By way of background, Arizona’s sunrise review process provides a mechanism for health professions to request regulation or expansion in scope of practice. A.R.S. § 32-3103 states that regulation shall not be imposed on any unregulated health profession except for the exclusive purpose of protecting the public interest. A health profession shall be regulated by this state only if:
Unregulated practice can clearly harm or endanger the public, health safety or welfare and the potential for harm is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent on tenuous agreement;
The public needs and can reasonably be expected to benefit from an assurance of initial and continuing professional ability; and
The public cannot be effectively protected by other means in a more cost beneficial manner.
To initiate the sunrise application process applicant groups must submit a written report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by September 1 explaining the factors prescribed in A.R.S. § 32-3105 or 32-3106. The Committee of Reference (COR) is required to study the sunrise applications and deliver reports of its recommendations regarding the sunrise applications to the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and, if appropriate, the regulatory board or entity of the applicant group by December 1, of the same year the application is submitted. Legislative committee staff and Legislative Council draft any recommended legislation.
Below are the submitted sunrise applications for this year’s COR: