JBC-Special Language
Video
Transcript
3 documents
Bills discussed (30)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB15
· 3 mentions in agenda, transcript
Matched: “…SB8 - Department of Commerce - Senator Dismang (CJW039) 21. SB15 - Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism - State Parks…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS, HERITAGE, AND TOURISM - STATE PARKS AND TOURISM … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
HB1051
· 2 mentions in transcript, agenda
Matched: “purposes bart hester amendment to house bill 1051 thank you you're recognized all”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION - REGULATORY DIVISION APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
SB41
· 2 mentions in agenda, transcript
Matched: “…Division of Higher Education - Senator Sullivan (KMW089) 2. SB41 - University of Arkansas - Fayetteville - Senator Sullivan…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS - FAYETTEVILLE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB7
· 2 mentions in agenda, transcript
Matched: “…HB1036 - Department of Health - Senator Irvin (CJW036) 19. SB7 - Department of Commerce - State Insurance Department - Rep…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE - STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
HB1004
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…tration - Regulatory Division - Senator Hester (JAP087) 25. HB1004 - Department of Corrections - Division of Community Correct…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS - DIVISION OF COMMUNITY CORRECTION APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Unger | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1005
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ansas - Fayetteville - Representative McKenzie (HAR145) 23. HB1005 - Department of Education - Representative Walker (KMW090)…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1007
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ministrative Services - Representative Wardlaw (JAP081) 16. HB1007 - Department of Education - Division of Elementary and Seco…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION - … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1022
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…stration - Disbursing Officer - Senator Tucker (JAP082) 11. HB1022 - Arkansas Development Finance Authority - Representative B…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS DEVELOPMENT FINANCE AUTHORITY APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1036
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Education - Public School Fund - Senator Irvin (KMW094) 18. HB1036 - Department of Health - Senator Irvin (CJW036) 19. SB7 - D…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1037
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ties and Municipalities - Senator Mark Johnson (JAR145) 14. HB1037 - State Board of Election Commissioners - Senator Mark John…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1052
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…avioral Health Services - Senator Mark Johnson (LCW101) 13. HB1052 - Office of the Treasurer - State Turnback for Counties and…”
|
AN ACT TO MAKE AN APPROPRIATION FOR STATE TURNBACK FOR COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES BY THE … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1064
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ictions designating areas as 'Members and Staff Only'. 10. HB1064 - Department of Finance and Administration - Disbursing Off…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - DISBURSING OFFICER APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1066
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…of Medical Services - Representative Pilkington (LCW100) 8. HB1066 - Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Enviro…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT - DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY APPROPRIATION … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1068
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…vironmental Quality - Representative Pilkington (WFP037) 9. HB1068 - Department of Finance and Administration - Representative…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1080
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…of Corrections - Division of Correction Reappropriation 7. HB1080 - DHS - Division of Developmental Disabilities Services - J…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SERVICES - … | Ladyman | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1089
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Commerce Department – Economic Development Supplemental 4. HB1089 – Dept. of Finance and Administration - Disbursing Officer…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - DISBURSING OFFICER SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1090
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…nce and Administration - Disbursing Officer Supplemental 5. HB1090 – Department of Energy and Environment - Environmental Qual…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT - DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY SUPPLEMENTAL … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1093
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…rgy and Environment - Environmental Quality Supplemental 6. HB1093 – Department of Corrections - Division of Correction Reappr…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS - DIVISION OF CORRECTION REAPPROPRIATION. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1099
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Human Development Center - Representative Ladyman et al. 8. HB1099 - DHS - Division of Developmental Disabilities Services - R…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SERVICES APPROPRIATION. | Ladyman | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB20
Act 132
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…artment of Agriculture - Representative Bentley (BSS053) 5. SB20 - DHS - Division of Medical Services - Representative Bentl…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF MEDICAL SERVICES APPROPRIATION FOR … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB20 is now Act 132 |
|
SB21
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…pment Finance Authority - Representative Beaty (CJW027) 12. SB21 - Department of Human Services - Division of Aging, Adult,…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF AGING, ADULT, AND BEHAVIORAL … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB3
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Election Commissioners - Senator Mark Johnson (SRD016) 15. SB3 - Department of Shared Administrative Services - Representa…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF SHARED ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB31
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…y of Arkansas - Fayetteville - Senator Sullivan (HAR137) 3. SB31 - Administrative Office of the Courts - Representative Dalb…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB36
Act 135
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ive Office of the Courts - Representative Dalby (JAR128) 4. SB36 - Department of Agriculture - Representative Bentley (BSS05…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB36 is now Act 135 |
|
SB43
Act 136
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…nce and Administration - Representative Vaught (JAP084) 27. SB43 - University of Arkansas - Division of Agriculture - Senato…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS - DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB43 is now Act 136 |
|
SB58
Act 138
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…mendments referred to the Special Language Subcommittee: 1. SB58 - Department of Education - Division of Higher Education -…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - DIVISION OF HIGHER EDUCATION APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB58 is now Act 138 |
|
SB63
Act 139
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…C. Bills referred to the Special Language Subcommittee: 1. SB63 – DHS - Division of Aging, Adult and Behavioral Health Serv…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF AGING, ADULT, AND BEHAVIORAL … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB63 is now Act 139 |
|
SB67
Act 140
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Aging, Adult and Behavioral Health Services Supplemental 2. SB67 – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Supplemental…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB67 is now Act 140 |
|
SB73
Act 141
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Supplemental 3. SB73 – Commerce Department – Economic Development Supplemental 4…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE - ARKANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB73 is now Act 141 |
|
SB8
Act 129
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…te Insurance Department - Representative Perry (CJW038) 20. SB8 - Department of Commerce - Senator Dismang (CJW039) 21. SB1…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB8 is now Act 129 |
Machine transcript
May contain errors. Verify important quotations against the official video.
About transcript accuracy
- Source
- Whisper
- Model
- ggml-large-v3-turbo.bin
- Processing date
- October 5, 2026
Members, if you can start finding your seats, we're going to get this committee meeting started again shortly. We'll call this meeting to order, back to order. This is, I believe we're down to, give me a moment to find my place. Yeah, Representative Perry. Is Representative Perry here? He may have, if he's not, we can pass over Representative Perry. And we'll go down to the next. Senator Disman, you're pulling that.
Senator Johnson, you're recognized to come to the table and present Senate Bill 15. Your amendment to Senate Bill 15. Members, this is on page 100
through 108. This is item D21. If you'll state your name for the committee. if you go ahead and state your name for the committee thank you mr. chairman mark johnson
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:06
senate district 17 uh i'm asked folks to join us that'll help uh kind of hopefully expedite this i have uh director wiley of ardot uh miss uh mckenzie mcmath cornell with keep arkansas beautiful and secretary lewis if we could ask if they would all like to just come up here and any questions that between all of them. I think they're all agency folks. Yes, sir. They're all agency people. They can come to the table and just
state your name and then at that point, do you want to explain your... I will explain it and then allow them
Speaker 18
1:44
introduce us for the committee for the record so we'll know.
Speaker 20
1:49
Okay. McKenzie McMath-Coronnell with Keep Arkansas Beautiful. Shea Lewis, Secretary of the Arkansas Department
of Parks Heritage and Tourism. Jared
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:57
Wiley, Director of Ardut. Thanks for being here today. Go ahead, Senator Johnson. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman. This special language will do some shuffling among agencies. I think if I were to, one point of unanimity in our state is that we do need to pick up the trash,
both because it's the aesthetically right thing to do and because to not do it hurts our tourism, which is such a big industry in our state, and it is a problem. I want to congratulate Director Wiley on the recent efforts they've had. If you saw the, I call it a monument on 630, but it was a basket thing filled with trash, but it was spelled out natural question mark.
And I think that's a challenge to all of us to do whatever we can to maximize our efficiency in trying to clean up our state and keep it clean. So, Director McMath-Cornell heads an agency that receives funding from, is it Amendment 80, 75? You know, when you go over 100 amendments, you start having trouble remembering them. But they get 1% of that, of the one-eighth cent sales tax. And that's not making light of that.
But Director Wiley, of course, has a much higher budget to deal with the roadside trash and all that. So I have to say that I appreciate the governor and her staff for helping expedite this transfer. So it seemed I've talked to several people, including Representative Ray, who kind of brought this to my attention in part. In other states, the primary responsibility is their highway department, and it seemed like a logical thing to bring these two together.
I appreciate Secretary Lewis, who is, in effect, signing off on this transfer to RDOT. But I believe the net result will be better efficiency. Keep Arkansas Beautiful and RDOT have worked together hand in glove in the past. It just seemed to make perfect sense to combine that. So what this does, it makes that change. There is no revenue effect on that, at least at this point. but there will be the current commissioners will be replaced.
They will be members of an advisory council, I believe is what it's called, to keep Arkansas beautiful. I think it's called advisory council. I don't have the actual language in front of me. But anyway, that's what it will do, and I will try to answer questions, but I would think between these three folks we can answer any question that might come up. I bet that panel can answer any
question that comes up. Are there any questions from the committee? Seeing no questions, we have a motion.
Do we have a second? We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Your amendment has been adopted.
Speaker 29
5:08
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, committee. Yeah. Let's see. I'll give Representative Perry a chance
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
5:14
to come if he's here. Yes. we passed over you
go ahead representing Perry you're recognized when you come to the table if you could
just introduce yourself this is Senate bill 7 amendment
civil 7 pages 84 through 87
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
5:31
Thank You mr. chairman members mark Perry representative state representative district 66 last year we had act six fixed 651 which was a bill to help employers with a group health insurance coverage what we did is we required insurance companies upon request by a policyholder to provide claims data for groups of 50 or more employees well when
we did that we learned there are a lot of small employers that are between 25 and 50 where the companies have not provided this information to the to the policy owner or to the business owner which kind of makes it an uncompetitive position so what we've done is asked for a to lower talk to the insurance department they were good with 25 and we've lowered the number back down to 25 which would help the smaller groups we learned a lot of municipalities and
small businesses or fall between that 25 and 50 and they're unable to get competitive quotes which of course saves a saves them a lot of money when they're able to lower health insurance rates you know doing this during a physical session allows us to get this enacted this year as a lot of companies go into open enrollment instead of waiting till next year so with that take any
questions members with any questions for representing Perry seeing no
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
7:07
questions. We have one question. So I understand it. You're increasing the
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
7:13
number of individuals or businesses that will be required to report? No sir. So if the limit was 50 and you're dropping it to 25 there's probably more right? Only when they request it. Only when
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
7:29
they request it. Yeah so it's not companies it's like you know McKee and Associates if you're shopping your insurance and you only got 26 employees currently a company doesn't have to give you claims
data in order for you to help save money on your group health insurance okay thank you yeah there's do we have any
other questions for representative Perry see no questions we have a motion go a second I've been emotions second any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor say aye opposed your Your amendment's been adopted, thank you. Thank you.
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
8:11
Representative McKenzie, you're recognized to present your
amendment to Senate Bill 41. This is on pages 109 through 111. If you can just state your name for
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
8:24
the committee. Yes, sir. Representative Britt McKenzie, District 7, Rogers, Arkansas. And you're recognized. Thank you, sir. So today, I have an amendment to the appropriation for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. It's fairly clear. This has been a topic that's been in the zeitgeist for several months now relative to the decision that the University of Arkansas board made asking for additional funds for the purposes
of the athletic department. I think it's important to start with the primer of what the mission statement of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is. U of A is determined to build a better world by providing transformational opportunities and skills, promoting a culture of collaboration, nurturing creativity, and solving problems through research and discovery, all in service to Arkansas. I do that not to be dramatic, but to say that no point in that statement does it talk about six or seven wins in the SEC West.
What it talks about is its sole function as an institution of higher education, which is to provide a great education for the sons and daughters of our state and the performance of having a better life in our state or elsewhere. This amendment is not anti-athletic. What it is is it's pro-academic. It simply affirms what I have been told as I've engaged with stakeholders throughout the process that as the funds have been asked and the metrics and the mechanisms that this has gone under, they're very complicated and many machinations of them. But ultimately, if there's not going to be an increase to tuition or the creation of a student fee,
then let's all agree and shake hands and put a one-year rider on the appropriation for one year And then resolve to work hard on this in January of 27 to make sure that no tuition payer, no taxpayer, is taking one extra dollar either out of their bank account or leveraged on a 6.5% note over a 15-year term in order to pay for the opportunity to be better at athletics. Again, I'm not trying to sound fiery, but this is very important. In a world where the bubble around higher education is only getting bigger and the burst is going to affect everybody,
it's probably important for us to figure out a way to manage costs down, not find excuses to increase it going up. So with that,
Chair
Unverified
10:36
I'd be happy to take any questions. Members,
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
10:38
are there any questions for Representative McKenzie? Senator Hickey, you're wrecking us. So have they been doing this? Is there a fiscal impact? So have they previously
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
10:47
been doing this, or is this new? There has not been a direct transfer of academic institutional funds to the athletic department.
So it's never happened? No, sir. There may have been cost segregation, cost avoidance. There may have been you pick up this tab, I pick up the next. But in terms of pure dollar transfer from one organization to a department within that organization, no. And that's part of the history of the athletic department with Coach Broyles wanting to maintain autonomy and independence. they've never asked for it because it's been self-sufficient okay and
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
11:17
this is just for the university of arkansas at fayetteville yes sir could you explain some of the other universities how theirs
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
11:24
work yes sir so a lot of the other institutions ua anything pb lr fs north arc
whatever they do operate their athletic departments at a deficit we have a lot of statutes that exist that allow for the institutions to go take that money back through a specific and prescribed student athletic fee. To compare, and no offense to anyone that may represent Pine Bluff or Little Rock or Fort Smith, to compare those institutions to Fayetteville for the purposes of athletic performance and outcome is like apples and bowling balls. I don't know specifically off the top of my head, but it's above $100 million in terms of operating revenue or expenses for the athletic department on an annualized basis at Fayetteville.
TV contracts, name, image, and likeness contracts, brand deals, naming rights for every, not just some, of the stadium. So there are vehicles in which that if an athletic department does operate a deficit, they can go and get that athletic fee. With that comes caveats, whether it be exemptions of procurement law, you know, the three-bid system for different types of procurement and contracts. There's a lot that goes into it, but that's a sacrifice. If you operate at a deficit and you're going to ask things of people, then you're going to have to give some of those freedoms and liberties up.
Fayetteville currently has an exemption very broadly for procurement law and is able to say because we're self-sufficient. But when there's an ask for a direct transfer to make up a budget shortfall coming from anywhere, and it doesn't matter where, it's irrespective of that, I don't really think we can claim that the title of self-sufficient still applies. Okay. Good explanation. I appreciate that. Thank you, sir. Thank you. members are there
any other questions seeing no questions is there a motion we have a second
we have a motion second any discussion on
Chair
Unverified
13:13
the motion all those in favor say aye all those opposed moon is
not adopted thank you sir thank you members that brings us to item 23 d23 this is representative walker you're recognized come to the table
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
13:46
stephen walker district 27. um i know we've been here a while so i'm going to make it short and sweet um so this doesn't do a whole lot the appropriation has been there i think since 2019 it's a 500 000 appropriation this does not increase that at all what it does is turn it into a a matching grant to where it'll help bring in and incentivize bring in private funds to help fund this this is the save the children's fund it's a big benefit in our rural areas that money goes
back into the district it helps hire people to help with the the literacy piece the the went blank on the the
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
14:39
of reading so it they are they incorporate the science of reading which we passed kind of with the learns build and i think department of ed has kind of pushed it out um but they align with that and um i think six dollars for every dollar
of state funding that goes into this goes into the community um section c that's in this will allow department of ed to certify the the private cash donations before they have to match match it up to five hundred thousand um the department of ed will be able to determine what that paperwork looks like on what they need to certify the funds um they currently employ 147 arkansans
around the state and i'm just looking at trying to turn it into a private fund but i'm open for questions if you guys have any members there any questions for everybody Walker seeing no
questions we have a motion we have a motion
do we have a second a motion a second all those are as any discussion on the motion seeing none all those have ever say aye opposed I'm sorry your amendment is not adopted thank
you senator hester should you state your name for official
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
16:23
purposes bart hester amendment to house bill 1051 thank you you're recognized all
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
16:28
right thank you members uh so what i'm talking about today is something i think we are all very familiar with. What you might not have known is this has been going on
in Arkansas for four years with online sports betting. You've probably became very familiar with it over the last few months when it has inundated your lives and your family's lives, and the TV when you turn it on, and the radio, and every app that you open, and when you walk into stores and billboards on the interstate. We became very familiar with what we're talking about here today with the issue that I think is very important for us to address and it is the free play. So if you see from the casinos on the online sports betting apps you know you see on the
interstate bet $20 or put $20 in and we give you $300 free or $250 free and there are all kinds of different scenarios and one might ask is why has this been going on for four years and we've never really heard much about it or a little bit and now all of a sudden it has taken over our lives. Um, sir, and the concern with me is we have said for a very long time as this body that we are not going to support predatory behaviors.
And I believe what we are seeing right now is for four years, we've seen this process work fairly well in the state of Arkansas with unlimited free play. And now, someone is abusing the system in what I believe is a predatory manner. And I believe we are offering a subsidy to casinos that I do not believe is necessary. And I'm going to ask us through this amendment to stop the subsidies to casinos. And it's actually very simple. It says that the amount of free play that they can offer on online sports betting is capped at 5% of their gross receipts.
So if they do $10 million, the most free play they can offer is $500,000. And I believe that stops the subsidy. And here's an example. If you look every month, every casino has to report to DF&A for the amount of profits they made the month before. Do you know how much profit two casinos made this past month? Zero dollars, right? And they're taxed somewhere between 13% and 20%. but we had two casinos have reported i believe that they made zero dollars and we can get
secretary hudson down here to testify to that and i also recognize that when this started four years ago there were other casinos that did this and they too showed some losses early on but for but for four years this has not been abused it's been handled what we consider reasonable i don't feel like it's been used in a predatory manner on the people on our college students on everybody everywhere you go and anytime something starts being used i believe in a predatory way their legislature is responsible to step up and act and so that's that's where i'm at and that's what i'm
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
19:23
asking us to do i'm happy to take any questions senator disney you recognize for a question thank you i mean clearly i mean because i think it was difficult even to find a place for it to fall into an appropriation because the you know the anyway the tough tough to make it work in And this is not something that's fiscal in nature. It's not anything that's got to do with appropriation or limiting how an agency spends money or whatever it is. Was there a thought to maybe file a resolution at the beginning of session to take care of this?
And why is the path special language?
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
19:58
Well, I chose special language. It's very much fiscal in nature, right? Like, it's not fiscal in nature the reason that I'm here. The reason I'm here is because I care about this issue deeply. I care about my kids. I care about all of our young people who are getting inundated with this. So I believe, you know, if you're a college student, ask anybody that's in college right now and ask if them and all their friends are being inundated with this and starting to use an app, starting to gamble when maybe they've never gambled before with the enticement to get free money.
Before session started, the first interview me and the speaker did, I said at the beginning of the interview and the end of that interview at the Political Animals Club, If this was a real concern for me that
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
20:39
I plan to address, we chose to do that through special
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
20:42
language. But why not through a resolution, the normal process? Because, I mean, obviously this would fit better in a bill than in a preparation.
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
20:49
Well, there's always, members can choose to do it any way they want it.
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
20:53
I opted to go with special language. Okay. All right. And then you talked about a subsidy. Explain to me
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
20:59
how the subsidy works. Well, subsidy is we are allowing them a tax break,
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
21:03
which is, in fact, in my opinion, a subsidy.
Like, all of a sudden, they're saying they're making no money. I don't believe anybody in this room believes they made no money last month, yet they're reporting they made no money because they can give unlimited free play away. Whatever they gave away, if it was $10 million or $50 million or $100 million, didn't cost them anything to give that away. And because they didn't give it away because you can't cash it out, or at least not readily available. And I've talked to many people that are using this right now. You get free play. You think you can get the money, but you've got to gamble over and over and over before you can get it back. So it costs them nothing, yet they don't have to pay taxes on it. So it's a
subsidy. It's a subsidy from the people of Arkansas, because if they were not allowed to use this unlimited, they would be paying taxes. Is there some special
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
21:50
math that casinos are using? Because if you give someone $50 and they give you $50 back, that's net income of zero. That's not a subsidy. That's net income of zero. If you give someone $30 and they give you $50 back that's income of 20. At what point, I don't understand how this could ever be a subsidy. This is, to me, similar to advertising dollars, but I don't understand the framing of a subsidy.
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
22:18
Well, Senator, if you want me to get into a tax argument with you, I'll raise a white flag right now. But the difference is, I believe that it is a subsidy because they never give them the thing. They don't give it to you and you can take it. They don't give you this and you can walk away or get the money, you never get it, yet they get to write it off on their taxes. Do they claim the income when they get it back? Who? Does who claim the income when they get it back? The casino or whoever, the entity.
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
22:48
Of course they would. If they get it back. Then it's not a
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
22:53
subsidy, I think. I mean, would you agree? At that point, it's no longer a subsidy. I don't think this is normal income taxes either. I think casinos operate by vastly different
taxing systems than we do. Okay. Senator Hill, you recognize. Sorry, Senator Hickey, I may have jumped you in the line. I pitched the wrong button. Are you okay with Senator Hill?
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
23:10
Senator Hill, you recognize. Thank you. Senator Hester, it appears that you've done a lot of studying on this issue all the way through since you're passionate about getting it stopped.
What is the projected estimated income that you see coming to the state of Arkansas through taxes on this? I do not know. I haven't spent any
time looking at that. I'll tell you the reason I care about this is I care about the future of our kids. I care about the future of Arkansans. Look, we can argue in here, and there's a lot of really smart people, my friends, on both sides of this issue. They can talk really, they can make it sound really good on both sides on taxes and get really deep into all that. It can be really complicated within this Capitol.
You know where it's not complicated? At your dinner table. You know where it's not complicated? In the line at Walmart talking to somebody. You know where it's not complicated? At church. These are not complicated issues outside of the Capitol.
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
24:00
They're super complicated in this room. Well, I appreciate that. A very good sales job right
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
24:04
there at the end. You pushed it right through. So good job there. I'll give you an A for sales, okay? Senator Hickey, you recognize. I guess I'm a little
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
24:15
confused. This is different than the original one I wrote. This is an amendment that's totally different from the other one.
Speaker 90
24:22
Is that correct? Did you have another one
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
24:24
earlier? Well, it's not totally different, But there was a clarification on this. So if you look at page one at the top, it says limitation on the use of sports promotions. Okay, we added in on page two, let me see, it would be in section B, the third paragraph, applicable to an online sports pool. I didn't think that was necessary. Some people clearly smart at this issue than me thought it was appropriate to add that in just for further clarification.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
24:55
Okay, well, it looked different to me than the other one, because whenever I had done that, I actually called some of the affected folks, because my first thought was something you said, and seems to be a little bit of a contradiction from what I was told, whichever way it may be, is that whenever, and I'll call them incentives. I don't know if that's the correct word, but whenever they issue these incentives out there, that they're not being actually written off until the user uses those. And I think, if I understood you right, you think or thought that they were actually being written off whenever they're issued, whether or not the end user had used them or not.
Chair
Unverified
25:35
Is that correct? Well, Senator Rick, I will tell you the same thing I told Senator Dismaying. I'm
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
25:40
not a tax accountant. Here's what I know. The casinos are saying they're making $0 right now, the reporting profit of $0. However you want to get there, I don't know.
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
25:48
I can understand the bottom line. Yes, sir. and i'm i'm not
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
25:52
trying to be i promise i'm not trying to be trying to get you or anything here it's just that that was different for me so i do struggle i mean just from this from just a from a straight business standpoint i understand that people may have social feelings about it or
whatever and we've allowed stuff or hadn't allowed stuff and but it's like it's almost to me and i understand we'd be talking about a different type of tax but like a you know a car manufacturer or car dealer you know they're out out here offering these rebates all the time well whenever they offer these rebates those rebates are available they're available there but in the end they're not the end user of those and then the consumer who buys that has to pay the tax i look at this
really the same way just because somebody's you know issue an incentive or whatever uh so that they use it more in the end if it's if they use it to win then they should be the ones that are liable and i believe they are for the tax so it's almost like we're we're trying to place a tax on a revenue item that is really not a revenue item that's the way i see it so just to be fair yeah
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
27:03
that's fair i i i consider it you call it incentive i call it a you know a subsidy
either way but you're right my concern is from a social perspective I want to offer less of it and that's it and that's really a decision about this body that we continue to offer unlimited with the concern of you know continue to get zeros no one in this room believes casinos are making zero dollars thank you Senator Hester members
do we have any other questions senator dismay
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
27:34
you recognize if the concern is free play I mean we have I
wouldn't call it complicated but we've got a bill here that none of us fully understand what it means and we can get into the back and forth on the accounting and how somehow casinos don't use debits and credits which makes absolutely no sense to me we can make accounting as complicated as we want but it's at its core pretty simple anything reason I think it's complicated its job security for accountants um but why not just eliminate free play i mean if the if the goal is is we don't like what they're doing we don't like predatory practice we don't like whatever this is
then just file a bill to eliminate free play senator
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
28:15
dismay if you want to do that i will i will certainly support it my
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
28:19
bill does five percent and my goal is not to to do away with the practice totally my do my my intent is to do away with my what i
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
28:30
consider a predatory practice my concern is we've allowed other casinos in the state to operate with unlimited free play to a loss to the state of arkansas actually when they were filing their returns and now at this point we've decided other casinos will be limited while we won't even talk about market share
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
28:45
well yeah three casinos have been doing this for roughly four years and something has changed drastically
we all know that members are there any other questions do
Chair
Unverified
29:01
we have a motion motion we have a second any discussion
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
29:07
on the motion senator dismayne you're recognized thank you um this is clearly in no way a physical session item we have the option to file resolutions if we want to go in depth and start limiting the business
practices of really n-n-n-t i'm sympathetic to the concern of what you know the social aspects related to gambling but that doesn't mean that we sit here and pass legislation that we don't fully understand or what the ultimate outcome is going to be with recent changes that have been introduced as recent as today without have being able to have a full testimony and discussion with the public about what it means again I respect what you're looking to do but based on the principle we try to do in this committee I think this is well outside the bounds of what we normally look at to be special language mr. Z any of the
discussion seeing none all those in favor say aye opposed your amendment is failed
members that takes us to it takes us down to see we're passing over representing hungers that takes down to represent bought yeah absolutely if
y'all can just both state your name
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
30:30
representative DM Vought district 87 Stetson Painter district
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
30:37
three God's country. Do Rick and I present. Thank
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
30:41
you committee members. In our state, agriculture isn't just an industry. It is a true
way of life. It is early mornings, late nights, weather worries, and faith of what we plant or raise today will sustain our families for tomorrow. Farming is the backbone of our rural communities and the driving force for the state of Arkansas to the tune of 20 billion
dollars and 11 percent of our gp gdp and all all of that depends on our equipment working when our equipment is broken not working everything stops on a farm the cost of doing business continues to rise for our farmers the cost of fuel fencing fertilize and equipment is making it harder and harder for farmers to do what they love and that is to feed the world this policy is about recognizing that farmers operate on a very
top margin. Farmers are actually one major repair bill plus the tax and labor away from deciding if they stay afloat or they fall behind. So I'm asking that we remove the burden where we can. If we truly believe agriculture is the backbone of Arkansas, then it's time that we stop taxing the backbone to death.
Let's stand with farmers and get this done to help them with their margins.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
32:09
I think that's a good statement. Unfortunately, the state of Arkansas has the privilege to be the number one state in the United States for farm bankruptcies. Will this cure that? No. But will it help? It will. And so it's time, like in my district, farmers are going out of state to buy this stuff because it's exempt all and around the surrounding states. all we're asking is to help take care of the people that feed us thank you senator hickey you recognize for a question
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
32:41
right this is hard on me because uh representative
vault and i she's a one of my one of my favorite reps in the area i have a bunch of ladies that take care of me around theirs but in this case and i've already asked you this straight business for me of course we want to take care of our farmers and you know as revenue tax chair you know i know a lot of people always get disappointed whenever they come down there because we don't hear their bills or just don't pick it up that's because as revenue tax chair we all love tax cuts we all want to do those this would be a top priority for me but as far as this
body it's usually for the last few years we've leaned towards the income tax cuts but as far as as this bill is concerned I think it's heavily flawed and creates a accounting nightmare and also for the retailers because if we say that part on the page one right there where it says parts to be installed on a tractor before the installation of a diesel exhaust fuel system this diesel this death diesel exhaust fuel system has been in place for quite a few years farmers didn't want
it none of us want it uh literally hate it want it to go away i've heard the feds may be doing something with that but to ride it in this way what this is going to do is whenever uh somebody goes to try to get a replacement part are they going to have to sign up and say say oh no my tractor was uh prior to this so i'm o i'm okay we all know what's going to happen there uh we're going to make the retailers where they're going to be the ones that are going to try to police that
definitely don't want to come back on our farmers who somebody says look they went and got a hundred thousand dollars worth of parts all their tractors were have def you know I just I think that I think that it needs to be all or none I just think that it's riddled riddled with problems and personally I do believe that this is an item that should come before rev and tax much like some of the
other ones I brought up and I had an idea I'm doing one myself and have backed away from that but it's just this this is an item that we need to thoroughly vet needs to come through the house and the senate rev and tax in my opinion so but I do appreciate what you're trying to do but again And from a straight business standpoint, I don't think this makes it.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
35:14
I totally understand, Senator. You know, when we were trying to work this out, talking with DF&A or anything else, trying to find maybe a time period, which, you know, pre-def is like from 07 back.
And so we were just trying to have something there because the financial impact doing it all was significant. So instead of just
doing that, try to meet halfway, which I understand where you're coming from. It's just a point of period of time is where we're trying to. Sure.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
35:40
19 19 years or whatever that may work out to 18 to 19 years of death it's going to be the largest percentage of of of these and i think at that point you're going to start getting farmers who are just going to not understand why in the world that since they were required to have the death which they don't
want why they can't why they can't get the exemption themselves so anyway thank you members are there
any other questions see no other questions do we have a motion sorry your minutes fell for lack of emotion thank
you committee thank you members that takes us to the bottom of the printed and original agenda we added two items we suspended the rules and added two items to the agenda the first of those is Senate bill amendment Senate before that's that's actually my
amendment I'm gonna let Senator McKee take over the chair
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
36:48
I'm gonna go to the table represent Johnson if you'll recognize yourself for the record you're recognized
to present Thank You mr. chairman members this would fall under my opinion a technical correction around legislative intent senator Hester and I
last session created some legislation to try to address the workforce issue for physicians in the state of Arkansas and we did that by opening up our state for licensure to for what we call the fourth pathway a different pathway but in order to go through this licensure pathway you had to commit to serve three years in what we intended to be an underserved area of Arkansas the way we drafted the legislation and to say we really I'm at fault there I cited a section of federal code that actually is defined as underpopulated not underserved and by doing
that we actually narrowed the funnel in a way that this legislation is ineffective so we've had at least four physicians want to come and practice in Arkansas willing to practice in rural areas including Malvern, Batesville, Crawford County but because we had this definition wrong they were unable to fulfill those three-year commitments they were ready to do and so we're trying to changed this language to open it up. So there's a statement here that adds the words underserved and also primary care health
shortage area. These are additional federal stipulations that will allow for more physicians to come in practice in these areas with the three-year commitment. And I'd be happy to answer any questions on the amendment. Thank you, Representative. Are there any questions
Speaker 113
38:26
from the committee? Seeing none, what is the pleasure
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
38:31
of the committee we've got a motion and a second in discussion on the motion hearing none all those in favor
of the motion say aye aye opposed motion is
adopted members that takes us to what should be the last item on the agenda this is Senate bill 77 now we we have an amendment that we need to suspend the rules so I'll need a motion to suspend the rules to hand out this amendment for adoption to this bill so move got a motion do we have a second all those in
favor say aye opposed your amendment is adopted and we can pass that out if the committee can pass out that amendment and Senator Tucker you're recognized to acknowledge who you are to the committee and then present your amendment in the bill thank you mr. chair Clark Tucker I know
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
39:35
we've been here a long time today this is the good news is this is the last item on the agenda so I'm hoping the committee members would treat me as Kermit the Frog would or Elmo I'll take
Miss Piggy but I'm trying to avoid an Oscar the Grouch situation here today so here we're here to talk about PBS with
this bill and I want it before we get too far just to clarify I'm trying to clarify from a staff standpoint yeah we have to adopt the amendment first so just and you may have been about
to explain the amendment yes you can start with the explanation of
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
40:08
the amendment that's helpful all the amendment does is it deletes section 2 from the bill section 2 is the fund transfer it just deletes that section and renumbers the section so members
we need motion we have motion second to adopt the amendment all those in favor
say aye opposed your amendment is adopted now you may
proceed thank you thank you mr chair members
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
40:27
this is about seven pbs for the people of arkansas and uh you know we could talk about this for a long time i'm going to try to limit to the high points and happy to go into more detail with any questions for a long time the way that this was funded is the federal government funded an organization called the corporation for public broadcasting that organization would send money to states, and then the states would turn around and send that money to pay their annual PBS dues. About a year ago, the money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting went away.
They sent $2.5 million a year to Arkansas. For this year, well, before I get to that, we have one network that covers public television for the entire state. We have one PBS affiliate for the state. I don't want you all to think that that's normal. There's actually 300 PBS affiliates in the United States, not 50. Most states have multiple. So we're one of 300. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting money was canceled for all 300 PBS affiliates. As of this point, we are the only one in the country to disaffiliate from PBS.
Last fall, that decision was made by the then-AETN, now-Arkansas TV Commission, to disaffiliate from PBS. So what this is is an effort to make sure that we're not the only PBS affiliate in the country for our people not to have access to the PBS content. And I'll talk about the merits of that again, trying to keep this as succinct as I can. So our dues for PBS this year are $2.1 million. I learned yesterday, technically, it's $2.15. If we get to the $2.1, I'm making a public personal commitment today to raise that last $50,000 for the dues, okay?
But in terms of today, I'm going to talk about $2.1. So I'm not asking the legislative body or the state for $2.1 million. Yesterday, there was an announcement that there's an anonymous donor from a foundation that's committed to give $1 million a year for three years, which is a really wonderful and generous thing by that donor. That cuts the gap that we need to fill from $2.1 million to $1.1 million. I'm not asking the state for $1.1 million either. What this does, the remaining two sections of this, is to increase the appropriation authority by $550,000 from the state, half of that remaining gap that we need to fill.
And what it does with the other piece is this creates a matching fund. Every PBS affiliate in the country has a foundation that goes along with it. We have one here. We're all familiar with Game and Fish and the Game and Fish Foundation. There's Arkansas TV and the Arkansas TV Foundation. When the Corporation for Public Broadcasting money went away last year, private giving to the PBS affiliate foundations went up. And it was not a temporary surge either. That has been sustained over time broadly in the United States. There's one location where that giving went down after that was in Arkansas after we disaffiliated from PBS because we had a lot of donors walk away because what they what they were hoping to pay for with their donations was PBS.
So what this does is it creates an incentive and a mechanism for those donors to come back to the table and reengage them to to reverse that trend and have the donors in Arkansas recommit to Arkansas TV. and what I hope and expect would be on a sustained basis. When I started working on this, I went to the Bureau and Wendy, and I said, is it illegal to create a matching fund? And her answer was, it's never been done before, but it's not illegal. So that's the answer I was looking for, that it's not illegal.
I think this could be a mechanism that we could use with other partnerships the state has with other nonprofits, and we'll see what happens in the future. But I do think it's a creative way to approach situations where the state doesn't want to carry the entire load for something, and we want other folks to have skin in the game. And so that's the way I approach this, and I've been working extensively with the Bureau and other members and the governor's office on this. And so I think this is a way to save PBS in the most streamlined way possible for involvement from the state, not asking for the state for the entire amount.
It's actually about a quarter of the amount, and it's only a matching fund up to $550,000. So, you know, moms and pops out there are going to need to contribute $550,000 in order for the matching to kick in. I have gotten a commitment from the Tyson Family Foundation to give $100,000 a year for three years, so that actually knocks the amount down that the foundation needs to raise from $550,000 to $450,000. They set up a separate line. I say they, the foundation, I try to teach my children not to use pronouns, okay, So I'm going to follow my own advice. The foundation has separated, created a separate line item to give to PBS about six or so weeks ago.
They've already raised about one hundred and thirty thousand dollars to that. So I think they will be able to hit that five hundred fifty thousand dollar mark. But the state will only match what they are given. So, again, we are incentivizing engagement from other folks to have skin in the game in terms of PBS. You know, I think everyone is familiar with PBS. Forgive my bad humor at the beginning with Carmen and Miss Piggy, but clearly this has played an important role in everyone's life. The content that PBS provides is irreplaceable,
especially from an educational standpoint for kids, the PBS Kids content. There was a survey done recently. PBS is broadly popular in Arkansas, over 70% approval. This is a nationwide survey. 79% of history teachers, their go-to content for free content is PBS Kids, what PBS Kids provides. So in Arkansas, there's about 162,000 households that only view PBS over the air. They don't have access for whatever reason from broadband or whatever the case might be. So those are inherently vulnerable populations.
So to maintain and preserve the PBS content for the people of Arkansas is very important for a whole variety of reasons. People love it. People need the PBS Kids content for educational value. The news is much more trusted than any other news that exists, and that's confirmed in nationwide and state-based polling. So the value for the people of Arkansas is there. I don't want to belabor the point, and I'm happy to answer any questions. The last two things I'll say are, as I mentioned, I've been working with the governor's office.
The governor is supportive of this endeavor, and the reason why I feel comfortable deleting Section 2 from the bill is because she's agreed that if the money comes through, then we'll match this through restricted reserve through ALC in the interim. She is supportive of that. And the last thing I'll say is, you know, this is one-time money only. It's not money that's going to go into the budget. This is obviously a dynamic situation, and we'll have to see where we are a year from now. You know, Carlton Wing's ahead of Arkansas TV now, and he has some ideas to make Arkansas TV more self-sufficient
from a financial standpoint. uh creating arkansas-based content totally supportive of that and i i think he will be successful in that to me this is an and situation we don't have to pick between one or the other i think we can do both and the way to to save pbs for the people of arkansas uh is this way so with that i'm happy to take any questions senator dismay you
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
47:41
recognize your question i just want to make sure that we kind of restate it i mean at this point when we deleted the language for the gad transfer this is appropriation only it does not have funding tied to it but do
you agree that that's what the outcome of us or that
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
47:56
a amendment thank you for stating that very clearly senator yes the right now there's no guaranteed funding the the fund the GAD fund transfer went away with the amendment it's appropriation that so the bill now does two things it's appropriation it increases the appropriation by $550,000 and then it creates the matching mechanism. Okay, thank you. Yeah. Senator Bryant,
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
48:17
you recognize? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is there a commitment from the commission that if they receive the funds that they'll re-engage with PBS?
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
48:28
I would, well, the million dollar gift that came through yesterday, that's contingent on matching money it's it's the only way that the money can come through uh and it was in it was so in the one reason i wanted the fund transfer language is to guarantee that if the money went to the arkansas tv commission that that's the way that it would be spent so when we deleted section two we deleted that guarantee uh but at the same time if there's a couple of things that that are
happening one is we're representing to the people of arkansas that if they give money then we will match that money so i think it would be important for us to follow through on that you know if and when that happens the other thing is we will have a decision to make when the restricted reserve money comes through alc and we'll need to communicate with the commission at that time to guarantee that if we send the
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
49:22
money over that it will in fact go to pay the pbs dues okay so i assume these contracts happen once a year typically i guess probably a july like a mid-year fiscal commitment into the
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
49:32
pbs pbs has said that again we're the only affiliate
that they're really dealing with in this capacity right now not to say that it couldn't happen with others in the future but they're really just dealing with us right now and they have said that if we disaffiliate at any time that they will prorate the dues for the year so we don't have to write a check for 2.1 million dollars if we're just i don't i don't i'm saying something i don't fully know but I what I don't know is that if whether we have to pay as we go what I do know is if we disaffiliate 25% of the way through the year they were only paying 25% of
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
50:06
the annual dues okay so if we if we if ALC's can commit some
funds and get it through ALC's body and the
other donors finally commit their funds and they take a check to a to Arkansas TV foundation yeah the foundation you're saying we don't know if they will they'll probably accept the check or maybe not if they don't want to turn it back on PBS I'm just saying if we're gonna invest money through Arkansas TV and other programming and lure other sponsors and then we're gonna restrict some airtime because we have a new re-engage partnership does that not put a burden on the Commission and I know
very little about the TV world but I know it's in about advertising and so I I don't want
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
50:51
to string up the commission on that. Arkansas TV has a variety of content. It's not PBS only, right? There's a lot of content. The reason I know is, I mean, you see high school state championships, Arkansas-based documentaries. I mean, you see all sorts of content on Arkansas TV, formerly AETN. That's not PBS, right? So there's still a lot of opportunity for Arkansas-based content to be produced,
even if we maintain the partnership with
PBS. Representative Evans, you're recognized for
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified
51:25
the question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Senator Tucker, let me ask Senator Bryan's question maybe a little differently. Sure. If the money that is coming in, the anonymous donations, this appropriation is created, the matching funds are raised, we have a transfer restricted reserve, All of this goes in to the account for the purpose of raising the funds separately to pay the dues to PBS.
Right. Those dues are paid. Ultimately, though, the decision of what programming that is shown 24-7-365 falls upon the CEO and the board of Arkansas TV, correct? That's absolutely my understanding. So this does not force them to utilize any of the programming that would be offered from paying those dues. this just gives the money to pay the dues yes sir absolutely that's right yes members do we have any
other questions seeing no other questions we need a motion do pass as amended so move we
have a motion do we have a second we have a motion a
second all those in favor say aye opposed your amendment is adopted your bill is passed as amended thank you Members, if there's not any further business, I'll say that slowly in case there is. If there's no further business, I appreciate your patience. This
meeting is adjourned. Wait. All approved bills and adopted amendments are released from special language. Yep. This meeting is adjourned.
Unknown speaker
52:59
That's okay, man. I'm glad I got it.
Agenda
A. Call to Order.
C. Bills referred to the Special Language Subcommittee:
E. Other Business.
F. Adjournment.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — JBC-SPECIAL LANGUAGE, Apr 22, 2026 | Agenda | 2 | Official source ↗ |
| C. Bills referred to the Special Language Subcommittee | Exhibit | 25 needs OCR | Official source ↗ |
| D. Amendments referred to the Special Language Subcommittee | Exhibit | 129 needs OCR | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Lee Johnson Chair
Unverified
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Speaker 17
Speaker 18
Speaker 20
Speaker 29
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
Speaker 60
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Speaker 90
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Speaker 113
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified