New legislation in Arizona impacts housing affordability, deed fraud prevention and more

Multiple bills passed in the 2026 legislative session are expected to greatly impact Arizonans. Some of these bills include notable changes to housing affordability, small business health insurance and deed fraud prevention.

Alexis Glascock, Chair of the Government Relations and Regulatory practice group at Fennemore, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the impact of these bills and the notable changes.

New housing bills are being enacted to create a way to borrow money for infrastructure prior to the start of construction for housing developments, and new bills open the gate to making health insurance available for small business employees.

HB 2693 is legislation aimed at expanding health insurance access for small businesses.

“So the idea is that they will all be able to join together, and you’ll have insurance and a bigger pool of people. So these businesses would be able to offer it to their employees at a lower rate,” Glascock said.

Along with the housing bills, a Senate bill was introduced to reduce the opportunity for scammers to create and file fake property documents and decrease deed fraud. This bill will create extra precautions for people filing certain property deeds, including showing a valid photo ID in person and additional legal paperwork that must be submitted.

“This is what the bill does is it increases the penalty. It goes from a class one misdemeanor to a class five felony, so stronger teeth in the bill. Then also it creates a system where when you go in, you have the opportunity to go to the County Assessor’s website. It’s gonna be a new procedure, you go on, and not the County Recorder but the Assessor. You put in your name and you can register to get electronic notification if they change the deed or they change your mailing address,” Glascock said. 

Glascock added these bills were created with a goal of progressing economic development, supporting housing affordability and ensuring small businesses can offer health benefits to their staff.

Another notable piece of legislation will eliminate a multiple months-long waiting period for physician assistants to begin working in Arizona when moving from another state. These efforts will help in part to aide the gaps in health care for rural areas of the state.

Glascock noted these health care professionals would have to join a “compact” that stores information on required qualifications or any disciplinary measures.