ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

57th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session

Majority Research Staff

Senate: ED DPA/SE 5-2-0-0 | Third Read 19-11-0-0

House: FMAE DP 4-2-0-1

SB 1327: ~~foreign countries; restrictions; penalties~~

NOW: ABOR; research security policy

Sponsor: Senator Farnsworth, LD 10

Caucus & COW

Overview

Directs the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) to require universities to establish a research security policy with outlined components. Requires ABOR to submit an annual report to outlined officials that includes information on universities' research security policies and certain grants from foreign countries.

History

ABOR governs Arizona's three public universities and is tasked with exercising the powers necessary for the effective governance and administration of the universities, including authorizing each university to adopt regulations, policies, rules or measures deemed necessary for the universities' administration and governance. ABOR may also delegate any part of its authority to the university presidents or other entities under its control, though ABOR may rescind any delegation of authority at any time (A.R.S. § 15-1626).

A foreign adversary nation is defined as a country that is either:

1) identified by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence as a country that poses a risk to the national security of the U.S. in each of the three most recent annual threat assessments of the U.S. intelligence community issued pursuant to the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. § 3043b)(U.S. Intelligence Community's Annual Threat Assessments); or

2) determined as such by the U.S. Department of Commerce (15 CFR § 791.4)(A.R.S. § 33-443).

Provisions

1. Mandates that ABOR require each university to establish, adopt and post on the university's website a research security policy that does the following:

a. safeguards the university's research;

b. promotes a security culture;

c. furthers national security interests;

d. mitigates potential threats to university research from any foreign adversary nation;

e. complies with all applicable legal, regulatory and contractual standards and requirements for securing and protecting the university's academic research enterprise;

f. promotes a culture of compliance that is consistent with federal regulations to ensure that the university maintains eligibility for federal funding;

g. establishes processes to regularly update the university's research security policy, including processes to ensure compliance with the policy and reporting within the policy; and

h. establishes processes to identify and address compliance concerns at the university that are consistent with the university's research security policy. (Sec. 1)

2. Requires ABOR, on or before October 1st of each year, to submit a report to the Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of State that includes the following:

a. information and details on each university's research security policy adopted pursuant to the act and related practices, protocols and strategies;

b. information that demonstrates how each university is complying with applicable state and federal laws to promote a safe and secure research environment and to protect national security and intellectual property and to defend against any foreign adversary nation; and

c. the total number of grants, gifts or donations that each university received from a foreign country in the preceding year that exceeded $250,000. (Sec. 1)

3. Makes technical changes. (Sec. 1)

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7. Initials GG SB 1327

8. 3/26/2026 Page 0 Caucus & COW

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