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House State Agencies Committee

February 28, 2011
Video Transcript

Bills discussed (3)

Bill Title Sponsor Status
SB208 · 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “to present Senate Bill 208 for Senator Fletcher. I also have a couple guests here to h…”
Pre-2017 bill
HB15 · 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “consider House Bill 15. Okay, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Repr…”
Pre-2017 bill
HB1546 · 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1546”
Pre-2017 bill

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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 0:00
Mr. Fletcher, Representative Wilkins, you're a recognized presenter bill. Madam Chair, you
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Representative Butch Wilkins Unverified 0:08
better be awful careful there. I'm here to present Senate Bill 208 for Senator Fletcher. I also have a couple guests here to help me explain the bill. and I would ask them to come to the table at this time and introduce yourself, please.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 0:40
Okay. Before you introduce yourselves, there is a handout at your desk, members, regarding some information regarding this bill. So if you'll recognize, I mean, introduce yourselves for the record, please. You're recognized. I'm Kermit Channel. I'm the Executive Director of the
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Speaker 12 0:59
State Crime Lab. And I'm Dr. Charles Kokus.
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Speaker 14 1:11
I'm the State Medical Examiner also at
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Representative Butch Wilkins Unverified 1:17
the Crime Lab. Madam Chair, you may remember we explained the bill before and we had several questions that we couldn't answer at the time and we think now we have the right people here to answer them questions. This bill deals with what is being charged to civil, when a state does an autopsy, maybe they do it for a criminal reason, but that autopsy may wind up in civil court somewhere, and we have to send people to testify, and this is dealing strictly with the civil court side of
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 2:05
it. Members, you've heard the explanation of the bill. Are there questions? Representative Nichols, you're recognized.
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Representative Jim Nickels Unverified 2:18
I notice on page 1, it seems like you're adding another, you're changing the law as it relates to the removal of the state medical examiner, is that correct? Senator Nichols, what that
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Speaker 24 2:42
does, it kind of flip-flops a little bit the roles of our board
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 2:46
of directors, of our board, Crime Lab Board, which gives me the authority to hire and fire the chief medical examiner upon cause with approval of the board, and that's what that specific change creates. What was
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Speaker 28 3:02
the need for the change? Well,
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 3:05
I'm, basically, that's how our system technically operates now. I work hand-in-hand with the chief medical examiner, and we thought it was more pertinent that I be placed specifically in statute over the state medical examiner where I have the ability to review his performance at the end of every year.
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Representative Jim Nickels Unverified 3:28
But you have to have calls to remove this official, correct? That's correct. What about your other employees at the crime lab? Do you have to
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 3:37
have calls to remove them? For all the other employees of the crime lab, for the physicians, I would have to have cause, but that resides solely in my level of
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Representative Jim Nickels Unverified 3:48
authority. Is that a stat story or just the way you would
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 3:53
operate? That's the way I would operate, and I don't believe there's a ‑‑ I believe it follows the statute when it specifically talks about the rest of the employees as being my staff.
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Representative Jim Nickels Unverified 4:07
Okay. And by the way, we're on the House side of the building, I'm
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 4:21
not a senator. Any other questions from the committee? If not, is anyone in the audience who wishes to speak for or against the bill? I should have said against. Representative Cheatham, you're recognized.
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Representative Eddie L. Cheatham Unverified 4:39
I have a motion to do pass. It's the proper
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Speaker 42 4:44
time, Madam Chair. Now what? I don't want to give him a little more
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Speaker 43 4:49
time. I'm going to hurry. Now ask it for it. Is there more time
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 4:59
needed to review the handout? Yes. Representative Tyler, you're recognized
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Representative Linda S. Tyler Unverified 5:17
Thank you, Madam Chair Representative Wilkins, I'm not sure I can absorb all this handout that quickly Would you kind of just, you or one of your guests who are here Give us a quick summary of what that research told them as to how these fees compared with
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Speaker 12 5:42
other states in general? With this research that was conducted
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 5:45
by Legislative Research, they basically compiled data into two categories, one being crime laboratories and the other being medical examiners, which are at the state and local level. One of the things with Arkansas, we're not like most crime laboratories. laboratories. We have a system that's relatively unique. State medical examiner is a component of the crime laboratory. I think that's why the table was broken out the way you see it. And I think that's why with the fee structure you see in just a crime laboratory operation alone, a lot of those don't include fees. However, if you look at a system with a state and local medical examiner, they typically all charge some form of fee for testimony when it's rendered
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Speaker 57 6:33
in a civil matter. Madam Chair, may I follow up, please?
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Representative Linda S. Tyler Unverified 6:37
Yes, Representative Tyler. So they generally do charge fees, and is that generally similar to the fees that we're recommending, or is that higher or lower?
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Speaker 24 6:48
I believe the fees, the way we have them at $225 in this bill, are probably a little
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 6:55
bit lower, but I think that it's fair. And the reason I say that it's fair is because in a lot of these cases, we have non-medical examiner personnel that will also testify. As an example, I had a toxicologist come in over the recent holiday to testify and give a deposition with two civil attorneys based on a railroad death. It was purely civil, but we could only bill them for $75 an hour for my chief toxicologist's time. Thank you very much.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 7:34
Representative Rogers, did you have a question? I apologize. Representative Clem, are you recognized
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Representative Ann V. Clemmer Unverified 7:46
for a question? Madam Chair, I thought you knew who I was by now. I'm joking. Thank you for recognizing me. My question is, I was just scanning through the e-mails, and of course they don't all seem to, I see a start cost for $1,500 from Wisconsin for an autopsy, another one for $2,300, but you're requesting that we go up, the $2,300 was in Michigan, you're requesting that we go up to $3,000, which is more than either one of those two listed. And I just wondered if you could tell me why. Sure. One
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Speaker 12 8:23
of the things that it allows us to charge up to $3,000, and
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 8:27
Dr. Kokus is also here and can explain some of this, but a lot of the times if we have to do something, an autopsy of that nature, it could involve a body identification, which would then involve DNA testing or toxicology analysis, which can range from anywhere from $500 to $2,000. Okay.
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Representative Ann V. Clemmer Unverified 8:50
So it's not a standard fee, it's just up
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 9:02
to, okay, thank you. Representative Penarts, you recognize
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 9:06
for a question? Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to thank you and the bill sponsor, Representative Wilkins, for going back and getting this additional information for us. It's very helpful, and hopefully this is something you will keep up with so that you'll know the next time you come before us what the information is and the comparison. I read something in here, maybe you could elaborate on it just a little bit, which concerned me because it means that our crime lab is not getting paid for something that we do, And it was with regard to, if I can find it now, with regard to some cases that y'all did for in federal cases. Could you explain to me in that case why in this case it's a federal correction facility? We did not, we did bill and collect it for eight autopsies performed, that's on page two of your handout, the upper half, but yet that you were paid $750 each for those. Was at that time on those, because you hadn't had this change yet, was that the maximum amount you could have billed that federal correction
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Speaker 12 10:34
facility? No, we could have billed that correctional facility up to $1,000. The $750 was
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 10:39
a fee that the medical examiners have billed for a while for those types of autopsies. And
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Speaker 73 10:47
how is it that you all
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Speaker 74 10:53
didn't bill the maximum? Dr. Kokus? I'll field
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Speaker 14 10:56
that one. The service that we provide to the federal penitentiary system came about several years ago they had a change in policy wherein they required all inmates who die in custody to have an autopsy. And many of those deaths are very straight forward in the sense that they are individuals who are sick or have no trauma, they have no medical conditions, And in short, they're relatively easy cases for us to do. We're simply providing a degree of surveillance for the federal system in that they want to be able to say that they have a screening system for the deaths that occur in their custody. So they don't involve a lot of additional scientific testing like DNA work or specialized testing. the examination alone, and for that reason, we don't feel that in those cases that we had to ask for the maximum amount.
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 12:07
But I guess the secondary question of that is that if you had had to do that, would
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Speaker 14 12:15
you have billed the maximum, which was $1,000? We would have notified them that that additional testing would have been done, and the agreement that we had with them is that the $750 was for the autopsy alone and that they would be responsible for that additional testing if it needed to be done.
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 12:38
So the current agreement that you have with that correctional facility includes $750 plus they pay for additional testing? Is that correct? Am I understanding you correctly, sir? Yes,
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Speaker 74 12:54
I would, just so that we're clear on this, we,
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Speaker 14 12:59
as part of our standard procedure in these cases, we also routinely do toxicology testing because there is the concern, of course, of alcohol and drugs being in a prison system. So we do routinely screen, and that's part of the basic package, if
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 13:21
you will. so I guess the answer to my question is yes yes ma'am it would be I wasn't able to tell by your
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Speaker 83 13:33
response or maybe it was no sir I'm not really
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 13:41
sure that's all thank you madam chair before I I recognize Representative Rogers. Senator Fletcher, would you like to join at the end of the table?
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 14:07
Representative Rogers, now you're recognized for the question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate it. Thank you for the presentation of the bill. I've got just a couple questions for clarification. Would it be fair to say that our state crime lab is somewhat
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Speaker 91 14:26
overworked and somewhat underpaid? MR. Overworked? I
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 14:30
think that underpaid, I would say that we're keeping up with our neighboring states, so I don't think that we're suffering as far as our pay scale goes, as far as overworked. We do have a lot of cases. We don't have a major backlog. So you know, quite honestly, based on if we're talking about the medical examiner staff, we have six forensic pathologists, and that – I don't consider them being overworked
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Speaker 91 14:53
at that. But this bill is an effort to
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 14:57
bring Arkansas comparable or make Arkansas comparable in its fee structure for the services you provide? Just for the civil fees. All of our
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Speaker 24 15:06
other services are free to the state. So this –
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 15:10
and this would only apply to civil fees?
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 15:12
That's correct. Okay. Thank you. Representative Kaling, you're
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Representative Bryan B. King Unverified 15:25
next for questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted Senator Fletcher to be sure and come get on the camera with us. He's at the end of the table, and
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 15:40
this is his first time on candid camera. Representative Lee, you're recognized for a question.
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Speaker 95 15:47
Thank you, Madam Chair. How is the certification process going at the lab right now? I know you guys have had problems in the past. How
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Speaker 14 16:00
is that going along right now? As you may well know, last year we achieved provisional accreditation status, which which means we are accredited the provisional part means that we have a few things that that have to be taken care of the main one and is the last stickler is the resolution of our mass disaster plan and in just this Friday we received a copy of the state mass disaster plan that was formulated with with Kenyon International and the State Health Department. We just got it on our desk. After we review that and rework our own manual to incorporate any changes that need to be made, we'll be able to send in a package of corrections that we've made to the National Association of Medical Examiners, and I foresee that we won't have difficulty achieving full
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Speaker 95 17:05
accreditation and prior to this one was
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Speaker 14 17:08
last time you were accredited we were accredited from 2003 till summer
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Speaker 98 17:13
of 2008 thank you any Any more questions from the committee?
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 17:31
Senator Fletcher, Representative Wilkins, would you like to close for your bill? We have closed. Okay, members, we have a motion do pass. Excuse me. Representative Cheatham, you're
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Chair Unverified 17:47
recognized for a motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 17:53
Motion do pass. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. You have passed your bill. Congratulations. from the Arkansas County Election Commission's Association with an invite to lunch on Friday and to participate in their roundtable discussion. Is this a committee – oh, okay, just a second. I understood – okay. I just wanted to let you know about this invitation from the Arkansas Election Commission's Association for this Friday.
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Speaker 105 19:11
Representative Hutchison, you're recognized. 5, 6,
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Chair Unverified 19:14
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, yes, quorum.
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 19:24
We have a motion on
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 19:26
the floor from Representative Hutchison to consider House Bill 15. Okay, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Representative Hutchison, you're recognized. 1556.
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 19:56
Thank you, committee. It's always nice to have a constituent, when they call and point out a problem, they also point out a solution, and that is what Zachary Hardin did. He noticed there were a lot of flags that were orange rather than red, and a lot of flags over government buildings that were made in China and not in America. So he called me. So I'd like to invite Zachary to come up and tell us his story and introduce himself.
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 20:41
My name is Zachary Hardin, and I'm a senior at Arkansas Tech University. And when
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Speaker 120 20:47
I moved to Arkansas in 2009, one of the things that I tried to do is learn lot about the state, including the state symbols. And my specialty is with flags because I study state flags, city flags, and also national flags. When I first started going around in Bellevista, Gravette, Rogers, Bentonville, I noticed that there was a lot of different shades of the Arkansas flag ranging from like a deep red to like a bright orange. In terms of blue, I see like a dark blue to almost like a sky blue, and I just wanted to introduce legislation that has uniformity with the colors of the flag. Also when I visited some of the cities in northwest Arkansas, I noticed a lot of them were using flags that were – I can tell that were made either in Taiwan or China because of the material that is used, the way that the design is cheaply made, and I just wanted to also introduce legislation that for government buildings, that if they're going to use U.S. and state flags, that it should be made in the United States. Thank you.
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 22:01
We have done a lot of research. Zachary's a very detailed person. The Secretary of State is already using flags that would meet this standard, so they already comply with this. And we've caused the top flag makers in America, and these colors are very average colors. They're easily to obtain, and there wouldn't be a problem with making Arkansas flags that meet these standards. And it's just to remind city halls and county governments, let's buy a flag that's made in America. Private businesses can do what they want. And as you know, if it costs a few pennies to buy an American-made flag, we will be happy to supply one.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 22:48
MR. Any questions? Representative. Excuse me. Chairman Hall, you're recognized for a question.
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Speaker 124 22:54
Thank you, Madam Chairman. Representative Hutchison, how many American companies make flags? Do you know? MR. There's a lot
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Speaker 120 23:03
of companies inside the United States that would make flags. For example, right here in Arkansas, we have Arkansas flag and banner. That is the top state flag maker. For flags that are used on federal buildings and also for VA internment, burial flags, they're made by Annin, A-N-N-I-N. That's the company that the Secretary of State's office use. The flags that are used over the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., is made by a company called Valley Forge. Those two companies are the top two makers in the United States, and there's a lot of companies across the United States that would manufacture those. You have no idea how many? I don't know how
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Representative Clark Hall Unverified 23:45
many, but I know there's several. In Arkansas, there's just one? To my knowledge, yes. Do you know the differential in cost between what is currently being used versus what the cost is from the one that's in Arkansas? You need
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Speaker 133 24:09
the cost between Thailand and China.
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Speaker 120 24:12
That's okay. Okay. Like an American-made flag, let's say you get a three-by-five foot in a nylon, it's usually around $25 to $35. But if you try to buy one from China, it will be about between $8 and $15. So, the cost
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Speaker 135 24:30
is about double for an American-made flag. Okay. Well, let
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Representative Clark Hall Unverified 24:35
me ask you, Representative Hutchins, if I may, Representative Hutchins. You mentioned that we would be glad to provide one.
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Speaker 136 24:42
I presume you were referring to the Secretary
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 24:45
of State's office? Yes. Usually, people call their senators or representatives, and we have some flags allotted to us that if they need a flag, we'll be happy to give it to them. My
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Representative Clark Hall Unverified 24:55
district usually averages about 30 a year request, and I get, how many do we get a
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 25:04
year? Well, I've noticed, I went through a time when everyone was suggesting flags, and I just called around and found flags from other legislators that had more than they needed.
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Speaker 139 25:13
How many are we allocated, though? Individually, 10? I think 10 each. 10
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 25:21
each. And I have about 30 for each. I think it's more for the state, I understand. So the other members of the committee are telling me we get more Arkansas flags
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Representative Clark Hall Unverified 25:38
than we do. We get 15 Arkansas flags, 10 U.S. Okay. The, of course, most of the schools and the cities, and they want both. And they, are you, do you see we're going to need to ask the Secretary of State to expand that
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 25:55
number? MS. Well, I think we will see after this bill is passed how many request flags, then we'll know what
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Speaker 136 26:02
to do after that. MR. You know, we don't want to be like Secretary
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 26:11
McKeon. Thank you. Thanks for the question. Representative Hopper, you're
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Representative Karen S. Hopper Unverified 26:17
recognized for a question. Thank you, Madam Chair. My question was with regards to lines 1 and 2 on page 2, specifically regarding the designation of O'Glory Red and O'Glory Blue. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind in a former life, I recall issues with colors and marketing. Are we sure we've got this nailed down enough to the point that you will get the results that you're seeking in this uniformity of color? I seem to recall, like, the need for a number so that everyone's on the
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Speaker 120 26:52
same page, shall we say. Yes. There's the Defense Department specifications that you can locate online. The specification is titled DDD-F-416, and that's the specification that all flag manufacturers will use for the manufacture of the U.S. flag. And there are codes listed by the Color Association of the United States that have the color codes mentioned for the specific number. I also have another document called A-A-52696, and this is the military specification for internment flags or burial flags, and they have the color codes listed there. So with those two documents, you will be able to find the exact color codes for the United States flag using the color association in the United States. I know there's other different color formats, such as you can use for the computer, there's different competing companies, but there's – different states will have, like, different values, but they're all going to be the same. So do
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Representative Karen S. Hopper Unverified 27:59
you feel comfortable that the language that you have here in the bill will achieve exactly what you're seeking then. I guess it's where I'm just trying to make sure that you indeed have what you're seeking. Yes, I do.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 28:17
Okay. All right. Thank you. Representative Klemmer, you recognize? I couldn't tell
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Representative Ann V. Clemmer Unverified 28:22
who was. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry. I need you to tell me your name again. Zachary Hardin. Thank you, Zachary. I wanted to use your first name if you don't mind me being informal. My question is, and I very much appreciate your concern about this, are the bill, are the flags that are out there that are discolored, is it a result of flags being cheaply
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Speaker 46 28:48
made and, say, fading differently? Is that not the problem? It's a combination of both. Some
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Speaker 120 28:54
flags that are made overseas will use a very light shade or just use different shades to where it will not look correct, but also with the coloration of flags, if you have it out of the sun for too long, it will sometimes get faded, and it does happen.
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Representative Ann V. Clemmer Unverified 29:11
So some of the discoloration, it may be just as a result of fading. Yes. Well, I mean, I guess one argument you could say if they're all made, if you start with the same color, they will at least fade uniformly also. Yes. Or more uniformly. They're not going to turn, it's kind of like your black socks, you know, when you wash them, they're going to go the same directions because the same dyes will be used. Yes. Okay.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 29:43
Thank you. Representative Kaling, you're recognized for a question.
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Representative Bryan B. King Unverified 29:46
Thank you. Do the flags made in the United States have made in USA on them? Yes,
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 29:52
they do, on the heading of the flag. They will say not only the company, but also say made in the United
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Representative Bryan B. King Unverified 29:59
States. Did you say there was one maker in Arkansas? Arkansas flag and banner, yes. Do they have on
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Speaker 120 30:08
there made in Arkansas or U.S. of A? I personally do not know, but I know their flags are made inside the United States. Thank you.
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 30:20
Representative Rogers, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. may have addressed this and I missed it, but is there a difference between the fabric content, the material content itself, between the U.S. and a China-made flag as far as… Yes. A lot of the Chinese-made flags are made of, like, a polyester material that's, like, it's silk to the
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Speaker 120 30:38
touch, but also they're mostly used for just, like, one-time events, so if you have it outside of the storm, it's expected to be shredded, but with nylon and cotton it's going to last a lot longer, but the quality is a lot better.
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 30:52
Madam Chair, motion at the proper
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 31:02
time, thank you. Representative Pernarts,
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 31:08
you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for being here today, Zachary, and Representative Hutchison for your interest in this topic. In the interest of the facts, do you know how much the Secretary of State currently spends on the flags that it uses for whatever reason? No. No, you don't? I was told and I had forgotten. Okay. And do you have in your memory bank, do you have any idea of whether whether the Secretary of State would have to ask for
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Speaker 78 31:56
additional dollars because of this change that is required, would be required by this bill? In my opinion,
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 32:05
there should be no additional cost for the terms of replacing the flag. If I can
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Speaker 120 32:10
cite one example, the State of Utah just modified their flag earlier this month, And one of the things they put in the resolution is all new flags should be made to reflect a statutory flag subscription, and all Utah flags currently in use or stock should be utilized until unserviceable. So the flags are in the possession of the state bodies of the Secretary of State's office. They can be used until the new flags
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Speaker 159 32:41
come out with the new specifications that induces no additional
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 32:46
cost. Well, I guess since you mentioned it yourself, if I may call you Zachary, may I? Zachary? Yes. Okay. Thank you. This bill really to me is more in the sense of a resolution than a bill, because you're imposing a duty on the Secretary of State to do something which you have no knowledge of what impact it may have on his budget. Well, may I
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Speaker 154 33:14
respond to that? Well, the question
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 33:16
I was going to ask you, Representative Hutchison, is that it would have been helpful if you had brought us some figures from the Secretary of State on that so that we could be assured there would be no
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 33:29
additional cost. Well, since they already order the flags that meet the standards, they're not going to be apt to change or anything other than they'll just keep going and giving out flags as they
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Speaker 162 33:41
usually do. So you're saying that all the flags that the Secretary of State uses are purchased from whom?
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 33:48
MS. From Made in America. Yes. MS. From whom? MS. Annan. We did not write this bill up until we knew the Secretary of State would not have to change their order or they already meet the standard. MS. Well, if the
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 34:06
Secretary of State already meets the standard, then what would be the need for this bill?
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 34:11
MS. To encourage City Hall's governments to fly a flag that meets this
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 34:20
standard. MR. Well, what section of the deal deals specifically with City Hall? Because the sections in the bill, Representative Hutchin, that I'm looking at that are in this are on page 2, deals with the Secretary of State. So if you had wanted to ensure that the cities or the counties were in alliance with your intent of this bill, you should have included any amendment to their sections in this code that referred to them. If
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 34:56
you look on line 6, page 2, any citizen can ask the city hall or any group of citizens to please. What page are you on? 2, Line 6, they can ask their city hall or their county clerk, I request that you fly an official state flag made by the United States. Well, that section… But you need – if you want an official flag, this is the official flag. It's up to the citizens to
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 35:25
request that. Well, they can already do that without
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 35:27
this bill. Well, we don't have an official flag. This is now the official flag. That's what we're doing. That's what the bill does. It designates an
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 35:36
official flag. Well, I think we do have an official flag, but I won't spar with you on that. I mean, I think that this type of bill is more appropriate to be done in a resolution form. And I'm for, you know, the flags that fly in the United States. I didn't even know that the flags that fly in the United States
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 35:58
weren't made in the United States. Our problem is we have an Arkansas code concerning the state flag. We already have set down some details on what it's to look like and a diamond. So since we already have a code that establishes the pattern, this seemed to be the logical place to put it for the color. Rather
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 36:17
than what did you even consider the use of a resolution?
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 36:22
No, we already had Arkansas code that described and gave details about the flag. So
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 36:28
the answer to that question is
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Speaker 165 36:33
no? That's correct. Okay. Well,
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 36:35
I'm not opposed to the bill, Representative Hutchison. I just don't want to have some unintended consequences of this. What seemingly seems to be a simple bill, we have some unintended consequences of it. And as long, in my mind, if you can assure me that the Secretary of State is not going to come and ask us for additional dollars to increase his budget for the purchase of flags, I guess I don't have a problem with the bill.
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Speaker 135 37:09
If I can respond, different states in the union will have legislation regarding the
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Speaker 120 37:15
specific colors used in the state flag. If I can cite a few examples, Arizona and Wyoming, they put in their statute that the specific red and blue shades of their state flags will be the same as the flags used in the United States or the United States national flag. In Texas, they'd done a similar bill about 10 years ago where they added Pacific shades of O'Glory red and O'Glory blue inside their legal code.
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Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified 37:45
Well, Zachary, I don't have a problem with that part of the bill. I'm not questioning that part, which is line one and two on page two. But like I said, I really think this is more appropriate in a resolution form, but Representative Hutchison, do I hear that you assure me that there won't be any additional cost by the the Secretary of State asking joint budget to appropriate additional dollars?
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Speaker 167 38:16
Yes, I feel very confident we talked to his office. You said yes, so
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 38:34
that's all I need. Representative Roger, oh, okay, sorry. I'm still behind here. Is anyone in the audience who wishes to speak for or against this bill?
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Representative Randy Stewart Unverified 38:47
Madam Chair, I'm not a member, but may I ask a question? I think it's within the rules. Representative Stewart, you're recognized. Representative Stewart was going to ask this question. He had to leave, so he asked me if I'd ask it for him. His question was, where exactly is it required, I mean, what functions have to fly an official state flag? Is that required of county offices, schools, in other words, where does an official state flag fall in the requirement?
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 39:24
Madam Chairman, I think Zachary knows the answer
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 39:28
to that. Okay. Zachary, you're
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Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified 39:32
recognized to answer. In Arkansas code, there is a piece of rule that
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Speaker 120 39:38
says that school buildings on every school day will fly the United States in state flag during school sessions. As for county courthouses or civic buildings, I don't know of any specific rule, but all I know is for the schools in Arkansas. Does it say
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Representative Randy Stewart Unverified 39:59
we have to fly the official state flag? it says fly the Arkansas state flag. So when do
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 40:15
you know it's an official flag? Which flag would be an official flag? If we pass this bill, we will have an official flag. And they aren't even required to fly it unless someone from the local area asks to fly the
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Representative Linda S. Tyler Unverified 40:26
official state flag. Representative Tyler, you're recognized. I said I wasn't going to do this to myself a moment ago, but I believe, Representative Hutchinson, that if you look on page 1, line 23, it uses the word official. So we do have an official state flag now, and what you're trying to do with your bill is to amend that so that it includes specific colors and it includes made in the United States, that it is actually made in the United States and it includes those words. But we have an official state flag now. Yes, and as
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 41:14
on page two, it says an official flag shall be made in the United States. Thank you.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 41:27
Are there any other questions from the committee? Representative? Okay. Anyone from the audience who wishes to speak for or against this bill? Representative Wilkins recognized for a question. Do we
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Representative Butch Wilkins Unverified 41:50
have a flag, an Arkansas flag made in the United States? I am really surprised we do, everything I see
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Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified 41:59
comes out of China. The Secretary of State only buys flags that are made in the United States.
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Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified 42:05
Well, good, I am proud of him, then. Anyone from the audience who wishes to speak for or against this bill? Seeing none, Representative Rogers, what is your motion? Do pass. Members, we have a motion do pass. All those in favor, please say aye. Any opposed? Congratulations, Representative Hutchison and your guest, Zachary. Thank you for being here. have passed your bill do
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Chair Unverified 43:01
you like a motion for adjournment I would accept the motion we're adjourned
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Agenda

Call to Order

0:00

SB208

0:04

HB1546

19:52

Adjournment

42:52

Documents

No documents posted.

Speakers

Representative Mary L. Slinkard Chair Unverified
35 segments
Representative Butch Wilkins Unverified
6 segments
Speaker 12
4 segments
Speaker 14
11 segments
Representative Jim Nickels Unverified
5 segments
Speaker 24
3 segments
Representative Tiffany Rogers Chair Unverified
24 segments
Speaker 28
1 segment
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham Unverified
1 segment
Speaker 42
1 segment
Speaker 43
1 segment
Representative Linda S. Tyler Unverified
6 segments
Speaker 57
1 segment
Representative Ann V. Clemmer Unverified
7 segments
Representative Tracy Pennartz Unverified
28 segments
Speaker 73
1 segment
Speaker 74
2 segments
Speaker 83
1 segment
Speaker 91
2 segments
Representative Bryan B. King Unverified
3 segments
Speaker 95
2 segments
Speaker 98
1 segment
Chair Unverified
3 segments
Speaker 105
1 segment
Representative Donna Hutchinson Chair Unverified
23 segments
Speaker 120
18 segments
Speaker 124
1 segment
Representative Clark Hall Unverified
7 segments
Speaker 133
1 segment
Speaker 135
2 segments
Speaker 136
2 segments
Speaker 139
1 segment
Representative Karen S. Hopper Unverified
4 segments
Speaker 46
1 segment
Speaker 78
2 segments
Speaker 159
1 segment
Speaker 154
1 segment
Speaker 162
1 segment
Speaker 165
1 segment
Speaker 167
1 segment
Representative Randy Stewart Unverified
4 segments