The Arizona House Rules Committee voted 5-3 to recommend that a package of measures "are constitutional and in proper form," after the committee's rules attorney warned members about implementation language in the fee bill and a single-subject issue in a criminal-justice measure.

Tim Fleming, rules attorney, told the committee that the fee bill (listed in the mass motion as "House Bill 29 47") contains implementing language that, in some line items, could go beyond a "pure appropriation." "It's an issue to be aware of for members," Fleming said, citing Arizona Constitution provisions that limit appropriation bills to "nothing but appropriations." He identified specific examples in the draft: training requirements and website-development language in the Department of Child Safety appropriation, restrictions tied to out-of-state correctional beds in the Department of Corrections appropriation, and a therapy-services implementation clause in the School for the Deaf and Blind section.

Fleming also raised a single-subject concern about House Bill 29 51, which he described as a criminal-justice measure that nonetheless included a provision on a nuclear emergency management fund administered through DEMA. "We were hard pressed to figure out how that related to criminal justice and courts," Fleming said, and he said a floor amendment relocating the provision to an environment measure was expected and would address the concern.

Representative De Los Santos, explaining her nay vote, criticized the committee's process and substance. "A big yikes what we just heard. This presents a dangerous cocktail of bad process, terrible policy, and a litany of unconstitutional provisions. I vote no," she said.

After the discussion the committee proceeded to a roll call on the motion to recommend the measures in the mass motion as constitutional and in proper form. The committee recorded five ayes and three nays. Recorded votes in the transcript were:
- Representative Carbone: Aye
- Representative Contreras: Nay
- Representative De Los Santos: Nay (explained vote)
- Representative Mathis: Nay
- Speaker Montenegro: Aye
- Representative Willoughby: Aye
- Representative Maxim: Aye
- Chairman Hendricks: Aye

Chairman Hendricks announced the result: "By your vote of 5 ayes, 3 nays, you've recommended that the measures in the mass motion are constitutional and in proper form." The committee then adjourned.

The items discussed were procedural and constitutional in nature; Fleming emphasized that challenges over whether implementing language converts appropriations into policy questions have limited case law but do raise potential separation-of-powers and single-subject risks that members should monitor as the measures move to the floor. He also noted concerns about post-appropriation legislative review language that could be read as a legislative veto, referencing late-1980s attorney general opinions on separation-of-powers risk.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: a floor amendment was anticipated to move the nuclear emergency management fund language out of the criminal-justice bill and into a more appropriate vehicle, and the mass-motion package will proceed to the floor with the committee's recommendation.