2025 Legislative Session Wrap-Up: Strong Year for Housing Progress
The 2025 legislative session delivered multiple consequential wins for the Arizona housing and apartment industry, as lawmakers passed a trio of critical bills championed by the Arizona Multihousing Association, which also worked vigilantly to kill a flood of harmful anti-housing industry proposals.
Despite a conflict-filled 169-day session marked by 174 gubernatorial vetoes – a new record –, three of AMA’s top-priority bills were signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs, helping to streamline local approvals, expand multifamily development options, and protect property owners from unjust liability.
Signed Into Law: HB2068, HB2110, HB2447
- HB2068 (Kupper) provides long-sought-after liability protection to property owners in cases where a tenant’s service or assistance animal causes injury to another resident, their pet, or the property. The legislation ensures property owners and managers aren’t unfairly exposed to lawsuits when accommodating individuals with disabilities. Signed by Gov. Hobbs May 13.
- HB2110 (Biasiucci) requires Arizona’s largest cities — those with populations above 150,000 — to permit multifamily development or adaptive reuse on at least 10% of commercial, office, or mixed-use parcels. Cities cannot cherry-pick which parcels qualify or exclude sites based on ambient noise levels below 65 decibels. The law took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature on April 7 and is retroactive to January 1, 2025.
- HB2447 (Carbone) streamlines local approval processes by requiring city staff — not elected officials — to approve site plans, lot line adjustments, and design reviews based on objective standards. Public hearings are no longer needed in these cases. Signed March 31.
41 Harmful Bills. All Dead.
This year’s session again saw a torrent of anti-housing proposals. AMA tracked and opposed 41 bills that would have added costly mandates, restricted property owner rights, or undermined the state’s landlord-tenant framework. Many proposals sought to impose new burdens on the rental housing industry under the guise of resident protections — but would have ultimately reduced housing supply and discouraged private investment.
Among the defeated measures:
- HB2337 and SB1177 attempted to override Arizona’s longstanding ban on local rent control ordinances.
- HB2538 and SB1186 would have required property owners to accept federal housing vouchers, regardless of program delays, red tape, or the substantial risk of nonpayment.
- HB2444 aimed to undo recent legislative gains that expanded local planning tools for residential development.
- SB1580 proposed new fee disclosure requirements and financial penalties for violations, complicating lease enforcement.
Thanks to aggressive, early engagement from AMA’s advocacy team, and strong partnerships with housing allies on both sides of the aisle, not a single one of these bills made it across the finish line.
Modest Budget Gains, Lingering Challenges
The bipartisan $17.6 billion state budget included targeted investments in homelessness response, eviction prevention, and shelter operations. While AMA welcomed this progress, the decision not to renew the state’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program remains a missed opportunity to accelerate affordable housing production at scale.
In sum, the 2025 session marked a clear step forward, with major policy wins, broad bipartisan cooperation on key legislation, and a strong defense against counterproductive proposals. With the Legislature now on hiatus, our focus will turn to local implementation, city-level reforms, and building on our momentum at the state level – until it’s time to do it all over again next year..
Rest assured, AMA and our partners remain committed to continuing the fight — for more housing, smarter policies, and a stronger Arizona.
