SB1515 • 2026

industrial commission; revisions

SB1515 - (NOW: public safety parity fund)

Budget Labor

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Timothy "Tim" Dunn
Last action: 2026-04-27
Official status: House committee of the whole
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text for Section 3 (Parity Compensation Fund) is truncated, so details on how that fund spends money are incomplete.

SB1515: Changes to Industrial Commission Rules and Creation of Public Safety Pay Fund

This bill changes how the Industrial Commission manages safety divisions, staff titles, and licensing, while also creating a new fund using investment earnings to provide retention pay for public safety workers.

What This Bill Does

Removes the power of the Industrial Commission to license private employment offices that connect employers with job seekers.
Renames the ICA Ombudsman to Resource Officer and expands their role to help people receiving any benefit under the commission, not just workers' compensation.
Moves boiler safety rules from ADOSH into a new Boiler Division led by a Chief of the Boiler Division.
Moves elevator and conveyance safety rules from ADOSH into a new Elevator Division led by an Elevator Division Chief.
Creates a Public Safety Parity Fund using investment earnings to provide retention pay for Department of Public Safety and State Department of Corrections employees.
Requires 40% of the money deposited in the Public Safety Parity Fund each year to be moved into the existing Parity Compensation Fund.

Who It Names or Affects

The Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) and its staff, including those renamed as Resource Officers.
Employers and employees subject to boiler safety or elevator safety regulations.
Employees in the Department of Public Safety and the State Department of Corrections who may receive retention pay.
Private employment offices that previously required licensing from the ICA.

Terms To Know

Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA): A state agency that handles workers' compensation, workplace safety rules, and wage disputes.
Public Safety Parity Fund: A new fund created to hold investment earnings for extra pay and benefits for public safety employees like corrections officers and police.
Resource Officer: The new name for the ICA Ombudsman, a staff member who helps people understand their rights under various labor laws managed by the commission.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not state when it will officially take effect.
The specific amount of retention pay for public safety workers depends on future comparisons to county jail and private prison wages.
The text provided cuts off before fully explaining how much money the Parity Compensation Fund can spend on law enforcement salaries.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HOUSE - Commerce - Strike Everything (Adopted)

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment changes how investment earnings from the state's budget stabilization fund are handled by requiring most of them to be sent to a new public safety parity fund.

Investment money earned by the budget stabilization fund must now go into the Public Safety Parity Fund instead of staying in the original fund.

The provided text is cut off at the end, so some definitions and rules are incomplete.
It is unclear if this amendment creates a new rule for all years or only applies to future earnings starting from a specific date because that detail was not included in the snippet.

HOUSE - Commerce - Strike Everything (Proposed)

Proposed

Plain English: This amendment changes how investment earnings from the state's budget stabilization fund are handled by sending most of them to a new public safety parity fund, while keeping the first $10 million in the original fund.

Investment money earned by the budget stabilization fund will now be deposited into a newly created Public Safety Parity Fund instead of staying entirely in the budget stabilization fund.
The first $10 million generated annually from these investments must remain in the budget stabilization fund before any extra amounts are moved to the new public safety fund.
A new section is added to state law to officially establish the Public Safety Parity Fund for providing retention pay and benefits.

The official text provided cuts off mid-sentence, so it does not fully explain which specific employees will receive money from the new public safety fund or exactly how much they might get.
Because the description of the Public Safety Parity Fund is incomplete in this document, we cannot list all its rules or purposes.

SENATE - Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency (Adopted)

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment updates the powers of Arizona's Industrial Commission, renames a specific helper role to 'Resource Officer' so they can explain more programs, and clarifies definitions for safety laws.

The text corrects spelling errors in the list of duties given to the commission, such as changing 'insuring' to 'ensuring'.
A new rule is added that allows the commission to share private documents with other government agencies if those agencies promise to keep the information secret.
The job title for a worker who helps people understand their benefits changes from 'ombudsman' to 'resource officer', and this person can now explain rules about labor programs too.
New definitions are added or updated in the law, including terms like 'Chief of the Division' and clarifying that self-employed people count as employers.

The official text provided ends abruptly while defining a 'model system', so it is unclear what specific rules apply to safety management systems.
Some parts of the amendment only fix small grammar or numbering mistakes, which do not change how the law works in practice.

SENATE - Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency (Proposed)

Proposed

Plain English: This amendment updates rules for Arizona's Industrial Commission to clarify its powers, rename a helper role from 'ombudsman' to 'resource officer', and add new definitions for safety terms.

The text corrects spelling errors in the commission's duties, such as changing 'insuring' to 'ensuring'.
It renumbers several list items describing what the commission can do to fix numbering mistakes.
A role previously called an 'ombudsman' is renamed a 'resource officer', and this person will also share information about labor programs.
New definitions are added for terms like 'Chief,' 'Director,' and 'Model system' to clarify who holds specific jobs.

The official text provided is cut off at the end, so the full definition of a 'model system' cannot be explained.
Some changes involve fixing small numbering errors that do not change how the law works in practice.

Bill History

2026-04-27 House
House committee of the whole
2026-03-31 House
House minority caucus
2026-03-31 House
House majority caucus
2026-03-16 House
House second read
2026-03-11 House
House Rules: C&P
2026-03-11 House
House Commerce: DPA/SE
2026-03-11 House
House first read
2026-03-03 House
Transmitted to House
2026-03-03 Senate
Senate third read passed
2026-03-03 Senate
Senate committee of the whole
2026-02-23 Senate
Senate minority caucus
2026-02-23 Senate
Senate majority caucus
2026-02-10 Senate
Senate second read
2026-02-09 Senate
Senate Rules: PFC
2026-02-09 Senate
Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency: DPA
2026-02-09 Senate
Senate first read

Official Summary Text

SB1515 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
RAGE��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� AS
PASSED BY COMMITTEE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1515

industrial
commission; revisions

Purpose

Makes various
changes relating to the regulatory statutes governing the Industrial Commission
of Arizona (ICA).

Background

The ICA is a regulatory agency that oversees various functions related to
labor and employment in Arizona. The ICA implements the constitutional
requirement to establish a workers� compensation program and is responsible for
issues regarding occupational safety and health, youth employment laws, wage
dispute resolutions, minimum wage, vocational rehabilitation and whistleblower
discrimination complaints.

The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) is established
within the ICA and, on behalf of the ICA: 1) recommends all standards, rules or
changes to the standards or rules to the ICA; 2) has the authority to enforce
all ICA-adopted standards or rules;

3) implements an occupational safety and health program that includes outlined
duties and responsibilities, such as providing consultation training services
to employers and employees and conducts inspections of workplaces; and 4)
administers the requirements for safety conditions for boilers and safety
conditions for elevators and conveyances (
A.R.S. Title 23, Chapter 2
).

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund
associated with this legislation.

Provisions

ICA Regulatory
Statutes

Removes the authority of the ICA to license and supervise the work of
private employment offices, bring together employers seeking employees and
working people seeking employment and make known the opportunities for
employment in Arizona.

Renames the ICA Ombudsman as the Resource Officer.

Requires the Resource Officer to assist recipients of benefits under the
ICA's purview, rather than only workers' compensation benefits.

Allows the resource officer to also provide information about the labor
programs under the ICA's purview and rules governing the ICA proceedings for
these matters.

Renames the ADOSH Director as the ADOSH Chief.

Requires the ICA to administer the boiler safety statutes through a
Boiler Division, rather than through ADOSH.

Designates the administrative duties under the Boiler Division to a
Boiler Division Chief.

Requires the ICA to administer the elevator and conveyance safety
statutes through an Elevator Division, rather than through ADOSH.

Designates the administrative duties under the Elevator Division to an
Elevator Division Chief.

10.

Requires
the ICA to post the schedule of fees for workers' compensation on its website
and prepare and file a notice of public information with the website address to
be published in the Arizona Administrative Register.

Definitions

11.

Defines

chief
, under the boiler safety statutes, as the Chief of the Boiler
Division.

12.

Redefines

division
, under the boiler safety statutes, as the Boiler Division.

13.

Removes
from the definition of
authorized representative
, under the boiler
safety statutes, the boiler chief.

14.

Defines

chief
, under the elevator and conveyances safety statutes, as the Chief
of the Elevator Division.

15.

Redefines

division
, under the elevator and conveyances safety statutes, as the
Elevator Division.

16.

Removes
from the definition of
authorized representative
, under the elevator and
conveyances safety statutes, the elevator chief.

17.

Removes
the definition of
director
from the boiler safety and the elevator and
conveyance safety statutes.

Miscellaneous

18.

Makes
technical and conforming changes.

19.

Becomes
effective on the general effective date.

Amendments Adopted by
Committee

�

Removes the requirement for a payment made in accordance with the
ICA Special Fund involving employees with a preexisting injury and that is not
included in the annual claim for reimbursement to be waived.

Senate Action

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Prepared by Senate Research

February 19, 2026

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Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB1515 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

industrial
commission; revisions

(now:� public safety
parity fund)

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SENATE BILL 1515

AN
ACT

amending section 35-144, Arizona
Revised Statutes; amending title 41, chapter 11, article 1, Arizona Revised
Statutes, by adding section 41-1610.02; amending section 41-1720,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to public monies.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

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

Section 1. Section 35-144, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
35-144.

Budget stabilization fund; definitions

A. The budget stabilization fund is established
consisting of monies transferred from the state general fund pursuant to
subsection B of this section. The state treasurer shall administer
the budget stabilization fund
,

and

invest and divest monies in the budget stabilization fund as provided by
sections 35-313 and 35-314.02, and
deposit, pursuant
to sections 35-146 and 35-147,
monies earned from investment

shall be credited to the budget stabilization fund
in the public safety parity fund established by section 41-1610.02
, except that the first $10,000,000 generated annually shall remain in
the budget STABILIZATION fund
. Except as provided by this section:

1. Monies in the budget stabilization fund are
exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to the reversion of
monies to the state general fund.

2. The monies in the fund are separate monies to be
used only for the purposes of the fund.

3. An amount sufficient to pay claims certified by
the state forester pursuant to section 37-1305, subsection E, paragraph 4
is continuously appropriated from the fund to the state treasurer for payment
of the certified claims. Not more than $20,000,000 in unreimbursed
claims may be outstanding from the fund at any time from the monies
appropriated pursuant to this paragraph.

B. In a calendar year in which the annual growth
rate exceeds the trend growth rate, the excess growth when multiplied by total
general fund revenue of the fiscal year ending in the calendar year determines
the amount to be appropriated by the legislature to the budget stabilization
fund in the fiscal year in which the calendar year ends.

C. In a calendar year in which the annual growth
rate is both less than two percent and less than the trend growth rate, the
difference between the annual growth rate and the trend growth rate when
multiplied by the total general fund revenue of the fiscal year ending in the
calendar year determines the amount to be transferred by the legislature from
the budget stabilization fund to the state general fund at the end of the
fiscal year in which the calendar year ends. The transfer calculated
pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed the available balance in the
budget stabilization fund, nor shall the legislature transfer an amount that
exceeds the amount sufficient to balance the state general fund budget.

D. The legislature shall pass a bill that contains
the emergency clause if the legislature either:

1. Reduces the amount for appropriation to the
budget stabilization fund under subsection B of this section.

2. Increases the amount for transfer to the state
general fund under subsection C of this section.

E. The annual budget recommendations of the governor
and the joint legislative budget committee shall include estimates of
appropriations or transfers required under subsection B or C of this section.

F. A final determination of the amount to be
appropriated to or transferred from the budget stabilization fund shall be made
using personal income and price deflator estimates as reported in the second
calendar quarter for the preceding calendar year. �The economic estimates
commission shall determine the annual growth rate, the trend growth rate and
the required appropriation to or transfer from the budget stabilization fund at
its first meeting following the second calendar quarter report of the United States
department of commerce, but not later than June 1. The commission
shall certify and report its findings to the governor, the state treasurer, the
president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the
joint legislative budget committee.

G. The appropriation calculated pursuant to
subsection B of this section may be included in the general appropriations bill
for that fiscal year. Any additional appropriation calculated
pursuant to subsection F of this section shall be made by a separate act.

H. At the end of a fiscal year, the budget
stabilization fund balance shall not exceed ten percent of state general fund
revenue for the fiscal year. Any surplus monies above ten percent
shall be transferred by the state treasurer to the state general fund.

I. The state treasurer may temporarily divest monies
in the budget stabilization fund to avoid a negative cash balance in operating
monies. The amount divested shall not exceed the amount required to
meet immediate cash needs. The state treasurer may divest monies in
the budget stabilization fund only when the state general fund has a negative
cash balance.

J. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Adjusted personal income" means
personal income minus transfer payments, as reported by the United States
department of commerce, bureau of economic analysis, or its successor agency.

2. "Annual growth rate" means the
percentage change in real adjusted personal income in the calendar year ending
during a fiscal year as compared to real adjusted personal income for the
preceding calendar year. The annual growth rate shall be rounded to
the nearest one-hundredth of one percent.

3. "GDP price deflator" means the gross
domestic product price deflator reported by the United States department of
commerce, bureau of economic analysis, or its successor agency.

4. "Personal income" means the total
personal income of all persons in this state reported by the United States
department of commerce, bureau of economic analysis, or its successor agency.

5. "Real adjusted personal income" means
an amount that is determined by dividing adjusted personal income by the GDP
price deflator and multiplying the result by one hundred.

6. "Transfer payments" means that portion
of personal income that represents a government expenditure for which no
service is rendered or product is delivered, as determined by the United States
department of commerce, bureau of economic analysis, or its successor agency.

7. "Trend growth rate" means the average
annual growth rate for the most recent seven calendar years, rounded to the
nearest one-hundredth of one percent.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 41, chapter 11, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1610.02, to read:

START_STATUTE
41-1610.02.

Public safety parity fund

A.
The public
safety parity fund is established to
provide retention pay and benefits for employees from the department
of public safety
and the state department of
corrections
. �The fund consists of monies earned from
investment from the budget stabilization fund established by section 35-144.
�The state department of corrections shall administer the fund. �Monies in the
fund are subject to legislative appropriation.

B. Beginning June 30, 2027 and Each
fiscal year thereafter, the state department of corrections shall deposit,
pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, forty percent of the monies
deposited in the public safety parity fund established by this section in the
parity compensation fund established by section 41-1720.

C. In determining the amount of the
expenditures from the fund, the state department of corrections shall annually
establish and consider benchmarks based on the average total compensation for
each comparable corrections personnel rank of the two largest county jails in
this state and the two largest private prisons in this state.

D. The state department of corrections shall distribute the
Monies in the fund on july 1 and december 31 each year. �The state department
of corrections may provide a retention bonus to department employees of not
more than three percent from fund monies.

END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 41-1720, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
41-1720.

Parity
compensation fund

A. The parity compensation fund is established
consisting of monies deposited pursuant to
section

sections
28-5808
and 41-1610.02

and monies appropriated by the legislature. The department shall
administer the fund and, considering state revenues and state employee pay
adjustments
,
. The department
shall
spend monies from the fund
to provide retention pay and benefits
for employees from the department and
for salaries and benefits for law
enforcement personnel that the department determines will enhance the ability
of the department to successfully recruit and retain qualified law enforcement
personnel. In determining the amount of the expenditures from the fund, the
department shall annually establish and consider benchmarks based on the
average total compensation for each comparable law enforcement personnel rank
of the department's three largest county or municipal peer law enforcement
agencies in this state. For the purposes of this subsection,
"total compensation" includes base salary, educational incentive pay,
physical performance pay, longevity pay and retirement contributions made by an
employer on behalf of an employee.

B. On notice from the department, the state
treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313,
and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.

C. Fund monies:

1. Do not revert to the state general fund.

2. Are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190
relating to lapsing of appropriations.

3. Are subject to legislative appropriation.

D. The department may provide a
retention bonus to department employees of not more than three percent from
monies deposited in the fund pursuant to section 41-1610.02.
END_STATUTE