State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs-Senate

Everybody. Everybody against seeded find a state funds but alone will. Senate state agencies will come to order. We're going to begin with the amendment on this Senate bill one ninety four. Irking it's a concurrence in Amendment house. Members just concurring the we put an emergency clause on on the house so it's just concurring amendment. I make a motion to passion motion to concur to concur a second by Senator Dotson all in favor say aye aye aye All opposed Like sign thank you senator. Next we'll move on to re referred to committee amendment to Senate bill seventy one. Just introduce yourself and and you're you're a recognized thank you senator Dan Sullivan district twenty Mister chair we have eight pages here today for my district and they're in the room if you wouldn't mind allowing them to stand that recognize them absolutely okay if you'll stand here Page today from John for a bill stand the lease. Thank you we're glad to have me here. Thank you. Share some of the comments that we've heard of regarding this bill we try to make and speak to everything the address of the best we can the most important change is a time line to allow agencies to implement what we're doing so I know if if we if this law passes this bill passes becomes legislation is going to take up to two years for agencies to comply with this This allows for initial plan then a every six months they will report to a LC to tell us how they've complied with the planned it doesn't change the original legislation at all all it does is have a time line to. Thank you senator the. Take a motion to adopt the amendment. Your available. Thank you Mr. Why why do this instead of send the send the entire building interim study. Why do I'm sorry why do this in light of why delay the implementation. Yes was first well let me just say Senator Sullivan aye aye met with me on this bill on numerous occasions I want to publicly thank centers on for that not only for meeting with me but for other stakeholders on this bill I just want to take this opportunity set up publicly but but beyond that. I'm I'm trying to understand you know the thought process behind the amendment I think it's an acknowledgement by you that there's a this bill would have a lot of impact and it's going to take some time to figure out what that impact might be well I mean for some agencies some of the changes can happen pretty quickly I mean if there if there are statutes and commissions and groups that have to be lined out that can happen in a pretty short order but there are other things that take a time and we're going to allow each agency to decide how long it's going to take and what those items are an opportunity to for us to question with their time lines are what they can't do and every agency is different. Okay I mean this doesn't change what the bill is all it does is provide and timeline for implementation. Okay. Other questions on the amendment. Go ahead Senator fine what support the bill and The Amendment I'm just not understanding the drafting here of. Section twenty one starts out at the bottom of page eleven on line thirty six on page eleven yeah this section twenty one is striking existing language from Arkansas Code. Which includes line eleven on page twelve. Read this amendment says it's going to delete line eleven. On page twelve which would lead if that sentence an existing code I'm sorry what okay so you're on the amendment Page twelve. Eleven substitute the following explains circumstance. And you were referring to Page twelve photo jim maybe for. Line eleven. Where's that at thank you yes. Okay thank you my concerns been cleared up thank you senator Tucker. I don't know if you have a chance to say that. Nor is it clear on that the other questions on Amendment. Take a motion to adopt the amendment motion by Senator Payton the second messenger Hester all in favor say aye. All opposed Like sign. The. Thank you senator thank you. The the second amendment is to Senate bill two fifty nine there is to to speak against that amendment. The Mr. re referred so. Okay. Or we before we move from the SP seventy one and. I just have a request I received tremendous feedback on that bill and I I would hope that when it's heard as amended before the committee that we could set up for a special order of business. The we'll take that into consideration there is three here to speak the against. Against this Senate bill seventy one the. I don't guess Senator Solomon wanted to run the bill and. So we will hear it at a different time as those who are here what to come down and speak today if you're not able to come back the you're more than willing to come down. Okay. You income within one in. Is this the. Go ahead and sit down and and you introduce yourself and you're recognized thank you all my name's in both Gorman and I'm the CEO of the women's foundation Arkansas appreciate the committee allowing me to just speak a few moments and start senate sold and just left we we spoke briefly and appreciate the opportunity for testimony we didn't have that originally when it was introduced and to committee because we are during ice storm and today we didn't have further opportunity to kind of discuss the amendments and I just want to kind of reiterate some things that have been have been discussed but first and foremost my organization women's foundation we're the only statewide public foundation that works to address women and girls economic security but a lot of economic development work across the state of Arkansas we do research we give out grants we do a lot of projects with state agencies so some of the work that we were actually focus on is entrepreneurship in Arkansas I'm representing a collective of entrepreneur support organizations that support our small business economy and I know that I'm here to talk about the amended language of the bill which is a time line and since the bill's been introduced there has been a growing amount of concern amongst entrepreneur support organizations in different industries entities that that really take advantage of the states ability to determine okay we've got a population of individuals or. That for whatever reason have had issues being engaged in our economy we can do that work we do a lot of work with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission the Division of women and minority business services it's a great entity no their purpose is to certify women minority and veteran owned businesses in minority the word is all encompassing are Hispanic population the male population are Asian population are Marshallese community across the states these certifications allow different types of industry think think of commercial contracting Allowing individuals to go after contracts they wouldn't be other allowed to and not just the individual's general contractors working with subcontractors you know I'm I'm concerned even with the new amended language of a two year period that we're not really considering the implication to our small business economy and how much women and minorities and veterans actually identified communities within our state need additional support from the state just to be aware of what is available it's not moving anyone up to the front of the line kicking somebody else out it's law allowing access to information about what is available and we have a host of research with a host of organizations that are are Julie concerned and we brought to the center's attention and again I wanted to I told him thank you earlier in and they can he he did sit down with us and sat down with some other organizations and groups and again introducing the amendment today I I think demonstrates there are a lot of unintended consequences and we just don't know what we don't know enacting this over night has implications not only on our small business economy of what is truly the lifeblood of Arkansas's economy and moving our state forward but has a whole host of implications on our quality of life I mean we have the Arkansas minority health commission that's addressing health disparities in Arkansas for some of our most vulnerable populations we've got a growing population an immigrant population in northwest Arkansas if our state isn't able to address those needs and we're putting additional herders to hurdles on the state to identify what they are we're moving our state backward on economic development and so I was respectfully also asked the senators consider an interim study on on the language of this bill and and what it might do and I can share a lot of stats about the number of women owned businesses in our state the the the net of what they contribute to our economy yeah I'm in I'm in traditionally an advocate for women girl. S. but today I'm really representing the small business economy again construction agriculture transportation these are industries that are taking advantage of certification programs that help them work with other partners and in doing this I'm truly afraid of what it looks like for our state to be competitive in a national and global market place to attract other businesses here other industries here they're looking at what we're doing here they absolutely are and we're talking about different populations in different you know northwest Arkansas southwest Arkansas our rural population have really some significant needs and when you slice and dice it it's going to come down to some factors of gender and race ethnicity and again I think it would be a shame to. Eliminate our states ability. To do what's right by citizens in each of you represent populations of our Kansans that have very specific needs based on where you are we all know that northwest southwest eastern parts are still to are all very different and this bill the broader language the broader language of the bill that's that's the concern is that it really removes the state as a vehicle for a continuity to bring resources to population so respectfully I would just speak against the bill as amended today in the time line and and request that there might be consideration for an interim study or additional time thank you very much. You're in any questions Mr Gorman. Saying nine thank you Mr Gorman just wanna. Two others. Introduce yourself and you're recognized. I thank you out my name is Bernice Nazari and I also represent some organizations and groups as well as myself on behalf of the women and minority incentives first. I'd like to say. as I also reviewed the bill and I am also very open to discussions about what is best for the economy of for the for the overall economy and I did review and read to bills and I've had several conversations well I've attended some of the meetings with Senator Solomon and had a chance to talk with him as well. One of the concerns that came up was that where it was where there any studies done around what the impact would be of reducing this bill am to my understanding there was the impact of economic I'm sorry the impact study and all the research that I have myself done Google Refers to higher education there's not a lot of information or studies around what it actually does to the economy but I will tell you in my own research and again if you can do just a simple Google search there was a report here that was in The New York Times that show that the other nine states that Senator Solomon has referred to that has implemented affirmative action the results around higher education since that's where the studies are it shows that there was a decline in minority enrollment in these higher education and it has even class told or even for the degree decrease in none of the case since has a show that diversity in higher education has increased once these minority programs have been eliminated and if we're looking at higher education is a return as it relates to the marketplace four years later. these are the same people who we are preparing for the work space workplace and so it appears that the workplace we may also follow the trend of. Decreasing or plateauing in minority hires this is a simple Google search on though it at economics or analysts or anything like that also even if you just Google the words impact or effects of the states that have reduced or eliminated affirmative action. you'll see even in the titles and just to be fair I I'm I'm actually looking for cases where it may increase or help the economies and none of my research has shown that it actually helps it helps the economies. Also as we talk about equality. It seems the language in around this bill has tracked shifted the language from minority for equality to include minorities and women to now the language for equality excludes minorities and women and so I think that even in this study's going forward that I am requesting or suggesting that we that is done around the economy that that language be. Identify which equality we're talking about that includes the women and minorities or. Or the desegregation I will admit that there and I is plain to see that there is has been strides and growth in the economies based off the affirmative action. Sorry there has been growth in the affirmative action as it relates to the economy and I would like to consider that we see that continue to to follow that trend and to give it affirmative action more time. Sir. I am I am Madeline okay it thank you. Thank you for this time I appreciate it I also am in participate in women's women's groups that are around helping to encourage and create programs and systems in education around entrepreneur through some of the cuts the colleges and through even through this venture center. And my concern was how would this law affect those women programs the ambiguity and it especially around it being a misdemeanor I feel like if I wonder if someone were to want to create a program with a completely eliminated because there's a chance that it might violate these this particular law and so it it might completely eliminated some of the classes have been held on the campuses of the school so would the date will the board or whoever makes the deciding factor not want to have these programs hosted on the campus because it might violate one of those rules because the the at people are likely to err on the side of caution as opposed to taking the chance to see or are having discussions about how that works and since these things will be decided in court it would probably be a lot of. But it will make it more difficult to make those kind of programs and incentives I'm all for creating programs that help to improve the economy and make it better I would also like to say that even with the impact on the economy for the women minorities also it creates an opportunity to diversify the tax base for the people that pay that not only does it affect their income but it would also add more taxes as more jobs are created in more programs and more. People and this might in these minority Committee communities or and or critical needs communities. I'm. As they start earning more money it will create more income revenue for those communities and again for the tax base that could apply to schools and other things so I would like for us to consider that and keep that going and on that note does this a quality that Senator Solomon. Refers to that these also relate to the tax base if he's if the idea is to create equality around business in economics and make us more competitive does the. Is he applied that same ideology to the taxes that are collected to be distributed also a month a month the state so there is the double H. fair I'm I would like to acknowledge Senate Payton's comment from the last meeting around the. business owners who I believe you made a comment that you don't need a state contract to start a business and I absolutely agree with that you need this does the state helps you to get in the position to even start the business to run the business and many people don't some people don't get state contracts actually in order to get a state. contract your business have to be built up and have systems and people and things in place to even perform that state contracts one of the things that I do appreciate about the mind the program is since you have to be a fifty one percent ownership you have the opportunity to partner with larger companies and organizations and the idea to my understanding was it to be a mentor ship program so a small business gets a state contract and a partner with a larger business in that larger more experienced business helps over time you know helps that cause not a contract role in involved with they can't survive without this isn't or or just build partnerships and again the versifi and the resources that are in throughout the state throughout the different communities And I believe that is. It that my last statement one of the things that I would like to point out is of the Senate of the senators to respect Senators that are listed here there is one minority women and we are and this is representative of the goals of this state these the. The women and minorities. I incentives have a goal of fifteen percent a goal of fifteen percent not a mandate but a goal of business with the state and that's very similar to what this table looks like we have I believe. Seven white men and one black one minority woman who are making these decisions around the fate of that small percentage and so I'd like for for us to consider that and I appreciate Senator Tucker for speaking up on behalf of the program in all of you for even being I'm listening to my concerns and taken in serious And I'm happy to do whatever is best for the overall overall economy thank you for your. Is there any questions for mission is there is there a Natureza mastery. And seeing as a no questions thank you for your testimony we have one more. Okay. Introduce yourself and and who you're with us and you're recognized. Yes Sir my name is Kwame Abdul bey I'm with the Arkansas public policy panel is far as SB seventy one is concerned. I am speaking of both of. As a employee of the Arkansas public policy panel and as well as a lifetime member of the N. double ACP and in my personal capacity. is far as this bill is concerned up I have participated in meetings with Senator Solomon and the. What we understood from those meetings was the intent intent of the bill that was articulated to us and we explained to him that the intent as it was articulated not only to us but also to the legislative black caucus is that intent and what's written in the bill do not comport they do not equal each other and I had to get gave him my commitment that I will work with him to take his intent and create a law that is For the for the people of Arkansas as a whole up here in Arkansas. in razorback land up we we understand sport. And in understanding sport you have to understand handicaps. How handicaps working sport is that uh It allows two different athletes to compete in the same game even though they may have on equal footing so it's in. Equity type program that creates an equal chance to compete and that is what affirmative action is it's it it gives you an equal chance to compete and in communicating this with Senator Solomon of we explained to him the way that this bill has been drafted. It does not do that at all all right so up there's language in the bill that does talk about. Of the Civil Rights Act of nineteen ninety three and how this bill does not invalidate the Civil Rights Act of nineteen ninety three so in talking to about rewriting the bill of we suggested that well if. Your intentions which are to actually make it where all of. Affected communities can participate in the type of affirmative action that we're talking about Latinos Asians Indians how they can also have access to these type of programs that the two speakers before me us spoke about and we we so what we decided to do is we say okay instead of SB seventy one what we just need to do is we need to shore up and strengthen the Civil Rights Act of nineteen ninety three so that's the of legislation that we drafted up and offered to him now we did not agree on the specifics of that re draft. but what we did agree is that we need time to sit down and talk about this and go over it again as it was stated before we did request that this bill be put an interim study so that we can have time to understand the social impacts because the social impacts the economic impacts are that speed and we don't even know exactly what they are so that's why I'm speaking against the bill as it is right now on as it has been amended because we need time to figure out you know intent does not equal impact and the intent as we understood was to create an affirmative action program that included all of affected communities of even Marshallese communities. And as this bill has been written as it is being amended it doesn't do that so we're when we're willing to work with Senator Solomon and we just talked to him before I came up here to make a bill that does what he is articulate it is the intent but this is not the intent that was spoken to us so as it has been written as is been amended it up I'm asking all of you to vote against this bill. Thank you Sir is there any questions. Saying none Preciado your testimony per your question. Okay go ahead. One of inquiry for the staff thank you okay on the well this amendment be engrossed in the bill if we don't pass the bill and the other question is it will be available at as I'm I suspect the answer is no the real and the other question is whether to be a publicly available on the website. as your first question It will not be engrossed it will remain in the Senate folders and we'll be back in committee when the bill comes back up unless senators eleven one to engrossed and then I believe it will be made publicly available on the website So it will remain in committee And not be present on the website until it goes out until. Yes I was just about to ask do we need to expunge the vote by which this was adopted in committee can be funds what to tell you have been engrossed to send it back. Okay all right thank you. Next is the Senate bill two fifty nine and senator Wallace astral that bill to be placed on deferred the next bill is Senate bill two fifty. There's a handout just give us a minute Senator. Senator you are you Senator yourself and you're recognized. Thank you Mr chairman Kim Hammer. Kim Hammer state senator for district sixteen. Thank you of members recognizing the time that we have left let me get right to the point this bill is not in response to well let me just say this state I've had numerous emails phone calls requests from reporters personal phone calls text messages social media I've not spoken to anyone except for a took a call is forty six forty five some some somebody that actually thought was a constituent about another need I haven't talked to anybody specifically about this bill because I want to do it in a public format like this because I think from the misinformation that's gone around about the bill and I wanted people to hear first hand and live stream what the intent of the bill is what the content of the bill is all about this bill is not response to any lawsuits or to fix any problem with current election process but it is a bill that number one does not prevent a county from doing and count up paper ballots which my County last not understand voted not to take the matter up secondly it sets uniform safeguards for all counties that choose to hand count paper ballots no safeguards are using the tabulator that puts out timely results unlike other states that do paper counts and it takes up to weeks in order to get the results and it provides compliance with all federal state laws and including the American disability act provides audit processes which allows for verification prior to certification so we know that the reelection results are timely in a nutshell and simplistically that's what this bill does I think it's been made more complicated by others but the simplicity the bill is is the focus point Mr I'd just go ahead deferred questions for the second time. Three questions remembers go ahead Senator Payton. Thank you Mr I guess I've got a few questions don't the first one is in the first line that the the paper ballot shall be compatible with the electronic vote tabulation device that the the state has assigned summer we're not saying Hey. Electronic tabulation device were say and the specific ones that the state has a sign and that the ballot would have to conform to that If a county I'm so if we're taking away the county's ability to make a choice them then why don't we just come out and take that away instead of saying okay we'll let you go to a favor ballot but the paper ballot has to conform to the big identical device that you're wanting to get away from I'll like the devices we have I was I would I like the fact that they produce a paper records and and that and when my council voted to go back to paper ballots are answered every question I could from everybody called me and I told him I trust him but if you don't pull out those paper records and count on and compare them to the to the tally and see if you have a problem to my knowledge they never did that. But I'm just saying are we going to give counties the authority to make the change or not because this does not give them that authority when we force them to conform to the exact device that they're trying to get away from and then on the twenty four hours if you I'll just get both my questions after once I read this over and over and I've looked over and in this section of Arkansas Code that they were dealing with I can't find the. The Or else you know we're we're saying you've got a complete your account within twenty four hours. What's the or else what what happens if they don't. Okay thank you you're welcome Mister chairman I have a Leslie from secretary say office come join me at the table I think should be be a little bit more efficient proficient in the west and answer timely I will say this questions come out do not perceive that this takes away anything from the county what they choose to do back to just provides a process that if they're going to do that here's the process whereby it's got to be done and I'll defer to Leslie with chairs permission introduce yourself and you're welcome to help clarify that question. I'm Leslie Bellamy on the director of elections for Arkansas secretary of state's office senator Payton I think One thing that it clearly doesn't do is take or the county's rights the counties have the rights to do about for cadence system right now they have a right to hand count right now on paper ballots this just insurers if they proceed to go to a completely hand count method that results are not held up by that hand counts we're not talking about counties that are small that could do it Clark you know that some of the delta counties or even clean or could probably do it in or not when you're looking at county center vote centers like Washington County Benton county Pulaski County Salim they can't possibly get those results in a timely fashion we're asking for certified results this is the the preliminary results and I already do that most counties have their preliminary resulting before midnight that tell a candidate's know the turn out of the race a lot of times before the next day so we're actually extending it to give them at least that full twenty four hours past if they decide to hand count and part of the reason to is a lot of these polling places are held in private places like churches schools some even back parts of businesses and that doesn't give them time to get out of that we got to get him out of there before that business opens back up. So another thing with the the style of the ballot in our thoughts the secretary has the authority to pick a certified system from the state board of elections Arkansas law gives him that rocked he has chosen this system which has a paper ballot that's preprinted and the compliance with that is that it's not an easily duplicated will ballot Arkansas law was not extremely clear on what a paper ballot had to be other than a perforation and also that it be us a sequence number on the bottom of the ballots so that I think you could see where that could not be a secure is what we would hope it would be these pre payment printed ballots have a certain ballot stock with a beveled edge of we have some printers in Arkansas that have you know the right to print these ballots that is and other individuals use in counties some counties actually have ballot on demand printers to already print this ballot that is compatible with the equipment we have right now. So far they have a follow up with. I understand the efficiency of having an electronic device can the paper ballots for tabulation purposes. But there are a there's a host of. Machines available. Other than the one that the secretary of state has designated. So why would we say in the thank you they couldn't design a ballot. And require them to have it. Have the ability to electronically tabulated without it being the machines that they mistrust. The legislators expressly gave the secretary the right to select and when he came into office we looked at more than one system that was certified in Arkansas the system he chose is been federally certified it has been in Arkansas since around two thousand and fifteen that same vendor was in Arkansas in two thousand and five when we were told we could not use of punch card and lever machines anymore we consistently have depended on that vendor and tried and true recounts and audits of state borders now has proven to be correct so we saw no reason to not utilize the equipment that we've already purchased. So we are going to make that decision for the county and not let them make a different decision but if I if you answered it I missed it what is the or else on the twenty four hours what happens if they don't report in twenty four hours there if there is an or else right now if they don't report on that not it just simply input into law we're we're not the election police for the county's the Orioles would be that we might turn them into state board for an investigation as to why it wasn't turned in timely this also was brought up as the last election you senator colleagues would tell you that they didn't have results until certification is already over so that wasn't put in just over the paper ballots there as well was put in for the counties that didn't comply this time and there were some the time before that did not comply. So I hear a lot of uh we're not take away the county's rights and then I hear a lot of the county complied or did not comply that seems to be contradictory but I'll let somebody else ask questions I would I would respond to it this way if the channel if the council chooses to go that route I wanna make sure in the county that has chosen not to go that route at least has some compliance and expectations so that the election could not be stolen in a county that may purposely pick something that is intentionally designed to do something I think the benefit of us as law makers is to make sure that that does not happen and yes we're granting the county latitude but we're also establishing the process whereby if you choose to do that I want to make sure my county that your county isn't doing something without this I think we leave the door wide open for that to happen that's that's the purpose and as far as the twenty four hours is concerned I would I would hope that it would not be the case that there would be counties that would intentionally be dragging the results out beyond twenty four hours we need to set some reasonable expectation and if that becomes abused in the future as with the process in the past currently in the future we will always need to be monitoring our election integrity make sure everybody's voters treated timely efficiently and fairly. Questions it Christian centre Dotson. Thank you Mr chair So I think I understand what you're trying to do but let me just. Tell you what I think you're trying to do and you see if you can confirm for me So with paper ballots. They can still print paper ballots and I believe it says in here sorry existing law but printed paper ballot shall be marked using permanent ink so somebody gonna pan permitting. they can print them it's the paper has to be able to run through the tabulator and count that that mark but then you have a paper record written by somebody not a bar code or anything like that. The tabulators can read that correct. Yes senator okay. And this just requires that they run through tabulators before hand count is done so that we get the number that were. Anticipating from that that paper ballots. That yes senator and it provides the timely results as well as an internal audit building and because of that system okay. So I'm not sure. I mean I've I've I've heard a lot of concerns back and forth you know people for and against this Is think that probably should address most people's concerns because they're using a pen I got a paper that's running through a machine the machine whatever machine it is so we get a number so we can do results up front and then they can still do a hand count. And take you know as long as they need to do the hand count but we want them to do it within twenty four hours and worry expressly encouraging them to get it done in twenty four hours for their okay. So that's my concern on the bill. On page three lines thirteen and then twenty three and this goes to the language that you're striking here. And on line thirteen it says as soon as early voting absentee or individual precincts resulting or tabulated. And replaces that within twenty four hours after polls close. So does this mean at least for that section does this mean that. We're not going to get early voting and absentee ballot the initial election response I mean they're not being counted on the day of the election so they can be released as soon as the polls closed. Or or they can basically wait up to twenty four hours before they release those numbers. If they were during the hand count but not if they are continuing the hand count that not we would still have the preliminary results off of the the DS two hundred seater tabulators but this just adds in it would be all results within the twenty four hour period I think that's why early and absentee was struck because all results will be coming in off that tabulation early and absentee at one time was required within thirty minutes and I think part of that was left one that thirty minutes was stroke I think a few years back so This Is cleans it up that all results were coming in within the twenty four hours so theoretically you could have a county. That takes up to twenty four hours to even begin to release the initial results it could be that yes we're hoping not we hope they you know they're going to go to that system that they can utilize the equipment to give those preliminary results before that twenty four hours just like they do right now and then they ran into anything on line twenty three it says immediately after so we're also striking that with this bill so that have up to twenty four hours. Again in that section yes what they would actually you know we're trying to work with them if they choose this method to give them just a little added to your and some instruction on how to do it and and still have their choice of paper ballots in law right now can be counted three different ways you know by hand on equipment and then we would this bill would just ensure that it's counted on the equipment first so that even if they run into issues they have that twenty four hours to get us the preliminary results to the secretary of state's website. I'm not. I'm not attorney and to to I've read a few of these things before the and I don't I'm not really comfortable striking the as soon as or the immediately after language but if you believe that in and then say but no longer than twenty four hours that might. Or up to I'm not sure how you would draft that exactly but leaving that as soon as immediately after would make me a lot more comfortable with this thank you. Senator Tucker. Thank you Mr. Okay to say this very often but I agree with senator **** last point. My question is on page two and at the at the purpose price for miss Bellamy. One fifteen right now all of the ballots in all seventy five counties are approved by the secretary of state only are they not. Yes senator and so this changes that so that the the County Board of election commissioners has to not only provide the ballots for their county but also approved the ballot form for their County. This would add that they could choose to go away from the express votes by resolution and use that paper ballot form and I think that was the only reason that when we were drafting a bill that we had a dating and that if they approve that resolution to go all paper that's their choice and it goes away from the express vote ballot layout but they're not approving the content of the ballot by that by adding this language CBC always improves the content of the ballot right I understand the the county boards but yes Sir okay thank you. Any other questions. Senator crawled. I just have the same concern is Senator Clark and senator Dotson I I would feel much more comfortable with that wording put back in. Mr chairman care sponsor that. I know you know what time it is I know we're in a eleven aren't with. We are getting close eight minutes if that if that's what provides them comfort in order to expedite that the as soon as it's done I will while we're out I'll send over for amendment I'll bring back in here an amendment amended to get your comfort level because I think that's a reasonable expectation that as soon as that's done that way what I hear you saying is if they get done at twelve hours you don't want to sit there for another twelve hours purposely holding out to the twenty four hour window that would be written in is that I just wanna make sure I understand your concern yes it is but also in addition the early an absentee ballots that are counted on the day of the election those need to be released as soon as the polls close or as soon as practical as as far as after the close polls are closing not sitting on those for. Two three four five hours if they're done counting and those those results need to be released as soon as possible okay. Per your concern. So members of the. We need to handle one. Piece of business before we recess. The. We need to expunge that vote on Senate bill seventy one so he can get it engrossed. And. So I would I would accept a motion to expunge the vote the Senate bill seventy ones amendment passed second all in favor say aye aye All opposed Like sign thank you Senators we have many members. The signed up to speak for and against this bill this afternoon we will return upon recess and handle this amendment and you guys are all welcome to come back. Yes talk. ASA. These sites. Possibility. I don't think I'm going to have that discussion amongst as many people as signed up but. Yeah we're. Yeah. DO Yuji. Thirty days. I mean it would be Tuesday before we can we can come back. But. This. Is there is there a problem with the returning after adjournment today for this bill is one bill. All right. We we were recess until upon adjournment until and handler and this one will Mr chairman just clarification upon adjournment of of session shall tingle behind me no when they come back right yeah thank you. Yes.