House State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs Committee
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Bills discussed (1)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1351
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1351”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
0:00
They are in one shaft without a firewall in between them and Arkansas code since those were built now requires there be a firewall between elevators there's no room to put a firewall between those elevators and keep the freight elevator large enough to haul a gurney if you will you know if there was someone injured or whatever that needed to come down by elevator so we're in a situation where publicly and I'm looking up
at a camera because I'm sure a lot of people
public are watching publicly we're exempting an apartment complex where legislators live from the very public law that we wrote some years ago
or we can spend one and a quarter million of the public's dollars to make a perfectly safe elevator meet our code we do inspect the elevator yearly there's nothing wrong with the system it meets other code I'm sorry let me back up a little bit the freight elevator self does not meet all code because both
elevators you a fireman should be able to step on it and use this return to ground system we again get by that if you will because it's not open to walk in only our staff runs if there's not a key in it we don't have to worry about about that cart if we to become compliant with the very laws of our state we would have to prop we'd have to build a new shaft elevator shaft which would be neither inside we'd have to move rooms and so on so forth we'd have
to add an external shaft again looking at one and quarter of a million dollars of taxpayer money or we can exempt ourselves from our own law your rock your hard place and my job is present the bill and to the will of this committee
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
1:51
one question from the chair I think you've stated a couple times that this was designed solely to save the state of Arkansas money taxpayer money one
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
2:01
point two two five yes sir we estimated it'd be around a million
dollars building the new shaft and then we put a new cart in it to bring it all up to compliance we wouldn't be able to use the existing cart because we want to go and bring it all the compliance there there currently is let me let me make some things clear I have visited with the Department of Labor who oversees all of this that is their job there is currently a variance that they've given us and and there's a little confusion on the length of that variance but it from from what I've read and what I've heard there's there's confusion on the
variance on the length of that variance that they're going to allow it but we're currently operating legally we're not illegal folks we're currently operating legally over there with a variance from the Department of what I say early
Speaker 5
2:53
labor thank you any questions Representative Walker. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
2:59
Chair. I have a couple of questions.
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
3:09
Are there other publicly owned buildings which are similarly situated in the state of Arkansas that need this kind of consideration? Rep. Walker, let me say I would assume so,
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
3:20
and I'm not able to give you a factual answer of yes, no, or how many there may be. Isn't the danger
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
3:29
to the people who use those elevators the same as it is to the legislators who use this one? If those
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
3:39
elevators exist, I would assume so.
Pardon? If there are elevators out there with said variances, I would assume the dangers would be the same. Yes, sir. Now, this building is more than 100 years old, isn't it? I
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
3:54
don't know. I think I've read history, but I can't remember exactly. Is that a consideration in determining the viability of this operation
and whether or not we want to run the risk of having you or some other people who live over there meet their fate at the bottom of an elevator sometime in the future?
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
4:13
I believe the elevators are safe, again, because we do do the annual inspections. Actually, we go beyond the required inspections. I say we, the Secretary of State's office, goes beyond the required inspections to
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
4:26
make sure that it is safe. I had a client who
was attending a Martin Luther King, sponsored by this group, a committee meeting about four years ago. He was on a safe elevator along with a group of children and others. and notwithstanding the inspection and the belief of the fire marshals and others that this was safe,
the elevator fell. There was a lot of injury. Do you really want to just excuse
this simply to save money? Well, let me
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
5:02
answer this, to my knowledge. And our elevator is not in a situation where it's operating dangerously other than the firewall situation. again we have two elevators and one shaft they're supposed to be one shaft per elevator so it's to my understanding there's we're not adding to a safety issue as far as the following it's not
a mechanically unsound it has to
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
5:27
do with fire my only concern is that that place is a lot younger in terms of construction you know where the Austin is yes sir I estimate that it may be 40 years old and it was regularly operating safely operating had been recently expected inspection may not have been relevant but the point is that more frequently you have the inspection the more likely life will be preserved you
know I don't see that it's necessary why is it necessary right now since nobody has given you a citation or anything and you've been working it out with the license and authority that has the has the ability to give you that that
consideration sir and I can agree with that and I
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
6:16
can't but I do I do agree with that however this body meets every
other year and so if we're going to do this in other words if that variance were to be rescinded or to run out in
between times that where this body is meeting we would not have the option to
Representative Jim Nickels
Unverified
6:43
do what we're considering doing today yes represent like you you prefaced a lot
of your answers to the best of my knowledge or not sure yes sir and I have a couple of issues one is government requiring private enterprise to comply
WITH VARIOUS REGULATIONS THAT WE PROMUGATE OR WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR, BUT YET WE'RE EXEMPTING OURSELVES FROM IT. THERE'S A FUNDAMENTAL FAIRNESS ISSUE THERE. AND THEN A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU COULD HAVE ANSWERED IF WE HAD HAD PEOPLE SITTING BESIDE YOU FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE LABOR ELEVATOR DIVISION, THEY MIGHT BE ABLE to answer those questions so before I can give a positive vote on this I'd like
to hear from the Department of Labor elevator folks yes sir understood as I mentioned that that
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
7:44
first the first thing you referred to is the rock I mentioned early on and then over here is the hard place you know so that's kind of where we are we're in between those two
Representative Jim Nickels
Unverified
7:54
so I understand so would you be willing to pull your bill down to get Department of Labor folks out here to
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
8:01
talk about that I thought they might be here but I don't see them
yes sir I'm I'm willing to do that if if this body wants to hear more from those folks and
and maybe from Secretary of State's office as well that does the management of that yeah well I would feel more comfortable if you did that yes sir like some of the other members my house I would if please as a chair like continue with other questions so we know what all we need to bring to you next time
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
8:33
that'll be fine any of the committee members
Speaker 19
8:40
have further questions over the subject mr. Walker your how do you explain to the public as mr. representative Nichols
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
8:47
How do you explain to the public that the legislature is willing to not be bound by the same laws that it binds them? Well, that's that rock I mentioned
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
8:58
with the hard place. We have the rock here of not binding ourselves by exemption, or we have the hard place of spending tax dollars that is not absolutely necessary.
any further question that's I hope that's rhetorical because I have no intention of writing
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
9:25
the essay that would explain it do we
have any members of the audience who won't speak for this bill okay it
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
9:32
is your wish mr. like to pull this bill down from the looks of this committee it might be the wisest thing I could do right now yes sir okay thank you thank you
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
9:45
for future we have other members here who want to run the bill today represent Neal
represent Neal you're recognized to present bail what bill are you presenting 1351 yes sir
Speaker 28
10:04
thank you very much I have Wendy Kelly from Department of Corrections here and I'm gonna let her speak to this
Speaker 30
10:16
bill Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This bill is to allow the Arkansas Department of Correction or the Arkansas Department of Community Correction to sign a Medicaid application if an inmate or resident in our custody refuses to sign.
It doesn't affect eligibility for Medicaid one way or the other. It simply authorizes us to sign the applications if they refuse.
Speaker 32
10:41
Thank you, ma'am. Committee, any questions? I
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
10:48
think they're catching up on the breathing the bill
Chair
Unverified
10:55
we're having trouble pulling the bill up
Speaker 40
11:04
technical problem I understand Chair President Dodson. While we're waiting for anybody else to have questions, I figured I'd get us started here. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
What is the current process? What happens if they currently don't sign? what what are they doing now
Speaker 29
11:46
currently we have not had any refused to sign but we can't submit the application if one does refuse and with our population that is always possibility what would
Speaker 40
11:57
the process be if if they did I mean what's the concern here that they wouldn't be we wouldn't be able to
Speaker 30
12:05
provide them care we would not be able to provide them care covered by Medicaid currently if
only our pregnant women and inmates that otherwise meet Medicaid eligibility which means they are disabled they fall in one of those criteria which is not very many but if they do then they can be we can apply for Medicaid coverage only for inpatient stays in outside hospitals not emergency room visits not doctor visits any of that stuff but if they actually are admitted to a hospital and stay a minimum of 24 hours and they can be covered by Medicaid if they're otherwise eligible for Medicaid but we have to submit the application so if
Speaker 40
12:46
they refuse to sign the application then the facility would be on the hook for regular rates not Medicaid rates right so they could
Speaker 5
13:00
cost us a lot more thank you represent Walker you're recognized for tell me this since
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
13:08
you have had Medicaid operating for 50 years and in 50 years you've had a million
prisoners at least half of those have received some kind of
Speaker 30
13:25
Medicaid service Would you not agree? No, sir, that's not correct. We have only been able to apply for Medicaid benefits
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
13:33
since January of 2011. All right. Well, since January of 2011, you've had none failed to cooperate. So you're taking the authority of a person away from him, and you're, in effect,
becoming the power of attorney for that person, aren't you?
Speaker 30
13:49
The bill allows, requires that we ask them to sign and allow them to select a representative other than us to sign. And if they don't do either one of those things after a period, I believe it's three days, I'm not looking
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
14:14
necessitates this? Other than the speculation that somebody down the road may object.
Speaker 55
14:19
We have a lot of inmates that have mental issues that do all
Speaker 29
14:25
kinds of things and don't, you know, will refuse to do anything. We have inmates that refuse to accept medical treatment. We have lots of inmates that don't comply with our rules, will not follow orders, would have no interest in whether a Medicaid application is submitted or not because they're not going to pay the bill regardless. The state is going to be bearing the cost.
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
14:49
So it's still speculation, isn't it? Yes, sir, it is. All right. I'm just opposed to bills based on speculation. But if you, you know, I guess you all run the thing and you want as much authority that you can get, I think you already have it, but I don't see a necessity for it. Maybe any additional questions?
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
15:19
Seeing none, is there anyone in the audience who wish to speak
Chair
Unverified
15:27
for the bill? We have a question. Representative Hobbs, recognize. I
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
15:31
apologize, Mr. Chair. I was a little bit late in getting this to come out. If the department signs for the inmate, do you make a note of that on the application? Yes, ma'am. So they know it was not the inmate that signed?
Yes, ma'am. Okay. And in cases where you have inmates who are not mentally competent to operate maybe on their own authority, when an inmate comes in, do you have a guardian or someone that typically will represent that person or a public defender? How does that work? when
Speaker 29
16:14
they're in our custody no ma'am if they get if an inmate that's not that has
mental issues gets a disciplinary for example then we have the mental health staff that's assigned as the caseworker to fill out a form that tells the disciplinary hearing officer what they believe would be the best way to resolve it should they find the inmate guilty of the disciplinary for some reason so that for instance instead of getting assigned to isolation area the mental health worker might say what
Speaker 30
16:48
they recommend is that the inmate not be
allowed to use the phone for three days it would be something so that we're not punishing them based upon their mental condition if we want an inmate to receive medical care that the inmate refuses there is a statute that allows to go to court otherwise we can't do anything about it but and we've only used it a few times in the last seven years that I've been there where an inmate wasn't mentally competent but refused the care and we have to get a doctor to do an affidavit and we have to get a court order before that care can
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
17:26
actually be provided thank you thank you Mr. Chair any additional questions We have no one signed up to speak for against this bill, but is there anyone who would like to and from the audience who would like to speak for against the bill? Seeing none, Representative Neal, are you closed for your bill? Do I have a motion? Representative Dodson? Representative Dodson has a motion. Do pass. All in favor, say aye.
Opposed? Congratulations, Mr. Neal. You passed your bill. thank you representative you also have 1570 are you prepared to run it okay thank you we have anyone else
president who wishes to run a bill for this committee today represent a plan
Speaker 36
18:34
that's in a black platform you are recognized before we hear
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
18:48
this bill we're going to have to have a motion to take this off the table this bill has been
Speaker 73
18:54
tabled we're going to have to ask for a motion
is that what you want to take it off
Representative Sheilla E. Lampkin
Unverified
19:09
the table yes sir that was gonna be my request I want a man didn't try to run it again if it's if I
Chair
Unverified
19:15
can get it off the table I appreciate this is just to take it off
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
19:20
the table and then didn't bring it back I'll make that motion
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
19:34
no sir I want to make sure I
Representative Sheilla E. Lampkin
Unverified
19:42
get off the table first but I will have it at your next meeting okay okay you're
Chair
Unverified
19:47
off the table and ready to go with the next thank you very much thank you
Representative Jim Nickels
Unverified
19:53
committee I appreciate it Mr. Chairman Ms. Lampkin I would hope that you would run it as members own on the floor, instead of just bringing an amendment here. Oh, yes, sir. It's much easier for us to move all of them.
Representative Sheilla E. Lampkin
Unverified
20:05
Yes, sir. Thank you, Representative Flaherty. Thank you.
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
20:14
Thank you for your confidence. I appreciate y'all. Any further business before this committee? Anyone else to run a bill? If not, do I hear a motion for adjournment? I have a motion for adjournment by Representative Miller. All in favor? Opposed? Thank you.
Agenda
HB1351
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
Representative Butch Wilkins
Unverified
Speaker 5
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
Representative Jim Nickels
Unverified
Speaker 19
Speaker 28
Speaker 30
Speaker 32
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 40
Speaker 29
Speaker 51
Speaker 55
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
Speaker 36
Speaker 73
Representative Sheilla E. Lampkin
Unverified
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified