Teenage Driver Safety Act (2007)
This bill puts reasonable restrictions on brand new teenage drivers under the age of 18 for the first six months after receiving their license. Other states with teen restrictions have shown a marked decrease in  fatal accidents among this population. The bill restricts the number of teens who can ride with the new driver to one passenger, but there is no restriction on family members. The bill also restricts the teenager from driving between the hours of midnight and 5:00 a.m. unless going to a school, work or church sanctioned activity. This is a "secondary offense" law, which means a teen would have to be stopped for some other violation in order to be cited. There are fines and additional months added to the teen restriction for violating the law. The bill was signed by the Governor.
 

County Recorders; Social Security Numbers (2007)
This bill will help prevent identity theft. It requires Maricopa and Pima Counties to redact all social security numbers that are currently on their public websites, and requires all counties to redact social security numbers from public records before putting records on line. Small counties are also required to remove all social security numbers that are on line currently by request (most small counties are just beginning to post records on the Internet and currently only have a small number of records online). The Governor has signed this bill.
 

Recorded Liens; Invalid documents (2007)
This bill gives the County Recorders the authority to refuse to accept invalid liens. Up until now, liens were being recorded that were not valid. There was a system in place to fight the lien, but no system to allow the lien to be refused by the Recorder when it was clearly invalid. This made no sense and this bill corrects the problem. The bill was signed by the Governor.
 

CPS Investigations; Other jurisdictions (2007)
This bill requires Child Protective Services (CPS) to contact other states during an investigation if it becomes known there is a history of abuse in another state. If there are substantiated cases of abuse, that information is required to be used by CPS and the courts when deciding the placement of a child. This bill is known as "Haley’s law" - Haley was a little girl who died because CPS refused to contact Florida for the records that would have shown she was potentially in danger in the custody of her mother. The bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Timely Medical Payments; Workers Compensation (2007)
This bill addresses the problem of workers compensation insurance carriers not paying doctors and hospitals in a timely manner. It is similar to the law passed in 2000 which addressed the problem in the private sector. Insurance carriers now must pay within a specified time frame and have to pay interest if the payments are late. The bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Antifreeze, Aversive or Bittering Agent (2007)
This bill requires a bittering agent be added to antifreeze. There has been a significant problem with pets and small children ingesting antifreeze because it has a very sweet taste. The bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Job Training Fund Extension (2007)
This bill extends the Job Training Fund and adds some protections for small business and rural business. The bill sets aside 25% of the fund for small business and 25% of the fund for businesses in rural Arizona and keeps unused monies in the Fund for future use of these entities. The bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Trespassing Illegal Aliens (2006)
This bill makes it a state crime to enter into or to be in Arizona while in violation of the federal immigration laws. The purpose is to have a second line of defense to protect Arizona when illegals get past the border patrol. Currently, when illegals are found running across the desert near the border, in drop houses or crowded into vans, police say they do not have the authority to hold the them until the Border patrol or ICE come, nor do they have the authority to transport them to Border Patrol or ICE. The police say this occurs because they do not have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. This bill would allow them to enforce State law. The law would give the authorities the choice of arresting the individuals or transferring them to the federal agency with jurisdiction. This bill was vetoed by the Governor.
 

Sentencing Third Felony offenses (2006)
This bill requires anyone convicted of a third violent felony be sentenced to life imprisonment regardless of where the first two felony convictions occurred. The only release possible would be after serving 35 years and only upon the commutation of the sentence by the Governor. The purpose of this legislation is to identify and remove from society persons whose conduct continues to threaten public safety through the commission of violent felonies. This bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Wine Shipment: Limited Production Winery (2006)
This bill allows people to order wine directly from both in-state and out-of-state wineries as long as those wineries are wineries which produce fewer than 20,000 gallons of wine a year. The wineries would have to obtain a domestic farm winery license and collect taxes for Arizona. The wine can only be delivered to an adult who is over 21 and shows a picture ID. The wineries would also be able to deliver directly to retailers without first going through a wholesaler. This bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Personal Identifying Information records: disposal  (2006) 
This bill requires all businesses and all government entities to redact or to destroy any documents containing a person's social security number, credit card numbers or other personal identifying financial information before disposing of those documents. This bill was a strike-everything amendment that I sponsored and put onto a House bill. This bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Personal Identifying Information: Recorded Documents  (2006)
This bill requires any document that is recorded on a public website be redacted of social security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal financial identifying information before the document is recorded. This bill was signed by the Governor.
 

AHCCCS: Temporary Medical Coverage Program (2006)
This bill would allow a person who has become disabled and unable to work and who has been receiving AHCCCS as a result of the disability to buy into the AHCCCS program if they have lost AHCCCS eligibility as a result of receiving Federal SSDI payments. Currently, the Federal Government gives someone disability payments but does not give them Medicare until they have been disabled for two years. The SSDI payments often put someone just slightly over the AHCCCS limit and the person is left with no health insurance for that two year period. This bill would allow the person to purchase, on a sliding fee scale, AHCCCS coverage for the two year period until Medicare kicks in. This bill was signed by the Governor.
 

Structural Pest Control Licensure Exemption (2006)
This bill allows a person who functions as a gardener to use products that are commercially available to the general public to spray weeds during the course of their work. This applies only if long as weed control is incidental to their work and that they notify the owner that weeds have been sprayed. They would be able to do this without having to have a license from the Structural Pest Control Commission. This bill was signed by the Governor.
 

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Increased Penalties for Meth Crimes (2005)
This legislation deals with the terrible problems that are created by the use of Meth in our society. It limits the amount of pure pseudoephedrine that can be sold at any one time, acknowledging the fact that this product is used in the manufacturing of Meth. It limits the amount of pseudoephedrine a consumer may purchase to 9 grams. It also requires stores to keep those pseudoephedrine products behind a counter .More importantly, this bill focuses on very strong penalties for those people who cook and sell meth.  The bill requires a presumptive sentence of ten years for anyone selling meth or cooking it. Probation will not be allowed.  

When deciding on bail, the judge will be instructed to take into account the fact that these people pose a danger to society and rule accordingly. If a person is cooking meth in the presence of a child, the presumptive sentence will be twenty years, no probation and possibly no bail. If the person is cooking meth in the presence of a child and the child is harmed, the sentence will be life imprisonment, no probation and possibly no bail. The bill also allows DHS to fund prevention programs so that people understand how dangerous meth use is. Meth is highly addictive and causes violent and paranoid behaviors.
 

Small Business Investments; Tax credits (2005)
This legislation encourages investment in technology- based start up companies in Arizona. Arizona start- ups do not have access to enough early stage capital, known as pre seed, seed or angel funds. To encourage the availability of this type of funding, investors will be eligible for a 30% tax credit over a three year period if they invest in small technology companies and a 35% tax credit if the investment is made is a bioscience or bio tech companies or in rural Arizona. The State has invested in research in our Universities but when it comes time to commercialize the ideas, the capital is not available and new companies are forced to look elsewhere for funding. Arizona invests in the research and another state reaps the benefit of the commercialized product. This legislation is designed to help these companies stay, grow and create high paying jobs in Arizona.

School Skin Cancer Prevention (2005)
This bill requires all public schools to incorporate skin cancer prevention instruction into existing curricula in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. “The Sunwise Program” is provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency free of charge to schools. It gives children the basic facts about skin cancer, including the negative impact of human exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunburns and tanning, and instruction on how to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

Arizona has the highest rate of skin cancer in the United States and the second highest rate in the world behind Australia. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 80% of a person’s lifetime exposure to the sun occurs within the first eighteen years of life. Effective sun protection during these years is projected to reduce the number of lifetime cancers by almost 80%. Arizona is the first state to pass legislation to make sure children learn the proper way to protect themselves from skin cancer. Barbara knows this legislation will make a significant difference in people's lives and is proud to be its sponsor.
 

Uninsured Motorists (2005) 
Senator Jim Waring and I co- sponsored this bill. The legislation increases the penalties for driving without insurance and requires the courts to impose the fines.  The law previously stated that the courts may impose fines but this legislation states the courts shall impose the fines. The fine for a first offense is $500, the second offense is $750, and the third and subsequent violations are $1000. The legislation also requires the impoundment of the vehicle for thirty days if the driver is in an accident and does not have insurance and a valid driver's license. In addition, under current law, a vehicle shall be impounded if a driver is driving on a suspended or a revoked license. This legislation adds that the vehicle shall be impounded if the driver has no license.
 

Registrar of Contractors; penalties (2005)
This legislation corrects loopholes in the law regarding contractors who are working on suspended licenses. There were no penalties for continuing to contract after your license was suspended.  Under this legislation, the civil penalties will be up to $1,000 per violation. This legislation also requires the Registrar to maintain a website of people who are knowingly contracting without a license. This gives the public a place to check before hiring someone. The legislation also requires the Registrar to refer criminal violations to the local prosecuting authority. This legislation was brought forward by constituents in the Arcadia area who were having very serious problems with the remodels in their area.
 

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1. Grounds for cancellation – addresses problems new home buyers experience when their insurance company cancels their homeowners insurance after they have moved into the home, based on information found on a CLUE report.
2. Premium increases – protects homeowners from rate increases due to claims of less than $500 for which the insurance company has not made a payment. Learn more . . .

Direct Wine Shipments (2003)
This bill allows out of State wineries to ship wine to Arizona when people have visited their winery. Currently they cannot do this  It also allows in-State wineries to ship wine. Learn more . . .
 

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Protecting your property and consumer rights (2002)
Barbara is well-known for working on behalf of her constituents and passed three bills in 2002 to protect your rights as a property owner and consumer:

1. Eminent Domain – For the first time, private property owners now have some legal protections when a government entity tries to take their land for a public purpose. The condemning authority is now required to give notice before filing an action; pay to the owner the full “market value” for the property; and pay all court costs if it changes its plans and does not proceed with the taking.
2. Vehicle Salvage Titles – As a result of this bill, you now have the security of knowing exactly what you’re getting when buying a used car. Previously, insurance companies were legally allowed to apply for "clear" titles on recovered stolen cars even if the air bag system had been removed, rendering the car structurally damaged and unsafe to operate. This law requires a recovered stolen, damaged car to carry a "salvage" or "restored salvage" (if it was repaired) title so the buyer is aware of the car's history. 
3. Pool Construction - Pool builders can no long require more money upfront than the value of the work performed. This bill was a result of disreputable builders taking large amounts of money then leaving town - literally leaving people "high and dry" with only a hole in the ground after they had paid for the pool. This solution was developed in cooperation with the pool industry to ensure their needs are met while protecting consumers at the same time.

Arizona's New Economy (2001)
Technology and the Internet have spawned a worldwide economic transformation that affects every person, every job. To help define the "New Economy" for Arizona, Barbara served on the Governor's Arizona Partnership for the New Economy (APNE), one of the broadest economic assessment efforts of its kind. 

During the 2001 legislative session, Barbara served as APNE's Legislative Hot Team Chairman and was responsible for securing funding for assessments of telecommunications infrastructure for small and rural communities, and high tech clusters which attract high paying, quality jobs to Arizona. 
 

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