House Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (8)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1773
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1773”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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SB531
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB531”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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SB47
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “…ought to be good. Representative Burroughs is going to run Senate Bill 47 for Senator Baker. Senate Bill 47. And Representative Burri…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1766
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…to the audience, next Wednesday, we have special orders on House Bill 1766. If”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1803
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “time allows, we'll also take up House Bill 1803. we will”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1898
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1898”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1903
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Moore's House Bill 1903 better known as the water plan”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1942
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1942”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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- October 5, 2026
Senator Sample. Gosh, that's hard for me to say, Bill. That's tough on me. Senator Sample has Senate Bill 531. Sir, if you'd recognize yourself for the record, you may begin. Senator, is
Speaker 3
0:18
your mic on? Well, it was. I turned it off. Yes, sir. Can we start over again? bill sample I'm here to present to you today Senate bill 531 you know a couple
of weeks ago y'all passed out a mobile and this bill right here is what I'd promised to do if y'all passed that out to make an advisory board to study the laws and regarding mold inspection and remediation now and uh if you'll notice we've got the plant board the department of health department of labor the arkansas realtors the arkansas association of real estate inspectors the pest management association and a lys and mold inspector
as well as as a member of the senate and the house on this i'll take questions All right, anybody on Representative Love? Thank you, Chairman. Senator
Speaker 5
1:21
Semple, I appreciate what you're doing with this
Representative Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
1:25
bill and motion at a proper time. Thank you.
Representative Lenderman, do you have a question? No, sir, I had to
say a motion. All right, is there any other questions?
Let's go to the audience. Anyone want to speak against this
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
1:45
bill, for the bill? Representative Love, do you have a motion? Recommend do, please. We have a motion to do pass. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like. Congratulations, Senator. You're the first Senator to pass a bill out of here.
Speaker 3
2:02
Thank you, committee, and it's just quality of work. Thank you. It's a more good government, right? Good government. Good government.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
2:12
Next on my list, House Bill 1773, Representative Dale. recognize yourself
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
2:36
and you may begin Robert Dale state representative for district 70 I'm going to let Randy young and introduce himself here he will
be helping me on any legal questions here
Speaker 19
2:52
my name is Randy Young I'm the director of Arkansas
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
2:59
Natural Resources Commission good morning thank you mr. chairman house bill 1773 is actually an amendment of a of a law that we've had for several years, I can tell you that it's not going to raise any taxes or cost any money
to make this if we pass this bill. All we're trying to do is close some loopholes that some people have chosen to interpret the existing bill that is not in the intent. I have a legislative impact statement here, and I was going to read you the last paragraph of that statement. It says, this bill amends the act by deleting references to any taxpayer and replacing them
with any approved applicant. And it makes some other technical corrections also. This bill should correct the confusion that has occurred in connection with partnerships and other pass-through entities that have claimed that each member of the pass-through entity is a taxpayer entitled to claim the entire $9,000 credit each year. When that happens, the funds that have been appropriated for this program
are used up twice as fast as they should be, and it does not benefit the citizens of Arkansas. So, all we're trying to do is keep the intent of the bill there and at the same time be able to have resources of water that would not normally
be available. I'll try to answer any questions.
Speaker 19
4:59
Mr. Young, you have any comments? Representative Dale has done a good job explaining and I'd assist with him in answering questions if
there are any. Thank you. Representative Collins, did you have a
question? Yes, Mr. Chairman. Representative Dale, if I understood what you said correctly,
would you agree that what you're basically saying is if I had an LLC, for example, and there were four members in the LLC, today I might be able to use the current law, misconstrue it, if you will,
and get $36,000 worth of tax credits, $9,000 for each of the four members, and this bill will tighten that up so the one LLC will get one
$9,000 tax credit. To be shared according
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
5:45
to the LLC contract. Got it. Thank you. Motion at the proper time, Mr. Chairman. Any other
Speaker 5
5:50
questions by committee? Seeing none, does anyone
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
5:54
in the audience want to speak against this bill, for the bill? Representative Collins, you're recognized.
Speaker 5
6:06
I do pass. This is Bill 1773. We have a motion do
pass. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Congratulations, Reverend Dale. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
6:19
you, committee. Has Representative Wright made it
back in the audience? Representative Wright. He was crowd surfing out there. Yeah, they are.
All right, we'll pass that right now. Representative Ingram. Representative Ingram was here. He said he would return
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
6:46
shortly. Everyone's trying to run bills
Representative John
Unverified
6:49
and other committees, I know. So, Representative Lampkin, Representative Lampkin, is
there anyone in the audience or a member of this committee that wants to run a bill this morning?
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
7:08
Representative Collins, do you have one? 1763, Mr. Chairman. You're wrong. We do not have
Speaker 36
7:15
a copy of the bill. Representative Collins? Yes. Are
you wanting to run the amendment? Yes. We do not have that on hard copy yet, Representative. I'm sorry. We have to have that. That has to be delivered to us, a copy. And it has to be on the agenda. Does anyone else have a bill?
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
7:39
So, we need to be out of here by 10 minutes to 10. There is a ceremony with the new state representative being sworn in this morning at 10 o'clock sharp in the House chambers. We'll all be in attendance for that. While we're waiting, I know two more reps will be here shortly with bills.
I want to announce to the committee members and to the audience, next Wednesday, we have special orders on House Bill 1766. If
Speaker 39
8:20
time allows, we'll also take up House Bill 1803. we will
also have a meeting Wednesday afternoon after adjournment where we'll take up Speaker
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
8:35
Moore's House Bill 1903 better known as the water plan
one of the main planks in his his platform that will be Wednesday after adjournment and we've got more bills coming to us y'all so we've got a We've got a fistful of stuff we've got to get out of here. And then we've got some Senate bills coming, a lot
of bills coming with amendments. We'll work through it somehow, and we may have to work some night and have supper brought in.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
9:10
If nothing else, oh, one more item. We have
an event Monday evening at 6.30 at Cajuns. I certainly hope that everyone
Speaker 33
9:23
can make that. Bring your spouse. Is that it? You want to run it?
Speaker 42
9:29
Great. Absolutely. You talking about? Oh, Bakersfield.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
9:42
All right, guys, this ought to be good. Representative Burroughs is going to run Senate Bill 47 for Senator Baker. Senate Bill 47. And Representative Burris said, thank God, he had some good witnesses or people to
Representative John
Unverified
9:58
testify by their form. Please recognize yourself, and you may begin, Representative. MR. Thank you. My name
Representative John Burris
Unverified
10:04
is Representative John Burris. I'm proud to be running this bill for my good friend, Senator Gilbert Baker. Would you state your name also, please?
Tom Rose
Unverified
10:12
MR. Yes. My name is Tom Rose, and I serve as President of Point Set Fertilizer, Inc., which does business under the name Top Choice Organic of Arkansas. And we resell a product called Top Choice Organic in two counties in Arkansas, Craighead County, and Poinsett
Representative John Burris
Unverified
10:29
County. This is a very simple bill. It creates the Premium Biosolid Marketing Incentive Act. I think it's something we can all
Speaker 52
10:36
support, but I'll allow my friend here to explain what specifically it does. Yes. The
Tom Rose
Unverified
10:42
Senate bill presented to you today provides for the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to pay to dealers and resellers of eligible premium biosolids,
a cost-share incentive up to $15 per ton from the Arkansas Water Development Fund. So what are biosolids? Biosolids are the semisolid residue, which is generally referred to as a biomass, that's generated from the treatment of a combination of domestic sewage and liquid industrial wastewater by wastewater treatment facilities. To be eligible for payment under the proposed legislation, the biosolid product must satisfy the pollution concentration limits
pathogen reduction requirements, and vector attraction reduction requirements for what are called exceptional quality biosolids under the Environmental Protection Agency's Part 503 regulations under Title 40. They must also be sold in bulk, not in large containers or bags of less than one metric ton. They must be applied to land located in the state of Arkansas in a manner not likely to cause water pollution. They may not be applied within 100 feet of any stream, pond, lake, well, or water supply, and they must be sold by a dealer located in the state of Arkansas who gives the purchaser a credit
against the purchase price and the amount of the incentive payment and submits a detailed incentive certification to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. The incentive payment provided for by this bill and authorized by this legislation is consistent with the incentive payment for the removal of poultry litter from nutrient surplus areas that is currently authorized by the Surplus Nutrient Removal Incentive Act that is codified as Sections 1520-1201etsec of the Arkansas Code annotated. So why are we asking for this legislation?
Several reasons. One, it incentivizes row crop farmers and ranchers in Arkansas to use a renewable, domestically produced, and environmentally beneficial fertilizer as a substitute for chemically produced fertilizers, which are primarily imported to the U.S. and require the heavy use of fossil fuels for production. In addition, the addition of premium biosolids to soils significantly improves soil health and fertility, provides a carbon and energy source for soil microbes, stabilizes and holds soil particles together,
thus reducing erosion and the amount of water needed for irrigation, stores and supplies essential nutrients for the growth of plants and soil organisms, and reduces the negative environmental effects of pesticides, heavy metals, and many other pollutants. And these are benefits specifically cited by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The use of premium biosolids as organic matter additions to soils has been endorsed by the Water Environment Federation, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Academy of Sciences.
An increased awareness by farmers and ranchers of the benefits of adding organic matter to soils, matter to soils along with incentives for the purchase and use of biosolids produced by municipal and county wastewater treatment facilities will enhance the economic benefits to owners of wastewater treatment facilities in Arkansas that have invested or plan to invest in premium biosolid production plant and equipment. Wastewater treatment facilities that further process the biomass generated from the treatment of domestic sewage can reduce the amount of the the sludge that is landfilled by up to 80 percent, with landfilling costs to owners
of wastewater treatment facilities running as high as $35 per ton because of the storage, handling, trucking, and actual landfilling costs. Finally, this legislation benefits three groups in the state of Arkansas. It benefits row crop farmers and ranchers by incentivizing the purchase and use of a renewable, domestically produced, and environmentally beneficial agricultural fertilizer and soil amendment that greatly improves soil fertility and crop production. It benefits city and county-owned wastewater treatment facilities by enhancing the market
for a valuable byproduct produced from the cleansing and treatment of domestic sewage and liquid industrial waste, and it benefits the citizens of the state of Arkansas by incentivizing sewage treatment and agricultural production activities that will enhance the fertility of Arkansas pasture and agricultural lands, reduce underground water usage by row crop farmers, reduce the use of chemically produced nitrogen fertilizers that are primarily imported to the United States, and reduce the amount of sewage sludge that is deposited in Arkansas landfills.
Representative John Burris
Unverified
15:05
Any questions? Thank you. I'll make a couple comments and be happy to answer any questions from the Committee. The important thing with this legislation is it simply incentivizes or establishes the ability to incentivize good behavior, no mandate, no cost. simply incentivizes the things that he described. But there is no cost to this legislation, and I'll be happy to answer any questions. Yes, sir. I'm
Speaker 56
15:32
sorry I missed your name. What was your
Tom Rose
Unverified
15:35
name? My name is Tom Rose, and I serve as president of a company, Pointset Fertilizer, Inc.,
and we're in the business of selling bulk fertilizers, chemicals, and seeds to row crop farmers in northeast
Arkansas. Mr. Rose, I'm guessing here, but I'm assuming that all these biosolids will be sold in the pellet form? They're
Tom Rose
Unverified
15:55
sold in a granular form, not a pellet form, but a granular form, anywhere from 2 to
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
16:00
4 millimeters in size. And where is this being manufactured or put in
Tom Rose
Unverified
16:05
granular form? Well, it's being manufactured by wastewater treatment facilities throughout the United States. The city of Benton is currently producing a Class A biosolid in the state of Arkansas.
The city of Perigold produces a small quantity. The city of Fayetteville is currently.
Representative John
Unverified
16:21
I guess my question is, is there enough being manufactured in the state
Tom Rose
Unverified
16:27
of Arkansas to supply the state of Arkansas? No, sir, not currently at this time. We're currently buying product from a new facility in Nashville, Tennessee, and then there's some product being provided to other dealers of seed chemicals and fertilizers from Louisville, Kentucky. Can you tell me what the nutrient value of this is? Yes, sir. It's considered a 4-3-0 fertilizer, 4% or more nitrogen, 3% or more, and phosphorus with really insignificant amount of potassium, with also micronutrients including calcium, iron, and zinc.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
17:01
So your recommendation per acre would be something like 500 pounds? Yes, sir. That's correct. Very good.
Speaker 52
17:10
Any other questions? Representative Linderman? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple
Representative Homer Lenderman
Unverified
17:16
of questions. Where do you – who markets this in
Tom Rose
Unverified
17:20
Crankhead County? We market this product in Crankhead County. It points at Fertilizer, Inc. We've got a dealer location outside on Highway 18 just west of Monette, Arkansas.
Speaker 61
17:31
Okay. What is the cost versus commercial fertilize? What's the average price
Tom Rose
Unverified
17:40
per ton? Well, the average price, retail price per ton is approximately $175 per ton to row crop farmers and ranchers. Now, there's a similar product that's being sold by the city of Milwaukee under the brand name Milorganite. It's sold primarily for turf grasses and garden use. They sell it in bags, in 36-pound bags, anywhere from $10 to $15 per bag.
So the equivalent cost of Milorganite, which is basically the same product, is anywhere from $550 to $750 a ton. Okay. You
Representative Homer Lenderman
Unverified
18:10
mentioned some of the larger cities that had a process doing this. What size city do you need or what kind of a population would there have to be in an area before a plant could be developed
Tom Rose
Unverified
18:25
to? That's somewhat outside my expertise. I'm more on the agricultural and resale side of the product, but there is a – the city of Paragool currently produces a small amount of this product.
It's not sold by dealers because the volume amount that they produce is so small. What they do is they actually put it in buggies, and they allow local people to come pick it up and use it on their farms or their gardens or what have you. The city of Benton is currently producing a little less than 2,000 tons of the product per year. It's being purchased by, I think, an Arkansas company called Manco Fertilizer, and they're reselling it to row crop farmers in Arkansas.
So, I mean, that's an example of some fairly smaller cities that are manufacturing a premium biosolid product. Thank you.
Representative Homer Lenderman
Unverified
19:19
Motion to proper time, Mr. Chairman. Representative
Speaker 66
19:24
Jean. Mr. Rose, a lot of our cattle ranchers have been using this in southwest Arkansas coming out of the city of Houston. and I've used it in the powder form out of a chicken spreader.
Where do you take it to put it in a pellet form? Who does that in Arkansas? Anybody? Well, once again, it's being
Speaker 52
19:47
produced in a granular form by the city of Benton. Oh, they're doing it? The city
Tom Rose
Unverified
19:54
of Benton is doing it in granular form? Yes. Okay. Am
Speaker 64
20:00
That's correct. And you're purchasing it from several cities? Well, currently, we're buying it currently from
Tom Rose
Unverified
20:06
the city of Nashville. We would like to buy it from Arkansas cities as they produce more of it,
but there's really not a lot of supply of this product that's available to row crop farmers in the south. I mean, it's just a limited supply, and you buy it from where you can get it. And so there's not a lot of this product available in this market, But if there's an incentive created for farmers to use it and buy it, and which incentivizes the cities to build the plant and equipment that's necessary to produce it, which, I mean, that's what we're trying to do here, is create those types of incentives.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Other questions? Go to the audience. Anyone want to speak against this bill, for the bill? Seeing none, Representative Linderman. Motion do pass, Mr. Chairman. Motion do pass. All in favor, aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed. Representative Burris,
Representative John Burris
Unverified
21:06
congratulations. Y'all are even prettier from this end of the table. Thank you very much.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
21:16
I see that Representative Ingram has entered the room. Representative Ingram, are you ready? Yes, sir. Representative
Ingram has House Bill 1898. Please introduce yourself to the committee,
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
21:40
and you may begin, Representative. Mr. Chairman, committee, I appreciate you all hearing my bill, 1898. This is a product of about six months' worth of work.
We have vetted this bill through AEDC, through the Arkansas Economic Development Association, as well as Chambers of Commerce. I put before you today this bill, the Keep Arkansas Competitive Act, is one that will allow the state of Arkansas to compete with surrounding states as they relate to incentives. In eastern Arkansas particularly, we've been hurt by Mississippi in capturing projects
that eastern Arkansas has been considered for. Tennessee has a new governor that's going to be an aggressive economic development governor. And so the competition for industry continues to escalate. What this bill would do, it would allow communities that so chose, it's a local option, to pass an economic development tax that you could buy infrastructure, purchase infrastructure
in the recruitment of industry. What makes this piece of legislation unique is we've seen many counties and cities just Just recently, Jefferson County and the city of Pine Bluff pass an economic development tax and, as you will, go fishing for industry. What this legislation does, it mirrors Amendment 82, the super project amendment. It allows a community to vote in advance on a tax that would only be implemented if you
landed the fish, so it sort of reverses the situation. There are eight criteria that an industry must meet, and if the industry meets three of the eight criteria, then the tax would be implemented and could be used to land that industry. I will be more than happy to answer any questions regarding this bill. A lot of the bill is simply setting up the mechanics of the election, how that would
work. And as you see on page two, there is a definition of infrastructure, what that means, land acquisition, site prep, road and highway improvement, rail, spur, construction, water service, wastewater treatment, and those are the lists of things that normally that come into play in locating an industry. And then you see that you give basically the local government the option, a wide range
of option in the sales tax, whether it can be a quarter, a half, three quarters, or one It lets them set the date as to either A, how much money they want to raise, or B, just set a time limit on it. The criteria for the industry that locating, it would be a project that is at least $10 million.
It creates at least 50 new jobs, pays 110 percent of the wage rate, and the project is related to a targeted industry or, you know, in Jonesboro, for instance, a targeted industry. One of the great things that Jonesboro, the city of Jonesboro, did in the late 80s was they decided their niche, and I see former Mary Lane Jean shaking his head, was going to be food processing, and they have been tremendously successful at bringing food processors in to the community.
And you can see the other lists that the project has a benefit to cost ratio of more than two to one. So once that project met those criteria and decided to come to the community, then that tax would be implemented. I think that we fight in Arkansas. So if you've been involved in economic development at all, our Constitution is very prohibitive,
and it puts us at a tremendous disadvantage in recruiting industry into the state versus industries out of state. My analogy that I've used many times is, you know, it's sort of like being in the Southwest Conference in football in the 80s, and you're trying to recruit players against SMU. So you just don't have the sticks to fight with. And this gives us some real errors in our quiver to go after some major projects.
With that, I'll be happy to answer any questions anybody might have.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
27:04
Representative Ingram, does this bill have any history? I mean, are you taking this after any other city that may have done something even similar to this? or is this something that you have worked with and kind of
Speaker 76
27:20
formulated yourself? Well, it's a little bit.
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
27:23
It is modeled somewhat after Amendment 82, the super project amendment that you all know that we passed
and then we amended it down because it wasn't working. So I sort of refer to this as a local Amendment 82, But in honesty, there was a large project looking at eastern Arkansas, and we were competing against Tennessee and Mississippi, and in the meeting we began to talk, and this idea sort of bubbled up. The big thing in recruiting industry is you can't say to an industry, you know, we'll
give you all these things, but we've got to go have an election of the vote of the people to be able to give you these incentives. Industry is not going to wait. They're going to move. And so in that meeting, we sort of thrashed out the idea that why couldn't we have a local Amendment 82, and if a community doesn't want to participate in this, hey, that's great. But the communities that do want to recruit industries, that do want to bring jobs to their communities, they can be as aggressive as they want to.
And I'm also, straighten me out on this, Representative. Once you land that whale and
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
28:42
it comes to your area, there is no sunset on this tax, is there?
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
28:47
There is in the sense that when the tax is met, when the tax is met, in other words, we're going to let the local community decide, you know, some community might just say, I'd just like to have a half million dollars, and it might be that a large community might
Speaker 76
29:06
want five million dollars. But once what goes on the ballot is met, then that tax goes off until the next project comes.
Speaker 66
29:18
Mayor Gene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I commend Representative Ingram for doing this. Also spent four years as commissioner on the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and he's right. And our commission does a great job for the state. But where we have lost a lot is cities in Texas have more flexibility on their own, and it's all about when Magnolia or Jonesboro or West Memphis go after it, that city's got to sell that project.
This bill will give them more flexibility, and it is an economic development bill, and I applaud you for bringing it over,
and I have a motion at the proper time.
Don't you agree? That was your question, right? Okay. Representative Ingram, I couldn't agree more with you about the need to create jobs in Arkansas, but I've got two questions here. The first one is this takes the power to levy the tax away from the vote of the people
and gives it to government. Is
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
30:28
that correct? No. This allows any community, whether it's a county or a city, the option to put this on the ballot to let people vote on it. And I guess in a way, a community says either we want to encourage economic development or there might be some communities, for whatever reason,
Speaker 76
30:45
that don't want to do that. So it's strictly a
local option. MR. Okay. And then the
second question is on page 2 when it talks about how the community can
acquire things. It says develop means to plan design or acquire by eminent domain. Could you
Speaker 80
31:05
explain that to me? MR. That's existing legislation that's already there.
That just mirrors what's there. MR. So it would be using eminent domain for economic development projects? MR.
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
31:17
In some instances. Where that comes into play, Representative, a lot of times, and Mayor Jean probably had this situation, a lot of times a property owner in negotiating the land deal, they prefer
that it be taken by eminent domain because it extends the time that they
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
31:47
thank you revenue dale question uh... i too uh... commend you on this legislation but uh... you mentioned that there's eight conditions that could be met that would say the community has voted to put this into effect,
but there's eight issues of which three would have to be satisfied to put it into action, I guess. Where are those? On page two, it's really
Speaker 88
32:16
seven. I misspoke. It's three of the seven that begins with economic development project means on
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
32:21
line 10, and then it goes down to the criteria A. The sponsor makes an investment of $10 million. You see that, Representative Dale. And it goes from A to G.
Do we have other questions by committee? Representative
Speaker 61
32:43
Linderman? This may come in more of a form of a statement, but on line 19, on page 2, I believe there may be a typo in there, Representative Ingram. Is there a word missing that possibly needs to be done as a member's own amendment, or am I just misreading
Speaker 61
33:09
Okay, the sponsor pays wages to new full-time permanent in excess. Should this clarify new permanent employees, or should it, or? You know, let me see. The AEDC, let
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
33:21
me see if this mirrors language that they have, full-time, permanent. That would be my guess, but I can check that out. Okay, but again, I applaud what
Representative Homer Lenderman
Unverified
33:32
you're doing here, and certainly I'm in favor of this. Well, thank you, certainly.
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
33:39
Jonesboro and Crighead County have been a great, great leader in economic development in this state.
Do we have other questions? Anyone in the audience want to speak against this bill or for the bill? Seeing none, Representative Gene, do you have a motion? Do pass, Mr. Chairman We have a motion, do pass All in favor say aye Opposed, like, signed Congratulations, Representative Ingram, you have passed your
Speaker 80
34:06
bill Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Committee
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
34:09
At this time, I think Representative Stewart brought some guests into our midst
Representative, would you like to introduce your guest? Yes,
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
34:15
Mr. Horn, if you'd come up here and just tell us who you have here today This is a group from Nashville High School where my wife happens to be a teacher, and these kids said she was very mean.
I'd like to say, and students, you're always welcome, and please come back at your convenience. I hope you enjoy your day here. Thank
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
35:39
you very much. Committee, I see that it's about 23 minutes till 10. Representative Lampkin has
assured me that her bill will not take very long. Reverend Lampkin, welcome to the Agri Committee and your own.
This will be House Bill 1942. Please identify yourself for the record, and you may begin, Representative.
Representative Sheila
Unverified
36:05
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Committee. My name is Representative Sheila Lampkin, and I'm running this bill in agreement or support with the Parks and Tourism. All it does is to amend the Arkansas law. The Arkansas law that established the State Parks, Recreation, and Travel Commission had 12 members,
and certain members were specified to be people from certain areas of expertise. And so it came up, and they wanted to add a 13th member to the commission who would be a person having a historian having knowledge of Arkansas historic background, particularly in relation to our state park system. And that's really what the bill does. It just adds one person to the State Parks Recreation and Travel Commission. I'd be happy to try to answer any questions. Rep. I see there's no funding added here.
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
37:03
I assume they'll take care of the per diem costs and such out of their own
Speaker 99
37:11
budget. Yes, sir. That's correct. I have a motion in the proper time. All right, sir. Representative Stewart? Yes, Ms. Lampton. Are all
Speaker 5
37:16
these members appointed by the governor? Yes, sir. All right. Thank you. Representative Love, did you have a question? You're just scratching the hair on your head?
Speaker 47
37:26
Representative Blank? Motion due pass. Hold up just a minute. You have a motion due
pass, but let me go to the audience. Is there anybody in the audience who wants to speak against this bill or for the bill?
I apologize, Representative. Go ahead, please. Motion do pass. We have a motion do pass. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed like sign. Congratulations, Representative Lampkin. Thank you very much. Do we have any other representative or senator here that wants to present a bill? I saw Representative Wright come
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
38:00
in but then he ducked back out so I'm assuming he won't be here I re-remind the committee that we must
be in the chamber by 10 o'clock for the swearing in of our new member if nothing else we stand adjourned
Agenda
Call to Order
SB531
HB1773
SB47
HB1898
HB1942
Adjournment
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Charlie Collins Chair
Unverified
Speaker 3
Speaker 5
Representative Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
Speaker 19
Representative John
Unverified
Speaker 36
Speaker 39
Speaker 33
Speaker 42
Representative John Burris
Unverified
Tom Rose
Unverified
Speaker 52
Speaker 56
Representative Homer Lenderman
Unverified
Speaker 61
Speaker 66
Speaker 64
Representative Keith M. Ingram
Unverified
Speaker 76
Speaker 80
Speaker 85
Speaker 88
Speaker 90
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
Representative Sheila
Unverified
Representative Kelley Linck
Unverified
Speaker 99
Speaker 47