ARIZONA STATE SENATE
RESEARCH STAFF
TO: MEMBERS OF THE SENATE
TRANSPORTATION, TECHNOLOGY &
MISSING CHILDREN COMMITTEE
DATE: February 13, 2024
SUBJECT: Strike everything amendment to S.B. 1216, relating to online use
Purpose
Establishes a state preemption on the regulation of, and prohibits monitoring, the online
use or speech of a state employee.
Background
An employee is an officer or employee of Arizona or any of its departments, commissions,
agencies or boards and includes employees and officers of community college districts, school
districts and counties of the state and law enforcement officers of a city or town but does not
include officers or employees of a municipal corporation established for the purpose of reclamation
and distribution of water and the generation of electricity (A.R.S. § 38-531).
Except to the extent required in conjunction with an agency-approved research project or
other agency-approved undertaking, an employee of an agency must not knowingly use
agency-owned or agency-leased computer equipment to access, download, print or store any
information infrastructure files or services that depict nudity, sexual activity, sexual excitement or
ultimate sexual acts. Agency approvals must be administered, in writing, by the agency head and
are available for public inspection. An employee who violates the prohibition may be subject to
discipline or dismissal.
An agency is all offices, agencies, departments, boards, councils or commissions of the
state, state universities, community college districts, legislative agencies and all departments or
agencies of the Arizona Supreme Court or the court of appeals. Information infrastructure is
telecommunications, cable and computer networks and includes the internet, the world wide web,
UseNet, bulletin board systems, on-line systems and telephone networks (A.R.S. § 38-448).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
Provisions
1. Prohibits the state, a city, town or county or a political subdivision of the state from monitoring
the online use or speech of an employee.
2. Establishes a state preemption on the regulation of the online use or speech of an employee of
the state, a city, town or county or a political subdivision of the state.
3. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
KIYAHNA J. ARAZA
LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST
TRANSPORTATION, TECHNOLOGY &
MISSING CHILDREN COMMITTEE
Telephone: (602) 926-3171