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Committee advances bill barring state contracts with companies tied to foreign adversaries, prompting public-safety and procurement concerns
Summary
House Bill 25-42 would prohibit state agencies from contracting with companies identified as foreign adversaries; supporters framed it as a national-security measure while police associations and some local-government groups warned of operational disruption and costs.
House Bill 25-42, which would prohibit a state agency from awarding contracts for goods or services to a company identified as a foreign adversary, was advanced out of committee after advocates stressed national-security risks and law-enforcement organizations urged careful analysis of operational and fiscal impacts.
Sponsor Representative Diaz described the bill as a national-security measure aimed at preventing hostile foreign access to critical infrastructure and law-enforcement tools. He cited concerns ranging from routers and telecom gear to drones, cameras and embedded chips, and described meetings with cybersecurity educators and national-security advisors.
The Arizona Police Association testified in respectful opposition as written, arguing the bill’s broad “goods and services” scope could disrupt public-safety operations and create an unfunded liability for agencies that rely on equipment currently manufactured abroad; the association urged a targeted, analyzed approach and asked for cost estimates. County and municipal procurement concerns were echoed by other witnesses.
Witnesses from StateArmour and related security groups urged stronger measures, citing U.S. federal warnings about Chinese-made networking equipment and recent federal cybersecurity notices about embedded backdoors in medical devices and routers. They recommended state-level restrictions to reduce dependencies.
Committee members discussed tradeoffs: some viewed the measure as necessary precaution and supported immediate action; others warned of unintended consequences, costs to police departments and local government and the need for careful analysis. The committee recorded a due-pass recommendation with a split roll-call vote.
Ending: HB 25-42 advanced out of committee. Sponsors and opponents agreed on the need for further fiscal and operational analysis; members directed follow-up on fiscal notes and exemption language for critical public-safety operations.
