House Education Committee
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (6)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
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HB1454
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “…going to pass over House Bill 1296, and we're going to move House Bill 1454 to the bottom of our agenda this morning because we think o…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1479
· 2 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1479”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1489
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “take us to House Bill 1489, Representative Steele, you are recognized.”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1296
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “We're going to pass over House Bill 1296, and we're going to move House Bill 1454 to the bottom of o…”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1411
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1411”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HR1015
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HR1015”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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Members, this morning we have several, all of our guests are important, but this morning we have several guests that are very important. We have the Governor's Pygmalion Commission members here this morning, and John Davidson, all of you know John, does a great job with that commission. He is the chair, and I'd like to call on him to make the introductions of that committee. Mr. Davidson, you're recognized from the place.
The next group that I'd like to recognize this morning is ASCD, the Arkansas Association for supervision and curriculum development, and in doing that, I'd like to make, I guess,
an apology. Our social calendar, which is very important for all of us because, as you all know, members go very early and very late on not only what we do here as legislators but also on our social calendar. For some reason, the breakfast for ASCD was on the calendar for yesterday, but I understand And it was this morning. And so I apologize because there were lots of legislators that were there yesterday that charged their breakfast to use. So if you don't mind ASCD going by and paying that bill, we would appreciate it.
But we do apologize. So if your attendance was not what it should have been, we apologize for that. But with that, I do want to recognize the Arkansas Association for Supervision and Curriculum development because they were recently awarded ASCD's Affiliate Overall Excellence Award. And so we're very, very proud of this organization. This award recognizes Arkansas' ASCD's excellence in affiliate work in five areas. So it's not just a very small award, it's a huge award.
Recognized for membership, communications and publications, programs, products and services, influence and policy, leadership and governance. And this award will be presented at ASCD's International Conference in San Francisco in March. And so we are very, very pleased to have with us this morning the President, Dr. Matt McClure, and also, no stranger to any of us, the Legislative Liaison, Dr. Frank Holman.
Dr. McClure, I'll recognize you, and
Speaker 8
4:18
you may introduce any others that you would like this
Speaker 10
4:24
morning. We also have Vice President Candidate Jerry Gass, Superintendent McKinney-President School District. Okay, and members,
would you please applaud the efforts of ASCD? Thank you.
We're going to pass over House Bill 1296, and we're going to move House Bill 1454 to the bottom of our agenda this morning because we think our chair may be here by 1030. And that takes us to House Bill 1479, Representative Collins. Representative Collins, is anyone here to present that bill for Representative Collins? If not, that will
Speaker 17
5:17
take us to House Bill 1489, Representative Steele, you are recognized.
Speaker 18
5:38
Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the committee. Madam Chair, with your permission, I would like to have Tony Williams, who is President of the Arkansas Student Loan Authority, to come and assist me in presenting the bill. Certainly. And
and identify himself for the record, Representative Steele. Thank
Tony Williams
Unverified
6:03
you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Tony Williams. I'm director of the Arkansas
Speaker 23
6:06
Student Loan Authority, and I can go ahead and provide
you a summary of this bill, and I'll be very happy to take any questions that anyone may have. There are three primary purposes for this bill. We are revising the statute that was written in 1976 or 1977, removing the obsolete language and replacing that with language that's more applicable to the way we operate today and the way the capital markets operate today. And that's related to our issuance of bonds and raising funds.
The other reasons we are doing this is or the other primary reasons are to make sure we have authority to provide supplemental loans for students in cases where they have no other access to financial aid funds or there's a gap in the financial aid that they need to pay for their cost of education. And then also Congress this past year eliminated our ability to make federal loans.
And so in that legislation, Congress replaced that authority with the authority for us to contract with the U.S. Department of Education to provide loan servicing. And so that's very important or a key component of this that clarifies that we do have the authority to provide student loan servicing for the federal government since the federal government has now taken over the student loan program.
And Congress felt that it was important to have individual states still involved in the program to protect
Speaker 24
7:56
that infrastructure and to protect the services that are being provided to students
Speaker 7
8:07
in the state. Representative English, you have
Representative Jane English
Unverified
8:10
a question. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I kind of wondered what was going to happen to the Student Loan Authority with the health care reform bill and the changes, so your organization can still be the entity for doing
Pell Grants, or what kind of other loans are out there that
Speaker 23
8:34
you would be administering? We do not have any involvement in Pell Grants, but we're still servicing a loan portfolio of over $500 million of loans that were made prior to the elimination of the program. And we'll be doing loan servicing for the federal government going forward. And then we're also clarifying the authority to make supplemental loans.
That would be non-federal loans that would be for students in situations such as, let's say you had a student going to Hendricks. They were not scholarship eligible. They were only eligible to receive $5,500 in federal loans from the U.S. Department of Education. And so there's a wide gap between the $5,500 that they can receive and the cost of going to a place like Hendricks of $30,000-plus. So, you know, the supplemental loans could fill that gap or a portion of that gap.
Representative Jane English
Unverified
9:29
Just one more follow-on? Certainly. Where does that money come from?
Speaker 23
9:33
It would be through the issuance of bonds. And we have, since our creation back in 1977, we have always issued bonds for our funding. And so it would be the same type situation where you issue the bonds at X percent and then the interest rate on the student loans is slightly above that. And we think that's important because there are a lot of supplemental loans being made in the state today, but they're being made by for-profit, large for-profit banks out of state banks.
And so we bring a not-for-profit motive, you know, to that program so that we're only charging the bare minimum to cover our expenses and we're not trying to make, you know, a buck off of the students. Thank
Speaker 33
10:19
you. Other questions for members? Representative Bayard. Thank
Speaker 37
10:27
you, Madam Chair. I'm looking on, it seems real loud.
Representative Duncan Baird
Unverified
10:33
Looking on page 3, line 28, 29,
Speaker 42
10:42
and 30, the section where it says, it used to say, shall serve without compensation, but now it says, may receive a stipend and expense reimbursements. That's correct.
Speaker 43
11:01
Today, our board serves without a stipend.
They do have expense reimbursement.
Speaker 23
11:08
But this would allow the board to receive an $85 stipend per meeting. We typically meet four to five times a year. And so it's. Okay. So the
Representative Duncan Baird
Unverified
11:19
board has always been without compensation but with expense reimbursements. And so we will be adding, essentially we'll be adding a form of compensation. That's correct.
Speaker 23
11:31
And it would be, you know, close to $600 per meeting with four to five meetings per year.
So, you know, around $25 to $100. And Representative Steele was clarifying, you know, that is not funded by the state. You know,
Speaker 51
11:51
we're a cash-funded agency generating income from the loan programs that we manage. Is there a
Speaker 52
11:57
reason that that has become necessary now? I mean, do you all have
Speaker 23
12:07
the meetings? I felt it was important to encourage meeting attendance
and also to show the members that there is some value in their attending the meetings. Okay. And we looked at all the other state agencies that were providing stipends, and we didn't go with the lowest and we didn't go
Speaker 24
12:26
with the highest stipends that are being paid. We just, you know, chose the middle just for the reasons I stated. Will that amount,
Speaker 42
12:35
will it be able, I mean, can you adjust that in the future? Does that have to be done by legislation, or how is that done?
Speaker 23
12:44
It would already be covered under the line item of board expenses in our budgets. Okay. There's room in there because it's not a large amount, you know, $2,500 a
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
13:09
MS. Representative Karnon. Thank you, Madam Chair. The question that I had was in regarding to a comment that was made regarding the fact that the interest rates that you would charge would be significantly less than what would
be charged by other banks, could you give me at least a ballpark figure of the fact of what this would
Speaker 28
13:38
be? MR. That would be dependent upon the
Speaker 23
13:41
market conditions at that time. In today's market, if we were not charging below 7.9 percent, then there probably wouldn't be a good reason to try to offer those loans. So I think somewhere in the 7% to 8% range in today's market would be an appropriate rate.
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
14:01
And how much less is that than what a bank, savings and loan, whatever, whoever would make the loan? How much less are we talking about? I
Speaker 67
14:15
don't think you can find one today under 10%. Well, in
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
14:20
other words, a couple percent difference between what you would charge and what a bank would charge? Yes, sir.
Speaker 23
14:29
And the only banks providing these types of loans in Arkansas today are banks such as Citibank and Chase and then Sallie Mae,
which is a large student loan organization. But
Speaker 24
14:42
we don't have any banks, any Arkansas banks, providing
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
14:47
these types of loans. Okay. The second question in what you're saying to us is that there's enough money, but right now you feel it's in the students' best interest for us to be making the loans. Is that – Well,
Speaker 23
15:07
we would not start this program until we performed a study seeing that there was demand, ample demand, you know,
for us to make it worthwhile, to make sure there was ample loan volume and to make sure that we could do it at an interest rate that would benefit the students. And so, you know, we know students today are borrowing these supplemental loans, but they are going through
Speaker 24
15:35
for-profit institutions that we don't feel
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
15:41
like always have the students' benefit in mind. I think I understand your rationale, but let me ask one last question, and I saw some
data a few weeks ago regarding the amount of loans that were actually should have been written off. And if I'm remembering correctly, Arkansas had a relatively high rate of loans that were made to students. And I'm just wondering if this is in a situation where the loans are available and if we have
a very high rate or loss, in other words, loans that aren't good, why we would want to take the state's money and risk it at the level that is available by either the feds or other banking institutions. And, again, I'm just trying to get a grasp of this, of is there a real need? And if there is, why don't we do the study?
And then if there's a real need, rather than authorizing the legislation without really recognizing whether there's a real need or not. And that's a good
Speaker 23
17:03
point, and, you know, we believe there's a need, you know, because we see students taking out these loans today. And, you know, the loans would not be actually backed by the state of Arkansas and putting the state of Arkansas at a risk of loss. You know, they would be, the loans would be, have very strict underwriting standards.
And so it would be a little more difficult to get these loans than it is to receive a federal student loan. So, you know, our motive is to participate in this program if we find that there is ample need. And it may be something we do next year or it
Speaker 24
17:47
may be something that we would do in 10 years. But it's not
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
17:55
something that we would rush into. Well, again, Madam Chair, I think my concern is that we normally recognize by the data
there is a need, and then we authorize, and I guess I'm a little uncomfortable authorizing without a need-based study. Thank you. Representative Klemmer. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
18:14
If you – would you repeat your
name? I'm sorry. Tony Williams. Thank you. I just didn't make a note of it. Could you boil down in a nutshell for me, Mr. Williams, how does this change or if it changes the mission of the Arkansas Student Loan Authority?
Speaker 23
18:36
The mission is slightly altered. In the past, we made loans, we bought loans from Arkansas banks, and we serviced those loans. And so we are no longer, you know, making federal loans or buying federal student loans. We're focusing more on the servicing of the loans. And the supplemental loans are more of a secondary role. You know, this would not be a large part of our mission.
Speaker 24
19:07
The primary mission would be focused on servicing the loans for the federal government. and so Could you tell me a
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
19:13
little bit, excuse me for interrupting could you tell me a little bit
Speaker 23
19:18
what that entails just my refresher here. Sure, no, the loan servicing involves the standard collection practices, working with the students to make
Speaker 24
19:25
sure they have their billing, that they understand what they need to be paying and Would you be the
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
19:31
ones that would issue for instance hardship, forbearance or whatever? Yes ma'am, forbearances
Speaker 24
19:37
working with them on forbearances and deferments and choosing a repayment plan.
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
19:42
Will you be then taking over existing student loans, or
are student loans going to be shifted under your authority? That's a good question. What the U.S. Department
Speaker 77
19:54
of Education has told us is that they would shift existing loans to
Speaker 23
19:59
us for us to begin servicing. You've never done that before? We've been involved in loan servicing for the
Speaker 24
20:08
last 30 years, but not for the federal government.
They were for loans that we owned. And so these loans we will not own. They will continue
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
20:19
to be owned by the U.S. Department of Education. Okay.
Speaker 23
20:23
I thought you had done that, but I'm sorry. I was missing something. And under the legislation, Congress guarantees
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
20:33
state. That was actually my next question, if I could follow up. Could you estimate the volume of loans, both in number awarded and maybe an estimated percentage of the student loans in Arkansas?
How many you'll be handling? What
Speaker 23
20:48
percent? And the percentage is difficult at this point because we're still slowly receiving, you know, money, or excuse me, information from the federal government. In Arkansas, there are right at 100,000 loans made per year at about $500 million per year. And I should state that that was pre-lottery, pre-lottery scholarship. So those numbers may be inflated from what we actually see this year,
Speaker 24
21:16
which we don't have numbers on this academic year yet. If
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
21:21
I can just continue just a second. So you just don't feel able
to estimate the percent, but I would think if you're talking about a minimum of 100,000 loans. That's correct. No,
Speaker 24
21:36
that's a minimum. I mean, that's what I'm
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
21:38
saying, a minimum of 100,000 loans per year, but you're not. Well, it would not be
Speaker 23
21:45
per year. Oh, I'm sorry. That the Department of Education would allocate to us.
They state that we will begin with 100,000, and they have provided little information on how they would allow that number to grow. on a year-by-year basis. But we do know that part of that will be based upon performance. You know, if we're servicing the loans to a standard that they set, then it will allow us to increase
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
22:17
our allocation. Would performance have to do with your repayment,
Speaker 23
22:22
your ability to gather student payments? Yes, ma'am, it would. And there would be surveys performed, you know, involving students, involving the higher education institutions, and also we'd be graded on how we work with the U.S. Department of Education. Okay. So just let me – if you
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
22:40
indulge me, Madam Chair, just let me follow up again. So go back
to that number. I'm totally misunderstood because I thought you said it was 100,000 minimum. That is correct.
Speaker 23
22:53
But not per year. That is correct. So it could be that, you know, we received 100,000 accounts the first year, and there are 100,000 more accounts made in Arkansas that second year. But at this point, the Department of Education has not guaranteed that all of those loans would
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
23:11
come back to us. You're only authorized to handle, then, at the beginning, a minimum of 100,000 loans. That's correct. And it could go up. Okay. I thought there was a yearly thing going on.
Speaker 24
23:23
Yeah, we're still not clear on Department of Education guidance on how that number will increase. All
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
23:29
right. Thank you for so much information. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Representative Karen S. Hopper
Unverified
23:36
Representative Hopper. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Williams, I'd like to follow up on Representative Baird's question a few moments ago with regard to the stipend, and particularly going back on page 3 to the change in the language from the makeup of your board of directors
from a participating institution to an eligible institution. Could you point
out the line? Yes, line 18 on
Speaker 28
24:11
page 3. That involves the definition. There was
Speaker 24
24:18
a change in the definition on the previous, on page one.
There's a new definition for eligible institution. And I believe that was just a technical correction. So, I mean, I don't believe there's...
Speaker 23
24:43
And the attorney that helped with this is stepping forward, Ms. Michelle Allgood from Williams & Anderson. And if I could,
Representative Karen S. Hopper
Unverified
24:54
I guess my question is more to clarification.
Are you having trouble, folks, serving in this capacity? No, I wouldn't.
Speaker 23
25:07
Participate in participation? I wouldn't say we're having trouble, but I'd say that, you know, We've looked at other state agencies that pay a stipend, and, you know, we believe that our board members
Speaker 24
25:19
deserve the same benefit. And, you know, and it's something I don't benefit
Speaker 23
25:26
from, but I believe it's something that, you know, that we should do to show that our board members do have value.
Thank you. Representative Steele, you have another witness at the table. Is that with your permission?
Speaker 18
25:43
If there's a need to answer any more of the legal questions that we have, and then I'd like to close for the bill
Speaker 20
25:52
at the proper time. Mr. Williams, is there something else you would like
Speaker 67
25:56
for someone to clarify? No, ma'am. I think we've covered it.
Speaker 97
26:05
Okay. Representative Dale. Mr. Williams, one question here.
it's my understanding that these loans are going to be assigned to you from the federal government are those loans loans that are originated in our in arkansas to arkansas students or to students that's going to college in the arkansas uh in in arkansas colleges or is this going to be We certainly
Speaker 23
26:31
hope so, and that was congressional intent. And so that's something we're still working with the Department of Education on
and believe that the only loans we're interested in servicing are loans that are made in Arkansas because, you know, the congressional philosophy and intent was that we can service Arkansas loans better than anyone else can service Arkansas loans. We know the schools. We know the landscape, and, you know, we know the environment here. And so we're best suited to service those loans. However, I have to say the Department of Education has not been clear on their interpretation of the federal law of how they will disseminate loans.
Speaker 97
27:17
Will you have the option to maybe operate under those? I mean, can your board make that one of the requirements to service only those type of loans? It is definitely the priority of the board. Okay.
Speaker 23
27:41
You know, and beginning, we don't know that our initial allocation would be 100 percent Arkansas loans,
But we would, you know, we're definitely fighting and working with Congress to make sure there's as large a percentage as possible of Arkansas loans. Thank you,
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
28:04
Mr. Williams. Representative Hobbs. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry, I'm trying to read through this and absorb it, and I'm having a difficult time with that. Let's go back to page two, section two. Currently, it says, at the request of the Department of Higher Education to the governor
by governor's proclamation, this board is established, but this is taking it
away from their authority in just establishing this board. Is that correct? Well, it's not taking
Speaker 23
28:33
any authority or power away from the Department of Higher Education. Is that your question? Well, I guess I'm
Speaker 102
28:41
not sure why that line has been deleted. That was in the
Speaker 23
28:46
original language, and if I can, I'll let Ms. Michelle Allgood also refer to this
because she is more familiar with some of the technicalities of this. I mean, a lot of this, to me, is lawyer talk. Me too. And she gets paid by the
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
29:03
word. I understand that. If you will identify yourself and your position for the
Michelle Allgood
Unverified
29:07
record, and then you may answer the question. My name is Michelle Allgood, and I'm with Williams & Anderson. We are general counsel to the Arkansas Student Loan Authority. To address your question, the reason this change was made is because the authorizing legislation just permitted the governor and the Department of Education to create the
Arkansas Student Loan Authority. So the legislator gave them the permission. The governor and Department of Education said to do it. That all happened. So the reason this language has been struck is because it's no longer necessary. The authority exists, and we don't need to take
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
29:42
further action. Okay. Thank you. So do you take money from general revenue or where
Speaker 23
29:49
do you get your funding to operate? We've received no money from general revenue. So I think we received $75,000 in 1977, and we paid that back.
And since that time, we have not received a penny from the state. It's all been generated from issuing
Speaker 24
30:04
bonds and operating the loan programs. Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 14
30:08
Thank you, Madam Chair. Representative Stewart. Yes, ma'am. Just
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
30:13
a quick question on the Arkansas loans. It would be permissible for an Arkansas student
who's going to another state, like my son went to Georgia for law school, he could get a loan to
Speaker 23
30:25
go to school. That's correct. There has to be an
Speaker 24
30:28
Arkansas nexus, either an Arkansas student in Arkansas or an Arkansas student leaving the state or an out-of-state student coming into Arkansas.
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
30:36
Okay. I'm going to be sure that people that are citizens who want to go somewhere else could have the opportunity to borrow money to go to school.
That's right. As long as there's some Arkansas connection. Mr. Williams, you and I had some discussions back during the budget hearings about default rates and about our institutions and our concern from a budgeting standpoint. You talked about that it will be based on performance, and that is based on your default rate or our default rate. And I just want to clarify for the members, because when you were explaining that to me, that's by institution.
And those default rates, then if they reach a certain percentage, then that institution, there is a punitive measure there where the institution. Could
you explain that to the members, how that default rate works and what the penalty
Speaker 23
31:26
might be? Yes, ma'am. There are cohort default rates calculated for
Speaker 24
31:31
each institution in the state that participates in the federal student loan program. And so over a three-year period, a default rate is calculated. Everyone that goes into repayment and defaults within the first three years is included in this calculation.
Speaker 23
31:48
If the default rate reaches, and there are new standards on this, I believe it's 30 percent today, If the school's defaults hit the trigger of 30 percent, then they would be limited or suspended from participation in the Pell Grant program, which, you know, the Pell Grant program is, you know, very important to all of our institutions. So the schools have a mandate or a responsibility to make sure their students are receiving an education that enables them to enter the career field of their choice and receive a salary that enables them to pay back their student loan.
And that's why that the schools are penalized on this. And,
Mr. Williams, just to go further, because I want our members to understand about default rates. We
had a lot of questions. On that 30%, what is the highest default rate of
Speaker 23
32:49
any institution in Arkansas? And I cannot, I don't think I have that information. I've had that in meetings previously. I cannot, I
Speaker 25
32:57
may lie to you if I try to quote it today.
I don't want you to do that. But I think we have two that are over 20 percent and rising, I believe, and we've asked for that information to come just simply because this is an issue in our colleges and universities that we need to bring a spotlight to every chance we get. When you and I talked, I asked you, I believe, at the budget hearing how we ranked in all of the SREB states on default rate, and what was your answer?
Speaker 90
33:33
We have the highest default rates of all the SREB states. Okay. So
Arkansas has the highest default rate of all the SREB states. So it is a concern to
me. I serve on the SREB board, and my colleagues remind me of that at every meeting. So we need to do something about that. And you and I have talked, and I believe that what I heard you tell me is that letting these institutions know about the penalty and also making them aware that we are number one in SREB states
and that we're trying to do everything we can to educate our students and those that take out these loans and that they have to pay them back. I know that's difficult for some people to understand, but it's not free money. So I just want to say publicly how much I appreciate your efforts in trying to get that out and working with the institutions and also with ADHE, and I know they're trying to work hard on that as well. So thank you for that. But I hope the next time that we talk that we're not number one in SREB in that area.
I hope we're number one in a lot of other areas, but not that. I certainly agree. So I
appreciate that. Any other questions, members? Representative Steele, you want to
Speaker 118
34:44
close for your bill? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair, just very briefly. Excuse me, Representative Steele. I've
made an error. Are there any in the audience that wish to speak for or against the bill? We don't have anyone signed up,
but if you come in late and you would wish to speak against or for the bill, I'd be glad to accommodate you.
Okay. Seeing no one, Representative Steele, you're recognized
Speaker 18
35:10
to close for your bill. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks for all
Speaker 118
35:14
the good questions. We really have a lot of confidence in the Office of Student Loan Authority. They are very well familiar with the educational environment and have been an important part of it for many years. We were fearful at one time that we may lose their services because of what was going on in Washington, D.C., but I want to remind the members that, you know, in these times
where we're having a struggling economy and we are allowing institutions of higher education to raise their tuitions multiple times over the past few years, that it is going to take more financial assistance in terms of scholarships, in terms of grants and loans as well. If we're going to ever increase the percentage of graduates in this state,
it's going to take all those things working together if we're going to reach those goals that the governor talked about in the State of the State Address. So with that said, Madam Chair, I appreciate your time this morning and would appreciate a good
vote. Thank you, Representative Steele. And with your indulgence, we did just receive the handout on default rates. This is for information-only members, but we still need to call to your attention that there is a major problem in Arkansas.
And the more we can get that word out, the more we can hopefully come to some understanding of a solution. So we are giving you that as information only. Representative Steele is closed for his bill, and are you moving to do pass, Representative Steele? Yes. Okay, Representative Steele is moved to do pass. All in favor, aye. All opposed, no. It is passed.
Thank you, Representative Steele. You passed your bill. Thank you. Thank
you, committee. Next on our agenda is House Resolution 1015.
Representative Post is not in the room, and we've asked Representative Stewart if he will present the resolution. Representative Stewart, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
37:27
Chair. This resolution is 1015. It's to recognize and commend Mr. Charles Dyer for his dedication to years of service and public education. Mr. Dyer was born in my district in Umpire, 1937, after he served three years in the Army, started in the education process, and he was named to the superintendent's position at
Alma in 1968, when I was a junior in high school. He still holds that position today. He has been a leader throughout his career, the state superintendent of the year in 2003, and is the longest-serving superintendent in the state of Arkansas, and I understand he's in the hospital right now and gravely ill. So I would appreciate a good vote on this resolution.
Representative Stewart, you're moving due pass?
No, Representative Stewart is. I mean Representative Stewart. I am
Speaker 117
38:39
so sorry. Yes, ma'am. All in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. Thank you, Representative Stewart. Our next bill
is House Bill 1032, Representative Altus. Representative Altus, anyone here to present his bill?
Okay, then that moves us to House Bill 1411, and that is
my bill. So Representative Bratford, if you will assume
We're going to pass over 1411 and we're going to move to 1454 and I'd like to ask Deputy
Chair
Unverified
40:15
Representative Roebuck, you're recognized to present House Bill 1454 and, if you will, have your guest recognize himself for the record, please. Certainly. Thank
Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck
Unverified
40:25
you, Madam Chair. Shane Broadway, Deputy Director, Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
Madam Chair, some of you will remember that in 2009 we presented to you a bill that would allow for
a comprehensive Arkansas higher education annual report. And the reason that we did that, we came to you, Senator Baker and I, to ask for you to put all the information from higher education into one comprehensive report that was easily accessible,
not only to legislators and higher education, but to our public. And that was
done, and I want to commend higher ed for doing that and for meeting the deadline, which was a very stringent deadline. In fact, at the time, I believe that you heard in testimony that that was going to be a very difficult task. Well, I'm pleased to report to you that higher ed did meet that deadline, and all of that information was on the website. Now, over the last two years we've actually looked at all that information and we now
know that all of those reports that we have asked higher ed to present, that there were duplications and there were reports that we did not need in that annual report, but over time in legislation it's so easy to say in legislation and the Department of Higher Education will present a report. Some of the reports, if you remember, were presented to this committee, to the Senate Committee, just overall to the General Assembly.
And so when I sat at this table two years ago, I actually had a stack of all those reports. And we found that a lot of those reports were sitting in offices around the legislature. And so
we said, no, we're not going to do that anymore. We're going to put everything in a comprehensive report. Well, I was as shocked as anyone to find out that after we
put all that together and put it in the report, and certainly Deputy Director Broadway can correct me, but it was almost 4,000 pages.
And so we began, over time, to look at everything that was in that report and say, we're going to
make this more user-friendly. So today, I bring you a bill that if
you help me, we will eliminate 1,698 pages out of that report. So what does this bill do? Well, it eliminates over 1,000 pages of budget reports because even though those are in separate pieces of legislation,
we do not need them in that annual report because they're in other reports. We also will eliminate 150 pages of faculty performance reviews because they are also in another section. We will eliminate the coordination of state educational efforts. That's a very few pages, but we have that as a duplication. We also have other miscellaneous reports that are duplications that take up 69 pages. And then we'll make some changes to other reports that will make it much better in this annual report.
Remediation rates, including costs, are required to be updated every year rather than every two years, and that will help us in the future. Reporting standards are required to be updated every year rather than every two years. Economic development goals and educational efforts that are currently under Section 661.207 will be included only when updated, and that will be every five years. So that will eliminate 66 pages. Our Affirmative Action Program reports under Section 663.108 are modified and limited,
and I know institutions are going to be happy about this, limited to five pages for each institution. And if we are able to do that, we will eliminate another 400 pages. So overall, the reduction in pages for the report, making it much better not only for us, higher education, and our citizens, we will eliminate approximately 1,698 pages. I have Deputy Director Broadway here if you have questions for the department, and certainly
Chair
Unverified
44:43
I will entertain any questions, Madam Chair. No questions? Do we have any? Is there anyone in the audience
Speaker 129
45:06
who would like to speak for the bill or against the bill? Seeing none.
Chair
Unverified
45:11
Madam Chair, I move do pass. Okay. All right. We have a motion do pass for House Bill 1454.
All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Congratulations, Representative Roebuck. It has passed. Thank you.
And unless there's other business to come before this committee, we are adjourned.
Agenda
HB1479
HB1489
HR1015
HB1411
HB1454
Adjournment
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Tracy Steele Chair
Unverified
Speaker 8
Speaker 10
Speaker 17
Speaker 18
Speaker 20
Tony Williams
Unverified
Speaker 23
Speaker 24
Speaker 7
Representative Jane English
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Speaker 33
Speaker 37
Representative Duncan Baird
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Speaker 42
Speaker 43
Speaker 51
Speaker 52
Speaker 60
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
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Speaker 28
Speaker 67
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
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Speaker 77
Representative Karen S. Hopper
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Speaker 97
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
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Speaker 102
Michelle Allgood
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Speaker 14
Representative Randy Stewart
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Speaker 25
Speaker 90
Speaker 118
Speaker 117
Speaker 128
Chair
Unverified
Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck
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Speaker 129