House Education Committee v
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (3)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB421
Act 642
· 3 mentions in transcript
Matched: “are you ready to run Senate Bill 421? Appreciate your patience today”
|
TO CREATE THE COACH SAFELY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE YOUTH INJURY MITIGATION AND INFORMATION COURSES … | G. Leding | Notification that SB421 is now Act 642 |
|
SB451
Act 648
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “got members representative Cozart has presented Senate Bill 451. Any questions from the members? Seeing none, there was no…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING CAREER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. | J. English | Notification that SB451 is now Act 648 |
|
SB473
Act 776
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…. Thank you, Committee. All right, members, we'll now go to Senate Bill 473, Representative Hodges. Thank you,”
|
CONCERNING PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEE PROFESSIONAL OR LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. | J. Bryant | Notification that SB473 is now Act 776 |
Machine transcript
May contain errors. Verify important quotations against the official video.
About transcript accuracy
- Source
- Whisper
- Model
- ggml-large-v3-turbo.bin RTX5060
- Processing date
- October 6, 2026
All right, members, Chair sees a quorum who will call this meeting back to order. We're going to start off, Representative Cozart.
Speaker 10
0:41
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Bruce Cozart, District 91. You ready? You
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
0:46
may proceed. Thanks, sir. This same bill I ran this morning, we needed some clarification on a few things. I had a couple of questions, and we weren't sure on it. The chair was very nice to ask me to pull it down, but I didn't, and I ran it, and it failed, and I'd like to run it again. I did get the clarification on it, and it was about the members of the different industries. The reason that the financial service industry was taken away from that is because it has been moved to the IT group,
so it's not under this heading anymore, so it will not be in the career and technology headings anymore. The hospitality industry, Bill's sponsor told me that the reason that is not in there, they do not qualify to be in what that group is. They're not a high-skilled, high-pay job, so they don't work with them and then the rehabilitation services industry is not an
industry it was just a rehabilitation service so they're not an industry so they took them out i think the other question was about the uh uh governor being able to appoint them to the terms of that she selected or he selected whoever that may be uh and that was about the collaboration that they do they want these people to be together for a period of time and learn to collaborate together and work together and when somebody needs to roll off that board they can
that industry can tell the governor they have someone else that they'd like to run on that board and the governor can select them or not select them so that's that's kind of the gist of the changes and i'll try to answer any questions you've
got members representative Cozart has presented Senate Bill 451. Any questions from the members? Seeing none, there was no one signed up to speak for or against. Representative Cozart, you ready to close for your bill? I'm closed. I'd make a motion to do pass again. Thank you, sir. As a member of committee, Representative Cozart makes a motion
to do pass. Senate Bill 451. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. The ayes have it. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. Thank you, committee. Representative Moore,
are you ready to run Senate Bill 421? Appreciate your patience today
as we work through the agenda. If you'll identify yourself for the record, you may proceed with your bill.
Speaker 15
3:28
All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Kendra Moore, State Representative, District 23. I'm excited to be the House sponsor of Senate Bill 421. As a mom of two boys that were very involved in youth sports, football, basketball, baseball, and soccer, it's very important to me that our youth athletes are safe, and we equip our volunteer coaches with the training and tools to be successful in keeping our young athletes safe. My husband was a volunteer coach for over 16 years, and this training would have been very beneficial to him as well.
I think with recent events with Buffalo Bills player DeMar Hamlin, we see how having a plan and a quick reaction can save lives. The Coach Safely Act provides youth injury mitigation training to youth sports coaches of those athletes that are 14 and younger. These are youth athletes that participate in high-risk activities. And high-risk activities are those sports where there's a significant possibility to sustain a serious injury,
such as football, cheerleading, volleyball, et cetera. Education of coaches and parent awareness is estimated by the CDC to prevent 50% of injuries that happen with this age group in these high-risk sports. The training will be written by the Department of Health, and we'll provide this training on the following subject matter, not limited to, but emergency preparedness, concussions, heat and extreme weather, physical conditioning, and heart defects.
The volunteer coach would be required to take this training on an annual basis. It's an online course. There is already a course developed by the Coach Safely organization, which is current law in Alabama. This bill is endorsed by the AAA, the Municipal League, the Arkansas Athletic Trainers Association, and, if it helps my cause, Coach Nick Saban.
Representative Moore, are you ready for questions? Yes, sir. You Representative Fite, you're recognized for a question. You have
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
5:49
recognized Representative Meeks for your question. Thank you. Thank you, Representative. I like what you're doing here. Just
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
5:54
a quick question. I'm reading the bill. It says that it shall require all coaches and athletic personnel to complete an online or resident course approved by the Department of Health, if available at no cost. And that's kind of where my question mark is.
Is it no cost to the coach? Is that no cost to the Department of Health? And because we're putting that no cost requirement in there, is that going to create a problem? Is that going to be the poison pill that kills the rest of your bill because
Speaker 18
6:25
there is no cost training available? Yes, great question. So it is no
Speaker 15
6:29
cost to the volunteer coaches. Senator Greg Ludding has ran this unanimously through the Senate, and he has explained to me that it is no cost through the Department of Health. But if we run into some kind of issue, like I stated,
the Coach Safely organization already has the curriculum developed, so we could definitely use their curriculum at no cost. Representative Duke,
you're recognized for a question. Thank you,
Mr. Chair, and I have two, so if I can have a follow-up. I appreciate
it. Kind of to piggyback on his, I just want to make clear, be certain on this. So there's no cost to the volunteer coach or to that organization that they're like, you know, the youth football organization or whatever that they're doing. Correct.
Follow-up? You're recognized. And who is keeping track of if they did the training or not,
Speaker 15
7:21
and what happens if they did not do the training? Yes, great question. So who is keeping track of that? Is the organization that oversees that youth organization, sports organization in that area? area. So I'm just using my town for an example. We have a peewee sports oversight committee. So that would be the entity that would oversee the training. And the question about what's
the repercussions is that they just would not be able to coach until they have that certification. Any other questions from committee? There
is no one signed up to speak for or against Representative Flowers, you're recognized Motion at the proper time Representative Fite actually got to speak to that Y'all can do that together There's no one signed up to speak for or against Representative Moore, are you ready to close? Yes sir, I am closed for my bill Representative Charlene Fite, you're recognized for a motion
Motion do pass Motion do pass by Representative Fite Senate Bill 421 Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. Ayes have it. Congratulations. Your bill is passed. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Committee. All right, members, we'll now go to Senate Bill 473, Representative Hodges. Thank you,
Speaker 39
8:47
Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Committee. I know it's been a long day, so I'll try to keep it as brief as possible.
I know we have some folks here for and against, I believe, so I'll try to get through this and let them speak, and we can all get out of here. Senate Bill 473 states that we shall not deduct dues, fees, or contributions from the pay of a teacher or classified employee on behalf of any professional or labor organization or political fund. So that's primarily what the bill is doing, is just removing those provisions we have in law where we have these private organizations' dues being automatically deducted from employee paychecks.
I went back and listened to Senator Josh Bryant, who's a Senate sponsor, when he presented this bill, and just wanted to share, since he couldn't be here tonight, the example he talked about, having been a government employee himself and his experience where he felt pressured to join the union when he was a government employee and seeing other co-workers feeling pressured to join the union and feeling like certain promotions and perks and things were being offered to those who joined instead of those who didn't and so that was part of the reason that that he ran this bill and
supports the bill is having that experience personally, feeling that kind of peer pressure into joining a labor organization or one of these professional organizations. I want to kind of share also that I think, and he also mentioned having reached out to a lot of teachers that he knows and having asked them, did you ever feel pressured to join one of these organizations? Are you a member of one of these organizations? And he kind of shared the feedback where he did have several teachers say that, yes, I did feel pressured to join one of these
organizations. Just a personal example, I talked to a friend of mine who was a member of one of these professional organizations, and I kind of asked, why did you join? And she shared with me she thought she had to join because of the liability protection that they offer. And so once I asked, are you aware of some of the political stances and advocacy that that organization takes. And she said no. And when I kind of shared some of the details on that, she was kind of surprised and maybe kind of regretted joining the organization, but again,
kind of felt pressured to remain. So that's kind of a personal thing I've also seen myself. I would just say, you know, all we're talking about here is just the automatic deduction out of the employee paycheck to go towards the dues to these private organizations. There are plenty of other ways. If you want to be a member of these organizations, you can pay by card, check, automatic withdraw to your bank account. There are plenty of ways, like we all pay for everything else in our lives, that you can pay to continue being a member of these organizations rather than
just auto-deducting out of paychecks. I'd also mention in terms of privacy, when I would say freedom of association being members of these organizations. It being in your deducted from your paycheck is subject to FOIA, or at least certain things can be FOIable for public school employees. And so I do think there's a privacy issue in this as well. I want to clarify, this
does not affect retirement contributions. So if you look at the bill, it strikes these professional, private professional organizations, the salary, the teacher retirement system, and your fringe benefits insurance, all those things, can still be automatically deducted out of your paycheck. This does not affect ATRS, so your retirement contributions are not included. Now, I know some of you have been reached out to by the retired teachers organization, but that's a private association. Ultimately, what this is, is the government collecting money for private organizations.
It's, in my opinion, a special perk that's been put into our law. My question would be, why are there no other 501c3s or 501c6s that have the same privilege that these organizations have? In my opinion, our public institutions don't need to be collecting dues for a private organization. I would say, again, if it's important to you and you want to be part of those associations, you can take the steps to pay those dues yourself and those organizations can collect their own dues.
I'm sure they'll find a way to take these people's money and continue having them as members. And I'll take any
questions on this. Members, have questions? Representative Garner, you're recognized for a question. Yeah,
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
13:42
I just have a quick question. Are there companion bills for police or that kind of thing? Do they do the same thing? I
Speaker 43
13:49
don't have any other bill that's been filed, and I'm not aware of any other bill
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
13:54
that's been filed on this. It seems like we tend to just target teachers for this sort of thing.
Speaker 39
14:01
I wouldn't say my intent is to target teachers on this. If somebody else wants to pursue legislation on that, they're welcome
Speaker 45
14:08
to. But this is my bill and what the focus is. Representative
Speaker 47
14:20
Vaught. Thank you. Mr. Chip. Thank you, Mr.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
14:23
Chair. Sorry about that. Did you say that the retirees have been taken out, like
Speaker 39
14:30
the monies that's being deducted for them is not? The Arkansas Retired Teachers Association would fall under this.
I just wanted to clarify that I think there was some confusion around the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System versus
the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Flowers. I want to kind of go back to thank you Mr. Chair I want to go back to Representative Garner's question and I do realize it is your bill but you just shared with us I guess implied and maybe stated that nobody else does this and policemen
firemen, postal service I mean they do it and I guess if you're targeting teachers why would we target teachers when And
they can opt in. I mean, for anyone who feels pressured, they have choice. They have the freedom to say, hey, I don't want this deduction anymore. Additionally, again, from the very beginning, when you become a teacher, you opt in.
It's not automatically taken out. So I'm not understanding why there would be pressure on the part of someone who opts in a system in the first place. And finally, you know, and I know this happens in the private sector. I'm not certain about city government or state government, but, I mean, and it's not dues, but there are conveniences provided for people who, whether they want to join organizations, whether they want to identify with or take advantage of a certain investment.
I mean, the state all the time picks and chooses who we can invest with for retirement benefits. That's a private entity where we could instead go get our own. And finally, even, you know, in situations where we want to give through the United Way to charities, and I'll finally say, you know, all of these organizations, whether you're talking about Fraternal Order of Police or whether you're talking about the Arkansas Teachers Association,
have different perspectives that they take to provide education on issues that are relevant to their members as it relates to policy. But as a 501c3, they can't be political. They can't give donations. They can't collect money and give PACs. So I guess going back to pinpoint, you said that you are targeting teachers.
Why target teachers, given what I just mentioned?
Speaker 39
17:16
No, I said I'm not targeting teachers. As far as, you know, in your question there, you mentioned postal workers. They would be federal employees, so I'm not, we wouldn't even be, you know, those are federal employees, so my bill wouldn't relate to that. I don't think we could do anything about postal workers. In terms of feeling pressured, I think the issue is when you have school staff involved
and you're having to work through the school staff to get these forms done and get this automatically deducted out, and you have other people in this business of you deciding as a person, you want to be involved with these private associations. I don't think we need our public institutions or school staff involved in that decision between you as a private individual wanting to be a member of this private association. And I think that's where some of the discomfort and feeling of pressure comes in is when you have other school staff being involved
in that process. And convenience is something I've heard a lot. And I would say, you know, this, I think was put into law a long time ago, and there weren't a lot of the conveniences we have now of paying online, paying with a card, again, like everything else we do now, whether it's my Hoogaloo subscription or whatever else. I mean, we have pretty convenient ways of paying for things these days that we might not have had decades ago, and I would say if convenience is the only defense of doing this, I don't think that outweighs making certain people feel pressured
and uncomfortable. To me, the convenience doesn't outweigh the negatives. What negatives? Feeling pressured to join. Follow-up. One more. I'm
Speaker 65
19:15
still not understanding how one could feel pressure for something that they opt into and can any time opt out of. I'm saying when
Speaker 39
19:25
you have other school staff in the building who are involved in this process
of you as a private individual deciding to be a member of a private organization, there can be a feeling of peer pressure when they're asking, do you want to auto-deduct? Do you want to be part of this? Yeah, I think that's where it comes in. you have other people involved in this transaction. Representative
Duke, you're recognized for a question. Thank
you, Mr. Chair. So it says in there a shall. Does that mean they have the option, a school district has the option to do that if they want to?
Okay. Follow up? You're recognized. So if a school has a, I
don't know, like a food pantry, a lot of schools are doing that now where they have like little food pantries that they're doing, and staff members were deducting from their paycheck right now to give to that food pantry in their school. Would this keep them from being able
Speaker 39
20:27
to do that? No, Representative Duke, I don't believe so, because the bill is limited to prohibiting it for labor unions,
professional organizations, and political funds. That's the only prohibition. Representative Long, you
recognize for a question? You mentioned,
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
20:44
again, that political funds, could you give an example of what those are? I would say a
Speaker 39
20:55
political party or a PAC or something like that. I'm not, I can't point to anything specifically that it's currently being auto-deducted out of paychecks to go towards a political fund.
But we felt like that was important to include, again, because of the political nature of that and just maybe feeling pressured to do something that you're not comfortable with. And again, if you want, as a private individual, to be a part of a private association, you have the ability to do that and plenty of options of how to pay to be a member or pay to be involved in politics without that being automatically deducted out of your paycheck.
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
21:37
So could a person under the current law have, like, their NRA membership payroll deducted? I don't know, but
Speaker 75
21:46
I would say this bill wouldn't prohibit you from doing that because we're only dealing with labor unions, professional organizations, and political funds. Thank you. Representative McKenzie, you're recognized. Thank
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
22:03
you, Mr. Chair. And I think a lot of good information, just kind of like a maybe a general cursory, what are these deductions typically used for?
Again, you've been fairly clear that this is for professional organizations, teachers, unions, in political advocacy, in policy advocacy organizations. And there was a comment made about investments, and we understand, again, from your opening, that that's not a part of this for
teacher retirement. but what are these deductions typically for, and what do they amount to for the teacher or the employee? Are
Speaker 39
22:42
you asking, like, what organizations are we talking about here?
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
22:45
No, what do these deductions in any dollar amount unlock for that employee or that teacher? So what's the typical teacher that's getting a deduction for an organization of the ones you just mentioned? What does that give them? What does that grant them with that? they get to be a member of
Speaker 75
23:01
that private association. So just membership? Yeah. Okay. Follow
Speaker 39
23:05
up? And I would say they would probably say, and I'm sure you'll hear from our alphabet soup
Speaker 75
23:10
groups here, of why they encourage their members to do it, but I think it boils down to convenience.
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
23:16
Understood. Are there any organizations or entities or individuals that are in support of this legislation?
Speaker 45
23:23
Yes. We have some folks here to speak for it.
Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Representative Walker,
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
23:31
you're recognized. All right, so I understand the intention is to protect current teachers, but why is retirement teachers included in this since they have to submit written notice before they receive an auto deduction from an association or whatever, and they do not receive pressure from anyone since they are retired?
Speaker 39
23:49
Yeah, so I would say that this is kind of treating everyone equally. I think, again, the same logic applies to everyone here. If you want to be a member of a private association, it's not ATRS's responsibility to collect dues for a private organization any more than it's a public school's responsibility to collect dues for a private association. If you want to be a part of the Retired Teachers Organization, you can be a member of that and pay for it any other way. Thank you.
Speaker 86
24:20
Representative Beck. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
24:27
And I'm not a lawyer, and this question will probably validate that. I'm
not either. So if I'm an employer and I allow a deduction for one, I'll just say, political viewpoint or something of that nature, could the opposite side come to me and say, well, we would also like to be included in your list of possible deductions?
I don't know. Is that possible? There could be some issues from the employer saying, if you're going
to do it for this one, you've got to
Speaker 39
25:04
do it for the other one or whatever. I think hypothetically that could be the case. I'm not aware of anybody doing that, but again, this would prohibit deductions to go towards political funds. So I think that this bill would prohibit that scenario
Speaker 45
25:18
that you're talking about. Thank you. Representative Cozart.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
25:26
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I probably have a two-part question. The very first part, pretty easy, what's the cost savings for doing this? Is there a fee that we will save any
Speaker 39
25:37
amount of money? I'm not aware of any fee. There's no fiscal impact on the fiscal impact statement that is done on the bill, and I don't believe there's any fee taken by the school districts to do it. I would just say there's maybe a little bit of staff time associated with determining which employees want to auto-enroll and then whatever process it is to get them into that system.
Our school employees would no longer be spending the time collecting dues on behalf of a private organization.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
26:05
Or mailing it out. Or having to mail it out to that organization. That was not my second question. This was my second one. You're recognized. Okay, so I think most of
us have had retired teachers have really hit us up on this. I think probably everybody in this room has been contacted by a retired teacher. So the dues that they pay to the Retired Teacher Association, they now would be responsible for paying that themselves.
Speaker 75
26:33
Is that correct? They would be responsible for paying for their membership to a private organization, yes.
Okay, thank you. That's all I have. Representative Flowers, you're back up. Thank you. Representative Hodges, are you aware, and I've been texting
to ask questions, too, because I know there are some things that you may not know, so are you aware that PAC funds are not deductible through payroll?
Speaker 74
27:03
um political action funds they probably aren't deductible if you're saying they're not then i
Speaker 39
27:11
believe that but there might be other political organizations that could qualify for auto deduction okay but and i
guess you weren't aware though that right now they are not PAC funds are not and that's what we were talking about
Speaker 40
27:25
just political well i said political parties just as an example um we use the term political
funds but there could be other political parties I mean, that's not deducted in terms of these membership deductions.
If we're talking about just membership deductions, I'm just checking to see if you were aware since you were, you know, you're informing folks. And I'm just trying to make sure that we're operating on good information. And follow-up, Mr. Chair. Recognize for your follow-up. And then also just in terms of membership, because I was very interested in that, too. I was a little aware just because I've had teachers and retired teachers concerned about this. The membership is not sort of an alphabet sort of pay and you get to be a member.
What I found out, and I'm wondering if you were aware of any of this, is that membership is based on member benefits like professional development, like representation in situations around. I know we no longer have Fair Teacher Dismissal Act, and I think that's one of the conversations that I've had, that now that that doesn't exist and teachers would now only get a hearing in front of the school board, you know, most teachers can't afford a lawyer. Most teachers don't have that kind of resource,
and so when you have a professional association that can assist you when you're going through something like that, that's another member benefit, and my understanding is there's a laundry list, and I'm sure you'll hear when we hear from folks who testify, but I just thought that that was important that you know for the benefit of people hearing. Yeah, no,
Speaker 43
29:04
Representative Flowers, I understand, and I would say that if you're saying that there are good associations out there who
Speaker 39
29:10
offer good value to their members, I would agree with you. This is my fourth term on education committee.
I've worked with and been here and heard discussions for four terms from the AEA, the AAEA, ASTA, and I'm sure that they do provide good service to their members. I don't doubt that at all, but again, there's nothing prohibiting anyone from continuing to be a part of those organizations if they choose. They would just have to be a little more proactive and pay to join those private associations by paying any other way than auto deduction. I was
just clarifying, because when someone asked the question, the implication was that
there was just the membership is that what they get for it is membership. And I just wanted to clarify so that we can all
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
29:59
make informed decisions. Representative McKenzie, your backup. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to confirm at the beginning you mentioned that this would be relevant to organizations that are classified by the IRS definitions of 501c3 or 501c6 or
Speaker 39
30:13
527, correct? I believe so. I looked up a few of the organizations. I know some of these professional organizations. I think a lot of them are 501c6s, but I believe there could also be 501c3s. The groups are welcome to share what exactly they are under the tax law.
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
30:29
Follow up. They're private organizations. Recognized. Thank you. Wouldn't you agree 501c3s, 501c6s, 527 organizations, by their very definition, are allowed to, while not engaging in direct electioneering, are allowed to advocate on behalf of policy and political organizations and the education of political organizations by their definition? Yes, and they do. Thank you.
Any other questions for members? Representative Kozart, your backup.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
31:00
Speaking to the dues part of it, I'm just clarifying that one of the organizations I'm in, I can't speak for any of the ones that they're taking out money for now, but our organization that I'm a professional organization member of takes part of our dues and makes a pact with it. So it's just included in the dues. So I can't speak for these groups to see if they do that, but just to let you know that is what a lot of organizations do. Any other questions from members?
Yes. Seeing none, we'll go to the for and against on the list first to speak against the bill. Mike Hernandez. Mr. Mertens, you're... Okay, I'll
come back to you. I'll come back to you to speak for the bill. Rusty Brown. Mr.
Brown, if you'll identify yourself for the record and who you're representing,
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
32:14
you may begin your testimony. Thank you. Thank you. I guess we're on now. Rusty Brown, I'm the Southern Director of Freedom Foundation. One point I want to clarify real quick. also includes C5 organizations, which are labor unions. And although I believe the AEA has reclassified themselves as a C6, a third of their dues money ends up getting sent to D.C. to the National Education Association. So one of the things that I've heard is that
this is an attack on teachers. It's absolutely not. Every teacher that's paying dues will see a net increase in their pay. No one's going to be hurt by this, and the only people that will be affected are private organizations for which the state is collecting dues. You know, that's a practice that began nearly half a century ago, became common in the 70s. So, like Representative Hodges said, the times have changed. We just don't live in that world anymore. So, and as he said, you know, this doesn't do anything to stop from participating
in these organizations or being a member or anything like that. It will have absolutely no effect on any benefits or retirement income or anything of that nature. Only dues payments going to private organizations. I also want to point out that numerous other states have already implemented similar laws. Just this year alone, Tennessee and Florida are considering similar bills, and Kentucky has actually already passed it by overwhelmingly overriding a governor veto. Now, back to, you know, what I said a minute ago, a third of the dues money collected
by the state of Arkansas does not stay in the state of Arkansas. It's roughly a third because it does vary, you know, by teacher if they're part-time or full-time. But the dues that go to NEA is set by their constitution and bylaws as a percentage of the national average salary of teachers. And it amounts to a little over $200 a year. That immediately leaves the state of Arkansas, regardless of anything else that they pay to the local organizations. Now, the NEA in itself is an organization that brings in well over half a billion dollars a year, to be exact, just
a third of Arkansas's entire budget for education for the entire state of Arkansas. They don't need your help collecting dues. They can do it on their own. And, you know, I also just want to add that just really take a step back and think about your own lives. Again, as Representative Hodge just pointed out, this is at most a minor inconvenience. I mean, we all have automatic payments that we have to switch up from time to time or do this or do that or a new subscription. That's all it is. Going from this to this. Very simple. Um, and, uh, we've already pointed out that, you know,
there's not a fiscal impact, uh, with the, with the bill, but, you know, I think that it would be a net gain over time for the man hours spent, you know, dealing with the dues and mailing them off and collecting them and
Chair
Unverified
35:15
whatnot. That's all I have. Members, any questions for Mr. Brown? Representative Garner, you're recognized
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
35:20
for a question. Thank you. I have a quick question, and that
is just what difference does it make to you if the employer decides that's okay and the teachers decide they can opt in or opt out? What
Speaker 118
35:32
difference does it make? Well, I think it's just a few reasons.
It's good fiscal policy. This started 50 years
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
35:39
ago. The state does not need to be collecting dues for private organizations. We can step away from that. It's good fiscal policy to eliminate government programs when they're not necessary anymore. There's no need to keep them running forever and ever and ever when they outlive their usefulness. That's just a fact. Any members, any additional questions?
Representative Flowers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So would you,
to that point, then would you advocate the same for law enforcement associations and any other public servants who have the same benefit to be able to have their
deductions and be associated with member-based organizations that provide member benefits?
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
36:38
I would consider supporting a bill if it were before me, but this is the one here today.
So you would consider, but you're saying philosophically it doesn't necessarily stretch to law enforcement. You'd have to think about that one. You asked me if I would blindly consider supporting a bill.
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
36:57
I didn't say blindly. I just asked the question. I said I would
consider it if I saw it, just like I did with this. Representative Feit, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Are you thinking more of the practice of these unions, especially the teachers' unions,
that endorse political candidates and that it therefore being wrong for these deductions to be made automatically to unions that endorse candidates? That's certainly something that happens. The
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
37:28
teachers' unions are a massive, very political organization. There's absolutely no hiding that. You know, once you get to their funds, a third of their money goes toward politics. And so to ignore that would, I mean, definitely be probably not the best way to go.
But I think the practice of the state deducting dues is really the important issue in that in eliminating a program that's no longer necessary. any additional questions for
members seeing none mr brown thank you for your testimony today thank you signed up to speak against the bill carol fleming
You're recognized. Thank you. Good evening, committee. I'm Carol Fleming, a speech-language pathologist and president of the Arkansas Educational Association but to bring
Speaker 139
39:02
a little alphabet soup into the to the room I am
an MS CCC SLP FASHA that means that I have a master's of science in speech language pathology I have a certificate of clinical competency and I also have a fellowship in the American Speech Language Hearing Association so since we were talking alphabet soup that I would just throw that out there plus I love to do IEPs 504s let's talk about accommodations modifications but that's not why I'm here but just it's late
I need some sleep so I'm going to get
straight to the point the past three years have been difficult particularly in our schools yet day after day educators have shown up to face the challenges to meet the needs of our students it is what we do but it is getting harder due to low morale because of perceived attacks on our profession Senate Bill 473 takes away important opportunities that we know lead to improved student outcomes, including professional development, content-specific training, and important networking efforts.
Sadly, this legislation distracts the attention from the critical needs facing our children in schools, like safety, educator shortages, and mental health services. Educators see this as another attack on public education. Consider the argument. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a duck. This bill has the ducks migrating across the state to peck away at the field of education. The primary bill sponsor says this bill was not filed in response to educators who spoke against the LEARNS Act.
However, that is difficult to believe. We even heard tonight that teachers are the target. I ask you to look at Arkansas Annotated Code 19-4-1602, which falls under public finance. It allows for deductions from the payroll of state employees and specifically includes dues for professional associations and labor organizations. Senate Bill 473 leaves that state code intact with the exception of removing Article 18 and prohibits the deduction of dues for university professors.
The annotated code states the following, under 22B, if a state employee authorizes in writing the payroll deduction of dues of any union or professional association representing the employee, the agency, which we all know is the state, shall deduct the dues from the payroll of the employee and remit the dues to the organization.
Why is there a proposal to prohibit school districts or the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System from withholding association dues while allowing the state to provide this option to state employees? The bill's sponsor testified that school districts should not be debt collectors nor responsible for collecting an organization's dues. What is the difference with the state doing it. No other public employee is being singled out for similar treatment, not the police,
firefighters, first responders, or nurses. And it is beyond comprehension that teachers and other educators would be targeted in this way, especially knowing that their work is vital in making sure that the 90% of students who attend our public schools succeed and thrive. Key words and phrases that we've heard during this session have included choice, freedom, and local control. This legislation would remove an educator's choice in how they pay for membership in a
professional organization. Educators believe this is another attack on the profession. Whether it is specifically or not, it is the perception, and that is our reality. Our opportunities to join an organization are being limited by taking away an option many educators have come to depend on. For years, we have had the ability to choose to pay our dues through payroll deduction, automatic monthly bank drafts, check payment or credit card payment.
Even with these options, most educators choose to pay their dues by payroll deduction because it meets their personal and budgetary needs. Senate Bill 473 will limit the options educators have come to depend on for maintaining professional membership and force them to choose other means that have been available but does not meet their needs. In closing, I want to bring a focus to our students who see and hear what is happening.
Education is the one profession that allows children to job shadow for 13 years. We are discouraging them from joining our profession or suggesting that this is not a worthy profession through subliminal messaging. We know that there is a shortage, so we should be making it easier to join and support this profession, not harder. I urge you to support our educators by allowing them to choose how they pay
their professional dues and vote no on Senate Bill 473 so we can work together on the real challenges and
issues facing our public schools. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Representative
Chair
Unverified
44:59
McKenzie, you're recognized for question. Thank
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
45:01
you, Mr. Chair. Quickly, is the AEA an association member of the National Educators Association? We are a
Speaker 145
45:08
state affiliate. State affiliate. Follow-up? You're recognized.
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
45:11
Does the AEA or the NEA on behalf of any Arkansas endeavors
Speaker 146
45:15
engage in political advocacy, not policy advocacy, but political advocacy? Not the
Arkansas Education Association, but the Arkansas Committee for Children in Public Education, which is our PAC, that is separate from the AEA. And that organization does,
Speaker 139
45:34
but not the Arkansas Education Association. Thank you. Representative Fite, you're recognized. Thank you,
Mr. Chair. My question is, I know in 2012
when I first ran, you did and did not endorse people and it did not matter if the person was an educator with lots of experience and lots of training, you based it on political party. Is that still the case? That is not
Thank you. Representative Flowers, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can you talk
a little bit about member benefits and discounts?
I think there are insurance discounts and sort of the laundry list of member benefits that
Speaker 148
46:28
exist for teachers. All right. See, I had a feeling you
guys were going to do that, so I started pulling up some things. So we do have professional liability insurance. It's up to $3 million per incident. hold on, because my eyes are not good enough, and this is small, so let me see if I can make this
bigger. I should probably be wearing my glasses because my contacts are getting dry. Oh, one of the things that we are currently doing is micro-credentialing, and that is something that the National Education Association is working with the Arkansas Department of Education on starting micro-credentialing here in the state of Arkansas. And so that is one of the areas in which you can get professional development continuing education units.
And so we do provide professional development. We are a professional development provider with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. We do that every single year as well as we also offer assistance in preparation for praxis testing because we know that that is a big issue in teacher preparation. Also, you are able with the NEA member benefits, you are able to get reduced car insurance,
house insurance, health insurance, pet insurance. and currently we are working with... Representative Begg, for what purpose?
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
48:10
of dues. I'm sure your organization is a great organization. I don't doubt that a bit, but you're talking about the benefits of your organization. Yes, I was asked
a question regarding that, so I
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
48:24
was answering the question. I understand. My point is that we should stay on the bill.
It's late. We have other people want to talk, and I want to hear whatever I have to say. But the point of this bill is that we shouldn't be
deducting the dues, and I think we should probably stay to that point. Thank you. I'll
take that point of order. If you would, restate your question based upon the merit of the bill. Thank you. As the bill is, and the sponsor discussed, that the
bill seeks to prohibit direct deduction for membership,
I'm asking a question about the benefit for that membership so that the committee can understand the relevance and the importance to teachers who voluntarily ask or opt in to that deduction. so
I guess I'm trying to restate your question well I
think the point of order was
that it wasn't germane to the bill and I
think what I just did is try to indicate
Chair
Unverified
49:38
that it is. What you're attempting in your question is to state that there is a benefit to being
a member of the organization and asking her to state what those benefits are that has nothing to do with whether their dues that they're paying is handled by payroll deduction or not or through their um
well mr sheriff i could that was one of the questions that the sponsor uh answered and that was part of our discussion and now that someone is here to
testify for who can attest to what those are because i mean
question more narrow? Yes. Can you be very general
in stating some of the benefits associated
Speaker 139
50:37
with the deduction. All right, so deductions are made pre-tax, which
is one of the reasons why
many of our members choose to pay for their membership that way. It goes along with all of their other deductions, their fringe benefits, and so they are able to have their membership taken out pre-tax, and that is one of the reasons why it meets their budgetary needs and why they tend to choose that even though we have credit card, automatic
bank draft withdrawal, or check payment as another option for paying your membership.
Thank you. One quick follow-up, Mr. Chair.
You're recognized. Thank you so much. um there there have been reference to references to concerns about um the political endorsements and political activity and you just i guess clarify that there is a separate organization and a separate pack um and then there's aea that provides member benefits for membership
Are any of the dollars that are deducted for member benefits, does that in any way go to support the PAC or political activities? No, they are not. Thank you. Those contributions are
completely voluntary, and they are not part of your membership dues. Representative Brooks, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I may have just a
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
52:17
couple quick questions. And thank you, Ms. Fleming, for being here as always.
Just clarifying for my lack of knowledge, what are the dues annually? It varies depending on if
you are full-time, part-time, certified, classified, if you are retired, or if you are also a substitute or a community ally. And are most of those dues paid on a monthly basis, annually? Again,
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
52:40
that would depend on your school district. Some school
districts do it 10 months out of the year. Some do it only nine months out of the year. Little Rock does it 12 months out of the year, and it's twice a month.
Clarksville, I believe, only does it once a month. So it is dependent on how the school districts have chosen to do that. And then if your retirement is taken out of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, then that is done on a monthly basis when they receive their retirement check. Final
Speaker 173
53:15
question, Mr. Chair. How would utilizing a different form of paying for
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
53:21
dues, be it a bank draft or a debit card or paying online through an app like we have most things, how would that impact professional development, micro-credentialing, how would that impact that?
Speaker 139
53:33
Okay, I'm sorry. I missed the first part of what
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
53:36
you said. How would someone choosing to have their dues paid through another method, be it bank draft or some other way outside of a payroll deduction, how would that impact micro-credentialing? You mentioned those are things that could be impacted. So how would that be impacted? No, I didn't say that they would be impacted. No, because those are
Speaker 154
53:53
still a benefit that you have as membership. Representative Beck, you had a question?
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
54:04
You're good. Representative Meeks? Have you done any studies or similar bills that have passed in other states? What would be the impact to your organization if something like this passed? Have you all
explored that and what it would do to you all? Every one of our organizations have actually researched that and we would have to start from the very beginning in getting membership because everyone would have to rejoin and then they would have to rejoin doing the bank draft. But I do want to also point out we are
nonpartisan and there is a process for the PAC to make recommendations. We do not make endorsements for any candidates. They are recommendations. And there are individuals that are in this room that have received recommendations from our political action committee, which is separate, and we have endorsed, or now you guys have me saying endorsed, recommended Republicans and Democrats, because
you do have to fill out a questionnaire and then answer questions in order to receive that recommendation. Representative
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
55:24
Long, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was wondering, I think you stated earlier that the PAC contributions do not come from payroll deductions. Is that correct? That is correct. You're recognized. So
how do you collect the PAC contributions?
At events, individuals are able to make contributions.
They can also go online and make contributions to the political act. Well, it's the Arkansas Committee for Children and Public Education. So the people do find a way to get the
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
55:54
money to you? But those are yes. Thank you.
Speaker 137
55:58
Any other questions by committee? Seeing none,
thank you, Ms. Fleming, for your testimony. Next, to speak against the bill, Mike Mertens. Mr. Mertens? Mr. Chair, if I may
Speaker 139
56:11
just say one last thing. Your testimony has already been taken.
Speaker 181
56:17
All right. Thank you. Mr. Mertens? Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I will try to keep my comments brief. This bill, we do oppose this bill. It does reduce the current options that AAEA members have to pay their dues to professional associations.
We have 13 groups under our umbrella, 13 constituent groups under the AAEA umbrella. We are a 501c6. We're an authorized PD provider by the State Department. I will say that the payroll deduction is optional for school administrators. It is also optional for districts to provide payroll deduction to their administrators.
I know there was some talk about pressuring. I can just speak from my experience as an employee for 15 years and a member 30 years before that. We do not encourage or in any way campaign for educators to use this option to pay their dues. But it is an option that some of our members choose to use, and we would like for them to continue to have this choice. We don't endorse candidates. that we make no political contributions, and we do not have a PAC.
So with that, I'll be glad to answer any
Chair
Unverified
57:54
questions. Representative Vaught, you're recognized for a question. Thank you,
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
57:57
Mr. Chair. Can you not just set it up for them to be auto-draft out of account like I do for my dish, my
Speaker 185
58:03
electricity, my everything that I have, can it not just be auto-draft out? Absolutely it could.
Speaker 181
58:11
That could be an option, but, you know, what we have now is just an option that some of our members, you know, choose to use. And I
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
58:20
understand that, but I'm just kind of confused on why it's such a big deal if you can actually be auto-drafted out.
But anyway, thank you, Mr. Chair. Any other questions for Mr. Mertens? Seeing none, thank you, sir, for your testimony.
Speaking against the bill, Allison Greenwood. Ms. Greenwood, if you'll go to the end of the
Chair
Unverified
58:43
table, introduce yourself, who you represent for the record, and you may begin your testimony. Is that still? Yes.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
58:57
I'm Allison Greenwood, Executive Director for the Arkansas State Teachers Association. We are a state chapter of the Association of American Educators. as a member driven association we are non-union non-profit and non-partisan but as a member driven association thousands of our members opt to ease payroll deduction it's more convenient for them um it's just a benefit that they greatly appreciate we have had many members call us
very upset about this. They feel that it's an attack on educators and teachers. We have had several that have contacted us asking why other state employees have this benefit still, but this bill has been written specifically towards educators. I don't have an answer for that, but it just affords them a reasonable accommodation and people have asked other payment methods yes
they could use credit cards checks but the vast majority of our members opt to use payroll deduction and so with this limited time we had proposed through senate that if this was going to happen and that we proposed, our national partner proposed an option that districts could even charge associations 3% and collect that money back for schools.
That option was not entertained, but we just feel like it's one, teachers feel that it's one more thing taken away from them right now. And this late in the session, if this went through, it would be late July as school starting back. It's very busy. It would be a hardship for not only the associations trying to communicate with the members,
but also for payroll personnel to make these huge changes in this short time period. um our role as an association we award grants and scholarships to members and non-members we have discount programs and many of the benefits that Ms. Fleming mentioned but we agree and respect employee rights we can't speak for other associations but
I hope that every member would say that they are not bullied or persuaded into joining or staying a member. They can get out with a simple phone call or email. So with this, we just ask for your consideration in this, and we would greatly appreciate no vote and leave payroll deduction in the schools. We feel that it is the best
for educators. It's easier for
Speaker 46
1:02:25
them. Thank you, Ms. Greenwood. Representative Flowers,
do you have a question? Thank you so much,
Mr. Chair. As you were speaking, it just made me wonder about how, because we're hearing from different associations, how does a school district determine you know, what information to share with teachers about associations?
Is it, hey, you can deduct from whomever, here's
your selection, or does the school district affiliate with a particular association?
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:03:06
They shouldn't affiliate with a particular association. we speak to educators and they have an option whether to join us another association or no association and if you look the majority of educators in arkansas um i'd have to check
statistics several years ago the majority of educators were still not a member of any association So not all choose to be
Speaker 195
1:03:40
a member, and that's okay, too. Right. They're not
forced to be. So how it works is sometimes, like when I worked for the state UAMS, before it was onboarded, you know, I'm sort of given paperwork for some deductions, but then you might hear from Fidelity, who comes in to say,
hey, we have these benefits for you, you know, this is what it
will look like, and you can sign up, and then, you know, UAMS or whatever agency will
Speaker 189
1:04:17
take that out. It works like that. The school districts aren't
Speaker 195
1:04:22
giving information about, to my knowledge, about what association they should join. it would be us speaking to them and communicating with members and asking them to join us directly
and then I could choose if you I like you yeah and
I could choose and say hey I like this association and then my district will say oh okay we'll set it up for your
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:04:47
dues to be paid for you and it's pre-tax like for us they would fill out the application and then we submit
Speaker 195
1:04:54
that to the payroll department and so the payroll department is not discussing those options with them. The district isn't discussing that with them. The employee submits that to payroll and then they
start the deduction. So it's complete choice. Representative Flowers.
Speaker 151
1:05:09
Got it. Representative Vaught. You're recognized. Thank you
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:05:11
Mr. Chair. I'm going to ask you the same question I just asked the gentleman before you. If you can do all that then you can also auto draft. Am I correct or am I wrong? If they're filling out that information, everybody could just roll over to
auto draft. Yes. If an association were set up to, yes. Thank you. They
Speaker 198
1:05:33
would have other options to pay, whether it be auto draft, credit card, or check. Okay. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:05:38
Chair. Representative Painter. So just to make sure I understand, I thank you, Mr. Chair. So if we went ahead and did this and members would have to go and set up a bank draft, they would still get the benefits from your organization. Is that
Speaker 86
1:06:05
correct? Yes. Representative Beck. So my question is about this
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
1:06:08
pre-tax thing that we've heard some people talk about,
that they're allowed to deduct these pre-tax. So that means that no tax would be paid on that income that would go to dues? Is that, you know, like, I'm hypothetical. My monthly dues are $40. So that would mean that I would not pay tax on that $40? Is that what people are saying? It's payroll deductible,
Speaker 202
1:06:37
tax deductible. So it's tax deductible.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
1:06:42
All right. So it can be pre-taxed in a payroll, but someone who did a bank draft would be able to deduct it also. Yes. Right. There's no difference there
as far as tax structure is concerned. All right. Thank you. Any additional questions for members? Seeing none,
Ms. Greenwood, thank you for your testimony for being here this evening. You're welcome. Thank you. Before we
go back to the bill's sponsor, I just want to ask, is there anyone, there seems to be a lot of questions regarding teacher retirement.
And is there anyone here from the Teachers Retirement Association that could answer questions? Seeing no
one. Representative Hodges, are you ready to close for your
Speaker 39
1:07:28
bill? Yes. Thank you, members. I know we kept you all here pretty late. I apologize for that. I'll try to wrap up quickly since I know we've had plenty of discussion. I think we might have more before we vote. Just to clarify, this bill applies to teachers and classified employees.
If anybody wants to look at other employees, other areas, you're more than welcome to do that as members and file any bill that you want. My point, I guess, to wrap up is if your organization is good and is providing value to your members, as all these organizations have said, then you shouldn't need the government to act as your middleman and have other school as your middleman to collect dues for your organization. and then also have other school staff involved in this transaction,
where, again, that can make people feel pressured unnecessarily. It's hard for me to square some of the testimony where we're hearing how great these organizations are, and, again, I don't doubt that, but to trumpet how great your organization is, but then also say we can't be successful unless the government collects our dues for us. I think if your organization is great, and, again, I don't doubt they are, then collect your own dues. let these private individuals pay to join these private associations.
I don't know all the history on how this ended up in state law, but I do know that some of these dues that go into these organizations are used to hire lobbyists who lobby us in this legislature all the time. So I'm not surprised that at some point this kind of special privilege was put into state law to give these associations this perk for their members. But, again, I think they can be plenty successful collecting dues themselves and not having these public institutions doing it for them.
I make a motion due pass. Representative Hodges is closed
for his bill. As a member of the committee, he has made a motion
due pass. Any discussion on the motion? Representative Fite, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think using school staff, equipment, and time to support unions that, whether you call it endorse, recommend whatever political candidates, is improper and, quite frankly, wrong.
And I will be voting yes on this
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
1:09:57
bill. Representative McKenzie, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be very brief. Like a lot
of members on this committee, whenever we get these green sheets, I'm really glad when we see fiscal impacts that say zero, not for the fact that we don't want to spend money, but it's not incremental to our general revenue. But from the testimony we heard today, and this was an absolute surprise to me, this is tax-deferred money. So this green sheet may say zero, but at the end of the day, we call it offsets in every
other committee. We call it a subsidy in every other committee. We are having this money flow through to associations that is tax-free, and albeit maybe nominal to a monthly amount over a yearly amount over an entire career, it's still monies that would be otherwise taxed at the same 28, 29, 30 percent or 5 percent at the state level, not including federal, that we're paying for, that other taxpayers are paying for, that we have to offset with other things we're paying for in our government.
So it's mind-blowing to me that this is tax-deferred, and for that reason, amongst many, I'll be voting yes for the bill. Any
other comments from members? Representative Vaught. Thank you,
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:11:08
Mr. Chair. I appreciate the bill. The one part I don't like, though, is the retired part of it, just so you understand. I mean, that does kind of bother me. I do think we're making something out of nothing when things can be done auto-draft. I don't think that's a big deal for things to be auto-draft.
We all do it all the time. Representative Maddox brought it to my attention. I mean, they could put it on a credit card, and it
would draw out every month, so it wouldn't even be a big deal even then. But my only worry is that retirement part.
But with that said, I'll be voting for the bill. Representative Flowers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I
Speaker 207
1:11:54
appreciate a lot of the information, and
I guess I think that when we consider sort of where we are and where we started, things have changed already.
You know, I don't agree that dollars should be automatically deducted. I think people should have freedom of choice. And that's where we are. This is a benefit for teachers. It is a convenience for teachers. And I was notified that it is not tax-deferred. It is pre-tax, and the associations pay taxes.
But what is most important to me is that this includes retirees, that none of these dollars go toward political activities and endorsements, and that, you know, this is not just a bill and a transaction. Likely, there are instruments and benefits that I would not take advantage of if I hadn't been in a situation where organizations,
private organizations, had access to me, and then I could have that money deducted automatically out of my paycheck. I have had that experience before as a state employee. I've had that experience as a state employee with UAMS. And at the end of the day, I think everybody on here listening to this and have said it is right, that these associations could easily set up instruments for teachers.
That ultimately, though, would take away from the benefit and the convenience for the teachers, being in an institution where they can have access and not have to worry about it anymore. And it is a difference. I manage with my dad's Social Security, his pharmaceutical medical benefits. It's much easier to come out of his Social Security than to have to take care of it and let him, and he's forgotten to pay it before because he's older.
And so sometimes it's those conveniences that make a difference for the beneficiaries in a membership organization. So I just want us to be clear
that this is not, as you all heard, the NEA has
half a billion dollars, you said, And these organizations have connection with teachers who will benefit from and take advantage of this.
We're not hurting the organizations. We're hurting the teachers. So I just would finally make the point that, you know, I know we could all file these bills for other employees. Nobody's filing these bills for other employees because nobody wants that smoke from other folks. And you
won't see bills doing this to law enforcement and nurses.
We're only doing it to teachers, which is an attack on teachers. And I just would ask, haven't they had enough? Thank you. Representative Maddox, you're recognized. Thank you,
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:15:36
Chairman. I'll be very brief. First of all, I want to clarify one thing. There was some miscommunication. One of the speakers alluded to. Representative Hodges said he's not targeting teachers. He didn't say he was targeting teachers. He said he's not, and so I think there was just a miscommunication there. I want to make that clear. I was sitting right here and heard him say that. He wouldn't say he was targeting teachers. Overall, I think this bill is good. I'm going to vote for it. I do have a little concern about the piece with the retired teachers, frankly, but in balance, I think it's good, and I'll be supporting.
Any other comments from members? seeing none we have a motion on the floor due passed by representative hodges on senate bill 473 all those in favor of the motion say aye opposed nay the ayes have it congratulations you passed your bill members that's all on our agenda for tonight remember you have a joint ed meeting tomorrow morning at 8 a.m big mac a we have one lottery scholarship bill to take up
tomorrow morning. It should be very quick. Good work today. Thank you for being here. We are adjourned.
Agenda
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Zack Gramlich Chair
Unverified
Speaker 10
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
Speaker 15
Representative Lanny Fite
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 18
Representative Hope Duke Chair
Unverified
Speaker 39
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
Speaker 43
Speaker 45
Speaker 47
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Representative Vivian Flowers Chair
Unverified
Speaker 65
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
Speaker 75
Representative Brit McKenzie
Unverified
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
Speaker 86
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 74
Speaker 40
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 118
Representative Charlene Fite Chair
Unverified
Speaker 139
Speaker 145
Speaker 146
Speaker 46
Speaker 148
Speaker 152
Speaker 163
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
Speaker 173
Speaker 154
Speaker 137
Speaker 181
Speaker 185
Speaker 195
Speaker 189
Speaker 151
Speaker 198
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Speaker 202
Speaker 207
Representative John Maddox
Unverified