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Senate
Feb. 22, 2023
Lt Gov Rutledge The Senate will be called to order. Are there any requests for leave at this time? Madam Secretary, please call the roll.
Madam Secretary Boyd, Bryant, Caldwell, Chesterfield, Clark, Crowell, Davis, Dees, Dismang, Dotson, English, Flippo, Flowers, Gilmore, Hammer, Hester, HIckey, Hill, Irvin, Blake Johnson, Mark Johnson, King, Leding, Love, McKee, Murdock, Payton, Penzo, Petty, Rice, Stone, Stubblefield, Sullivan, Tucker, Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Madam Secretary. If everyone in the chamber and in the galleries would please rise and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, but we will first be led in prayer after an introduction by Senator John Payton. But we’ll be led in prayer by my good friend, Pastor, Brother Curt Howard.
[prayer]
[Pledge of Alleigence]
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Brother Curt, for those encouraging words. You be safe getting back home to Rosie. Ladies and gentlemen in the galleries, welcome to Arkansas State Senate. It is our expectation that each of you will exercise proper decorum and govern yourselves accordingly during today’s proceedings. Without objection, the rules will be suspended and the Senate will dispense with the reading of the journal. The morning hour has now begun. Are there any announcements or introductions at this time? Senator Chesterfield, you’re recognized.
Sen Chesterfield Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, good afternoon. We have been in education, and in education, and in education, and in education, and we will be going back to education. But it is a distinct honor to introduce this young lady to you. Mia, would you come forward? Mia, would you come forward? Mia is my godson’s daughter. Mia is 14 years of age, she is in the eighth grade, moving towards the ninth. Mia already has a 30 on the ACT. I’m going to say this one more time. Mia already has a 30 on the ACT. She is at Forest Heights, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy. She’s been in gymnastics where she really is just so outstanding, so outstanding. She is a member of Reid Memorial Baptist Church. She enjoys art, choir, she’s a member of the Beta Club. Her future plans are to go to college on a gymnastics scholarship. And her gymnastics teacher just happens to be my former student, Jamie Russenberger and she wants to become an engineer. I think she’s special because love her dearly. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Senate, Mia Evans. [applause] Mia, this is for you.
Mia Evans Thank you.
Sen Chesterfield You’re very welcome.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Chesterfield.
Sen Chesterfield [inaudible]
Lt Gov Rutledge Not today. Other announcements? I see Senator Blake Johnson.
Sen B Johnson Members, please welcome my page today. This is Kaylieana Sane. She’s from Paragould and she’s homeschooled. And she does 4-H group, WayUp, which is a–.
Sane Wildlife Educational Club.
Sen B Johnson Wildlife Educational club. She does bookkeepers club and she loves animals. And she had attends the Hillcrest Church of Christ. Please give Kaylieana a hand and welcome her to the Senate. [applause]
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Johnson. Other announcements? I see Senator Caldwell. Senator Caldwell, you’re recognized.
Sen Caldwell Thank you, Madam President. I want to introduce my page today. Carson Hobbs who is from Colt, Arkansas. He’s a senior you’re going to go to the University of Arkansas, going to major in Ag Business. They’re very involved in agriculture and agriultural equipment in my district, in my hometown, very big supporter of mine. One of the unique issues of Carson and his family is that he lives in Colt, Arkansas, and that’s the home of Charlie Rich, the country music singer. And they actually own his childhood home. Help me welcome Carson. [applause]
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Tucker, you’re recognized.
Sen Tucker Thank, Madam President. I’ve got three announcements, but I’m going to start with introducing my awesome page today, Alden Lee. She’s a 17 year old senior at North Little Rock High School. She’s got a long list of accomplishments, very impressive. She’ll be attending Ole Miss where she’ll be studying Public Policy in the Lott Leadership Institute. She plays varsity golf, she’s the Key Club president. Member of Beta Club, Student Council, National Honor Society and Math Honor Society. She’s a volunteer through the Mayor’s Youth Council and Central Arkansas Red Cross Club. In addition to all of those extracurricular activities, she’s a competitive dancer at Dance Dynamics Company. And I know how much time and commitment that takes because my daughter is also a dancer at the same company, but not only are they at the same company, but Alden is my daughter’s big sister in the company. So I owe her a very special debt of gratitude and very happy to welcome Alden Lee here today to the Senate the serve as a page. [applause]. And briefly, Madam President, I also want to welcome our Doctor of the Day today, as well as our nurse, Brenda Hewitt. But our doctor, Dr. Kotapati, he practices in Family Medicie medicine at UAMS, and we’re very happy to have you here, both of you here today, Doctor and Nurse Hewitt. Thank you. [applause] And then lastly, they’re in the galleries, but I’m not sure exactly where, but we have former State Representative and former Budget Chair Kathy Webb, who currently serves as Executive Director of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and her team. It’s their lobby day here today at the Capitol. They do so much work in this state to relieve hunger, especially those of children. I want to welcome them to the state Senate as well. [applause]
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Crowell, you’re recognized.
Sen Crowell I would like to take a moment and recognize up in the gallery over there SAU students for the food pantry. They were invited here by the Hunger Alliance. They last week put 18 food pantries in every dorm and every apartment complex at SAU to make sure everybody had food. Thank y’all. [applause]
Lt Gov Rutledge Other announcements or introductions? Madam Secretary, are there items at the desk?
Madam Secretary Yes, ma’am. Madam President, We your Committe on Enrolled Bills to who was refered the following Senate Bill 193 by Senator Hill, Senate Bill 196 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 247 by Senator Dotson compared the enrolled copies with the original and find the same correctly enrolled and at 9:47 a.m. delivered to the Governor for approval. Respectfully submitted, Mark Johnson. We your Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 195 by Senator Hammer compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Judiciary.
Madam Secretary Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 270 by Senator Payton compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Judiciary.
Madam Secretary Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 286 by Senator Flippo compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Joint Budget.
Madam Secretary Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referrred Senate Bill 298 by Senator Hammer compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Public Health.
Madam Secretary We your Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 299 by Senator Hammer compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Public Health.
Madam Secretary Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 300 by Senator Hammer compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Public Health.
Madam Secretary Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 301 by Senator Hammer compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Public Health.
Madam Secretary Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Bill 302 by Senator Hammer compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Public Health.
Madam Secretary We your Committee on Engrossed Bills to whom was referred Senate Joint Resolution 2 by Senator Payton compared the engrossed copy with the original and find the same correctly engrossed.
Lt Gov Rutledge State Agencies.
Madam Secretary We your Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred Senate Bill 271 by Senator Mark Johnson recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1153 by Representative Vaught recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1279 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1283 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1284 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1287 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1289 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1290 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1291 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1294 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Judiciary to whom was referred House Bill 1295 by Representative Gazaway recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Where your Committee on Public Health to whom was referred Senate Bill 138 by Senator Irvin recommend do pass to concur on Amendment number one.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Public Health to whom was referred Senate Bill 264 by Senator Irvin recommend do pass as amended number one.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Senate Disclosure Report. Pursuant to Senate Rule 2406, we, your Committee on Public Health are hereby in receipt of the attached doc–disclosure form from Senator Justin Boyd concerning Senate Bill 265.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary We your Committee on Public Health to whom was referred Senate Bill 265 by Senator Boyd recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Public Health to whom was referred Senate Bill 274 by Senator Petty recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Senate Disclosure report pursuant to Senate Rule 2406 on Senate Public Health. Disclosure from Senator Justin Boyd concerning, regarding Senate Bill 279, respectfully submitted. We your Committee on Public Health to whom was referred Senate Bill 279 by Senator Irvin recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Public Health to whom was referred Senate Bill 288 by Senator Irvin recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Public Health to whom was referred House Bill 1115 by Representative Maddox recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Senate Disclosure Report pursuant to Senate Rule 2406, Committee on Revenue and Tax. Disclosure for Senator Jonathan Dismang concerning House Bill 1263, House Bill 1224, House Bill 1191. Each bill impacts the state of tax document property for which he works entitled procedures on tax delinquent property. We your Committee on Revenue and Tax to whom was referred Senate Bill 207 by Senator Blake Johnson recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Revenue and Tax to whom was referred House Bill 1191 by Representative Richmond recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary We your Committee on Revenue and Tax to whom was referred House Bill 1224 by Representative Bentley recommend do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Committee on Revenue and Tax to whom was referred House Bill 1263 by Representative Richmond recommended do pass.
Lt Gov Rutledge Calendar.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 308 by Senator Dismang. To create a means by which students who qualify for reduced price meals at school receive free meals at schools. Senate Bill 308.
Lt Gov Rutledge Education. Any further business to come before the body in the morning hour? If not, the morning hour has expired. We will now begin the business agenda. Senate Resolution 3.
Madam Secretary Senate Resolution 3 by Senator Dotson. To proclaim February 24, 2023, as SCNA2 Day in Arkansas.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Dotson, youu’re recognized.
Sen Dotson Thank you, Madam Chair. Members, I have a family here, if I could have leave to have them on the floor? All right. Members, the resolution you have before you, SR3 proclaming SCNRA2 Day– SCNA2 Day, yes, was brought to me. This is a disorder that is found. The Beasley family, Brandon and his daughter Josephine both have this. And this is a– I’m not going to read through and, all the medical terms in the the resolution, butcher those, but SCN2A is a gene which makes a sodium channel which is found primarily in the nerve cells that generate electricity. And SCN2A also allows too much sodium to enter the nerve cell and thus increases electricity, often presenting with epilepsy as a main symptom. And so, this is something that the second chromosome in the 24th position, that’s why we’re declaring February 2nd, or February of 24th of the year to 2/24, that’s why we said this is going to be– that day is declared thiis– will be this day. This is something that presents early, early onset of epilepsy in children. And currently, there’s no known cure for this. But to bring awareness to this, and to help bring awareness and maybe help with developing a cure. More than just the therapies that are currently available, we want to bring awareness to this for the state of Arkansas. And so, please welcome the Beasley’s. Oh, and I forgot to introduce Buddy and Oliver and Nicole, your mom. And so, when this is read for the last time, I’d appreciate a very good vote for the Beasley and their family, and everyone else who who is in Arkansas suffering from this.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Dotson. It has been read.
Senator Dotson Oh.
Lt Gov Rutledge All those in favor of Senate Resolution 3 to proclaim February 24th, 2023, as SCNA2 day in Arkansas, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? SR3 is passed, has been adopted, so thank you. [applause].
Sen Dotson Thank you all.
Madam Secretary Senate Resolution 12 by Senator Clark. To recognize the Malvern Leopards Football Team as the Class 4A State champions.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Clark, you’re recognized.
Sen Clark Thank you. I would like to ask for leave for the superintendent and the head football coach, and some members of the team to come on the floor. The rest of them are up in the gallery. Okay. Coach. [inaudible] Good to meet you. Members, it is my honor today to present to you the state- 4A State Champion Malvern football team. The ones here on the floor and the ones up in the gallery. These young men don’t know it, but I have something in common with them. When I was in high school, I played and lost to some state championship teams. One of the things that I love about football, I think it teaches young people a number of things. And one is that if you work hard, you can succeed. Another thing is that football has so many different positions and so many different skill sets, that you will talk about a team and in taking a team, it takes a team. And a lot of us aspire to play the positions that everybody watches. Now some of us watch the other parts of the game, but you they like to watch that running back juking and making it down for a touchdown. They love to watch that quarterback going back and throwing the long pass. And the receivers making those incredible catches, or safeties making– and halfbacks making incredible interceptions. But the game’s not fought there. As important as those positions are, that war that goes on at that scrimmage line, nobody is successful and they’re certainly not this successful without those players.
If they don’t win, nothing else matters. And so, I want to recognize all them. All those who never started, who are waiting their turn and working their tails off. That’s so much true in life that you got to put, you’ve got to pay your dues, you got to get in there, and someday it’ll pay off. And so, I wanted to recognize Superintendent Brian Golden, and I know he’s proud of the team. Head coach Chad Plumlee, Assistant coach Lance Parker who is here. And then, some other assistant coaches who are not here on the floor with us. Nick Brumfield, Mark Fritter, Aaron Pennington, Lauren Capel. With that I’d like to read the resolution. To recognize the Malvern Leopards football team as a State 4A State Champion. Whereas, the Malvern Leopards bested– where is Senator Dismang? The Harding Academy Wildcats to take the Class 4A State Football Championship with a score of 64 to 39, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday, December 10th, 2022. Claiming the team’s first state title in 29 years. I want to stop just a second here. The team’s not old enough to remember that, but some of us remember that. First state title in 29 years and the second in school history. And Whereas, following two inclement weather delays totaling three and a half hours, and two, the two teams were able to get back on the field and combine for 1,137 yards of offense, which is the second highest offense in Arkansas State Championship game history. And. Whereas, unforeseen scheduling changes prior to beginning the regular season left Malvern with only three home games. And Whereas, between the regular season game and playoffs, the team traveled approximately 1,700 miles of road trips. Including trips to Riverview, Glen Rose, Hernando, Mississippi, Waldron, Mena, Nashville, Lamar, Warren and War Memorial State. We wanted to name everybody we beat. Now, therefore be it resolved by the Senate of the 94th General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that the Senate congratulate and recognize the Malvern Leopards Football Team as the Class 4A State Champions. And be it further resolved that upon adoption of this resolution, a copy be provided to coach J.D. Plumlee by the Secretary of the Senate.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Clark. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Senate Resolution 12 is adopted to recognize the Malvern Leopards Football Team as the Class 4A State Champions. Congratulations. [applause]
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Clark?
Sen Clark Yes. Could we have a couple of minutes? Get a picture from the–
Lt Gov Rutledge The body will stand at ease for a couple of minutes. The body will come back to order. We will now proceed with SB 43. Senator Stubblefield.
Madam Secretary House Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 43.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Stubblefield, you’re recognized.
Sen Stubblefield Thank you, Madam President. I thank those boys eight more chicken than we did when we were growing up. I’d hate to have to tackle some of those guys. Senate Bill 43, two amendments. These amendments simply expanded the protections of children also they’re, this legislation made it more able to withstand the scrutiny of a court challenge. That’s the amendments.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Stubblefield? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator, you are free to close on the amendment.
Sen Stubblefield I’m closed.
Lt Gov Rutledge All those in favor of Amendment 1, please signify by stating aye. Any opposed? Amendment 1 is adopted. Senator Stubblefield, for Amendment 2
Madam Secretary House Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 43.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Stubblefield, you’re recognized for Amendment 2.
Sen Stubblefield Amendement 2 simply defines an adult, adult oriented business. And it also defines whether or not public funds can be used and on public property.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Stubblefield? Anyone wish to speak against or for? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Amendment 2 is adopted.Now, we will vote the bill SB 43. As amended.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 43 by Senator Stubblefield and Representative Bentley. To add certain restrictions on the adult oriented performance and to define a adult oriented performance.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any objection to rolling the vote? Objection. Objection noted. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.
Madam Secretary Boyd. Bryant. Caldwell. Chesterfield. Clark. Crowell. Davis. Dees. Dismang. Dotson. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Leding. Love. McKee. Murdock. Payton. Penzo. Petty. Rice. Stone. Stubblefield. Sullivan. Tucker. Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge I’m going to begin on this side. Ay senators who have not voted, who wish to vote, who, or wish to change your vote, please signify by saying aye. Senator Tucker is a no. Anyone else on this side? Senator King is an aye. Senator Caldwell is an aye. Senator Hickey is an aye. Any Senators who have not voted, who wish to vote or wish to change your vote. Seeing none, please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 29 yea and six nay, SB 43 as adopted passes send to Enrolling. Now Amendment 1to HB 1318.
Madam Secretary Amendment 1 to House Bill 1318.
Sen Bryant Thank you, Madam President. This is an amendment to the bill last week that added some accountability for record keeping to the cities when their opening bids for lowest possible price. And then they can compare those bids as low price, but also overall cost of ownership of that deal. I think Senator Hickey brought it up. Just making sure Leg Audit had a way to track that, and that’s what we did. It was approved by Leg Audit and added to the bill. So, appreciate a good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator is closed. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment 1 to HB 13 passes, send tp Engrossing. Did I say 1318? Well, I did now. All right. SB 121, Amendment 2.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 121, Amendment 2.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Mark Johnson, you’re recognized.
Sen M Johnson Thank you, Madam President. This is the amendment, the second amendment to the Arkansas State Capital and Monument Protection Act of 2021. This is a clean up amendment. We worked with the attorneys at State Parks and the Association of Counties and the Municipal League to come up with language that they would accept. And this was the best way we could do it. It was adopted in Committee, and I appreciate a good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Johnson. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment 2 to SB 121 passes. Send to Engrossing. SB 255 Amendment One.
Madam Secretary Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 255.
Sen McKee My bill, my amendment. Appreciate a good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator McKee. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? All those in favor of Amendment 1 to SB 255, signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment 1 to SB 255 passes. Send to Engrossing. Recognize Senator Dismang.
Sen Dismang Thank you. Members, Senate Bill 295 is in Committee right now. I’ve got an amendment that I’d like to have adopted so it could be engrossed tomorrow for consideration that way the members don’t have to piece through. So, I’d like to make a motion to suspend the rules to withdraw Senate Bill 295 to the floor for purpose of amendment.
Lt Gov Rutledge Motion has been made to suspend the rules All those in favor signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.
Senator Dismang All right.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Dismang.
Sen Dismamg All right.
Madam Secretary Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 295.
Sen Dismang There are a couple of changes. One was made for the PFC to move the date from June 30th to December 31st, so they had a little bit longer to promulgate their rules. Also, this creates a, it helps solidify the grandfathering of the grandfather, of the grandfather that we’re trying to do with the solar bill. And so it’s just one more change for that. With that, I’d be happy to take any questions.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Dismang? Anyone against? Anyone for? Senator are you closed?
Sen Dismamg Closed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator is closed. All those in favor of Amendment 1 to SB 295, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment 1 to SB 295 passes. Send to Engrossing. Senator Penzo, you’re recognized.
Sen Penzo Thank you, Madam President. I’ve got two students here from Ozark Catholic Academy in Tonitown, and I’d ask– like to ask for leave for them. Thank you.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Penzo. President Pro Tem Hester?
Sen Hester And members, I don’t know if all of you are aware, we’ve got an Education bill that is being debated today over in Big Mac A. A lot of people came from all over the state to hear testimony on that. So, I’m going to ask us, out of respect for those teachers that have taken the day off of work today to be here, sometime around 2:30 or so, depending on where we’re at in the calendar, and what bill finishes, I’m going to come down and ask us to move the rest of our agenda until tomorrow. So that we can– so that the Education Committee can go over there and respect the time of all those teachers that took the day off today so they can all be heard. Anyway, just letting you know I’ll come ask, you may not give it to me, but here in about 2:30 I’ll come ask for that. Thanks.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thanks, Senator. SB 81.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 81 by Senator Sullivan. To amend the law concerning libraries and obscene materials. To create the offense of furnishing a harmful item to a minor, and to amend the law concerning obscene materials loaned by a library.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Sullivan, you’re recognized.
Sen Sullivan Thank you, Madam President. Members, if you’ll see on your desk, you have a little sheet here, it says SB181 excerpts that I passed out that to you. You can see an example of what some of that material is. You’ve probably gotten a lot of emails and texts on this. I know I have. I’ve spoken to quite a number of attorneys and we didn’t have any attorneys speaking against the bill on the floor. We’ve talked with the Attorney General’s Office, we’ve talked with BLR. We’ve met with attorneys from both sides of it. Yet, no attorneys oppose this on legal issues. This bill is pretty simple. It sets out a new appeal process. This isn’t removing any books. It doesn’t let the legislature remove any books. This just sets out a process for appeals for parents, and public libraries and schools. The bill does four things. First, there’s an exemption for libraries to current obscenity law. So, we currently have obscenity law. This bill does not change what obscenity law is. It only changes who obscenity law applies to.
And this applies current obscenity law to librarians by removing their exemption that everybody’s on the same playing field. Secondly, it creates new law that creates harmful to children. We already have laws harmful to children. We don’t allow them to smoke. We don’t allow drink, drive cars, a whole list of things that we do to protect children. What this bill does is to apply safety laws for children, current law with a few more descriptors in there to say what is harmful to children, and we apply that to libraries. Third, we codify the appeal process. In schools they have a suggested appeals process. They have a mandated policy, but it doesn’t say what that policy is. So, this just sets out in our schools an appeal process. And third, we change it and this is a big change. It allows parents to see the materials their kids are checking out. We had a great example yesterday in Committee where one of the Committee members talked about their child having access to a book, and the parent wanted to talk to the librarian. The librarian discussed that book with them. That librarian violated the law. So, if you look at the last couple of, the last page, a matter of fact, the last three sentences, it changes that law to allow parents to see what their child is checking out.
A couple of things, it’s high points of it, and for time, I want to get to questions, if you have any. But again, obscenity law is not being changed. As far as us having a change in the law for parents to have an appeal process. In public libraries now most of them have an appeal process. You go to the librarian, it goes to the library board. And now it’s going to go on to your city council or your quorum court. The city council and a quorum court did not oppose that– the courts did not oppose that. And mayors didn’t like it, but they didn’t oppose it. We’re actually giving the people that have authority over the local library, be it a city or a county, we’re actually giving them that responsibility. The responsibility is only whether you move a book. They can’t declare it illegal. They can’t declare a librarian and go to jail. All the quorum court or city council can do is remove the book or move the book to another section. That’s within their parameter. Again, there were no attorneys that challenged that. In the school, schools already have a, you have to have a policy but they don’t say what that policy is.
However, the School Board Association has a recommended policy. And that recommended policy is very similar. It says go to your librarian, go to your principal. And at that point, the principal appoints a board, or committee. That committee then makes a decision. Now, here’s a critical change. That committee now has to meet in public, and they’re subject to the Open Meetings Law. So, they can’t go behind closed doors. They can’t meet in the hall and talk. They have that meeting in public. And when that decision is made on the prevailing side, the school has to write an opinion. If the parent chooses it to appeal from there, then it goes to the school board. And the school board has the ultimate authority there. If someone violates the law, obscenity law or the law that talks about harmful to children. If somebody violates that law, a prosecutor is the only one that has the authority to do anything about that. Not the school board, not the quorum court, only the prosecutor. I talked with the, some prosecutors on this and they don’t have a– they understand that to be true. A critical point that a lot of people are afraid of, and I want to address this and I hope this message gets out clearly. As the bill stands now, if it goes to a prosecutor’s office, a challenge on a book, we think this violates state law, obscenity, law or harmful to children. A prosecutor then goes to the judge and the judge makes a determination, that’s critical, a judge makes a determination that this violates the law.
In order for a librarian to be held accountable to the law, a judge would make a determination. And after that determination, then the librarian would have to knowingly violate that law. If they don’t knowingly violate it, they are free and clear. So, they have to violate the law intentionally, knowingly, before there is any repercussion that happens. And again, no one quorum court, city attorney, they have to go to court and a determination– I think that’s on page 3, line 16. Where a determination is made and they say it’s against the law. And then, the judge says that and then someone goes, I know it’s against the law, I’m doing it anyway. Folks, there needs to be a penalty for that. That’s essentially what the bill does. I’ll be glad to answer any questions.
Lt Gov Rutledge Questions for Senator Sullivan? Senator Flowers, you’re recognized for a question.
Sen Flowers Thank you, Governor. Senator Sullivan, I think I heard you correctly refer to the committee members that had shared a incident, I guess in going to their child’s school and speaking with the librarian. I think you were talking about me. Is that correct?
Sen Sullivan You made those comments, yes.
Sen Flowers I didn’t violate any law.
Sen Sullivan I didn’t say you did The librarian did.
Sen Flowers No, the librarian did not. That librarian did not violate. And if you are insistent that the librarian violated a law in that situation, what law did the librarian violate?
Sen Sullivan I don’t have that bill number. However, I know that a lot of attorneys have looked at this, and that’s why we’re changing the law, because under current law, and I don’t know when you talked to your child, maybe the law wasn’t in effect then, but today, if you go to the librarian and you say, tell me what my child is checking out –?
Sen Flowers I did not ask the librarian that. And that’s not what the librarian and our discussion was about. That was a school situation, a school library. And my son had, was in this program, I guess, at a lot of kids’ schools that had some kind of program, a reading program. And there were a certain set of books that a child was supposed to check out, then go to read it, and then go to a computer and take a test on it. And that book was Give a Boy a Gun. Your bill is about obscenity, sex and all that stuff. You seem obsessed with sex. I was concerned with the darkness of a book called Give a Boy a Gun that talked about shooting up the school. And the librarian and the principal let me know that that book came from the Department of Ed’s list that was put together. And that’s where they get those books that they put in libraries. Librarians just, school librarians, at least to my understanding, they don’t just pick the books. The Department of Ed does. And that’s why I don’t understand your bill targeting school librarians. It should be directed at the Department of Education, wouldn’t you agree?
Sen Sullivan No.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Sullivan, you may answer the question. I don’t know if there was a question, but you may answer.
Sen Sullivan Yeah. She asked if I would agree, and I say, no.
Lt Gov Rutledge Okay.
Sen Sullivan No.
Lt Gov Rutledge All right. Senator Chesterfield, did you have a question?
Sen Chesterfield [inaudible].
Lt Gov Rutledge Okay. Thank you, Senator. Any other questions? Wish to speak against? Senator Chesterfield, you’re recognized.
Sen Chesterfield Thank you, Madam Chair and ladies and gentlemen of the Senate. I thank Senator Sullivan for making the bill better. He has worked, I’m sure, with a number of us to make it more palatable, but it still gives me great concern. Senator Flowers has made one point. The librarians do not choose the books that go in the library. These are decided by the Department of Education as to which books are acceptable for public libraries. I think that needs to be considered as well. I’m also concerned about the bag of worms that we’re opening. If we read the Bible, in the Bible, it refers to rape, to incest. The Song of Solomon is very, very provocative. I don’t want people to be able to say, I don’t want the Bible in the library because they’ll go to the Song of Solomon or they will go to the story of Tamar who was raped by her brother, or they’ll go to the other Tamar who had sex with her father. It’s in the Bible. It’s in the Bible. And when we start allowing people who really, really haven’t read stuff to make these kinds of decisions, and we put people who are charged with libraries in jeopardy simply for doing what they have been asked to do. I worry, too, about Greek Mythology now. Most of us had to take Greek and Roman Mythology. Greek and Roman Mythology is very graphic. And so, now our children won’t be able to read about Greek and Roman Mythology, perhaps because it is viewed as very, very sensuous and very, very sexy. When you read about Zeus, Zeus is a rascal, if you read about him. And I would anticipate having to take Western Civilization that you have read about Zeus, and Aphrodite, and the other individuals in Greek Mythology. And the ones in Roman Mythology who are very, very risque, I would say. I just think it’s a dangerous bill. It’s a dangerous precedent. And if it’s dealing with our school librarians, they should not be at fault for having in their libraries– and can you imagine 100– I taught 160 kids a day. A hundred sixty parents a day coming in saying, Let me see what my child is reading, multiplied by a plethora of other classrooms. It creates almost a disaster, and it will also inhibit the ability to do what the librarian is there to do. Thank you.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator Chesterfield. Others who wish to– anyone wish to speak for? Senator Tucker, you wish to speak against.
Sen Tucker Thank you, Madam President. Senator Gilmore asked me this morning if I was going to give up making floor speeches for Lent. [laughter] I want to start with a few comments. First, I want to echo what Senator Chesterfield said. I think Senator Sullivan has improved the bill with the amendments that he’s made, and I want to thank him for doing that. Second, based on some testimony that we had in Committee, I think Senator Sullivan has a legitimate concern that there may be some materials in libraries that that we don’t want in libraries. And maybe there should be a different process for getting those materials removed. I think the process should be different than than what’s laid out in the bill, and that’s what I’ll discuss. Now the third comment I want to make is there have been a bunch of times that I’ve stood up before you and said that I think a bill is unconstitutional. And I think the bills, those bills that have been challenged in court, my record is pretty good on that. I’m not going to tell you that this bill is unconstitutional because I don’t know for certain that it is. And that’s central to the point that I want to make today.
Obscenity is a very difficult thing to determine in the law. But it’s important to determine what is obscene because of the First Amendment. I know I spent a lot of time up here talking about the Constitution, and I hope you don’t get too tired of me talking about it, but I think the Constitution is very important. We all swear an oath to it. And when it comes to the law of obscenity, we’re dealing specifically with the First Amendment. Because if you start, it’s very difficult to define what obscene is. And once you go too far, then you’re into censorship and violating the First Amendment and that’s why it’s important. The Supreme Court of the United States struggled with how to define obscenity over a decade or more in the 1960s and seventies. Ultimately, they settled on what’s widely known as the Miller Test. Three criteria they use to determine whether something is obscene or not. It’s even been tweaked since that time, but by and large, in the United States, people use the Miller test to determine whether something is obscene or not. And it’s important to use that criteria to determine whether something is obscene.
My first problem with the bill and the sections, sections 4 and 5 are basically parallel. One is for school libraries and then one is for county and municipal libraries. But the process is the same for both. But if you look at these sections, once you go through the challenge process, there’s a committee either at the school or at the library, whatever the case might be, that takes a vote to determine whether the material should be removed from the library or not. There’s basically no criteria in the law that these groups have to follow to determine whether something should be removed. And they should be using the criteria and the Miller test to determine whether it’s obscene. Right now, the way the bill is written, they’re empowered to remove content from the library for basically any reason. And this is where we get into very dangerous First Amendment territory, and I’ll explain what I mean. We talked about content neutral restrictions this morning in Judiciary with Senator Mark Johnson’s bill and also a content, a content restriction. I’ll explain what I mean by that.
You can have a time, place and manner restriction on free speech. For example, people can protest out in front of the Capitol all that they want. They cannot protest in the Senate chamber while we’re in here deliberating. That’s a time, place and manner restriction. It’s content neutral. We’re not saying anything about what they’re allowed to protest. It’s time, place and manner, so we can pass that law. When we start passing laws to say, oh, out front, they can only protest my bill or Senator Dismang’s bill or whoever’s bills. Then we’re getting into content restrictions and that violates the First Amendment very clearly. So, my my concern is that these committees can just take materials out of libraries without determining whether it’s obscene or not. And that could potentially be a very serious violation of the First Amendment. To exacerbate that in the bill, if you look on page 5 and section 4, there’s a parallel in section 5. But on line 17, it says starting on line 16, Material being challenged shall not be withdrawn solely for the viewpoints expressed within the material. Now, if we took that word solely out, I would feel a lot better about this and it just read, Material being challenged shall not be withdrawn for the viewpoints expressed within the material.
But when we start restricting content based on the viewpoint expressed, then we’re getting into content restrictions, which violates the First Amendment, which I take very seriously. So, I think we’re, I know this is not Senator Sullivan’s intent, but I think with the way the bill is written, we’re very seriously going into territory where we’re going to have censorship in libraries. And that goes to the last point with the problem with the process, the way it’s laid out. As I’ve said, to determine what’s obscene, is a very difficult thing to do. It took the Supreme Court of the United States 15 some odd years to do it. And this bill charges local elected officials, who respectfully don’t have the training to make that determination or not. That appeal process, and I’m not saying there shouldn’t be an appeal process. That appeal process needs to go to a court of law, to a judge who’s qualified to make that determination. So, my comment on the,on this portion of the bill is if you remove the word solely, then if you had the criteria of the Miller test laid out for the committee, and then you had it appeal to a court, I don’t think this bill would be in bad shape, at least those two sections of the bill, that’s a civil process.
I want to make one quick comment on the criminal process and then I’ll be finished. But if you look at section 2 of the bill. This is a defense to a crime of obscenity in Arkansas, up until now for schools, museums or public libraries. And the defense is only for material that is claimed to be obscene. So Senator Bryant’s a librarian. I claim that he has obscene material in his library. He has a defense to that because it hasn’t been proven or determined to be obscene. And there should be a defense for that. There’s not a defense for having material in your library that has been determined to be obscene. And this law actually changes that, I think inadvertently, but it changes the word claimed to determined and it takes out schools and public libraries, but it leaves museums in. So, now if the bill passes in its current form, museums will have an absolute defense to have materials in their museums that hasn’t been determined by a court of law to be obscene.
Now, that’s problematic because we don’t want anybody to have materials that’s determined to be obscene, and museums will be allowed to do that if the bill passes in its current form. But more to the point, because this is such an area, this is an area of the law that is so difficult, that librarians and teachers should have a defense to not being prosecuted and imprisoned simply because someone has a claim of obscenity. So, we ought to leave that defense for them. It does not allow them to have material that’s determined to be obscene in their libraries, even without this bill. I mean, that’s the way that it should be. So, for those reasons, I think, you know, as I said, Senator Sullivan is on to something. But there are problems with the bill the way that it’s written, specifically problems with the First Amendment. And so I’ll be voting against the bill.
Lt Gov Rutledge Wish to should speak for? Senator Clark, you’re recognized.
Sen Clark I’ll try to be brief because I know Senator Sullivan’s anxious to close. There’s a difference between obscenity and what’s appropriate for children. And my dad was a librarian. I read not all of the emails that you’ve received, but I’ve read lots of them. And I was sympathetic to librarians because most of our librarians around the state, there’s nothing to worry about and they’re somewhat offended and I get that. I was not happy with the bill in the beginning. Senator Sullivan invited me to a meeting and worked very hard on an amendment. I didn’t say anything to him, but I didn’t think that amendment quite got it done. I thought the amendment that he offered yesterday morning was very good. And I know that working with the Library Association, that, that took care of most of their concerns. I’d prefer that the obscenity part weren’t in here. I told him that at the Committee meeting. Because I think it just clouds the bill. But no one should be handing obscene material as determined by our courts to kids. And I don’t think any, there should be no librarian in this state that has to worry about that.
That being said, where I really fell out with the other side was when I was told that we’re experts. I agreed with that, my dad was a librarian. We’re experts and we, the government, because sometimes people forget they’re government employees. We, the government, should decide what your kids see without input from the parents. No. No, no, no, no, no. On that you’re wrong. My parents were very open with me, and I was very open with my kids. There are people will push that if you leave a 12 year old at home, that you’re guilty of child abuse. My wife and I know other women who I’ve talked to were babysitting other kids when they were 12. So, you can decide what is age appropriate and I can decide what’s age appropriate, but the government will not decide if I think there’s a serious problem, and especially in a school library. And because my kids are going to be there, I’m not going to be around. And right now, what we were told, both the testimony and outside, is that it is against the law for a librarian. And some would have liked to share with parents who wanted to know what their kids were checking out, is against the law right now for them to do that, hat’s got to be changed. I think very few parents will ever ask. But parents need to know that if they ask, What did my kids check out? They can be told because they are the final authority. We’re being told that the librarians didn’t decide, well the libraians do decide mostly what goes in the book, but if the Department of Education or someone on the federal level decided, then parents absolutely ought to be able to challenge it. Do I think this challenge process is perfect? No. But Senator Sullivan offered to at least one or two. If you don’t think it’s perfect, tell me a better way. I couldn’t think of one. I’d appreciate good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge Does anyone which you speak against or for? Senator Sullivan, you are free to close.
Sen Sullivan Thank you, Madam President. First of all, all the books that are in the library have been vetted and most through, mostly through case law. So, the Bible will not be removed from the library case law. Well, I shouldn’t say that, somebody may take it out. Most of the things they talk about about obscenity law. It’s already been through the courts, already happened. And it’s been adjudicated by a judge and it’s good material for the court. I appreciate, appreciate what Senator Clark said. This started out because parents were concerned. And they would go to a county library or other school and they’d say, the county library board would say, We’re the final judge and you can’t go beyond us. In schools they would meet with a committee and go behind closed doors and come out with a 6-0 vote or an 8-0 vote, and the parents never knew, no reason why. This bill changes and gives parents and adults, and guardians a pathway to have material challenged. And again, let me just make sure you understand. An appeal should go through an elected body. The school board, or the quorum court, or city council. And again, they don’t have the authority to take this to court. It would have to be a prosecutor.
And folks, to Senator Tucker’s comments, this is what prosecutors are doing. This is their job. And one of the goals of people when they come up here is to put a question in their mind. Golly, I’m a little bit afraid. I’m a little bit afraid. As if there’s no consequence the other way. Folks, we have you– that paper on your desk that came from a parent who had their child exposed to that in a school. No chance to appeal it. No chance to go forward with it and say, this is not appropriate. That book right there could be in elementary school. Now read that. That could be in your child’s elementary school in fifth grade. Most all of our libraries, including our school libraries, go by and they may have posted the American Library Association. And this is in your county library policy. It’s in your many of your school library policies that they will abide by the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights to the American Library Association. They post that. It’s up on the walls in many of your libraries. It’s in the policy of many of your libraries. Let me tell you what it says.
A person’s right to use the library should not be denied, abridged because of the origin, age, background, or views. The right to use the library includes free access to and unrestricted use of all the services, materials and facilities the library has to offer. Children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights. Including the right to receive information through the library in print, sound images, data, social media, online applications, games, programming, and other formats. Constitutionally protected speech cannot be suppressed solely to protect children. Now most of you have children. And they’re saying here in this Bill of Rights, which is the American Library Association Bill of Rights, which is in your library. They say they’re not going to restrict access to your, for your children to any level of material. The material is on your desk, that could be in a first grade class. It could be in your library in the Children’s section. And we had testimony yesterday from several people that they think it’s appropriate to have that material in the children’s section. At some point, we’ve got to stop this. And this bill is a good bill, it’s an attempt to do that. And, Madam President, I’m closed.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator. Any objection to rolling the vote? Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Objection. Noted. Please call the roll.
Madam Secretary Boyd. Bryant. Caldwell. Chesterfield. Clark. Crowell. Davis. Dees. Dismang. Dotson. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Leding. Love. McKee. Murdock. Payton. Penzo. Petty. Rice. Stone. Stubblefield. Sullivan. Tucker. Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any senator who did not vote who wishes to vote or who wishes to change his vote, or her vote? I see Senator Murdock is a no. Any other Senators? Please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 27 yea, 6 nay, 2 not voting SB 81 passes. Transmit to the House. SB 117.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 117 by Senator Hamer. To amend the law concerning the termination, separation period, and of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and declare an emergency.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Hamer, you’re recognized.
Sen Hammer Thank you, Madam Governor. The bill does one simple thing. It takes the separation period for those that have retired from teaching from six months down to four. We’ve researched this over the last couple of years. This is as close as we can get to IRS requirements without stepping over the line and inviting them into our business when it comes to our retirement system. Hopefully, this may encourage some teachers that have retired to come back in knowing that they can come back in at four month mark instead of six months. Bill was not opposed and brought up on behalf of the Teacher Retirement System. So any questions I’d be glad to answer.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Hammer? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator, you are free to close.
Sen Hammer Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate a good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any objection to rolling the vote? Madam Secretary, please roll the vote.
Madam Secretary Boyd. Bryant. Caldwell. Chesterfield. Clark. Crowell. Davis. Dees. Dismang. Dotson. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Leding. Love. McKee. Murdock. Payton. Penzo. Petty. Rice. Stone. Stubblefield. Sullivan. Tucker. Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Seeing none, please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 35 yea, 0 nay, SB 117 and the emergency clause pass. Please transmit to the House. SB 197.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 197 by Senator– you want to pass over? He’s going to pass over.
Lt Gov Rutledge We are passing over SB 197. SB 205.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 205 by Senator Penzo. To assist small business owners to form a legal entity in the state and to clarify the procedures and standards used for name availability in certain corporations and limited liability companies.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Penzo, you’re recognized.
Sen Penzo Thank you, Madam President. Senate Bill 205 simplifies the process of people getting LLC and entity names from Secretary of State. Currently, there’s issues with delays. A lot of times people will apply for a name, it’ll get rejected. There’s like a 22 step process that they scrutinize the name. And there’s not a way, a user friendly way for attorneys or or our constituents to research the website to determine if if those factors are applicable or not. So, what this does is it, it removes the term confusingly similar from statute and sets out some simple parameters such as it’s not distinguishable if the only difference is using an ampersand or an and. That wouldn’t be a distinguishable difference. So, it sets up some parameters on what that can be. And this will streamline the process for people to get entity names from the Secretary of State.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Penzo? Anyone wish to speak against or for?
Sen Penzo Appreciate a good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge The Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote.? Madam Secretary, please roll the vote.
Madam Secretary Boyd. Bryant. Caldwell. Chesterfield. Clark. Crowell. Davis. Dees. Dismang. Dotson. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Leding. Love. McKee. Murdock. Payton. Penzo. Petty. Rice. Stone. Stubblefield. Sullivan. Tucker. Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Hickey votes no.
Sen Flowers Present.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Flowers, present. Senator Chesterfield, present. Any other Senators wish to change his or her vote? Seeing none, please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 32 yea, 1 nay, and 2 present, SB 205 passes. Please transmit to the House. Now SB 211.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 211 by Senator Irvin. To amend the law concerning carrying a concealed handgun on property of the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Irvin, you’re recognized.
Sen Irvin Thank you, Madam President. Members of the of the Senate, it shouldn’t say Irvin up there, it actually should say that your employees of the Department of Transportation. Because when the Department of Transportation surveyed their employees, this was one of the main policies that they wanted changed. They wanted to be able to carry firearms under the Enhanced Concealed Carry Permit and brought this legislation to the attention of the Department of Transportation. So, I am just humbly honored to bring this on their behalf. I’ll be happy to answer any questions.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Irvin? Senator Mark Johnson, you’re recognized for a question.
Sen M Johnson Does Director Tudor in the Commission support this legislation, Senator?
Sen Irvin Yes. She was in the Committee and testified for the bill.
Sen M Johnson Thank you. Thank you, Madam President.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any other questions for Senator Irvin? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator Irvin, you’re free to close.
Sen Irvin Thank you. I’m closed. I’d appreciate a good vote.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any objection to rolling the vote? Madam Secretary, please roll the vote.
Madam Secretary Boyd. Bryant. Caldwell. Chesterfield. Clark. Crowell. Davis. Dees. Dismang. Dotson. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Leding. Love. McKee. Murdock. Payton. Penzo. Petty. Price. Stone. Stubblefield. Sullivan. Tucke. Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? I see Senator Love, present. I see Senator Tucker, present. Senator Chesterfield, present. Senator Murdock, present. Any others on this side? Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 30 yea, 1 nay, 0 not voting, and 4 present, the bill passes. Please transmit to the House. SB 254.
Madam Secretary Senate Bill 254 by Senator Crowell. An act to eliminate write in candidates in elections, to amend election procedures, and to amend the law concerning election.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Crowell, you’re recognized.
Sen Crowell Thank you. This is a simple clean up. It is, elections are extremely complicated and this is one area where we can simplify it for the county election officials. The overall process will be clear for the voters. Right now, the current law is you can write in, the write in blank only appears if somebody has gone in and signed up to be a write in candidate. They haven’t done the rest of it. They just signed in to be a write up candidate. Otherwise, there is no, there is no blank. Only the name of the person who filed as a write in candidate can be written in there. And we get Elvis Presley, Donald Duck quite often and they will not be counted. That’s why this is kind of a trap for a voter. If you want, you can choose not to vote for either of the candidates or any of the candidates that are on the ballot currently. And write in candidates are prohibited in municipality, constable, and presidential elections as it is right now. This will eliminate the write in– write in votes and streamline the process. Any questions?
Lt Gov Rutledge Any questions for Senator Crowell? Senator Chesterfield, you’re recognized for a question.
Sen Chesterfield Thank you, Mr. Chair and thank you, Senator Crowell for taking my– whatever I’m doing now. We’re going back to Education in a minute so I’m just dead. Help me understand. You are going to eliminate write in candidates?
Sen Crowell Yes, ma’am. It’s already eliminated in the presidential and the constable. And this is just in the state elections.
Sen Chesterfield Okay.
Sen Crowell And just eliminating the write in candidate, because right now, the only way there is actually a spot on the ballot is if somebody goes in and just signs and says, I want to be a write in candidate, my name is.
Sen Chesterfield You’re right. You’re right. But you’re not talking about school board andidates too, just the state candidates?
Sen Crowell Yes, ma’am. School board candidates too.
Sen Chesterfield You’re talking about everybody.
Sen Crowell Because the same applies for school board candidates. They cannot be written in unless they went in to the school board and said, I want to be written in.
Sen Chesterfield Alrighty. Thank you.
Lt Gov Rutledge Senator Mark Johnson, you’re recognized for a question.
Sen M Johnson Thank you, Madam President. Senator Crowell, have you ever heard of a gentleman named Thomas Dale Alford?
Sen Crowell No, sir, I have not.
Sen M Johnson I didn’t think you had. He was a congressman from Arkansa’s Fifth District, which included Pulaski County until we had continued to lose population. And after the 1960 census, we went down to four congressional districts, which is why we are, now have four. But at one time, this was, we were standing in the fifth District. You might wonder why we have five highway commissioners. When they created the Matt Blackwell Amendment, they said one from each of the five congressional districts. Dr. Alford was an ophthalmologist here in Little Rock. He ran as a write in candidate for Congress and won. It went to the House of Representatives, who was deemed, like us, to be the sole judge of its members. And they said that he won the election. And he served two terms in the US Congress until the district was redrawn and we only had four congressmen. But I didn’t know if you’re aware of that. That’s why I have a problem with possibility of doing away with write ins. And while it is a rare occurrence and my research a minute ago showed there was only one other instance in history where a congressman was elected as a write in. However, it did happen, it could happen. And do you not feel a little bit of consternation of possibly taking options away from voters by taking away this option?
Sen Crowell I do not. I do not foresee this being an issue in the future.
Sen M Johnson Okay. Thank you for answering my question. Thank you, Madam President.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any other questions? Senator Hamer? Anyone wish to speak against? Senator Hammer, you’re recognized to speak for.
Sen Hammer Thank you, ma’am. Governor. The one thing I want to point out is that this will not preclude anybody but establishes the process. Already in some places you can, other places you can’t. So that’s the one thing I want drive home is that, this is protecting the integrity of the ballot as far as people writing it and then their vote, not counting because it’s written on there. That’s the one point I want to get across. Thank you.
Lt Gov Rutledge Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator Crowell, you’re recognized to close.
Sen Crowell Appreciate a good vote. Thank you.
Lt Gov Rutledge Any objection to rolling the vote? There’s an objection. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.
Madam Secretary Boyd. Bryant. Caldwell. Chesterfield. Clark. Crowell. Davis. Dees. Dismang. Dotson. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Leding. McKee. Murdock. Payton. Penzo. Petty. Rice. Stone. Stubblefield. Sullivan. Tucker. Wallace.
Lt Gov Rutledge I’ll look at this side first. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote, or vote at this time who has not voted? I see Senator Petty is an aye. I see Senator Gilmore is a present. I see Senator Murdock, present. Anyone else on this side? On this side, I see Senator Penzo as present. I see Senator English, present. Senator Leding is an aye. Senator Caldwell is present. Senator Hickey is an aye. Any others? Please check the board. Please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 18 yea, 3 nay, 1 not voting, and 13 present, SB 254 passes. Please transmit to the House. Senator Hester, you’re recognized.
Sem Hester Members, just like I talked about a little bit ago, we’ve got the Education bill going on. We’ve got a lot of people that have taken the day off work to be here. So, I’m going to ask at this time that we, maybe without objection, that we move everything remaining on today’s calendar to tomorrow’s calendar and we recess until 11 o’ clock tomorrow. We have a Nurse’s Breakfast tomorrow morning. And I’m sure any announcements that want to come after this. But we will be in session at 11:00 tomorrow. And I think it’s going to be a long day, maybe. Okay. I guess without objection, we can do that.
Lt Gov Rutledge Without objection, all other items will be placed on tomorrow’s calendar. Other announcements?Senator Penzo.
Sen Penzo Thank you, Madam President. Realtors are having their event tonight at the Capital Hotel at 7 p.m. So, hope everybody can make it this evening. Thank you.
Lt Gov Rutledge Thank you, Senator. Any other announcements? Senator Irvin, you’re recognized for an announcement.
Sen Irvin Yes, there is a reception tonight with Wal-Mart folks from 5:30 to 7 at Next Level Events. And then also tomorrow morning at Next Level Events, the Arkansas Nurses Association has a breakfast.
Lt Gov Rutledge The Senate will stand in adjournment, subject to the clearing of the desk until 11 a.m. tomorrow.