JANUARY 13, 2026

The 2026 Legislative Session is officially underway, convening for the first day on Monday, January 12^th. It was kicked off with the Governor’s State of the State Address to all 90 state legislators in the House of Representatives. Housing affordability and private property rights appear to be of great importance to both the Governor and Legislative leadership as they work to bolster their respective re-election campaigns. The Arizona REALTORS® will remain diligent to ensure our industry is protected.

Each year, we begin our Arizona REALTORS® weekly legislative updates with helpful insight into the legislative process at the state Capitol. This week, we would like to briefly explain the legislative process of how a bill becomes law. It is important background as you follow the journey of our REALTOR® Legislative Agenda this session.

• Step 1: A bill is written by a legislative sponsor in either the House or the Senate. A Senator-authored bill number begins with SB and will begin its lifecycle in the Senate, and a Representative-authored bill number begins with HB and will start in the House.
• Step 2: The leader of the Chamber of origin (Senate President or Speaker of the House) will have the bill assigned for a first reading. If the bill does not have a first reading, it dies.
• Step 3: The bill will then have a second reading, where the Senate President or Speaker of the House assigns the bill to be heard in a committee.
• Step 4: The Chair of the Committee will place the bill on an agenda to be discussed, amended if necessary, and voted on. If the bill is not placed on a committee agenda or the vote fails, the bill dies.
• Step 5: The bill will be discussed by the Caucus of each political party before the entire House or Senate votes on it. If the bill does not receive a majority vote, it dies.
• Step 6: The bill then follows the exact process above in the opposite chamber, so if it started in the House, it will move to the Senate and vice versa.
• Step 7: If the bill received any major amendments in the second chamber, it must then return to the chamber of origin for reconsideration; otherwise, it is transmitted to the Governor.
• Step 8: A bill approved by the legislature will then either be signed by the Governor and accepted into law or vetoed, which kills the bill.

Your advocacy team is already hard at work reviewing legislation impacting the real estate industry. With over 200 bills pre-filed as of last Friday, before the session even began, we expect our Legislative Agenda to be as full as ever. As we progress, more bills will begin to be introduced, assigned to, and voted on by various House and Senate Committees. The 2026 Arizona REALTORS® Legislative Committee will meet for the second time this Thursday with several pre-filed bills to review pertaining to the real estate industry. Continue to check back here weekly for updates throughout the legislative session.

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