycle has officially begun! Since campaign contributions are prohibited while the Legislature is in session, the first week of the year is known as “Hell Week” in Arizona politics, when a marathon of fundraisers is held in advance of the start of the session. Over the last year, the ASCPA PAC has contributed to more than 30 candidates on both sides of the aisle. 

Thank you to all ASCPA PAC contributors who enable us to support candidates who support CPAs and our commonsense goals. If you haven’t done so yet, we encourage you to invest in the profession with a contribution to our PAC.

For additional information on our advocacy efforts, please contact Emily Webb.