Arizona Legislature

HR 224, the Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act, modifies how income is calculated for housing assistance programs by requiring that veterans' service-connected disability compensation (from the VA) be excluded when determining eligibility for low/moderate income housing. This directly affects disabled veterans who receive VA disability payments, ensuring these funds do not count against them for housing assistance under HUD programs. The bill amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to mandate this exclusion in income calculations. Additionally, it requires a report within one year examining how disability compensation is treated across HUD programs and recommending improvements to better serve veterans.

La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act This act directs the Department of the Interior, after receiving a request from La Paz County, Arizona, to convey approximately 3,400 acres of identified land managed by the Bureau of Land Management to the county for fair market value. Interior must exclude from the conveyance any federal land that contains significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources. As a condition of the conveyance, La Paz County and any subsequent owner must make good faith efforts to avoid disturbing tribal artifacts; minimize impacts on tribal artifacts if they are disturbed; coordinate with the Colorado River Indian Tribes Tribal Historic Preservation Office to identify artifacts of cultural and historic significance; and allow tribal representatives to rebury unearthed artifacts at, or near, where they were discovered. The federal land is withdrawn from the operation of U.S. mining and mineral leasing laws, and thus the land is not available for new mining claims, new mineral or geothermal leases, nor sales of mineral materials. The county must pay all costs related to the conveyance.

Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025 This act extends and modifies the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, under which states and counties containing certain federal land may receive payments from the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for schools, roads, and certain other municipal services. The act modifies the SRS program, including by extending payments made to states and counties containing federal land through FY2026, providing lapsed payments for FY2024 and FY2025, extending the authority of counties to initiate projects using such funds through FY2028, and extending the authority to initiate projects proposed by resource advisory committees through FY2028.

Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act of 2025 This act modifies the procedures by which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reissues misused benefits to a beneficiary, including by requiring the VA to establish methods and timing with respect to determining whether an instance of misuse by a fiduciary is the result of negligence by the VA. The act also provides that if a beneficiary predeceases a reissuance, the VA must pay the amount to a surviving beneficiary in the same method as certain other VA benefits are paid upon the death of a beneficiary. Under the act, the VA may not withhold the reissuing of a benefit payment by reason of a pending determination regarding the VA's negligence in relation to the instance of misuse by a fiduciary. Additionally, the VA is not required to make a determination regarding its negligence for each instance of misuse by a fiduciary of all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such fiduciary.

Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act This act provides for the award of Congressional Gold Medals to the members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team in recognition of the team's achievement at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.