sovereign authority; border; health crisis

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text declares policy and directs action but does not specify funding mechanisms or timelines for implementation.

HB2904: Border Security and Fentanyl Health Crisis

This bill declares that drug cartels crossing the Arizona-Mexico border create a public health crisis due to fentanyl trafficking and directs state agencies to use their authority to address it.

What This Bill Does

• Declares that protecting Arizona from drug cartels is official state policy under federal and state constitutions.
• States that the failure of the Federal Government to secure the border creates a dangerous situation for the state.
• Requires courts to interpret Arizona laws in ways that protect the state's sovereign authority against unlawful invasions at the border.
• Declares the trafficking of fentanyl across the border as a public health crisis driven by overdose deaths from synthetic opioids.
• Directs the Department of Health Services (DHS) to take all actions within its legal power to address this declared crisis.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Arizona Department of Health Services
• Arizona courts and judges interpreting state laws

Terms To Know

Sovereign authority

The power of a state to govern itself without outside interference.

Unlawful invasion

Illicit activities carried out by drug cartels, such as human smuggling or trafficking drugs for profit.

Drug cartel

An ongoing group of people who work together to commit crimes like human smuggling, fentanyl trafficking, or terrorism.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify exactly what actions the Department of Health Services must take beyond using its existing authority.
• The text declares a crisis but does not provide new funding to solve it.
• The effective date for when these laws begin is not listed in the provided source material.

Official Summary Text

HB2904 - 572R - House Bill Summary

ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

57th
Legislature, 2nd Regular Session

Majority Research Staff

House:
PSLE DP 8-6-0-1

HB
2904
: sovereign authority; border; health crisis

Sponsor:
Representative Montenegro, LD 29

Caucus
& COW

Overview

Declares
the movement of illicit drugs across the Arizona-Mexico border is a public
health crisis and directs the Department of Health Services (DHS) to do
everything within its authority to address the crisis. �

History

Article I, Section 10 and Article IV, Section 4 of the United
States (U.S.) Constitution are known as the
Contract Clause
and the
Guarantee
Clause
, respectively. The Contract Clause proscribe states' powers
regarding contracts, imports and exports, and describe acts requiring the
consent of Congress. Alternatively, the Guarantee Clause guarantees a
republican form of government for each state and the physical protections that
are provided by the U.S. Government to states (U.S. Const.
art. I, � 10
;
art. IV � 4
).

Article II, Section 3 of Arizona's Constitution states that the
U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and asserts that Arizona may
exercise its sovereign authority to restrict the actions of its personnel and
use of its financial resources by passing legislation or pursuing other legal
remedies. Lastly, the section prohibits the State from cooperating with a
designated federal action or program if its people or their representatives
exercise their authority pursuant to the section (
Arizona
Constitution, Art. II � 3
).

Established in 1973, DHS is responsible for: 1) the licensing
and regulation of health care and childcare facilities; 2) disease control,
immunization and the promotion of health programs and education; 3) the
maintenance of emergency medical services and state laboratories; and 4)
producing public health statistics and vital records which include birth and
death certificates (
Arizona State
Library, DHS
).

Provisions

1.

Declares,
pursuant to the U.S. Constitution's Contract Clause and Guarantee Clause, and
the Constitution of Arizona, that it is the public policy of Arizona to protect
the State from drug cartels that threaten the health and safety of the public.
(Sec. 1)

2.

Declares
that the Federal Government's failure to secure the Arizona-Mexico border to
protect the State from an unlawful invasion is dangerous and unprecedented.
(Sec. 1)

3.

Requires
Arizona's laws be interpreted and construed to protect the State's sovereign
authority against any unlawful invasion at the Arizona-Mexico border. (Sec. 1)

4.

Declares the
trafficking of fentanyl across the Arizona-Mexico border as a public health
crisis. (Sec. 2)

5.

Asserts that
the overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids are primarily driven by
illicitly manufactured fentanyl. (Sec. 2)

6.

Directs DHS
to do everything within its authority to address the prescribed crisis. (Sec.
2)

7.

Defines
drug
cartel
to mean an ongoing formal or informal association of person in which
members or associates individually or collectively engage in specified crimes.
(Sec. 1)

8.

Defines
unlawful
invasion
to mean illicit activities of a drug cartel. (Sec. 1)

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2904

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Current Bill Text

HB2904 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
sovereign authority; border; health crisis

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2904

Introduced by

Representative
Montenegro

AN
ACT

amending
title 1, chapter 2, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 1-273;
amending title 36, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding
section 36-116; relating to public health and safety.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 1, chapter 2, article 4,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 1-273, to read:

START_STATUTE
1-273.

Sovereign authority; self-defense and invasion; definitions

A. Pursuant to article I, section 10
and article IV, section 4, United States Constitution, and article II, section
3, Constitution of Arizona, the legislature declares it is the public policy of
this state to protect this state from drug cartels that threaten the public
safety, health or general welfare of the people.

B. The legislature further declares
that the federal government's failure to secure the Arizona border to protect
this state from an unlawful invasion is dangerous and unprecedented.

C. The laws of this state shall be
interpreted and construed to protect this state's sovereign authority against
any unlawful invasion at Arizona's border with Mexico.

D. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Drug cartel" means an
ongoing formal or informal association of persons in which members or
associates individually or collectively engage in any of the following:

(
a
) Human
smuggling.

(
b
) Trafficking
of fentanyl or any other lethal drug for profit.

(
c
) Any act of
terrorism as defined in section 13-2301.

2. "Unlawful invasion"
means illicit activities of a drug cartel.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title
36, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 36-116, to read:

START_STATUTE
36-116.

Fentanyl; public health crisis

This state declares that the trafficking of
fentanyl across our border is a public health crisis. This state
further declares that overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids are primarily
driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The department shall do
everything within its authority to address this crisis.
END_STATUTE