HB 2030 Arizona House · 57th Legislature - First Regular Session

impersonation; veteran; armed forces

HB 2030 makes it a crime to falsely claim veteran status or military honors for personal gain. The bill prohibits pretending to be a veteran to obtain jobs, government contracts, benefits like healthcare or education, or to falsely wear military awards (such as the Medal of Honor or Purple Heart) or alter military documents. Violations are classified as felonies (ranging from class 4 to class 2 depending on the value of benefits obtained), and elected officials convicted under this law must be removed from office within 10 days of sentencing. The law directly affects individuals who impersonate veterans and aims to prevent fraud in accessing veteran-specific benefits and privileges.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 7, 2025 Last action Mar 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → House Engrossed Version · 5 edits · Feb 11, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted and significantly rewritten to change the crime of impersonating a veteran from a felony to a misdemeanor for basic offenses, while introducing new specific prohibitions against claiming certain military credentials and adding exemptions for actors and homeless individuals soliciting small donations.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include specific prohibitions against pretending to have graduated from military academies, claiming certain military ratings or specialties, and falsely claiming combat veteran status, while also adding exemptions for actors and homeless individuals.

REQUIREMENT

The offense of impersonating a veteran was downgraded from a Class 4 felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor, with felony charges only applying to benefits valued at $500 or more or political campaign impersonation.

The threshold for felony charges was increased from $5,000 to $500, making more impersonation cases potentially subject to felony penalties.

DEFINITION

New specific prohibitions were added against pretending to have graduated from military academies, claiming military ratings or specialties not obtained, and falsely claiming combat veteran status.

ENFORCEMENT

A new requirement was added for prosecuting agencies to obtain certified separation documents from the military or National Archives before filing complaints, with certified documents serving as a complete defense.

ELIGIBILITY

New exemptions were created for actors playing veterans in entertainment productions and for homeless individuals soliciting donations under $50.

Floor votes · House Feb 11, 2025

How they voted

58–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 60

Feb 11, 2025

D Democratic27

26 Yea 1

96% Yea

R Republican33

32 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

PASSED

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

Jan 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors