Committee backs $1 million to Maricopa County for patient‑brokering probes

Sen. Karen Warner urged the committee to approve SB 11‑14, which would appropriate $1,000,000 from the state general fund in fiscal year 2027 to the state treasurer for distribution to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to investigate behavioral‑health patient brokering. "Bad actors would come in and they would get behavioral‑health licenses… they would buy white vans and go pick up Native Americans from the reservations and bring them into the city," Warner said, describing testimony and oversight findings that motivated the bill.

The bill sponsor said the allocation responds to oversight of what she called fraud and exploitation of vulnerable patients; she told members the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has capacity and has been consulted, and that pursuing individual county investigations was fiscally impractical. Members asked why the Attorney General was not designated to lead statewide enforcement. Warner said the AG has not acted on this issue and that the county attorney had agreed to investigate statewide.

Damien Carpenter of Access was not the primary witness for this bill; committee discussion focused on jurisdictional and practical questions about statewide enforcement. Opponents or members seeking changes asked for clarity on coordination with the Attorney General and assurances that the appropriation would support investigative capacity rather than creating overlap.

The committee voted to return SB 11‑14 with a due‑pass recommendation after Vice Chair moved the motion and a roll call (final tally recorded as 10 ayes, 1 nay, 1 present). The recommendation advances the bill to the next legislative step; proponents said it will enable prosecutions of patient brokers, while skeptics urged clearer coordination with statewide law‑enforcement offices.

The committee did not adopt any amendments on the floor during this hearing. The next procedural step is committee report and subsequent consideration by the full House.