City, County & Local Affairs Committee- House
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Bills discussed (10)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB411
Act 1076
· 8 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…PROVEMENT DISTRICTS. REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle SB411 G. TO PROHIBIT MUNICIPAL SANCTUARY POLICIES. Stubblefield S…”
|
TO PROHIBIT MUNICIPAL SANCTUARY POLICIES. | G. Stubblefield | Notification that SB411 is now Act 1076 |
|
HB1025
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…UE BOND ACT OF 1985. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1025 Rye TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE NUMBER OF VOTING CENTER…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE NUMBER OF VOTING CENTERS IN A CITY OF THE … | Rye | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1614
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1614 Hawks TO CREATE A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR MUNICIPAL FIREFIGHTERS…”
|
TO CREATE A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR MUNICIPAL FIREFIGHTERS. | Hawks | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1735
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…on CONCERNING NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. HB1735 A. Collins TO AMEND THE MUNICIPAL AID FUND; TO AMEND THE DI…”
|
TO AMEND THE MUNICIPAL AID FUND; TO AMEND THE DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUES IN THE MUNICIPAL … | A. Collins | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1766
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1766 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL SEWER SYST…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL SEWER SYSTEMS. | A. Collins | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1896
Act 1025
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…HE CHAIR CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1896 Gates TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CERT…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS. | Gates | Notification that HB1896 is now Act 1025 |
|
HB1926
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1926 Richey TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO AFFIX A SECURITY CAMERA T…”
|
TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO AFFIX A SECURITY CAMERA TO A UTILITY POLE LOCATED WITHIN … | Richey | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
SB180
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB180 M. Johnson CONCERNING NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR MUNICIPAL EL…”
|
CONCERNING NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. | M. Johnson | [No text provided] |
|
SB461
Act 1077
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…1 G. TO PROHIBIT MUNICIPAL SANCTUARY POLICIES. Stubblefield SB461 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE CREATION OF AND T…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE CREATION OF AND TIMING OF TAX COLLECTION IN CERTAIN … | K. Hammer | Notification that SB461 is now Act 1077 |
|
SB679
Act 1090
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…NTS AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB679 K. Ingram TO AMEND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT…”
|
TO AMEND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT REVENUE BOND ACT OF 1985. | K. Ingram | Notification that SB679 is now Act 1090 |
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Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
0:00
Colleagues, what I have here is a bill that's simply changing some language to allow an existing program to merge in with a new program that we have. I'm going to talk just very briefly about the performance contracts, energy performance contracts that we've been doing, and they've been very successful. Some of you may have heard this already, but we've done about 21 of these projects, cost us about $102.5 million, and we've gotten $150 million of energy savings. What this bill is
doing is allowing our municipalities to, the wording and the realignment, to allow the municipalities to take out advantage of these programs. So with that, I'll ask any questions, try to answer any questions, or bring people up here to bring people up here that can answer questions. Seeing no questions, is
Speaker 2
0:50
anyone in the audience like to speak for or against
Speaker 3
0:54
this bill? Seeing none, are you closed for your bill? Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. I'd entertain a motion.
Speaker 4
1:07
I have a motion to pass. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Congratulations, your bill passed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is Representative, excuse me, Senator Hammer now it is. Is he here? Representative Beck, would you check out there and see if Senator Hammer is in the hallway?
Speaker 12
1:50
Oh, I'm the house sponsor on this? This might be very interesting. I think
Speaker 4
2:04
on this when he gets here. All right. At this time, we will hear Senate Bill 411. Representative Smith, are you here and prepared to present?
Representative Stu Smith
Unverified
2:18
Please identify yourself for the record. Thank you Mr. Chair. Representative Brant Smith. You may proceed. Well I
want to kind of keep this short today because I know everyone is ready to put this behind them but I appreciate you letting me come back and run it for a second time. Yesterday I think there was a lot of discussion about immigration policy and that is not what this bill does it's it solely addresses sanctuary
city policy not immigration policy that's a discussion for a different day and more than likely will be taken care of at the federal level but today i'm asking you for a good vote on the act to prohibit municipal sanctuary policies and for other purposes and with that i'll take questions okay is there any questions represented love you're recognized for a question well actually
Chair
Unverified
3:17
mr chair i have a motion okay let's hear your motion
Representative Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
3:20
i have a motion to order a
fiscal impact statement to the municipalities that this bill will be affecting this is
Speaker 26
3:34
a fiscal impact to the state yeah All right.
Nora Vienas
Unverified
3:40
Let me let me talk to the staff here and that would be according to rule 38 P.
Speaker 4
8:38
Okay, the chair rules that this does not need an impact study and under 38P is under the rules. Okay. Uh, we can proceed forward. Uh, any questions to representing Brant?
Seeing no questions. Uh, we have, uh, uh, let's see. We have two, four, we have eight people signed up Representative Richmond, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
9:40
to make a motion that we limit debate to five minutes each side. Okay. We have
Speaker 4
9:51
five minutes to each side. Any discussion on that?
Okay, that's non-debatable, is it not? It's non-debatable. uh speaking against is maria oh excuse
Speaker 4
10:09
okay all right all in favor of spend uh a limited debate to five minutes per side say aye those opposed say no no okay the ayes have it Please come forward, state your name for the record, and as you speak, keep in mind that
five minutes per side, and there's three other people signed up. Thank you, Mr.
Mireya Reith
Unverified
10:39
Chair, and I'll be brief, having given my comments yesterday, but again, my name is Mireya Reith. I'm founding executive director, Arkansas United. We operate seven immigrant resource centers across the state of Arkansas. Just to respond briefly to Representative Smith, where the title of this bill is just about sanctuary. Again, I appeal to the committee to please look at the content. There is language here that gravely worries us in general references to
both formal and informal policies and practices, things that cannot be stipulated in law. And there have been references in testimony that we are talking about things beyond just sanctuary, but we are talking about municipal programs and where I know a lot of the attention of the last couple days has been around the municipal ID program in Little Rock I lift up that in northwest Arkansas in southwest Arkansas in northeast Arkansas in southeast Arkansas there are
municipal programs in place that entail working with the immigrant community and could be implicated by this I also want to lift up once again the double negative in regards to the conversation the information there that's about citizenship and talks about impeding anyone at the municipal level from asking about citizenship again that is a racial profiling clause it is a double negative and we respect the comments of Senator Stubblefield that that may not be the intention but the clause is currently written and if passed out a committee today is a racial
profiling clause and there is no way around it and so my last message again that I have been in constant contact over the last few days, and Arkansas is exposed to lawsuits. Municipalities with large immigrant populations such as Rogers, Springdale, Dequeen, Little Rock are exposed to lawsuits. It is absolutely impossible to implement this law as written in a way that would protect the constitutional rights of individuals. And we firmly believe that this is not how Arkansas and how our Arkansas taxpayers want to see our money invested,
that we have better opportunities here. And plus, again, you all did a tremendous effort with our dreamers this last session. Please do not expose them to racial profiling in ways that would not make them want to fulfill their careers and stay here in Arkansas and our colleges as we have worked so hard to
Speaker 4
13:06
offer. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Speaking four is Kenneth Wallace.
Kenny Wallace
Unverified
13:15
Please identify yourself for the record. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. My name is Kenny Wallace. I'm an activist here in Central Arkansas, mainly speaking for myself and not for any particular organization. I did want to read the entire letter, but I won't be able to. It's of Kathy Hall, the mother of Haley King. She wanted to fly up here to speak on this, but was unable to due to the scheduling issues. Haley was killed while riding a scooter by Sergio Lario Rodriguez, going 71 to 35 zone in Fayetteville of 2016.
And this is one of the examples of where these, basically these sanctuary city-style policies have ended up harming someone. I know that during the yesterday, there was claims that illegal aliens don't commit as much crime as legal immigrants or as citizens, that's only a half-truth. Legal immigrants by far commit less crime. However, illegal aliens, on the other hand, do not. Basically, this sanctuary policy has been passed in several states, including Texas last year.
More lawsuits. Mr. Chair, porno order. Okay, you
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
14:29
have a porno order? Please keep your comments about the cities themselves and what the bill is doing with the city as far as sanctuary cities. this is not about immigrants this is not about anything even though you know I know that you listen to the other sides but please stay with
Speaker 4
14:46
sanctuary cities. Representative Richmond yes please stick with the bill if you would please. Yes
Kenny Wallace
Unverified
14:50
thank you chair. Anyway as I said sanctuary
city bills have been passed in other states before with and they were passed in Texas on the last year and resulted in in so far it's been a success in terms of at least stopping some of efforts there are sanctuary policies happening across the state as mentioned before there are IDs that are being given by the Mexican consulate the Guatemalan consulate oftentimes police officers and stopping illegal aliens are often presented with these different IDs they're having to deal with this issue I would encourage for this piece of legislation to be put forth before the
house and given a chance to vote on I do think the committee for at least giving people the chance to speak on yesterday there were a lot of people signed up yesterday didn't get that chance uh but again sanctuary bills to ban sanctuary policies are something the american people want across the state and nation and in particular across the state i'll be happy to answer any questions
Speaker 4
15:46
or any seeing none thank you very much thank you okay speaking against the bill nora benaz did
Chair
Unverified
15:58
it get close enough for you to recognize your name
Speaker 15
16:03
please identify yourself for the record and remember
Chair
Unverified
16:16
differ thank you okay speaking against the bill Lance Hines Excuse me.
Speaker 4
16:27
Speaking for, did I say against? Okay. I apologize.
Lance Hines
Unverified
16:33
No problem, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, my name is Lance Hines. Thank you for letting us come before you again today. I'll keep my comments brief. I'm going to point out that in Senator Stubblefield's testimony in front of the Senate committee, he did run this past the Attorney General of the state of Arkansas's office, and she saw no conflicts with federal law or anything that would give her pause in enforcing this legislation. Again, as I pointed out, sanctuary city policies can come about through
an administrative process woven into a budget that then gets voted on by municipal entities such as Little Rock, which is what happened in our case. I did not have the votes, didn't even get a chance to discuss it because the way it was done at an administrative level. This would prevent us from creating those policies at the municipal level. Again yesterday I said this was this would be preemptive prevention and I would normally object to interventional local rule but
I think in this case it's warranted and needed in this state. Thank you. Okay I appreciate your support.
Speaker 4
17:41
Thank you. Now, speaking against the bill, Rosa Valdez. Please state your name properly for me now. Hello, Mr. Chair. My name is Rosa
Chair
Unverified
17:58
job on it. Go ahead. Thank you. Hello.
Rosa Velazquez
Unverified
18:01
Thank you, Mr. Chair and Vice Chair and Committee for the opportunity to speak
Today, my name is Rosa Velazquez and I'm the advocacy director for Arkansas United. We're a nonprofit that operates seven regional immigrant resource centers in the state of Arkansas, and we have 800 active members, including immigrants and native born Arkansans who believe in immigrant integration. Today, I am here to speak against SB 411. In SB 411, sanctuary is also defined as a law enforcement policy. This statement is problematic. It is very vague and could be manipulated to discourage the successful bridge building that we have been proud to be a part of between municipal agencies like mayor's offices,
local and state law enforcement agencies, and the immigrant community. The city of Little Rock just last month removed from its agenda the same policy. I'm sorry. The city of Little Rock just last month removed from its agenda the same proposal before its city directors and has flagged its own concerns with SB 411. States like Florida are calling on local businesses to put out travel advisories to avoid Florida with similar laws passed there. States like Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee
are currently being sued, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars. Causing taxpayers thousands of dollars. We've seen the negative economic impact of anti-immigrant policies like SB411. People are forced to leave, tourism could potentially plummet, and the people living and working in these states suffer needlessly. We are deeply concerned about the references in this bill to what could be inferred as racial profiling of immigrants, thus opening the door to assume that all immigrants are undocumented, which is simply not true. This is incredibly concerning because it's opening the door
to major racial profiling lawsuits against the state, as we have seen happen in many other states and could be detrimental to the relationships already being built. Cities have a right to a lawsuit for overreach. There has never been a claim that any of our police departments and sheriffs are not communicating with ICE. On the contrary, we're actually concerned that in some communities, ICE is being over-notified. In fact, we have documented cases where US citizens have been detained and held on ice holds. As such, we feel SB 411 poses a greater threat
to public safety by discouraging community trust because we need all members of our community to trust law enforcement, and local law enforcement needs to be able to look at its practices of interaction with immigrants and build just that. We feel that even considering of proposals like SB 411 undermine the ongoing efforts of local and state law enforcement agencies and that are working so hard to build trust in the community. In Southwest Arkansas, Dequeen, where I'm from, the local sheriff, police chief, and jail administrator
held a public forum where they invited the Latinx community and the immigrant community to come and express concern, provide ideas on collaboration, and intentional bridge building within our communities and local law enforcement. During the meeting, tons of concerns were brought up and addressed by both the community leaders and local law enforcement.
Speaker 66
20:58
Ma'am, time is up. Finish your statement and wind it down if you would. Time is
Rosa Velazquez
Unverified
21:04
up. Okay. I'll, yeah. Instead of having policies that divide, create gaps, and unnecessary fear in the community, we respectfully ask you to be strong and courageous and create policies that build collaboration
and trust in our communities. Arkansas is better than this. We need to continue to be a welcoming and equitable Arkansas for everyone. Thank you. Thank
Speaker 4
21:33
you. All right. Speaking for the bill is Ken Yang. Please identify yourself. How much time? Minute 30.
Ken Yang
Unverified
21:46
My name is Ken Yang. I'm here just representing myself, and I like to thank my parents, who are also immigrants. there's nothing racist about supporting this bill and supporting legal immigration I'm glad we live in the greatest country in the world when my father fled communist China there was no border for him to flee to no sanctuary city for him to flee to and so when they immigrated here in 1982 they did it legally they did it like the over four million people that are standing in
line for a green card right now. There are no sanctuary cities for them to go to because they understand that this country is a country of law, a country bound by the United States Constitution and they did it correctly and right and they worked hard and they became American citizens in 2001 and I'm proud of that. I'm proud that they remembered family that they wouldn't use their children as pawns to come here and do that. And so when we talk about sanctuary cities and
we talk about banning sanctuary cities, we're talking about making it fair for everyone that want to come here legally. And so I'll end with this because I don't have time to share my parents story or my story, but it's not too much to ask to support this bill and to not cheapen the hard work of legal immigrants, like my parents. Thank you. Thank you.
Nora Vienas
Unverified
23:30
Wayne Beach, I've got just a few seconds. Would you want to speak? A
Speaker 101
23:44
few seconds. Hi, I'm Wayne Beach. You're speaking for the bill. I've
Speaker 103
23:51
just got two seconds. Pardon me? Speaking for the bill. Speaking for the bill. Thank you for inviting me here today. We already, one thing I want to bring up is that, or two things, is DACA actually is a federally protected status now.
There's no, it's not going to affect DACA. Number two is we already have immigration laws here in the state. and uh you and i can i can quote this if you'd like me to but uh i don't i think uh you know that already you really don't have a concern about uh profiling profiling so we already have profiling uh laws here in the state to prevent profiling that's all i had to say thank you any questions seeing no questions all right we're
Chair
Unverified
24:30
out of time okay we're out of time
uh representative smith are you ready to close thank you mr chair thank
Representative Stu Smith
Unverified
24:52
you committee and those in the gallery this is an emotional issue i
understand that we're not going to be able to settle all
of our differences today but this bill will move us in in the direction i think we need to go it will open up more dialogue in the future
and maybe somebody in washington dc will watch and see what we're doing and say if we don't fix these problems the states are going to have to do it and so uh i know that uh this is polarizing but it doesn't have to be this is about rule of law simply that rule of law and I would ask for a good
Chair
Unverified
25:45
vote and with that I'm closed okay before I entertain a motion here let me recess for just
a second here All right. I apologize for that. Okay. I'll entertain a motion at this time. All right.
Speaker 4
26:15
Have a motion do pass. Anyone want to speak to the motion?
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
26:21
Representative Love, you're recognized to speak to the motion. Thank you,
Representative Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
26:25
Mr. Chair. Colleagues, Representative Smith is right. This is an emotional issue. And it's an emotional issue because, you know, I've been through and my family has been through issues like this. There is really no need for a policy like this. I think this is a policy that if a city chooses to, if a municipality chooses to, then they can take it up
at the local level. I strongly feel like if cities can enforce this, then let them enforce at their levels. If they choose not to, then let them choose not to. But this is not a bill in which it will spur dialogue at the federal level. This is a bill that will create a chilling effect among populations. And if I know anything about creating a chilling effect among populations, African Americans can speak to that. And so with that, I would
Chair
Unverified
27:34
Thank you. Okay. Any other discussion? Yes. Representative Brown, you're recognized.
Representative Karilyn Brown
Unverified
27:43
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I intend to support this bill because America and the state of Arkansas are successful because we do have rule of law. Because we have rule of law, people want to come here because they know that they will have rights and they will be
treated like human beings and they will be respected as human beings. But if we do not enforce our laws, then we are going to become as confused and messed up as these other countries that people are fleeing. And I would ask for a good vote. Okay. Any other? Representative
Speaker 4
28:19
Dalby you're recognized. Thank you Mr. Chair. I had made it
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
28:24
clear I felt like yesterday that I was for this bill. I had some questions about some of the procedures and Representative Smith and I
visited about that about trying to fix the procedure so that the bill will stand any court challenge and that I was supportive of the bill was supportive of it yesterday though I have taken some personal hits today because I was called out of this meeting to take care of some other business that i was responsible for and didn't get back here in time and i want the record to be very clear that i did not leave this meeting to avoid a vote yesterday and representative smith understands that and i think all my colleagues understand that but i wanted that
to be very clear that that's not the way i operate and i wanted that on record and and i had every intention yesterday of voting for this bill though i recognize there's some issues that we're going to work on and get it get it fixed as to the procedure part of it and i have every intention of voting for it today thank you
Speaker 80
29:23
okay representative richmond you're recognized thank you mr
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
29:28
chair just very quickly kind of echo the same sentiments on this thing that coming here and voting for such a bill or voting against such a bill is not an easy task for
anybody here it's it's a difficult thing we put a lot of thought into it and frankly when those outside use the language, use and discuss and talk about my colleagues, it doesn't matter which side of the issue that they're on, it makes me even more reluctant to do something that would support such cause that they may be actually wanting me to support. It's counterproductive. Hate, all the things
that divide us there's no place for it here we have to come together and we have to try even though we have different opinions and different ideas of what is right we have to try to find that common ground and when we are attacked and you know we're politicians there's no even though each and every one of us would like to deny that we're politicians we understand that that's going to happen
but when you're attacked and vilified and everything you're not you're not pushing your particular idea down the road you're going backwards as far as this bill I think that the rule of law in this country and I have been during my Marine Corps career to over 70 different nations I have seen the lack of rule of law. I've seen the impact that it has. It is the one thing that every citizen
of this nation can count on is that there are rules and that they do apply to us. And when we start ignoring this rule or picking that rule or choosing that rule that we're going to obey, then that's a slippery slope that we will never ever remove ourselves from. And we will end up like so many of the other countries that people are fleeing from to come here. It's amazing that we don't have people fleeing from the United States to go somewhere else.
So that tells me we have something here worthwhile. And we should enforce our laws. And that's why I'm voting for this bill.
Speaker 4
31:56
Any further discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed, say no. No. The ayes have it.
Chair
Unverified
32:06
The bill has passed. Congratulations. Roll call. Got two hands, Jim.
Speaker 122
32:25
Representative Shepard. Yes. Representative Deffenbaugh. Yes. Representative Fielding? No. Representative Holcomb? Yes. Representative Whitaker? No. Representative Hodges? No. Representative De La Rosa? Aye. Representative Boyd? Yes. Representative Speaks? Yes. Representative Brown? Yes. Representative Nix?
No. Representative Richmond? Yes. Yes. Representative Kavanaugh. Yes. Representative Rye. Yes. Representative Dalby. Yes. Representative Johnson. Yes. Representative Hawks. Representative Hawks. Representative Cooper. Yes. Representative Love. No. Representative Fite. Yes.
Representative Stu Smith
Unverified
33:37
chairman thank you committee i appreciate your vote today yes and
Chair
Unverified
33:41
representative hammer would you come up here quickly and explain our bill so i'll know it on the floor tomorrow
thank you mr chair oh excuse me i have
Speaker 15
34:05
hold on just a second Yes, Representative Hammer, you're recognized to present Senate Bill 461.
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
34:11
Thank you, sir. I have two handouts I think that will help understand it and expedite the presentation. If I could get those passed out, please. Yes. Could I
Chair
Unverified
34:21
get someone to pass those out for him? Okay, the staff's coming over here. Yes, sir.
Speaker 15
34:49
Let us get the handout first, okay? Thank you.
Chair
Unverified
35:27
Oh, there's not a motion on that yet. We're on 461. All right. I
Speaker 4
35:39
mean, excuse me, Senator Hammer, you're recognized to present Senate Bill 461. Thank you,
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
35:42
Mr. Chairman. I'm just going to read through the sheet briefly. I've tried to give it to
you as in print so you can have a chance to digest it a little better. This bill is brought in conjunction in working with the county collectors, and the question is why would the county collectors want this it's because it would
bring continuity across the state when it comes to the collection of dues that the collectors collect on behalf of their volunteer fire departments in the 70s the legislature realized the value of the volunteer fire departments that they could provide to rural arkansas to help achieve lower homeowners insurance rates as well as provide response to emergency services within their community and with regards to the lower homeowner insurance rates these are established by process where ISO comes in and evaluates them and has a critical criteria which they must meet
including apparatus that they need to fight fires and to respond to emergency situations. As a result of legislation in the 70s fire departments could be organized under the following manners of which there are five listed the volunteer fire departments that are non-profit volunteer with municipalities subordinate service district improvement districts and fire protection districts senate bill 461 pertains only to dues that are collected by the fire protection districts and you may ask why it's because fire protection districts provide the most transparent
and member involvement when it comes to the establishment of the dues collected by the department they are also they are also less problematic when it comes to the audits that occur with regards to volunteer fire departments here's the bullet points of what senate bill 461 does it requires that dues that are established by the fire protection districts to be collected by the county tax collector prior to the pain of the personal property taxes other items that currently fit that description now and I want you to notice a list our suburban improvement district city liens and the
one that just kind of jumped off to page me were sanitation liens those are already required to be paid before personal property taxes can be paid second thing it does it addresses the issues of when a volunteer fire department requests to convert to a fire protection district that the quorum court shall respond within 60 days and if they choose not to honor the request they are to respond in writing to the volunteer fire department as to why they are not granting the request that is not the main thrust of the bill but it is an issue we're seeking to address where some volunteer fire departments in the
state have requested to become a fire protection district and the quorum Court has remained silent on that so we're including this language to encourage them to give the fire department an answer as to why so the fire department can address those issues I want you to notice that the collector may certify delinquent dues to the collection after January 1st of each year and prohibit any unpaid dues prior to the January 1st 2020 are going to be deemed uncollectible so what that means is this is not going to grandfather in anything prior to January 1st, 2020. This has a new start date moving forward as to when this
would be enforceable. It has an emergency clause so the county tax collectors can prepare to go forward. And then it involves, and this is an important feature, it involves the quorum court in the process of being able to review and approve or disapprove the reassessments of dues, which brings a higher level of accountability and transparency when it comes to the establishment of the dues being charged by the volunteer fire department and that's critical because it's a greater layer of accountability it's a greater process whereby the fire department if they're
going to raise their dues they have to involve the quorum court in the discussion there are some departments around the state that quite honestly have really risen their rates to a high level most often those happen with regards to those volunteer fire departments that are non-profit because they're structured differently. That's why this bill does not give the collectors the authority to enforce the collecting of these dues, and it's reserved only for the Fire Protection District. This bill also involves the Board of Commissioners
and the purpose of justifying the increase of dues that may be proposed. Fire Protection District have assessors that evaluate the dues if there's a request to raise them. So there's a lot of safety guards that are built into this to keep a department from having a runaway and then the members being forced to pay it before their personal property taxes. Here's what I want you to know, Senate Bill 461 does not do. It does not interfere with the determination of the election process by which dues are established, and it does bring a higher level of transparency and accountability, as I noted above.
So the process by where the local department, Fire Improvement District, goes about establishing their fees this bill interferes with that none at all okay that is still decided through their you know respective election process as far as what they want to impose upon themselves as the dues that they feel are necessary for the department to function in closing let me just say this back in the 80s a bill was passed requiring all volunteer fire departments to respond to fires and emergencies regardless of whether or not the person had paid
their dues that was the result of a situation that happened where the fire department pulled up on a house that was burning that member had not paid their dues they were not a member and the fire department just sat back and watched the house burn as a reaction to that legislation was passed that said volunteer fire departments you have to respond you have to come and pick grandma up on the floor you have to put the house fire out you have to respond to the automobile accident. You have to do all these things, which is good in theory, but it costs money to keep
those things operated and up to the level that ISO says you've got to maintain in order for you to get the best rating so we can see that return to the homeowners in lower homeowners insurance values. Last session, we removed the GIF funding, which many of the departments depended upon. If you're like me, I've heard it from my volunteer fire departments, why'd you take our GIF funding away. And that's a debate to be had. But the reality is they can't run on fumes. Okay. And then third, this bill will not affect, and I put a low estimate actually, it's not going to affect
80% of your constituents. You know why? Because an average of 80% of your constituents are doing the right thing. This bill is going to affect those that aren't doing the right thing. They want the benefit of the services, but they don't want to help the fire departments maintain their status to respond in time of emergency this is a fairness bill that if your neighbor is not paying their due why should they get the same service that you are doing and this will do the last thing I'd like to point out is it's hard for us to live on a budget when we don't know how much
we have coming in on a regular basis if we've taken away the improvement district money the GIF money if we've taken that away if we put a mandate on the fire department in 1980s that said you have to respond why would we not want to do this so that they can have a consistent steady dependable knowing what's coming budget to operate on so they can provide the best of services to us at the end of the day it all returns to us in lower homeowners insurance when we keep these fire departments supported and with that Mr. Chairman members committee I'll be glad to answer
Chair
Unverified
43:09
any questions anybody have any questions if you have any questions ask them today not tomorrow when I'm in the well
Speaker 4
43:20
okay all right seeing no questions uh does anybody in the audience want to speak for against this bill seeing none are
Speaker 15
43:27
you closed for your bill yes sir and I hope this uh helps my house counterpart be able to present the
Chair
Unverified
43:36
bill tomorrow so I appreciate a good vote all
Speaker 4
43:39
right uh I'll entertain a motion uh uh have a do pass any discussion on that
Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Congratulations. Your
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
43:49
bill passed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, on behalf of volunteer fire departments, we appreciate you. And we are adjourned. You
Agenda
TO OFFER TESTIMONY ON A BILL, PLEASE SIGN IN TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE CHAIR
CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1896 Gates TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS.
REGULAR AGENDA
Number Sponsor Subtitle
SB411 G.Stubblefield TO PROHIBIT MUNICIPAL SANCTUARY POLICIES.
SB461 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE CREATION OF AND TIMING OF TAX COLLECTION IN CERTAIN FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB679 K. Ingram TO AMEND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT REVENUE BOND ACT OF 1985.
DEFERRED BILLS
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1025 Rye TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE NUMBER OF VOTING CENTERS IN A CITY OF THE SECOND CLASS.
SB180 M. Johnson CONCERNING NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.
HB1735 A. Collins TO AMEND THE MUNICIPAL AID FUND; TO AMEND THE DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUES IN THE MUNICIPAL AID FUND; AND TO TAKE COMMUTER TRAFFIC INTO ACCOUNT IN DISTRIBUTING REVENUES IN THE MUNICIPAL AID FUND.
HB1766 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL SEWER SYSTEMS.
HB1926 Richey TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO AFFIX A SECURITY CAMERA TO A UTILITY POLE LOCATED WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY.
HB1614 Hawks TO CREATE A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR MUNICIPAL FIREFIGHTERS.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE- HOUSE, Apr 9, 2019 | Agenda | 1 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 2
Speaker 3
Speaker 4
Speaker 9
Speaker 12
Speaker 15
Representative Stu Smith
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Representative Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
Speaker 26
Nora Vienas
Unverified
Speaker 35
Speaker 37
Speaker 41
Speaker 45
Speaker 53
Speaker 38
Speaker 59
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
Speaker 69
Mireya Reith
Unverified
Kenny Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 82
Lance Hines
Unverified
Speaker 86
Rosa Velazquez
Unverified
Speaker 66
Ken Yang
Unverified
Speaker 101
Speaker 103
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 114
Representative Karilyn Brown
Unverified
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
Speaker 80
Speaker 122
Speaker 134