Arizona’s current legal requirements for posting printed notices in newspapers of new business startups creates needless work and publication expenses for new business startups, makes it outrageously time consuming and expensive for citizens to find the notices and makes it too easy for a business to inadvertently or purposely conceal its printed notice’s location.

Finding printed public notices in Arizona newspapers is like playing “Where’s Waldo” on a statewide basis. The only ones who benefit are the newspapers that rake in advertising revenue.

Under current law, new for-profit and non-profit businesses and organizations must publish their articles of incorporation to announce their formation in a newspaper of general circulation. The process is costly and time consuming at a time when time and money mean the most to new startups.

The newspaper chosen does not have to be anywhere near the business’ location (just in the same county) and can have a miniscule circulation. The newspaper only has to meet the law’s definition of a general circulation paper. For example, a business starting in Gila River can comply with current law by purchasing print ad space in The Arizona City Independent of Arizona City, a weekly paper 90 miles and a two-hour drive away with an anemic circulation of 568. A new business in Tuba City can legally post its ad in the Southern Utah News of Kanab, Utah, a mere 150 miles and two and a half hours away! A recent posting in The Fountain Hills Times announced a business startup in Peoria.

Newspaper print ads are also NOT timely. A business does not have to post its first ad for two months. In addition, in order to monitor all of the possible newspapers where a business posting could legally appear, a citizen would have to subscribe to 80 Arizona and Nevada newspapers at an expense of thousands of dollars per year.

Unlike Arizona’s state government, these newspapers come and go and are under no obligation to safely archive their ads, especially after they go out of business. This is important because, nation-wide, newspapers are failing at an historically high rate because of the Internet and the public’s changing media viewing habits. Today’s newspaper archive may be tomorrow’s landfill compost.

HB2554 addresses these problems. Under its provisions, the Arizona Corporation Commission, at NO COST to businesses, will post new business notices automatically on its website within five days of the filings approval. The notices will be digitally searchable by business name, location and date of application.

HB2554 does NOT change any of the print ad requirements for cities, towns, counties, districts, courts, state government or ANY government entities. It recognizes the needs of citizens without Internet service to view printed public notices concerning government meetings, budgets, etc. in their local newspapers.

HB2554 simply replaces costly, time consuming and often impossible to locate newspaper print ads, which are of little interest to the average person, with FREE postings on a permanent, speedier, less time consuming, digitally searchable web-based system maintained by the Arizona Corporation Commission on their easily located website.