ALC-Executive Subcommittee

Being that the IOC executive subcommittee of first up we have a court missed a Courtney Salas Ford you'll come up. go give this presentation on the rules governing the education freedom counts. Thank you senator you recognize your self Your you within the your can percent. Thank you senator for a solace for chief of staff of the department of education we are here asking approval for our emergency rules governing educational freedom accounts and I'm going to let our chief counsel go through some of the details of those rules for you. Chair underestimates with the Department sure members of the committee of the committee before you're the department's emergency rules to implement the education for them to come program the on August first of twenty twenty three as required by Act two thirty seven of twenty twenty three otherwise known as learns. These rules mirror the language content and learns Act more specifically section forty two. Your face will of students and families to cover private school tuition fees uniforms and other required expenses with state funding a year by year basis your face will allocate up to ninety percent of the state's prior years per student foundation funding for these expenses for the twenty twenty three twenty twenty four school year that is around sixty six hundred dollars implementation of the FAA program the staggered with students eligibility limited to certain participating students for the first year and expanding thereafter for the upcoming school year only the following students reside in Arkansas are eligible. Students with a disability as defined by the individuals with disabilities Education Act as the United students were homeless or in house students in foster care students with a parent on active military duty students who participated in the succeed scholarship program last year which covers many of the students have just mentioned. Since enrolling in kindergarten for the first time we're students enrolled in an F. rated school or a school in need of level five intensive support last year. Thanks for guardians of the students met upon to August first twenty twenty three those who apply after August first we still participate if funds remain available after all other timely submitted applications are processed. These emergency rules only pertain to the eligible students and the participating institutions they seek to be enrolled. So for just under thirty four hundred students have applied for the program of those just over twenty four hundred have been approved so far to participate if every student has been approved utilize all the funds allotted to the FAA's we can expect the fiscal impact to be just under sixteen million dollars. However this is an estimate that does not account for the pending applications and the possibility that some students may not utilize all of funds in there you have phase in the upcoming school year. The total capped for the program is around forty six million dollars and these rules are set to become effective August first twenty twenty three we're open for questions. Okay members will remind you other executive members so Senator Gilmore and Speaker Shepherd our own remotely with this do either one of you gentlemen have any questions for these to table this time before we go to the members. Okay if not any members are recognized culture Wardlaw for. So. You brought up the fiscal impact and what you thought the projections were from the number of people that applied and you brought of projections of who's been approved what was that fiscal impact of. Bear to what was given in a session we voted on the learns I was it compared Bledsoe same is is are we on cue to hit the projections are where we at. In regards to the FAA accounts that we are on target with that I can't speak to the learns Act in total no no no I'm talking about right here yes specific to the education for an account yes we are right on target with our projected cost assuming that we eventually get to full capacity at this time there's we're about two thirds of capacity for this for the accounts so so there is always a gas of how many folks would apply or would seek this this Avenue is that number within the projections that we thought it would be and when we were looking at the bill ours this greater utilization last utilization kind of give me some ideas of where we're at with that utilization like I said I wouldn't have any of these questions he he he brought all these numbers out so I want to know what it matches up to right and it does match with what we anticipated course we could project exactly but the law limits it to one and a half percent of the student population which is a little less than seven thousand I think right now we have received just over four thousand and not all of those of in process so the number of proved is much less but we anticipate by the time we process all of them that approval number and will be the majority and so we we do not feel like that we will get to that limit to the cat so you do not think you reach the seventy seven thousand dollar are seven thousand person capped now because we saw quite a big influx of course when that we first opened the system and then when we had to close it due to a temporary restraining order when we opened it back up we saw another inflection and that has kind of evened out and so and and less there's just a huge flood right at the end because I believe it closes August one that's right yes if it closes August one unless we see just a huge influx in this last week we think it's gonna stay right about the level that it's at. Thank you thank you Mr. Any questions from other members. Not saying anything thank you for being here today thank you and we will bring up the. Resented eleven if our educate house education chair you come the table. But you introduce yourself and you're recognized president representative Ron Evans district sixty eight chairman house Education Committee. House said joint education met this past Monday morning at ten AM to review the proposed rules regarding the education freedom accounts rules were presented just as they have been today questions were posed by members all questions were answered very thoroughly and we took a vote and it was recommended to send this on to this committee for review and presentation of full council on Friday there was no dissenting votes on either end of House or Senate. Okay members any questions for represented by eleven. You must got a mall entered thank you and. Thank you. Okay members. Anymore questions without objection the proposed emergency rule is received and approved skew me reviewed and approved and the review and approval shall be effective at twelve oh one AM August first twenty twenty three. Thank you for that presentation. Next up we've got to deal thank your if you come up and go give us a review on the K. through twelve school district property insurance consulting service request our the the. Is there you're recognized thank you Mr chair Jill there be of Legislative Research. So at your last meeting and I was asked to prepare an R. F. P. regarding the school district property insurance issues to for so that this subcommittee can hire consultant to assist you in your study and you should all have in your packet a copy of the draft or if he and I'm just gonna go over a couple of the main points. And if you look first on page three this is the time line. For the R. F. P. if this are if he is approved the bureau will release it on Monday. And I'll ask that that be posted on the office of state procurement website which is how we always post these and the submissions will be due back to me by August fourteenth. And I'm sorry August twenty first. And then once we get those back I'll review those and provide you all with your summary documents and all the information on them and the subcommittee will then have to meetings to select a vendor. Once you've done that We'll start working on the contract and that will go in front of the policy making subcommittee in September and then Legislative Council September fifteenth so at that point you would have your consultant in place and be ready to start moving forward with your study. If you look at. Page seven. This shows at section one point one six the term of this contract I have here that it would begin on September fifteenth with Legislative Council approval and run through June thirtieth of twenty twenty four since I was instructed that this would be a short term study to prepare for the fiscal session. And then on pages ten and eleven we have the scope of work for the consultant and I drafted this I did run it also by Mr Hudson with the insurance department just to make sure all the terminology was where you all wanted it he had a couple of minor changes those are included in here and I won't go into the details of this. Other than and to say that this is as typical with your consultants they would come and every month and report to you you will set the topics that they will handle and I do have that they would work with you from September through March of next year and that would have you submitting your final report and any recommendations for Legislative Council to for legislation to Legislative Council at its March meeting if you want to change any of those dates I can do that before we put it out I just need you to let me know. And on page eleven you'll see under that subsection B. it has actual topics that your consultant would be looking at and presenting to you again if there are additional topics that you want please let me know now is the time to have those added before we put that out because they'll include that in their proposal. And and then also I do have this right now where you would meet monthly with your consultant on this because this is a short term six month study if you feel like you're gonna need to meet more often than that I'd like to include that in here so that they'll include that in their pricing for travel and staff time and if you're thinking you might need him to be here twice a month or something like that. Other than that the rest of it is our typical language I'll take any questions. Your Wardlaw I think on that meeting thing I Senator thinking about it after you said that maybe not twice a month every month but maybe the last three months they should figure in the Vale ability in case we get to the and then. There's things that pop up on have I mean. We've already seen some of that happen where we didn't know certain agencies ripple and different stuff so. Okay. One thing members I've mentioned review of K. through twelve on and. this is also going to include higher ed in this I believe is there any questions for Mr. I don't have any questions represent Cozart you're recognized. Mr like make a motion to approve the R. F. P. and authorize bill are to release the or appeal Mundy seven and twenty four and to collude also a review of higher education in the scope of work. Proper motion question on. Read a second any questions on the motion. All in favor aye. Hosed. A motion passes thank you for that a member of another business we have a more but representative Wardlaw of president on that. Subcommittee members up Monday the Arkansas game and fish and Arkansas state police subcommittee met had a relatively grid discussion on Second amendment type laws in the issues in which the president from reviewing that and talking with Senator Rice in other leadership members I'm going to make a motion here that we would review this these topics over the next year and a half and we would do that inside that committee and over the next month will be putting together a scope of service and this review would take place starting in September so that we can get a good idea of where we stand with our second amendment all rights and our second amendment laws that are on the books today so with that I moved authorized bill are to begin drafting procedures and timeline for study on clarification of the laws related to guns and concealed weapons for consideration by the executive subcommittee at its August meeting the poor proposed of authorizing our this purpose is to authorize Arkansas game fish and state police subcommittee to conduct a study and submit a final report executive subcommittee in the legislature at a given time those times will all be outlined in August so with that that is the motion Mr. Robber motion I have a second. A second any discussion on the motion. Not seeing any all in favor of the motion say aye. But. Motion passed. Thank you. if you have any employment no other business meeting thank you for being here we are Jr.