Committee gives due-pass recommendation to bill shielding unpaid first-aid volunteers from licensing penalties

The Arizona House Committee on Regulatory Oversight on an unspecified date voted 5-0 to give House Bill 2052 a due-pass recommendation, clearing the bill that would exempt people from medical licensing requirements while providing basic first aid in good faith and without compensation.

House Bill 2052, explained to the committee by staff, “provides an exemption for medical licensing requirements for any person while they are providing basic first aid in good faith and without compensation” and defines “basic first aid.” The vice chair of the committee, Representative Collin, moved the bill forward.

The bill’s sponsor told the committee the measure is intended to reassure family members and neighbors that common, non‑professional care—such as providing over‑the‑counter medications or treating minor wounds—will not be treated as practicing medicine without a license. “Many people don't know this, but anytime that you give your kid an aspirin, you are breaking the law, and practicing medicine without a license too,” the sponsor said.

Public witnesses told the committee they provide first aid to people living in parks and on the street and said the bill would protect that work from local enforcement. Amber Hilker, identified in the hearing as a public commenter, said she asked Representative Collin to sponsor the bill after a friend who performs first aid for people experiencing homelessness was threatened with criminal trespass by park officials.

Lauren Brent Cobb, who introduced herself as the founder and field director of Trooper Care Network, described treating wounds, infections and traumatic injuries during weekly outreach and said city employees had stopped her while she was treating a bleeding person in a park. “This bill … allows people like me to provide first aid in the street, in the field, literally without having to meet some impossible license requirement,” Cobb said. She told committee members that outreach care can reduce disease transmission to the broader public.

Marcus Torke, identifying himself as a Phoenix resident from Legislative District 8, said he supports the bill both as a parent and because his experience observing outreach changed his views about community first‑aid volunteers.

Committee members asked about the scope of existing Good Samaritan protections. One member reported checking state law and said the only explicit Good Samaritan exemption they could find related to the use of an automatic external defibrillator. The committee also discussed how local enforcement decisions, such as the Phoenix Police Department’s stance, intersect with state law.

The roll call recorded: Representative Contreras — Aye; Representative Hernandez — Aye; Representative Kessel — Aye; Vice Chairman Collin — Aye; Chairman Chapnick — Aye. By that vote, 5 ayes, 0 nays, HB 2052 received a due-pass recommendation from the committee.

The bill does not take effect as law from the committee stage; further floor action and any amendments remain possible. Supporters said the measure is aimed at protecting volunteer and nonprofit outreach that treats minor injuries and infections outside clinical settings; opponents did not register at the hearing.