HB 2926 Arizona House · 57th Legislature - Second Regular Session

housing; contractors; bonds; taxes

HB 2926 streamlines workforce housing development by allowing builders to start erecting homes (vertical construction) while utility improvements (horizontal construction) are ongoing, provided plans are approved, infrastructure is secured, and safety is certified. It requires cities to create expedited permitting processes for these projects, including faster reviews, reduced fees, and dedicated contacts. The bill also establishes a rural contractor license that waives exams for qualified out-of-state license holders (with four years of experience), restricts work to rural areas (counties under 100,000 residents), and expires in 2029. Additionally, it updates bond approval rules for single-family home financing, mandating governing body review of detailed plans before bond issuance.

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 29, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → House Engrossed Version (02/26/2026) · 8 edits · Feb 26, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was significantly rewritten to simplify the text and lower the income threshold for workforce housing from 120% to 150% of the area median income. It removed specific requirements for municipalities to allow concurrent vertical construction and engineer certifications, replacing them with a mandate for municipalities to establish an expedited permitting process. The tax exemption for workforce housing development was also added to the prime contracting classification.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed by removing the requirement for concurrent vertical construction and broadened by increasing the income eligibility threshold for workforce housing from 120% to 150% of the area median income.

ELIGIBILITY

The definition of 'workforce housing' was changed to include households earning up to 150% of the area median income, an increase from the original 120%.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for municipalities to allow vertical construction to begin before horizontal infrastructure is complete was removed.

The requirement for a registered engineer to certify that concurrent construction does not pose a public safety concern was removed.

Municipalities are now required to establish a dedicated expedited plan review and permitting process for workforce housing projects.

The requirement for municipalities to coordinate permit tracking with the Arizona Department of Housing was removed.

The requirement for municipalities to provide reduced or deferred plan review fees was removed.

FISCAL

A new tax exemption was added to exempt the gross proceeds from developing workforce housing projects from the prime contracting sales tax.

TIMELINE

The deadline for municipalities to establish an expedited process was changed from 'within twelve months' to a general mandate without a specific deadline.

Floor votes · House Feb 26, 2026

How they voted

37–16

Passed · 7 other

Total votes 60

Feb 26, 2026

D Democratic27

7 Yea 15 Nay 5

55% Nay

R Republican33

30 Yea 1 Nay 2

90% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

PASSED

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors