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House of Representatives
February 1, 2023
Rep Shepherd: I invite the members, staff, press, and guests in the galleries to stand and be led in prayer by Representative Rick McClure, and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to be led by Representative Lane Jean.
[Prayer]
[Pledge of Allegiance]
Rep Shepherd: Members, please indicate your presence by pushing your yellow present button. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 98 members present, the Chair sees a quorum. Are there any requests for leave? Representative Fortner, for what purpose?
Rep Fortner: Leave.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Fortner: Leave for Representative Deborah Ferguson.
Rep Shepherd: Is leave granted for Representative Deborah Ferguson? So noted. Representative Ken Ferguson, for what purpose?
Rep K Ferguson: Leave.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep K Ferguson: Leave for Representative David Whitaker.
Rep Shepherd: Is leave granted for Representative Whitaker? So noted. Representative Jeffrey Wardlaw moves we dispense with the reading of the previous day’s journal. Without objection, so ordered. Are there reports from select committees? Read the reports, Madam Clerk.
Madam Clerk: Mr. Speaker, we your Committee on House Rules to whom was referred Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, House Bill 1177, beg leave to report that we have same under consideration and herewith return with the recommendation that it do pass.
Rep Shepherd: Are there any reports from standing committees? Read the reports, Madam Clerk.
Madam Clerk: Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on House, Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs, to whom was referred to House Bill 1267, beg leave report that we have same under consideration and herewith return with the recommendation that it do pass. Respectfully submitted, Charlene Fite, presider.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on House, Aging, Children and Youth, and Legislative Affairs, to whom was referred House Resolution 1008, House Resolution 1010, that we have same under consideration and herewith return with the recommendation that it do pass. Respectfully submitted, Vice-Chair, Julie Mayberry.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, to whom was referred House Bill 1182, beg leave to report that we have same under consideration herewith return the same with the recommendation that it do pass as Amended Number 2. Respectfully submitted, Representative Fortner, Chair.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on Insurance and Commerce, to whom was referred House Bill 1265, beg leave report that we have under the same consideration and herewith return with the same recommendation that it do pass. Respectfully submitted, Representative Maddox, Chair.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on City, County and Local Affairs, to whom was referred to Senate Bill 43, beg leave report that we have the same consideration and herewith return with the recommendation that it do pass as Amended Number 2. Respectfully submitted, Lanny Fite, Chair.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on City, County and Local, to whom was referred House Bill 1196, beg leave report that we have the same consideration and herewith return with the same recommendation that it do pass as Amended number 1. Respectfully submitted, Lanny Fite, Chair.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on City, County and Local Affairs, to whom was referred House Bill 1175, House Bill 1258, House Bill 1318, beg leave report that we have under the same consideration and herewith return with the same recommendation that it do pass. Respectfully submitted, Lanny Fite, Chair.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, to whom was referred House Bill 1198, beg leave report that we have had under the same consideration herewith return with the same recommendation that it do pass. Respectfully submitted, Representative Tosh, Chair.
Mr. Speaker, we, your Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, to whom was referred House Bill 1248, beg leave report that we’ve had under the same consideration and herewith return with the same recommendation that it do pass as Amended Number 1. Respectfully submitted, Dwight Tosh, Chair.
Rep Shepherd: Is there any unfinished business? Are there any executive communications? Members, we do have a guest with us today, a guest of Representative Joey Carr. We have Joe Fondren, he is in the East gallery. And then also, I’m getting this second hand, but I asked Glennon to join us here today but I understand his daughter Rita recently won two Emmys, is that right? [applause] She works for TNT Sports. I think she used to work for ESPN. So I wanted to make sure we recognized him and please let your daughter know we’re very proud. Morning hour has ended. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1042.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1042 by Representative Allen. To enhance coverage of prostate cancer screenings by health benefit plans.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Allen, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Allen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in 2009, this body passed an act known as Act 75. Act 75 has saved many lives from emotional hardship and financial burdens of prostate cancer. Simply, Act 75 required that insurance companies pay for prostate screening for all men that needed it or wanted to get it done, and that’s simply what this act did.
Now I’m here today as a prostate cancer survivor to make sure that we continue to do the things that we did back in 2009. Today I simply want to make sure that this act would meet the current National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. So nothing in the bill has changed. Only thing that we’re going to do is bring it up to date to make sure that it meets the current guidelines of 2023. Prostate screening will remain the same. The language in the bill will remain the same and so that’s simply what I’m asking you all to do today. So I appreciate a good vote on this bill.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Allen has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Allen is closed for the bill, the question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1042. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 95 yeas, 0 nay, and 0 present, the bill has passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1156.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1156 by Representative Bentley. Concerning our public school district or open-enrollment public charter school policy relating to a public school student’s sex.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Bentley, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Bentley: Good afternoon, colleagues. I hope everyone is doing well. I just want to publicly say thank you to ARDOT for doing a phenomenal job of getting our highways clear because they must have been up all night long. The highways were great this morning. So I just want to publicly tell them thank you for all of their hard work and for their families missing them all night long, I’m sure.
House Bill 1156 is a very common-sense bill. It simply requires our schools set up a policy with the boys go to the boys’ bathroom, and the girls go to the girls’ bathroom. And those people that are uncomfortable in that situation will be provided with reasonable accommodations for them to have a place where they can feel safe to go to the restroom as well. It covers locker rooms, overnight stays. Pretty much that’s the bill in a nutshell.
This common-sense bill is to protect the safety of our students, was brought to me by the school board members in Conway where I now cover. When they passed this policy they’ve had in place for years, the same policy but when they put it in writing they just were inundated with emails, with FOIA requests, and just really just unable to concentrate on teaching students because they had to deal with the distraction of passing this policy. That’s why I think it’s important for us to pass a state policy where school boards can focus on educating their students and doing what they need to do to make sure we have good education going on in the school.
Anyway, each school child in our school has a right to privacy and to feel safe and to feel comfortable in the bathroom they need to go to. Unfortunately, many of our students have suffered sexual abuse. Having a member of the opposite sex in that bathroom at the very least would make them feel very uncomfortable.
As I campaigned for office, parents in my district were very concerned what they had heard in Virginia about a young boy who was claiming to be a girl at that point. And went to the girl’s bathroom and raped a young girl. And unfortunately, the school covered it up and then went to another school and did the same thing. Our parents don’t need to worry about their girls being raped at school.
It’s not always a transgender person, it’s a person that takes advantage of the opportunity to prey on our girls and our boys. So this is a very simple common sense bill to address that issue and make our school boards where they can focus on educating our students and not have to face the harassment that our school board did in Conway.
So this bill does not discriminate against anyone. It’s not unconstitutional. In a recent ruling in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, a Florida law very similar to this law was upheld in court and found not to be unconstitutional. I believe this bill is sound on constitutional values and will protect our kids and keep our school boards again focusing on educating our students and not being distracted by other things. And with that, I’ll be happy to take a couple questions if anybody has a question.
Rep Shepherd: Representative McCullough, for what purpose?
Rep McCullough: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep McCullough: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Bentley, who’s in charge of enforcing this policy in the schools?
Rep Bentley: Would be a principal. As you can see we have new enforcement mechanisms to make sure the principal, the superintendent, and the teachers and parents will also be able to reach out to the school board if they need to. So as you can see, it’s enforced by the teachers, the principal, and the superintendent.
Rep McCullough: A follow-up, Mr. Speaker? How is that going to happen though logistically if superintendent and principal are doing their jobs in their offices, teachers are teaching? I mean, I don’t understand, is there going to be a guard at the bathroom?
Rep Bentley: Well, I know that right now our teachers are facing a lot with vaping. So about every school that I go to the door’s wide open and there’s somebody monitoring everybody comes in and out of the bathroom now because facing the vaping issue. So the people that are in all these schools, they know their students, they know who’s who in their school and they’ll be able to monitor just like they do with any other issue that they deal with on the school level.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Springer, for what purpose?
Rep Springer: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Springer: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Bentley, I attended the hearings on last week with respect to this particular bill and there were a lot of concerns that were voiced during that meeting. And particularly I was concerned about the one voiced by the ACLU. Does this bill address the concerns that were voiced by that organization?
Rep Bentley: Yes it did.
Rep Springer: Can you tell me how?
Rep Bentley: That’s why I said the ruling– the 11th Circuit Court has already ruled that this bill is very much the same wording that was used in Florida. And the 11th Circuit Court held it up as far as Title IX and all that goes. I can read you some but it definitely is covered what happened in that court case.
Rep Springer: Follow up, Mr. Speaker?
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Springer: They didn’t mention the 11th Circuit. They talked about other circuits that accepted the position that they were voicing. So it wasn’t the 11th Circuit, they spoke of other circuits. So can you speak to the other circuits that they brought to your attention?
Rep Bentley: I think we all know the 8th Circuit Court is more conservative than the 11th Circuit. So if the 11th Circuit passed it, we’re going to be very confident the 8 Circuit is going to be fine with that as well. Again, I’m not a lawyer but it’s covered well. This is supported like I said by our new Secretary of Education. They’ve all looked at the wording and think it’s just fine. It’s very much constitutional. Title IX, I know that our current president tried to address that but it’s not. Title IX says we can use different bathrooms for different sexes so it’s very much been– the whole thing has been held constitutional when it went through court. And I’m going to pass this, I’m not a lawyer. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Bentley has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative McCullough, you’re recognized to speak against the bill.
Rep McCullough: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to ask you all what are we focused on and why? The governor told us right here that her number one priority this session was to work on education. And that means school districts need to be well funded, teachers are well paid, students have what they need to be focused on learning. This bill does the opposite of that. Instead of focusing on keeping our schools on track, principals, superintendents, and teachers will have to worry about how to keep their bathrooms in regulation. Instead of focusing on instruction and lesson plans, teachers will have to worry about policing children going in and out of bathrooms. Instead of focusing on learning, playing sports, having fun, many of our kids will have to worry about being singled out just for wanting to feel comfortable using the bathroom.
We can’t say we’re here to provide for our children and teachers and then turn around and pass bills like this. These bills are distracting us from what we’ve been sent here to do. The people of Arkansas sent us here because they want to find solutions to the problems they face. When I talk to my constituents they worry about many things but I never hear anything about bathrooms. I do not hear educators in my district talking about this issue either but in the last couple of weeks when they’re reading the newspaper that’s all they’ve been reading about. They’re paying attention and they’re seeing a bunch of people who are focused on the wrong things.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, the kids targeted in the bill are not the problem, they’re the victims. I defy you to find one instance of a kid in Arkansas trying to take advantage of gender identity to get into a bathroom. It’s simply not something that’s happening. We know what’s happening, if you look at statistics on this issue it paints a clear picture. Transgender kids are already a vulnerable group and are much more likely to get bullied, have thoughts of suicide, and feel uncomfortable using a bathroom.
These bills hurt students’ academic achievement and the educators held accountable for student successes. And discriminatory policies affect more than just grades, LGBTQ students who experience discrimination like being prohibited from using the restroom report higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem. If this does pass we know what will happen, and it won’t have anything to do with bathrooms. Someone’s going to sue, it’ll be blocked. One day we’ll look up and we’ll see that the taxpayers of Arkansas have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.
The Attorney General should be focused on protecting Arkansans from fraud and spam calls, not defending bills like this. When I listened to the testimony in committee I heard a common thing among the sponsors and presenters. They use words like enforcement and policing to describe this bill. They defended this bill by saying that teachers will be the ones enforcing this new law. They’ll be the ones policing the halls and making sure everyone uses the correct bathroom. It was said that teachers know every student in the school. Even in the smallest school I ever taught in I did not know every student.
And even if teachers could know them all, it’s not their job. When I was a teacher, kids often joked about a school feeling like a prison but when we talk about school like this, how can we blame them? If you know anyone who’s a teacher you’ll know how much focus it takes, whether inside the classroom or outside of contract time working on lesson plans, it takes a lot of time and energy to do it effectively. The last thing teachers want or need is to worry about policing bathroom activities. They need to be focused on educating our kids and we need to be focused on legislating real problems. So I ask for a no vote on this bill.
Rep Shepherd: Representative McCullough has spoken against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Crawford, you’re recognized to speak for the bill.
Rep Crawford: Hello friends. You know, there are some things in life that you have to do and then there are some things in life you don’t or shouldn’t have to do. One of those is riding a motorcycle in the rain. The other is making a law where girls go to girls’ bathrooms and boys go to boys’ bathrooms. For those who don’t think that it’s a problem or an issue in Arkansas let me enlighten you. We have a charter school in Fort Smith who called me about this bill that just added on to their campus. And one of the things they added on was a neutral gender bathroom. I’d never heard of that. It has seven stalls, seven sinks, seven mirrors, nine cameras, and then something for vape to see if people are vaping. I said how can you have cameras in bathrooms? I thought that was against code but I guess code has been changed. These are designed so that they’re safer for the children.
For those who think it’s okay to let girls go to boys’ and boys go to girls’ bathrooms, let me tell you Isaac’s story. He’s in the sixth grade at a middle school in Fort Smith. He was in the bathroom and a girl comes out of the stall and he said what are you doing in here? When I told that story I was asked well, did he feel unsafe? I said no, he felt violated. Well, did he see the young girl urinate? I don’t even know.
With the changing trends in society maybe the charter school in Fort Smith has part of this right. Let’s duplicate their bathrooms. Let’s do the floor-to-ceiling stalls. Let’s do the cameras but instead of gender-neutral, let’s make them gender specific. That way people are still– we can have the cameras in the bathroom so the kids are still protected. That way we wouldn’t have to rebuild or spend a lot of money on bathrooms, we just enhance what’s already there in the schools.
The reality is transgender people entering private areas, restrooms, locker rooms, showers, is not the biggest issue here. Once we open the door and allow boys to go to girls’ and girls to go to boys’ bathroom we are putting our children in danger of being violated and raped. It’s our job as adults to place boundaries. It’s our job as legislators to put laws in place to protect our children so that the schools are not fearful of being sued when they have the restroom policy the way it’s been since creation, male and female. I ask for a good vote for House Bill 1156. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Richardson, for what purpose? Representative Crawford has left the well. Representative Crawford has spoken for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Flowers, you’re recognized to speak against the bill.
Rep V Flowers: Colleagues, I was going to stay in my seat but I felt that I needed to clarify something since I was there in Committee. I’d first like to say that it’s been a long time since I’ve been a student in school and the school board member or board members that came from Faulkner County were pretty compelling to me. I talked with one of them afterward who was a physician, who himself said that he’s a physician, he treated transgender– he had transgender patients and was very sensitive about the issue and I believe him. The other school board member asked us to think about daughters or think about any of us who were in the changing, an athlete and had to change in a locker room. And I shared that day that I remember being a young girl and not wanting to participate in athletics because I didn’t want to be in a changing room with anybody.
I don’t know what it’s like to be a student today but I do know that something that was real when I was a student and something that’s still real that we passed laws about that are not being enforced and that’s a much greater issue that I’ve heard from my school board about and that’s bullying. That’s one of the compelling issues, the most compelling issues that I heard about from people who addressed us that day in Committee. I’m concerned about the suicide of students who are feeling and experiencing something that none of us in this room have to think about, not as that child or as their parents.
And the two other issues that I think are important, especially to those of us who are legislators and took an oath about three weeks ago to uphold our State and our Federal Constitution, is that there are challenges and there are conflicts. There is not only one appellate court that has supported such a law but there are two others who have ruled against the law. I believe that we heard that the 4th and the 7th Circuits ruled against this issue.
And then finally, local control. You’ve heard from several members or at least one of our colleagues who said that she hadn’t heard from her school district. I haven’t heard from mine. And I know that there are many, many school districts who don’t have the resources to enforce this law or to make changes on their campus. So bullying, local controls, and constitutional issues are why I will vote present today. And I ask that those of you who are not certain about these other issues join me and vote present as well. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Clowney? Representative Flowers has spoken against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Bentley, you’re recognized to close for the bill.
Rep Bentley: I wish we didn’t have to pass this bill, colleagues. I wish it wasn’t necessary but in the day and time that we live it is necessary and it’s very important that we keep all of our kids safe. And there’s reasonable accommodations for those that feel uncomfortable. Everybody that testified in committee, that’s the one thing they asked for was a private place and reasonable accommodations for those that didn’t feel comfortable in the boys’ and the girls’ bathroom. A very simple bill, I think it’s very well received and wanted across the state. And with that, I’d appreciate a good vote. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Bentley is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1156. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 80 yeas, 10 nays, and 5 present, the bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1157.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1157 by Representative Bentley. To require public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to provide information to public school students regarding water safety education courses and swimming lessons.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Bentley, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Bentley: Thank you, Speaker. Colleagues, I enjoy going to our National Association of Christian Lawmakers meeting, and this summer when I was there I got to hear from a woman who tragically lost her 19-month-old child in a drowning death. And since that time she took that pain and has really been a champion to make sure what we could do to stop drowning in America. So she presented a bill that had recently passed in Florida called Every Child a Swimmer.
And when I got back here I reached out to Matt Gilmore in Department of Health and said how many people do we have drowning in Arkansas? Let’s get the statistics for Arkansas. And every year we have on average 40 a year, 40 people drowning in the State of Arkansas. In fact, it’s really the number one cause of an unintentional death in children one to four each year. So I got to looking at the bill that she presented in Florida and thought what we could do here in Arkansas to make a difference.
Nearly 54% of adults in Arkansas do not know how to swim. If we can teach everyone to swim it reduces the chances of drowning by 88%. So what can we do? A very simple bill here, this bill is called Every Child a Swimmer, and it simply asks our school districts at the end of the year, throughout sometime during the year to either do a handout or something on a website that they have to just show where in our district can we get swimming lessons and some simple water safety.
I know I have been the champion so I don’t want to put unfunded mandates onto our schools. The last thing I want to do but there’s a great amount of help available for each one of our school districts with Every Child a Swimmer, that will individually help our school districts if they need it and the bill will work with the Department of Education to get information from not only the Health Department but also Game and Fish has some good education that we can put out to our kids. So again I’d hate to put unnecessary things on our schools but I think this would be a great way for them to maybe do some studies and some research for their students throughout the year. And let’s talk about water safety a little bit in school and use it throughout the school year.
Also Every Child a Swimmer has scholarships available. So if we don’t have swimming lessons in our area, they have some scholarships available to make that happen. When I get through looking at the bill I thought we have none in Perry County where I’m at. So I’m already working with our state park there to see what we can do to make that happen in Perry County. So this is a way for us to get the education out there, maybe decrease drowning in our state and that’s what this bill is about. And be happy to take questions.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Allen, for what purpose?
Rep Allen: A question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Allen: Thank you, Representative Bentley, for this bill. I have a question, it’s just very simple. Is this something that the school district can work with the local Boys Clubs, the YMCAs, and other organizations that might have swimming facilities to teach these kids how to swim during the summer or make them aware of the dangers of not being able to swim?
Rep Bentley: Yes, definitely. Also like I said, there’s scholarships available through Every Child a Swimmer and help the Boys and Girls Club to help those kids that don’t have the money to pay for swimming lessons, to help pay for those kids that don’t have the funds to do so. Any other questions? I’d appreciate a good vote. Thank y’all.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Duke, for what purpose?
Rep Duke: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Duke: I just wanted to clarify, the local school district, to what degree are they responsible for pushing out the information? Are they compiling it? Kind of came from the question that Representative Allen asked, is that their responsibility? Is it coming from the state level? To what degree are they responsible?
Rep Bentley: The Department of Ed is going to help them in that. We’ll work that out through the Rules but the Department of Ed, the Department of Health. So we’ll gather it up together. So they will have to reach out to the Department of Education to get the information but we’ll have it gathered for them. And again we will– Every Child a Swimmer, Casey McGovern asked for them to give out her personal information. They could call her specifically and she will help them gather the information that they need. So I’m not trying to add extra burden, trying to make it as easy on our schools as we can.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Moore for what purpose?
Rep Moore: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Moore: Thank you, Mr. Chair, how does this affect rural school districts in which there are no public swimming facilities or even swimming lessons that can be found in that county or school district?
Rep Bentley: So there’s absolutely no repercussions. It’s just a way for us to say there is none here. So maybe someone in the community will take it upon themselves to maybe help bring some. So again, it’s an education thing to find out. Like I said, I realize there’s absolutely none in Perry County. So I’m doing what I can to make that happen. So there’s absolutely no repercussions on the school if there’s no swimming lessons available. Just trying to get education out there what is available for them to take. And hopefully, make available the scholarship program that’s there so maybe someone will want to reach out and start one.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Wardlaw, for what purpose?
Rep Wardlaw: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Wardlaw: We already demand a lot out of our schools which is one of the problems. It’s hard to get teachers and it’s hard to get employees. I mean, is this not just another mandate coming from the legislature on the schools? It just scares me in that fact.
Rep Bentley: No. I appreciate that. And I think you and I have been on the same page of that. I don’t like to do unfunded mandates but I don’t think a one-hour phone call from somebody that works for the school to put that on their school website. They don’t even have to print anything they can just put it on their school website. I think one hour is all it would take for them to call Department of Ed. We’ll have everything gathered together for them or a quick phone call to Casey McGovern with Every Child a Swimmer for them to either put it on their website or to hand out a flier at the end of the school year.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Rose, for what purpose?
Rep Rose: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Rose: Representative Bentley, is the intention behind this to save lives?
Rep Bentley: Yes, sir.
Rep Rose: Thank you.
Rep Bentley: With that, thank y’all. I’d appreciate a good vote.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Bentley has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Bentley is closed for the bill. Representative Flowers is recognized to speak for the bill.
Rep V Flowers: I’m just coming up to be on the record. I ran in to Committee and thought I was voting on a different bill and voted no. So with my vote yes that would have made it unanimous. So I just wanted to be on the record to support this bill and ask that you vote yes.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Flowers has spoken for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Bentley is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1157. Madam Clerk, prepare the machine. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 77 yeas, 8 nays, and 5 present, the bill has passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1238.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1238 by Representative Cozart. To amend various provisions of the Arkansas code concerning enhanced transportation funding amounts and to declare an emergency.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Cozart, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Cozart: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s one thing I want to guarantee y’all, I will not talk anywhere close to that fast when I’m presenting this bill. We love her but boy, when a guy doesn’t hear well and he got hearing aids, that is fast. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to present our enhanced transportation bill that we do every two years. And this is for our schools for their transportation for their school buses to be able to afford to run their routes that they run. And we have done this since 2017 when Senator Cheatham and I got together and decided we needed enhanced transportation. That year started out at $3,000 and it has bumped up, cost of living and inflation and all the things that it takes and more schools being involved and we’ve been able to add quite a few.
I’ve had a lot of questions– not really a lot, but a few questions on why this is different every time, why these numbers are different. And your school may get more money or may get less money. I’m going to try to explain that because I’ve had a few people ask me. So I don’t want to try to hide anything. Everybody wants to know what the formula is. There’s no formula. It’s all about how the schools spend that money that they get for transportation. So you get $321 per student for each student in your school for transportation funding. And then we turn around and we give extra money.
So if your school uses that transportation funding money and they use it all up, then they’re run out. But a lot of them don’t use it all up, or they use another form of funding which could be foundation funding in a different source, enhanced transportation funding. Such as growth or declining enrollment, or isolated funding. If they use those monies it doesn’t show up as transportation money so that causes them a little bit of overage in their transportation fund.
This last session, we’ve had federal funds, ESSER funds, and even maybe Rescue funds that they could have used to buy buses or do some stuff in that way, so that also harmed some of the schools through that. So every school is a little different. I have all the lists here. I’m not going to go through it but if anybody wants to you can look at it, see where your school is. This is something like I said this is first year’s like almost a little over $0.5 million, the next time it’s a little over $700 million and something– I’m sorry, not half a million but $500 million, and the next time it’s a little over $700 million something. No, I’m wrong, I got to back up again. I’m thinking of the big budget and I got to go back to the little one. It’s a little over $500,000 increase, and then the next time it’s $750,000 increase to make up $7.2 million the first year and $8 million the second year is what it would be. So I’ll be glad to take any questions.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Breaux, for what purpose?
Rep Breaux: Okay, a question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Breaux: I got to wondering about school superintendents, well, Eureka Springs in fact, he said if they have a good formula on that I’d like to know. Nobody can explain it. I got it wrote down right here what he sent me but he said we never get it each year but the schools Berryville and Green Forest get it every year. If somebody could explain to me what the formula is. He said I hadn’t found anybody that could explain the formula to me.
Rep Cozart: I just did.
Rep Breaux: Okay.
Rep Cozart: There is no formula. It’s all about how they spend the money that they get. If they don’t spend it all then they do not get any enhanced, they do not need it. So let’s say your school had X amount of kids and they get $321 for each one of those kids and that amounts up to be $5 million. I don’t know how much it would be, but let’s say it was $5 million. And they only use $4.5 million of that money. Well, they don’t need any extra money. So they may have used some other money to make that work that way but if they would have used all of that $5 million, plus some more money, and they reported it as transportation funds, that’s when they start getting the money. And you could have two schools side by side, they all do it differently. That CEO of that school knows how to work those things and we’ve taught them how to do that, and they should know how to make it work but some don’t.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Springer, for what purpose?
Rep Springer: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Springer: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Cozart, how did you know that I was going to ask you to explain the formula today about this funding?
Rep Cozart: You didn’t ask me. Somebody else did.
Rep Springer: Well you did. Thank you very much.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Cavenaugh, for what purpose? You’re recognized.
Rep Cavenaugh: Representative Cozart, I just want to make sure I understand. So we have the transportation funds that they get per student. If they spend all that and they report it then they get money above it?
Rep Cozart: Yes, they can. They can get money above that. If they spend more than that, yes.
Rep Cavenaugh: How do we know what they spent?
Rep Cozart: It goes through the reports that they go through – and I may say the wrong system – and some of you superintendents, what’s that system y’all use to report through? APSCN or something like that? Okay, yeah it’s through a finance deal. They have to put all their records through. I know that name has changed since I remember but they have to put those through the records. And it goes through every year on exactly what they’ve spent their money for and that’s why they have to come before budget or before audit if they don’t do it right.
Rep Cavenaugh: Follow-up. So technically, if we had a school that wanted to get this they could submit that they spent more on transportation than they really did and they could get funds that they didn’t necessarily qualify for?
Rep Cozart: Yes, they would have to use all of their transportation money that they’re given on the $321 and record that they’ve used all of that on that. And if they had any overages on that, that reflects how they would draw that next money.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Beaty, for what purpose?
Rep Beaty: A question.
Rep Shepherd: Recognized.
Rep Beaty: Representative Cozart, on these additional funds that are given, are these restricted funds that can only be utilized on transportation? And if they’re not spent, are they carried over? Are these funds some of the additional funds that can be transferred to say the building fund at the end of the year?
Rep Cozart: No, they cannot. They’re used for transportation. It has to be used for that. If they’re carried over they would be used on the next year’s transportation. So that’s what I said, they’re recorded and that might make the difference on what you would get next year too. So I’d appreciate a good vote. Thank y’all.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Cozart has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Cozart is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1238. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Voting on the Bill and the Emergency Clause. Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 95 yeas, 0 nay, and 1 present, the bill and Emergency Clause are passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1108.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1108 by Representative Ladyman. To modify the number of members of the Arkansas Dietetics Licensing Board that constitutes a quorum and that may call a special meeting, and to authorize use of the email for renewal notices.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Ladyman, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Ladyman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, this bill is basically a cleanup bill brought to me by the Department of Health. It concerns the Dietetics Board. Act 540 of 2017 reduced the number of members of the Dietetic Board from seven to five. However, the number required for a quorum was not reduced. So this bill reduces the requirements for a quorum to three. Most of the language is just clean up. One other thing I’ll tell you that it does, it allows the use of emails to be sent out for license renewal and that’s basically what the bill does. I’d appreciate a good vote.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Ladyman has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Ladyman is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1108. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 96 yea, 0 nay, and 0 present, the bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1250.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1250 by Representative Johnson. To amend the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Advisory Committee and to amend the confidentiality of the providing of information by the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Johnson, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep L Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, the Arkansas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is one of our best tools in fighting the opioid epidemic. This bill adds two members to the Advisory Committee. One would be a member of the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership. The other would be an OB-GYN. One of the issues that we’re seeing is we’re seeing more and more babies born with opioid withdrawal symptoms. And so adding an OB-GYN to the membership of this committee also makes some sense because they have some insight to this unique problem.
Additionally, it gives access to the prescription monitoring program to our medical examiner, our state medical examiner for criminal investigations and death investigations. So we’ve had an issue at times with reporting of opioid overdoses because of the stigma associated with that. This gives our medical examiner another tool to look into these deaths. And it also clarifies who the Department of Health may share this information with, allowing them to share it with a Mortality Review Committee who is designated to investigate a death. And I would be happy to answer any questions. Seeing none, I appreciate a good vote. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Johnson has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Johnson is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1250. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 96 yeas, 0 nay, and 0 present, the bill has passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1251.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1251 by Representative Johnson, to clarify that the criminal background checks apply to all emergency medical services personnel and to amend the criminal background check law to include offenses prosecuted in other states or by federal courts.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Johnson, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep L Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, currently the Department of Health is required to do criminal background checks on emergency medical personnel. There’s been some question as to whether they can extend that beyond the current state to other states. This just allows them to do a more extensive criminal background check in other states as well as in Arkansas. And I’d be happy to take any questions.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Wardlaw for what purpose?
Rep Wardlaw: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Wardlaw: Were the nurses and doctors not already required to have a background check for licensure? And does this add another background check on top of that?
Rep L Johnson: No, this is specific to EMTs– to emergency medical personnel. And it’s not an additional background check, it’s just making it clear. So there’s been some times where people have moved in from out of state, we’ve been able to run a background check on them criminally in Arkansas but not been able to look outside of Arkansas to other states where they might have committed a crime. So it’s not adding another background check to any other personnel, it’s just enhancing the authority of the Department of Health to do a more extensive background check. Any other questions? Seeing none, appreciate a good vote. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Johnson has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Johnson is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1251. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 96 yeas, 0 nay, and 0 present, the bill has passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1004.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1004 by Representative Ray. To amend the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997 to include disclosure of a sex offender’s address to the public and to declare an emergency.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Ray: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, this is a public safety bill that was brought to me by our sheriff in Faulkner County, Tim Ryles. The bill would require collection and publication of the full physical address of each sex offender that’s required to be on the Sex Offender Registry. So what Arkansas currently does is we collect the street or we publish the street name and the block number but not the full physical address, including the house number, or if applicable the apartment or unit number.
We are one of only four states in the entire country that does not collect the full physical address or publish the full physical address I should say. Maine and Washington State are the only states that use street name, and block number like Arkansas does. And Vermont is the only state that actually publishes less information than we do.
So what that looks like in practice is the registry may tell you there’s a sex offender living in the 200 block of Oak Street, for example but that could be potentially as many as 100 different houses that that person could be living in. And if you live in an apartment complex with potentially hundreds of units, good luck knowing whether that level three or four sex offender is living all the way on the other side of the apartment complex or if they’re just on the other side of the sheetrock from your unit.
There are innumerable instances in which you may want to know if there is a sex offender living at a particular address. If you’re taking your kids trick-or-treating, if you’re a political canvasser going door to door. I think about the people that were canvassing my neighborhood last week trying to sell me solar panels. There’s all sorts of instances in which people would want to know this information.
The purpose of the Sex Offender Registry is to provide people, innocent people with the information they need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. And that’s why law enforcement supports this bill, it’s been endorsed by the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association, as well as our Attorney General. With that, I’d be happy to take any questions.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Cavenaugh for what purpose?
Rep Cavenaugh: Question.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Cavenaugh: Thank you. Representative Ray, just one quick question, and this is because I know that the State sometimes doesn’t have the best record-keeping ability. We seem to have some issues with our database and keeping accurate information. Is there any safeguards in there that if say mistakenly my address got published in there that I can get it corrected?
Rep Ray: I have to imagine there is a way that you could have an address removed if it were incorrect. I’m not aware of what that procedure looks like, but it’s a good question.
Rep Cavenaugh: Thank you.
Rep Ray: All right, with that, I’d appreciate a good vote.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Ray has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Ray is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1004. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Voting on the Bill and the Emergency Clause. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 84 yeas, 9 nays, and 1 present, the Bill and Emergency Clause are passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1245.
Madam Clerk: House Bill 1245 by Representative Dalby. To require a legislative study of financial matters related to the court system and to require consideration of the legislation necessary to address issues identified during the study.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Dalby, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Dalby: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, House Bill 1245 is simply a bill for a legislative study of the House by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees as to the funding of our court system. That’s simply all it does. It has the support of the Administrative Office of Courts, the Municipal League, and the Association of Counties. What we plan on looking at will be the funding sources of the court system, collection, and distribution of those systems, and the financial matters related to the court system, that’s simply all this bill does. With that, I would appreciate a good vote.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Dalby has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Dalby is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1245. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 96 yeas, 0 nay, and 0 present, the bill has passed. Madam Clerk, please read Senate Bill 58.
Madam Clerk: Senate Bill 58 by Representative Wooldridge. To create a student and apprentice level of licensing in the massage therapy profession.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Wooldridge, you’re recognized to explain the bill.
Rep Wooldridge: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, Senate Bill 58 is a Department of Health bill. It adds no additional fees to the process. Obviously, I’m the new guy. It allows massage therapy programs to do background checks before students or apprentices touch or practice on members of the public. It also allows students to work for six months while they are studying for their licensure exam. With that, I’d appreciate a good vote. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Wooldridge has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Pilkington, you’re recognized to speak against the bill.
[laughter]
Rep Pilkington: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I literally just got off the phone with someone about this bill. It’s why I’m out of breath. So on page line, it talks about direct supervision, and maybe Representative Wooldridge can direct this but in Committee, Department of Health the direct supervision did not require the massage therapist to be in the room with the apprentice at the time that the massage was taking place. That according to the rules and regs do not seem to be accurate and so I would like some clarity on that. I ran in here.
So it’s on page three, can you please address the issue when it comes to direct supervision because if that’s the case, and we’re putting this into the law, what it’ll do is it’ll actually hinder the ability to have multiple students working on doing massage at the same time. So if you could please address that for me that would be great because we just obviously don’t want any unintended consequences. I didn’t mean to speak against your bill. You ran out of the well. I was on the phone. Just things happen. So appreciate it.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Pilkington has spoken against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Wooldridge is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of Senate Bill 58. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. Has everyone voted? Has everyone voted? Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With a vote of 66 yeas, 18 nays, and 7 present, the bill is passed. Representative Meeks, for what purpose?
Rep Meeks: A motion, please.
Rep Shepherd: Let’s hear your motion.
Rep Meeks: After the announcements, reading of the bills, transferring the bills, placing the calendars on the desk, members amending their own bills, their own amendments, members withdrawing their own bills, finalizing resolutions, reading communications, and any remaining Committee reports, I move that we adjourn until 11 AM tomorrow morning.
Rep Shepherd: That’s a proper motion. It’s not debatable. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Any announcements? Representative Holcomb, for what purpose?
Rep Holcomb: Announcement.
Rep Shepherd: Recognized.
Rep Holcomb: Public Transportation will meet in Mac B at 10 AM tomorrow, weather permitting.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Eaves, for what purpose?
Rep Eaves: Announcement.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Eaves: Revenue and Tax will meet tomorrow morning, room 151 at 10 AM.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Johnson, for what purpose?
Rep L Johnson: Announcement.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Johnson: All right, House Public Health will have a joint meeting with Senate Public Health today at 3:30 PM in Mac A. This is an informational meeting only. We will not be hearing any bills but DHS will be there to present some information on acute behavioral health care in Arkansas and anyone’s obviously welcome to attend.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Evans for what purpose?
Rep Evans: Announcement.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Evans: House Education will meet at 9:45 tomorrow morning on the House steps for a photo. And then our Committee meeting will be at 10 AM, room 138.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Stan Berry, for what purpose?
Rep S Berry: Announcement.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep S Berry: In the morning at 10 o’clock in room 149 Judiciary will meet.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Dalby, for what purpose?
Rep Dalby: Announcement.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Dalby: Members, next week I should have on my desk the clerk’s pay bill. Those of you be sure to stop by, look at it, see if it makes any changes. We will not be filing it until everybody’s had a chance to look at it. So start watching for that. I’ll just have it laid out on my desk.
Rep Shepherd: Representative Johnson, for what purpose?
Rep L Johnson: Another announcement.
Rep Shepherd: You’re recognized.
Rep Johnson: Public Health will also be meeting tomorrow at 10 AM in room 130. Thank you.
Rep Shepherd: All right, members, You’ve heard A Committees are meeting at 10 AM, House session at 11 AM. We’ll be monitoring the weather. If any change is made to that we’ll get the word out through the website, through email so monitor that. If there’s any question feel free to reach out to me or Roy as well. Any other announcements? If not, the desk will remain open as needed for the reading of the bills, and upon completion, the items named in the adjourn resolution. The House will be adjourned until 11 AM tomorrow.