Committee advances bill to create Arizona Office of Defense Innovation inside Arizona Commerce Authority
Summary
House Bill 2872 would establish an Arizona Office of Defense Innovation within the Arizona Commerce Authority to help state companies pursue Department of Defense contracts and coordinate defense-related R&D work across universities and industry. The committee adopted an amendment removing an initial $350,000 appropriation and then returned the
The House Science and Technology Committee voted to give House Bill 2872 a due-pass recommendation after testimony from defense-sector advocates who said Arizona risks losing federal research and procurement opportunities without a centralized state office to coordinate defense-innovation efforts.
House Bill 2872, sponsored by Representative Wilmeth, creates an Arizona Office of Defense Innovation to be housed at the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). The office would serve as a liaison between the state and the U.S. Department of Defense, help Arizona-based companies pursue federal defense contracts, identify and support emerging technology, and build university-industry collaborations to attract research-and-development funding. The introduced bill included a $350,000 one-time appropriation from the general fund for fiscal year 2025–26; the committee adopted an amendment removing that appropriation.
Sponsor Wilmeth argued Arizona has major military installations and an established aerospace and defense sector and said a centralized office would help the state compete for federal funding and retain defense-related jobs. "You have to have a central repository of practice," Wilmeth said, arguing the office could coordinate work among universities, agencies and businesses.
Speakers supporting the bill included representatives of Southwest Mission Acceleration Center and several small defense-tech companies. Drew Trojnowski, who testified for industry groups, said Arizona currently lacks a single coordinating body and cited national trends of other states creating similar offices. "You need to have a central office to do that," Trojnowski said, pointing to the state's $17 billion defense impact and approximately 300,000 jobs in the defense ecosystem.
Opponents were not recorded in committee testimony. Members questioned whether the ACA was the right home; proponents said ACA's economic-development role and public-private structure made it a logical place. The committee adopted the Wilmeth amendment removing the appropriation and returned the bill with a due-pass recommendation by roll call (7 ayes, 2 nays, 0 present, 0 absent).
The committee record contains industry testimony arguing a centralized public-private effort could help small and mid-size Arizona companies navigate federal procurement and build a stronger pipeline from university R&D to defense contracts.
