Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC)
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Unknown speaker
0:00
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
2:00
All right, members, if we can go ahead and take our seats. Members, let's go ahead and find our seats, please.
all right members gonna ask you to go ahead and find your seats can you hear me nobody's listening
how about now all right members I'm calling ALC to order thank you very much it was kind of hard to get your attention there for a second good morning good to see you all here all right I'm going to ask Representative Rye if he would hit his button and he will be recognized for the
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
3:10
opening prayer and you are recognized dear God thank you for this great country that we live in
god we take a lot of things for granted dear father but never ever let us forget about freedom and what it means to the people around this whole world we ask you to look down upon all the situations here in the world that's going on we ask you for a loving peace if at all possible And we ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
3:48
All right. I will entertain a motion to adopt the December 19, 2025 minutes. I have a motion. I have a second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Ayes have it. Thank you. Moving on to item D, we have a presentation from Dr. Silva as he makes his way to the table.
Doctor, you may introduce yourself for the record, and
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
4:14
you may proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Carlos Silva, Bureau of Legislative Research. I'm your staff, and I'm here to present the December 2025 monthly revenue report.
That is half of our fiscal year right now. As we look into our gross collections, we have $4.02 billion of collections. That is around $4.9 million above this first six months of the last fiscal year, around 1.2% higher than the last fiscal year today for those first six months. As we start going down into the bottom here on the first page, we see a NAC available for distribution at $3.4 billion. That is $73.4 million above the last fiscal year today, or 2.2% above.
If you look into some details on that first page, there we see the bottom line, individual income tax refunds, as well as our corporate income tax refunds. We see that decrease as we expected. But as we move into page number two, the cumulative deviation from DF&A net general revenue available for distribution forecast, we'll see that the net available for distribution have been going down slightly when compared to the last month of around $5.8 million.
That is a decline based on the corporate income taxes was a slightly higher refund than expected. And that's why there's that difference there. Again, it's still above forecast, but it's low down based on this month. DFNA will provide updated forecast in the next few weeks. So we will have that for the next presentation. As we move to page number three to page number five, we have our general revenue collections.
We will see in the top there gross receipt taxes still somewhat strong at 2.9% for the month, 3.2% for the year. The income taxes, you see the final payments for corporations and individual payments there. This portion of that's due to the extension, right, that we have until December 3rd. So some of that would be here. That's why we have the increase. As we move to page number six and so on, we have the special revenue collections.
When you look into the state of Arkansas compared to the adjacent states, it's following a similar trend as they have some strong collections there on this month and on the fiscal year to date. CPI is somewhat steady for this month. We're still looking to the next few months to see exactly how this is going to turn around after the update with the data sets. Unemployment, we have seen a slightly increase there from 39 to 41, but we had that gap of one month, so we're looking at the change between two months rather than one month.
But as we look into detail there, we see that the state had added more workers, around 3,000 more workers year over year for the November, and that is
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
7:24
a positive thing. With that, I'll take any further questions. All right. Thank you, Dr. Silva. Seeing,
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
7:30
whoop, you almost got away. Representative Wooten, you're recognized. Thank you. Doctor, on the corporate income tax, is that a result of the throwback rule changing? Is that resulting in that drop in that income?
A portion of it, it's part of the extension because we have until the December 3rd, so we have seen that right now, and
that's kind of a portion of that. Okay. One more question. The trend started this month or January or December being downward from what you had said. Do you think that's going to continue, or do you think that's just a miscalculation, not a miscalculation, but do you see a trend?
That movements happen from month to month. We have seen a decrease there for this month, but just one data point doesn't really make a trend. We'll continue to follow closely, and we also have some major changes coming in the beginning of this calendar year and in
Speaker 23
8:33
the middle of fiscal year, which is going to be positive
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
8:38
changes, so we're keeping an eye on that as well. It doesn't appear that the tariffs are affecting inflation, But have you all ever been able to come up with how
it will affect the state income?
So some of the tariffs have passed through. We still
have some that have yet to move forward. The expectation is that we still have some to still be moving through this. And when you think about the tariff impact here, we're probably going to see most of it through our sales tax collections, right? So the price of things might increase. We're going to see that here, which will be showing an increase of 3.2%. That's how we'll be looking at it. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Doctor.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
9:23
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Representative. Any other questions? Seeing none, thank you, Doctor. All right, members, let's move to item E. Recognize, oh, excuse me. I'm going to recognize Representative Warren for some personal privilege, I believe. You're
Senator Scott Flippo
Unverified
9:43
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
9:46
It's my privilege to have a group from Lakeside here with us, the AP U.S. Government and Politics class.
If you guys would stand, they came to see what we're all about today. So please welcome them.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
10:07
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative, and welcome. thank you for being here and for participating and learning all right moving on to item e i'll recognize my co-chair
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
10:19
thank you mr chairman we executive committee subcommittee of the arkansas legislative council met thursday january 15 in big room b a big mac building uh house chair
les eves called the meeting to order and saw a quorum present eves recognized mr harold jeff co superintendent of the van buren school district to present a waiver request for cooperative of cooperative purchasing construction services with no questions from members senator Terry Ross made a motion to approve the request for the Van Buren School District motion was seconded and passed by a voice vote with no further business the meeting
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
10:51
was adjourned all right you heard the motion I have a second any discussion seeing none all in favor say aye any opposed
Ayes have it. Thank you. Moving down to F1. Representative Shepard, you're recognized for the rules report. The Administrative Rules
Representative Tara Shephard
Unverified
11:10
Subcommittee met on January 15, 2026. The subcommittee held one agency's request for exclusion from the reporting requirements for rulemaking and denied one agency's request. the subcommittee accepted the recommendations of the division of higher education concerning the extension and repeal of rules pursuant to act 781 of 2017 and act 65 of 2021 the subcommittee
received agency updates on outstanding rule making from the 2023 regular session and filed agencies monthly written updates on rule making from the 2025 regular session and all rules were reviewed and approved as noted in the report and i move adoption of the report
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
11:50
thank you we have I have a motion. I have a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. All right, moving down to item 7, Senator English, you're recognized for
Senator Jane English
Unverified
12:06
the hospital Medicaid. thank you the hospital medicaid and developmental disabilities subcommittee
met monday morning to hear the testimony on the following items an update on the reimbursement rates under the living choices assisted living waiver by dhs and integrating the public workforce system the subcommittee met again monday afternoon to review the findings presented by the georgia center for opportunity i move adoption of this report all right thank you Senator. Members, we have a motion. I
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
12:33
have a second. I have a second. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. All right. Let's move
down to item number 10. This is the Occupational Licensing Review. And Senator Flippo, you're
Senator Scott Flippo
Unverified
12:50
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The esteemed and ever influential Occupational Licensing Review Subcommittee met on
Thursday and received reports from various occupational authorization entities in group one. I move adoption of the report. Thank you, Senator. I have a motion on the report. Do I
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
13:05
have a second? I have a second. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Senator Filippo, thank you for your service and serving as vice
chair of that committee. All right. Senator Dismay, you're recognized.
Speaker 41
13:22
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The peer subcommittee
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
13:25
met on Tuesday, January 13th. The subcommittee received reports, reviewed request to improve the following various temporary appropriation American rescue plan act appropriation restricted reserve fund transfers one item in the report was marked as held for the full council g2 and mfg for the department of agriculture making a one or seven million dollar grant to central arkansas water for acquisitions in the central arkansas watershed the hold come came with a request for the department to revise and resubmit the request for the acquisition of properties in
perry county to be removed from consideration the department was unable to resubmit a revised request with that i move for adoption of the report including review of item g2 in its original form okay don't everybody light up at once
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
14:08
going to senator hickey first first of all i need a second on the motion before discussion thank you all right now we're going to discussion i have a substitute motion at
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
14:22
the appropriate time okay senator do you mind if i come back
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
14:27
to you and take some other servers in the queue thank you sir if you if you would just get back in all right senator tucker you're
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
14:35
recognized thank you mr chair i'd like to ask a few questions of ade about the learns money if this is the appropriate
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
14:41
time for that uh it would be the the appropriate
time. Okay. Senator Desmay, would you get back in the queue for a, thank you.
All right. Senator Desmay, do you mind if you withdraw your motion so we can hear discussion from the agency? No, I'll withdraw my motion, but I'd like to
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
15:08
be first in the queue. I will put you back in, then we'll
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
15:11
go to Senator Hickey. Thank you. Thank you, sir. No, I think he meant later. Senator Hickey. You mean later
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
15:23
you're going to come back to me? I will. Thank you, sir. Okay. We had a request for the department.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
15:32
Are they here to take questions? question and members i'll remind you that we heard uh extensive discussion on this so i would ask that our questions be concise and brief and if the department would recognize themselves for the record you may proceed good morning courtney solace ford for the department daryl smith
Speaker 69
16:03
uh arkansas department education greg rogers department education all right going for first to senator tucker for a
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
16:11
question thank you mr chair and thank you thank
you senator dismay just a few questions um i read the newspaper that there's about 43 000 students in arkansas receiving uh efas this year can you break that down
Speaker 67
16:25
for home school and private school for me yes sir there's approximately 28 000 private school students and around 17
Speaker 53
16:32
500 home school students okay thank you when
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
16:34
it comes to expenses for schools a traditional public school a charter
school and a private school I mean their primary expenses are going
to be facilities and personnel right if there's their expenses aren't identical because traditional public schools have transportation and some other things that those don't have but if they were a Venn diagram there would be a lot of overlap between the expenses between if you compare traditional public schools charter schools, and private schools. If there were a Venn diagram for homeschool students with those three, there would be really virtually no overlap. The expenses just aren't the same, and maybe you can educate me about that, but I'm just curious if the department has ever considered
doing an analysis. Right now, the amount of money that a student gets from an EFA for a private school or homeschool is identical down to the penny, and the expenses are not identical down to the penny, right? And so I'm
just curious if y'all have ever considered taking a look at evaluating homeschool expenses independently, given the
Speaker 67
17:34
independent nature of the costs. We can certainly further that evaluation and that analysis, but I would say that there are a number of, I guess, overlap from a curriculum standpoint and educational supplies and instructional
services that are very similar between charter schools, local public schools, and private schools and the home school audience and market can you give me some examples number one curriculum i think in all the supplies that make up a an educational environment for whether it's desk or whiteboards and you know some of the things that go within the classroom um certainly there is transportation cost it's not a bus route but there is a truck cost to go from maybe a provider to provider or
therapy or to other things of that nature so there are there are some similarities not exact certainly to your point there there are some some things that are very unique to the home school population and also to your point i think the further analysis might would be warranted okay okay
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
18:34
thank you i i suppose another distinction would be uh in a more traditional school setting you don't keep the white board for example right and so that's that's just another factor i think to look at. Just one other question. Thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Chair. Um, I wasn't at
pier the other day, but I, I read in the newspaper about an exchange between Senator Love and Ms. Alice Ford about, you know, basically families are on the honor system to some extent when it comes to, uh, accounting of the funds. And my question is to parallel that to the academic accountability. I mean, uh, uh, how are we measuring academic accountability for homeschool students who receive
Speaker 67
19:14
EFA's. So every student that participates in an EFA program is required to submit a norm-referenced test, a standardized test, and so every year for you to renew your application, you have
to submit a test, a standardized recognized nationally recognized test where we can monitor performance in the reading and in math. So we do track academic progress. Okay. All right. Thank
Speaker 72
19:34
you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
19:39
I'm going to Representative Wooten. Again, I'll ask that we keep these questions concise, and if they've already been asked, find another one, please. All right, go on to you,
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
19:51
sir. Representative Wooten, you recognize. First of all, I want to thank you for your assistance, Ms. Board,
with the school readiness program. It accomplished a lot. First question I have is, what percentage of the additional $32 million that you're requesting is going to parents who already are enrolled in a private school? Well, to tell you what percentage of the
Speaker 72
20:26
$32 million is going to that,
I can tell you that, obviously, from our previous question, that about two-thirds of the students that are currently participating in the program are private school students, and about a third of them are homeschooled. So I guess if we wanted to continue that proportion, then I would say probably the $32 million would probably
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
20:49
be split up appropriately. So 42% of the people that are getting the money already have their children in private schools. They were already paying. Is that correct?
Speaker 79
20:59
Well, the $32 million is to account for students who are already in the program, approved, and participating. And so they're all either in private school or home school. If I understand your question, I think you're asking about students who were in private school before they joined the program? Yes. Do you have that number? We
Speaker 72
21:19
don't have that exact number at this time. So how many have started in the program or never participated in the public school? Certainly, as we grab more data and we have more students in the program, we'll be able to have a better answer to your question.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
21:31
Okay. Follow-up question to that. Do y'all still maintain that this is not going to hurt the public schools by taking $309 million out of the tax revenues of the state of Arkansas? What about the other 460,000 children that we have the responsibility in the Constitution of this state to fund and to take care of? And the last time I looked at the RSA, the amount of money for last fiscal year and for this fiscal year was the same.
And I asked the question, are we putting any more money in the public education? And the answer was, well, yes, but they have to do it from funds that they already have on hand. So my question of you, if 1.5% was capped and then we raised it to 3%, why would we have a cap if it wasn't critical to public schools?
Speaker 79
22:36
I will say that we ensure that all students in Arkansas are able to choose the best educational setting for them.
Speaker 84
22:45
These funds are not coming from the public school fund. We are not physically taking any money out of the public school fund and giving it into the EFA program. This legislature, this General Assembly, sets the adequacy amount. They set what amount is appropriate for a public school to receive to educate students. That has been fully funded. That's always fully funded. As far as I know, you all have not decreased that amount or set that amount based on what's going into the EFA program. So to say
that we're stealing or taking away or costing public schools, I would disagree with that. We are funding the program for EFAs separate from public schools, and we're doing that based on the law is written, which right now is open to all students at the equal amount. And that is your decision whether to put that money in there yes we came and we we requested it and we appreciate that because we want to continue this program we want to make sure that all parents and students have the choice for their student that they feel is best but it's not taking money from public
schools you all fully fund the public adequacy fund the public school fund that goes to public schools that you all have determined is the amount that they need so it's if students leave because they have a choice that that's not something we've done we've offered them a choice because we feel they should be able to make that choice for
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
24:08
their students but that's not us costing the public school money but the problem is the
problem is how do you address the federal court demand of adequacy which says we're not putting enough money into public education my recollection of
Speaker 84
24:23
lakeview if that's what you're talking about is not that it wasn't enough money it's that it wasn't equal and adequate system and again they put that responsibility back on the General Assembly to say what does it take for an adequate educational system to be equal across the state you all go through the adequacy process and set that amount you all do that every two years and as far as my experience increase that every two years this last fiscal session it was increased by almost five percent you all determine the adequacy amount and what it takes which
which meets that federal court obligation. The state having a separate system that offers educational freedom accounts for other students doesn't take away from that. All right, Representative Wooten,
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
25:04
I've got others in the queue if you don't mind, sir. Thank you. I have a motion at the appropriate time. I think we're going to have multiple motions, so if you'll hang on to that, sir. Thank you. I'll recognize you at the appropriate time. All right, going to Senator Davis, you're recognized for a question. Members, just so you know, I will go back to Senator Dismang for his motion and then a substitute by Senator Hickey and then whatever other motion her member needs to be
recognized for that motion. So Senator Davis
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
25:32
you're recognized. Thank you Mr. Chair. I'm just going to go over a set of facts that I have based on data I've pulled and my question at the end will be is this accurate? So from my understanding when we look all the way back to 2005 the highest percentage pre-learns that we have committed per pupil to for public school for funding is 2.37 percent that's the largest increase pre-learns that we had made to the adequacy fund for students
since learns in 2023 first of all learns put over 250 million dollars into public schools which is the largest investment in public schools that our state has made in recent history, in the last couple decades. And in 2023, we increased adequacy by 3.22%, which from my understanding is the largest percentage increase that we have given since 2005. And for these next two years in adequacy, we've given 2.48% each year,
which is still larger than the largest percentage increase pre-learns. And what that 2.48% does over two years is protect schools. If schools lost 2.5% of their students every year, just 2.5% saw a decrease, the percentage increase that we're giving them per pupil at the 2.48% means that even though they would have a declining enrollment of 2.5%,
they would see no loss in funding. They would not see a drop in the money that they get from the state for their budget to fund their schools. So when we talk about what we're doing to protect public schools, to ensure that they're funded adequately, we are doing the work to do that. And in the last three years, we have put historic investment of funds into public schools to ensure that even if they're losing students they are not
going to see a drop in funding to ensure that though they're educating fewer students they still have money to make the decisions because we have a funding formula not a spending formula so school boards and superintendents at home in their local communities can make the decisions that they need to make to ensure that students are educated in the manner that best fits the community and the school district that they have. That is my understanding though we continue
to see Arkansas trend nationally, increasing administration, paying six figure salaries instead of maybe hiring more teachers or reading interventionists to make sure that kids can read by the time they're done with third grade. But again we allow them to make those local decisions to determine how they're going to educate kids. So maybe we need to ask some questions of our local school districts and school boards and superintendents about the decisions they're making while they only have less than 35% of kids that are reading by
third grade and when you look at 10th grade scores you see that that same 35% of kids are the ones that can read. No progress is made. No catching up is made. We need to be asking questions of those public school districts what they're doing what changes they're making with the money we are sending them though they may be educating less students because they may have an enrollment drop they are still getting the same amount of funds and we need to ask about the changes they're making to ensure those kids are leaving their schools reading
at grade level so that they can go get a job or go to college or do whatever they want to do when they graduate from a public school so we from my understanding are doing the work to fund our public schools at historic rates never seen in the state of Arkansas except for the last three years. We are doing that work. That's my understanding from these numbers.
Would you agree? 100 percent. Thank you. Thank you
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
29:51
Senator Davis. I think that rivals the question
asked by Senator Johnson which had the record for the longest question in Pierre this week. So thank you. All right. So we've got quite a few people in the queue. I'm going to go first to Representative Collins. You're
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
30:10
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So to that point from Senator Davis, it sounds like what she was saying, and I guess I would also ask, do you agree, is that with this increase in adequacy, that is an increase just to stay flat. That's an increase
to say level, because you're losing students from the public school system due to the EFAs. Therefore, this historic increase in adequacy per pupil, as she said many times, keeps them at about the same level. And so you do all this additional funding per pupil because you have fewer students in the school, the school gets roughly, you know, about the same amount of money. Of course, it's not perfect, but it's the backfill what's being lost because of what we're doing here with the vouchers. So with all this additional money per pupil, keeping things more or less flat,
you end up, you know, plugging more money per pupil about the same overall, and then you have fewer students graduating or leaving, you know, being educated by the school. That's the idea between the two parallel systems that we're paying twice. We're paying for the, you know, per pupil adequacy at a higher rate, roughly the same amount overall, and then we're paying separately efas this 32 million dollars is an additional investment in that that's why it's so much more expensive that's why it's such a budget buster would you agree i assume you wouldn't but
Speaker 79
31:28
would you agree i would not and i'll say i don't want to mischaracterize anything that senator davis said but i think she was saying that at a minimum they are held even because of the increase in foundation funding each year that does account for more things of things are more expensive every year we go along things get more expensive and she was saying they get more per student and so even if they lose students we provide declining enrollment funding and we provide other sources of additional funding to ensure that but if schools are growing they definitely are getting
more money each year because they get growth funding they get all sorts of additional other pots of money that are not in the EFA program the EFA amount is about 90 percent of foundation funding public schools get full foundation funding plus categoricals plus federal funding they get more per almost probably twice per student what is in the efa program and so no i do not agree that that keeps it flat i agree that you all determine what the adequate amount is to educate
students in public schools and we ensure that they have that amount of money to educate those kids thank you and even
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
32:35
without talking about unmet need in in the overall public school system which we could talk about and i think is pretty clearly documented can you tell me you said that if their enrollment is increasing then they're getting more money overall is the public school enrollment increasing in arkansas or decreasing i believe there was a decrease i'm not sure that amount do you have the numbers
Speaker 84
32:59
yeah there was a decrease overall in the public school enrollment this year
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
33:02
okay thank you okay representative wooten is this a question or is this
a motion okay one question sir you're recognized go
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
33:19
ahead thank you my question of you is this and i want to make it perfectly clear to all the private schools that i am not against private schools i love to drive a cadillac i use the i'd love to drive a cadillac But I can't, because I can't afford one.
So I drive a GMC truck. All right? All right. Now, Senator Davis was critical of the public schools. I hadn't heard a word of criticism regarding the private schools and their admission goals that they set and established through their board of directors of each private school. Is it not a fact that the private schools pick and choose who they want to be enrolled in their schools?
Speaker 79
34:08
Is that a fact? I cannot say that that's a fact for every private school. Many of them do have admissions criteria, but I can't say that every private
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
34:20
school out there picks and chooses. Representative, one follow-up to that. You're recognized. Okay,
does that not impact their performance relative to comparing it to the public schools? I can't say that for a
Speaker 102
34:36
fact. It depends on the students that—
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
34:39
Well, you don't want to say it for a fact because it's contrary to what the governor says. No, it's not a fact. And I know where Senator Davis is coming
from, and I know where Senator Bart Hester and the others present. But I'm telling you, we are hurting public schools when we take $309 million for private schools. And Arizona is already up to $600 million. And they started out below that.
And it may be a billion dollars now. And I made this forecast at the time that the bill was passed and introduced. Representative, I'm going to ask you to fine to the end. Let me finish up. I made the projection
then that the money set aside by this body was not adequate to address what we were attempting to do. And I know this is public policy in the nation today, but I'm telling you there's a difference between a private school and a public school
and who they permit to come in to their school. private schools. So there is a difference, a distinct difference. Public schools have to take all who come, all, and rightfully so. Not all, those who live in their district, who
Speaker 79
36:03
they then assign based on where those students live. All right, I have others
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
36:08
in the queue. I'm in this. Thank you, Representative. All right, Senator Davis, one question. Well, I'd like a point of
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
36:18
personal privilege to respond to representative wooten granted thank you very much so i would i would argue representative wooten that we're not hurting public schools we are helping kids we are giving kids and families a choice to decide where and how they want their child to be educated so that that child meets their learning potential my point is that we're talking about funds so that families and students can make that decision. We're not, and we're not talking about failing
public schools. I drive by one every day coming into Little Rock that is a failing school, and they have some of the nicest facilities I've ever seen. And we need to be asking questions. I'm not trying to be critical of all public schools. My point is that we should be asking questions of superintendents and of school boards, particularly of those that are failing, about what they are doing different what changes they are making to ensure that they're not failing the students in their four walls. That's my point. They continue to not
raise reading scores, to let kids fail, to pass them on, and not make changes. They continue to hire administration at a crazy pace that way outpaces the number of students that are in the classroom, but the number of teachers they're hiring compared to student teacher ratio remains flat and that's a problem those are the questions that we need to be asking of public schools when we look at literacy scores and math scores that's what I'm saying we're not hurting public
schools by funding this program that we voted for by the way that fulfills the intent of the law to carry out a program that we overwhelmingly voted to pass we are giving families and students freedom in a choice to decide how they want to be educated to meet their learning potential and I think it's fair for us to ask questions not critical of us but fair of us to ask questions to superintendents and school board members across our state about what
changes they're making to ensure that when kids walk out their door in 12th grade that they can read and get a job and be successful in life and those are the questions i wish we were asking more of in here instead of pounding on a program that we overwhelmingly voted to approve and said that we would
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
38:48
fund thank you thank you senator all right senator petty
for what purpose question okay you're recognized thank you mr chair i
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
38:57
want to ask a question but i want to push back just a little bit uh on what representative wooten said
from personal experience, he made the statement that he felt like maybe this going to private school might affect their success or otherwise in terms of their grades and so forth, and I'm just kind of speculating there, but wouldn't it also be the same situation, for example, in my situation, I have a family member that was struggling in public school, and they took her out put her in homeschool for a few years and and then she went back into public school
and was successful from that point on would she not have been causing the the success or failure of the public school by virtue of the number of students not at level grade level or math level or reading level or whatever the same way as those that are coming out of private I mean out of public school to private school might affect on the on the top end you you're
Speaker 107
40:09
looking at me like maybe I didn't clarify that question yeah
Speaker 79
40:13
I'm not sure exactly um if I'm going to answer this
correctly but I would say that school districts are required to educate all of the students that they have whether that's five or 500 if a student leaving affects the education of the other students in that school I'm not sure why that would like
Speaker 108
40:30
you said parents should be able to make that best choice for their student if they're not being successful in the local public school maybe it's another public school maybe it's a private school maybe it's home school the school is still responsible for educating all of the students there and one student leaving or
five students leaving should not impact that school district i agree
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
40:54
and just just to kind of clarify because that was kind of a wordy question in a simple not real example if we had two students in a public school and one of them was not reading at grade level and she left then and the other one was then they would be reading at 100 at grade level as opposed to 50 percent at grade level
Speaker 79
41:13
yes obviously the their scores are going to reflect the students that they have and so if a student is struggling that's going to reflect in
their grade if a student is successful that's going to reflect in their grade if the students who are struggling leave then yes that could make it look like the school is is more successful than they would be with that student there
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
41:34
thank you okay thank you members for sake of time I'm going back to senator dismaying who I think has to has another commitment to make the motion there'll a substitute i presume by senator hickey and then i will have further discussion senator dismay you're recognized thank you uh mr chairman i move for adoption
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
41:53
item g2 in its original form all right i have a motion in a second i'm going to senator hickey
Chair
Unverified
42:04
you're recognized thank you mr chair i have a substitute motion let's hear
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
42:08
your substitute sir okay that motion is to review item c1 separately and adopt the remainder of the report and i
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
42:14
would like to have discussion on it all right so we have substitute motion do we have a second all right we have a second let's hear discussion who wants to be recognized
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
42:24
we recognize uh members i understand that the easy part may just be to uh lump this into the report may be easy for some of you who really want to kind of ride the fence on it because it's a very controversial subject from my standpoint here we've got members in here that you hear that in here that you've already heard from they feel like that it affects their public schools that's their right to feel that way their constituents feel that way there are other members in here that know that an amount of approximately of a third of a billion a year
annually that it does have to affect the amount of tax cuts that we can do which is also you know a big priority for a large part of this body and for however you feel and from what you've seen, the structure of this is not correct. I understand that parents and individuals want another option for education, but the thing is, as we've seen some of the items and the way that it's structured, again, that it is ripe for fraud and other things, so there needs to be a lot of
work done on that part. So again, I would ask that you allow us that want to vote this separately to do so it's been very controversial been in the court systems uh you vote how you want and then you go back to your constituents and uh prove that up but i'd like to vote it separately thank you all right thank
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
43:53
you senator uh representative wooten do you have discussion on the substitute motion yes
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
44:01
i do but i won't point a personal privilege to respond to senator davis i will
allow it briefly thank you sir you speak in favor of public schools and then you criticize them talking about putting it back on the superintendents and the school boards and then you criticize the superintendents for the salaries that they make then you criticize the schools for not turning out people reading at grade level, and then you talk about how
good private schools are, and I have no criticism of private schools, but I'm telling you, there's a lot more to this than a school board and a superintendent can solve. It starts with the governor's office, and I do not agree with the way they're set up, and I agree with Senator Hickey it's ripe for fraud and this is what you get when you unfetter they're not
they're not fettered out to make the responsibility and the expenditures that they've made in the homeschools and I'm not against homeschooling and I'm not against private schools I want to make that perfectly clear But we're a poor state, and we can't afford situations and circumstances where money is misused by those who participate in a state program.
We won't tolerate that in a public agency, and we won't tolerate that or shouldn't tolerate that in private schools. and the Department of Education has done everything they can to delay the implementation of the rules that
would apply. And then there's been an outpouring of support from home schools and from private schools relative
to not imposing the rules and regulations on the money that goes.
We have to answer. You make the point, Senator Davis, that public schools have to respond. And we're doing the best that we can. And I say we because my constituents love their public school system. They're in favor of the school board and the superintendents in the area that I represent. And I take it as a personal affront when you sit there and criticize the public schools.
It's totally uncalled for. And it's unrealistic to expect us to take every person who comes to the door. I don't care what the department says. Every person that comes to the door is accepted in a public school and has to be, and rightfully so. But that's not the same situation in private schools. My motion is to take the $32 million out for further investigation and further look into from the fraud standpoint.
And then also from the fact that we have a cap set at 3% of the schools. and my point being in the motion that I make to extract this $32 million out is the fact that the public schools are being denied access to $309 million, and I don't care how you cut it, and I was director of DFA for several years, and I'm telling you, any money we take out and divert away from the public schools is going to impact.
And we've had 8% inflation, and nothing in the budget has ever reflected that, nothing in the school money and allocation. So that's my motion to extract the $32 million out, Mr. Chairman. All right, Representative, really quick. And for
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
48:18
our students in the audience, congratulations, you're getting to watch parliamentary procedure in action. So, Representative, you just made a substitute to a substitute. No more substitute motions are allowed at this time.
So I'm going to ask you to restate your substitute, and then I'm going to ask if there is a second for that substitute. So would
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
48:39
you restate that? My motion is that we extract the $32 million out in A1 and again in C1. Okay, do we have a second? Let's hear your point of order. Is
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
48:59
the representative still under personal privilege, or is he now back in the regular meeting?
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
49:03
When he made his motion, it became a live motion. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have a second for the substitute, to the substitute? We have a second to the substitute. We are now open for discussion on the substitute to
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
49:21
the substitute. You're recognized, Senator Irvin. Could we just get a clarification between what the two motions are, because they seem to be the same, but I think Senator Hickey's, correct me if I'm wrong, Senator Hickey's motion was to just have a separate vote on those items, is that correct?
But Representative Wooten's motion was to hold. That's correct, Senator, and
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
49:43
they are different, therefore they are substitute motions. So I would say
that we're about to take up a vote on Representative Wooten's substitute to the substitute, which would then revert back to the initial motion. No, it would go back to Senator Hickey. Sorry, it goes back to Senator Hickey. Okay. All right. So, any discussion on this substitute?
Speaker 61
50:12
Representative Rose. Thank you. With regards to the substitute substitute by Representative Wooten,
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
50:19
I'll be voting no on that substitute motion. My belief is that we need to stop characterizing children and families who are making the best education decisions for themselves in a negative light. Providing options for students and families to be in the best educational setting for them is a good thing for our Kansans. It's a good thing for families. It's a good thing for kids. And for us to characterize it as a bad thing, I think,
is a mistake. And so I'll be voting no on this, and I encourage
Chair
Unverified
50:53
you to do the same. Thank you. All right, Representative Beatty, you're recognized for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I sit here, and
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
51:01
I guess a little scripture pops in mind, Proverbs 26, 4 and 5. If you're familiar with that, you know what that scripture is. My point is I'll be voting against the substitute substitute because I think when we passed learns there was adequate discussion. And this is nothing, maybe you've got a little buyer's remorse
because the price tag is going to be a little high. But we owe it to the folks after we pass that legislation and we promise these EFAs and we promise the parental control to our parents to educate students. I just wish we could have as much of a lively discussion in this body about the outcomes that our students face in public education as we do about the spending of a dollar. So I'm more concerned about the outcome for those students, and I know my colleagues are as well. buyer's remorse. I'm not going to re-litigate something that this body passed overwhelmingly,
just because the price is going to be a little high. So I'll be voting no on the substitute substitute,
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
52:00
and I encourage my colleagues to do the same. Thank you, Representative. Senator Dismang, is this discussion on the substitute? Okay. So we're going to Representative Collins. You're recognized for discussion on the
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
52:11
substitute to the substitute. Just real briefly, I don't think we should look past
the cost here. The cost is really the thing we're talking about. This is 32 million additional dollars into this this is a money pit and with any welfare program once you
start it's very hard to to put that genie back in the bottle and roll it back and that's exactly what this is the more we spend the harder it's going to be to ever cut in the future so we can hold the line now or we can throw more money at it but if we throw more money at it we're not going to get a chance to
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
52:48
roll that back very easily so i'm a yes on this motion all right thank
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
52:53
you senator flowers you're recognized for discussion on the substitute to substitute thank you mr chair i'm in support of the substitute to the substitute and i'll try to briefly explain why
You know, in my district, we've had many schools, districts, that have not just one time been under state control, but many times. And we've lost some school districts after state control. They've been consolidated to schools that have been under state control, which has never made any sense to me.
But my point, one, is that the Department of Education seems to have a pretty good track record of failing public schools in the beginning. And you can go back, look at the history of Arkansas, even with the Constitution providing for certain types of schools and how they should be provided, to whom they should be provided, and the funding that goes with it that's set by the legislature.
And I always want to say, after this year serving on the education committee on the Senate side and becoming a little bit more familiar with issues and problems that are not just in my district, but all over the state of Arkansas. So you can see little pockets of districts that are having some significant issues financially, such as transportation costs.
When I discovered in the education committee this past year that some school districts were getting some type of enhanced transportation funding for having to drive buses to and fro a certain distance Then you go to other districts that are driving even further, like the district we went up to earlier since the end of the session.
I forgot the name of that place, Judsonia, or somewhere near there. They're having problems. I think it's White County School District having problems getting funding. They're spending money that they are not appropriated for by the legislature for this transportation cost of their students getting to and from schools and then all the activities that go with school districts and the events of school districts.
My issue is this. I had another superintendent talk about resources for students that are underperforming. And what are we doing with that? We're not giving funding for persons who are assisting with individuals that might have disabilities or just mentors and that kind of thing. Then I have issues with the types of programs recommended even by the Department of Education
for school districts that are having problems with student achievement. It's an unbalanced, it's an unfair system as I see it. And looking back over the history of Arkansas and how they dealt with schools, particularly school districts in my district. And then the other day, I think it was last night or the night before, I'm looking at the news and see the commissioner of education on television
talking about two-thirds of third graders in the state of Arkansas can't read on grade level. But then I'm thinking about just a few weeks ago or a month ago, What school districts are on the F list, on the failing list? And could all of the two-thirds, could two-thirds of the student population in Arkansas just be in my district with the schools that are failing?
And these are predominantly minority districts. Now, something's wrong here. But I know that in my district, since I've been in the legislature for a long time, since 2005, there's always a big issue with failing students in these certain districts that happen to be majority-minority districts. I got a problem with that.
But when I heard the commissioner's response the other day on television, about two-thirds of the kids can't read in the third grade at grade level. They can't be all in my district, so they've got to be other places in Arkansas. And across the state, as I've traveled, I've met students, teachers, And it can't be so that all of them that are failing, not meeting performance standards, are just these minority school districts.
Where's the money to bring in more teachers that are qualified? We made a raise in learns for all the teachers to be at a certain minimum salary. But when you
got districts that have high poverty, you get, for lack
of a better phrase, blacklisted because you're from a minority community. I've even had my constituents tell me some legislators talk about some of the areas of my district and ask the constituent, why do you live there?
Well, I live there because I know the potential of my district and the potential of all children. And we're not treating them fairly. And you want to run them all into a home school or a private school, that's all well and fine. But the tax dollars shouldn't have to be paying for
it. And that's why I'm supporting the motion. Thank you,
Speaker 130
59:39
Senator. Thank you, Senator. The substitute to the substitute. To the substitute. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
59:46
You you get it. I appreciate it. All right going to Senator Blake Johnson. You're recognized for discussion, and I hope it's brief senator
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
59:53
Thank you chairman. Hmm. I will not be supporting and substitute the substitute There's been allegations of fraud and abuse of public funds As I sit multiple times on the education committee in the Senate and I've said on the educational institution Audit committee And that's not allegations. Those abuses of public funds happen every meeting on a list in that committee
of fraud and abuse with our public funds in our public schools. This is a brand-new program. Arkansas is spending more on education, private, home, and public, than it ever has. And I'm tired of being 48th or 49th in education. And we've done work in dyslexia whenever I was on that. We're putting money to literacy coaches.
And the children of Arkansas in the future in this program and our public that we're responsible in the Constitution are going to be educated better than they ever have in the state of Arkansas. And it's just now beginning. And we've set aside these funds, and we need to support this system because it's about the kids. It's not about an institution of public education. It's about the education of the students of the state of Arkansas. Thank you, Chairman.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:01:28
All right. Thank you, Senator. Senator Dotson, you are the last one in the queue, and I will not take any
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:01:35
more after you. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted, before we vote, wanted to clarify something that this is my understanding of it. These funds and this allocation, as I understand it, are for fully funding this school year's funds. So if you choose not to support the program, I understand. I mean, there's been a lot of debate back and forth about that.
If you want to run a bill in the next legislative session to abolish it, I'll hear that in Education Committee most likely. I won't support it, but we'll have that argument, that debate, that policy debate. What we're talking about here is funding existing promises that we have made to the students of Arkansas. We're not talking about public schools. We're not talking about private schools. We're not talking about homeschools. We're talking about students. The way the allocation of funds goes out the door, the department sends out the allocation in four quarterly installments.
So if the total funding for this school year is a little over $300 million, this represents about 10%. So what we're talking about, and I don't know how the department will try to figure this out if we don't fully fund these accounts, but we're talking about that final quarterly installment for these funds, maybe going across the board, a 10% of the total promise that this legislative body made to these students when we said sign up for this program, we'll fund these accounts for you to be able to pay for
tuition, pay for books, pay for curriculum, pay for all the things that are necessary for the education of that student. So a vote against this is hurting students. It's not funding public schools. It's not defunding public schools. There is not one penny less or more that a public school will receive based off this vote. But if we do not fully fund this, this will damage the educational ability, the ability of parents to fund their students' education for the remainder
of this school year. Let's have the debate next year on whether or not you want to fund the program. We'll talk about funding it in the fiscal session fully for the next year. But for this particular vote and this appropriation, I would encourage you to vote for the appropriation when we get to it and against this substitute to the substitute. And that's all I have to
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:04:13
say. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Senator. So we're to the voting portion of the substitute to the
substitute made by Representative Wooten. I will ask all in favor say aye. Any opposed? No. No's clearly have it. Thank you, Representative Wooten. Going back to Senator Hickey, you're recognized. Yes, sir.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
1:04:32
Just a clarification on my motion. My motion is merely to vote it separately, but I do want to make one clarification. During the peer subcommittee, there is a review item that we did not review. Senator Discman was including that in his report, which is G2 as it relates to
the agricultural funds. My motion would be also to include that review. So in other words, we would be adopting everything in the report, including that review item on the agriculture, which was not, but just pulling out and voting the EFA funds
separately. Thank you, Senator. And I think that was clear to the chair and I thank you for
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:05:10
clarifying to the members. All right. So we have, we already have a motion to second on this substitute to Senator Dismang's original motion. Are there any discussion? Is there any discussion on this motion? All right. Seeing none, all in
favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. No's have it. Back to Senator Dismang. Restate your motion, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
1:05:36
for adoption of the report, including review of item G2 in its original form.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:05:40
I have a motion. I have a second. Discussion on the motion? I see Representative Bentley, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman.
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:05:48
This is just a quick question for Senator Dismaine. I had asked for that review, and Senator Brian Davis had asked for that motion. I have not had
any response from anyone on why we're not able to pull that so i would like you to explain to me why they cannot pull perry county out from there since no one contacted me and let me know why we can't pull perry county out i'd ask since i can't bring the department up here do you or anyone on here have an explanation of why they
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:06:17
did not could not okay senator disming i also have representative eubanks who may also be able to help answer that question but i'll go to
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
1:06:25
you first yeah i mean i was not part of that discussion my understanding was that you were, so I can't answer that question.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:06:31
Okay, I'm going to go to Robson of
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
1:06:37
Eubanks for discussion. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. These legacy federal grants are very competitive, and I think it's my understanding that there was only 10 in the whole country that were awarded, and they score these different grants. And it is my understanding, when the department went to the Department of Ag, that the portion that is in Perry County is actually,
the reason it was scored so well is it connects that trail. I can't recall the name of the trail, but it connects that trail. And that's why this particular grant was scored so high. So by taking that portion out, it would diminish the opportunity to qualify for this grant. I would just like one quick
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:07:29
follow-up, and I appreciate that response. I'll just say that this would be looking for future legislation to make sure any future grants like this,
that the Department of Agriculture does reach out to every county that's involved in this and that the Quorum Court and the local people are at least able to be aware of the situation and have some input on it, because I'm just, this is the fourth grant out of Perry County, and the only reason that we heard it here is because they didn't have enough appropriation in the Department of Agricultural's fund to go through without us being involved. I think it's very important, and this committee is very important. So I just would state that I'll make sure that we have PESM legislation to make sure that we are more involved in the future as are the local government.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:08:08
So thank you, Chairman. I appreciate that. Thank you, Representative. I have no more people in the queue for discussion, So I will call for a vote. All in favor on the motion to review or to accept the report, rather, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Ayes have it. All right. Thank you. That was fun and informative. I hope our students enjoyed that. Moving along to F-12, the review report. I think we have Senator Johnson ready to give that.
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:08:41
You're recognized, Senator Johnson. - Thank you, Chairman. Reviews subcommittee met on Tuesday and reviewed the method of finance, one alternative delivery method, construction project, discretionary grants, and services grants, and received regular monthly reports and one emergency action report. Mr. Chair, I move the adoption of this report including a review of the methods of finance, alternative delivery method, construction project, procurement, discretionary grants, and contracts as presented. - All right, I have a motion.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:09:12
Do I have a second? I have a second. Senator Tucker, you were recognized for discussion. Thank you,
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
1:09:19
Mr. Chair. I'd just like to ask DF&A a couple questions on the
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:09:23
BDO contract, if I can. All right. Senator, we are
Speaker 139
1:09:28
in the discussion portion of this. Well, I lit up. I'm sorry? I
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:09:32
lit up as soon as I could. Well, I understand it was in the middle of a motion being made. I will ask Senator Johnson if he would so wish to pull his motion,
and then I will bring them up. But, Senator Tucker, I will ask that we be very brief since we spent so much time on the previous. Senator Johnson, will you pull it first? I'll pull my motion, so Senator Tucker can. All right, I will come to you first. Senator Tucker,
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
1:09:59
who would you like at the table? Just whoever knows the
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:10:01
most about the VDO contract. All right. Looks like we have Secretary Hudson. And if you would, sir, recognize yourself for the record, and you may proceed and answer the questions from Senator
Speaker 145
1:10:11
Tucker. Yes, sir. Good morning, Committee Jim Hudson, Secretary of DFA.
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
1:10:15
Good morning, Senator. Good morning, Secretary Hudson. Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be
brief. I was out of town at review the other day, but this is such an important thing. I think it would be beneficial for the membership to hear the answer to my question anyway. Can you just kind of explain what their plan is? And I just never heard if the money that came down from the feds, if it's earmarked for particular programs or if we're going to have discretion over how it's distributed. I just kind of want to know the general plan for
what this group is going to do and how that money is going to be distributed in the state.
Speaker 145
1:10:47
Well, those are actually really two different things. You know, the HORN or BDO contract is really administering the program. It is to be the program management office for the Rural Health Transformation Program itself. And so they'll stand up the program. They'll establish websites. They'll have grant submission systems for people who are applying for the grants. They will run it on a day-to-day basis just outsourcing all the administration to them. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
1:11:17
I thought you were finished. Who's going to make the decision about
Speaker 145
1:11:21
where the grants go? Ultimately, the funding will have to be consistent with the application that is submitted. It was submitted by the state of Arkansas. It will go through an appropriation process. It will come here for the funds to be appropriated. We'll explain to you the method for how we're going to distribute it. You'll give us appropriation. There will be a group really within DFA, DHS, Department of Health, who will review those applications and ultimately make the funding decisions.
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
1:11:49
Okay. That's very helpful. So generally speaking, I think the most important thing that you said is that the way the money will be spent has to be consistent with what was in the application. Correct. And so when it came back, did it say X percent goes to this program or not, or basically just you have to be consistent with the manner in which you applied? We have
Speaker 145
1:12:09
to lease the money consistent with what our plan is, yes. Okay. All right.
Speaker 50
1:12:12
Thanks. That's all I've got. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Senator
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:12:16
Tucker. Senator Johnson, coming back to you for your motion.
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:12:21
Tell that again. If you would, since it was withdrawn. review subcommittee met on tuesday and reviewed the method of finance one alternative delivery method of construction project discretionary grants and services contracts and received regular monthly reports and one emergency action report mr chair i move the adoption of this report including a review of method of finance alternative delivery method construction project procurement discretionary grants and contracts as presented thank you
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:12:52
senator i've motioned i have a second
I have a second. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Moving on to item 13, Senator Petty. You are
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
1:13:10
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The State Insurance Programs Oversight Subcommittee met on Wednesday. The subcommittee reviewed the Office of Property Risk, RFQ, for Financial Audit Services. I move for adoption of this lengthy
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:13:22
report. Thank you, sir. i have a motion i have a second uh any discussion seeing none all in favor say aye any opposed
eyes have it moving on to item 14 senator davis if you would you're recognized thank you
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:13:38
mr chair the personnel subcommittee met on wednesday january 14th and approved the requests listed in the report as items one two and three the committee also reviewed the listed reports Happy to answer any questions and move to adopt the report at the proper
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:13:53
time. Thank you, Senator. I have a motion. I have a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Any opposed?
Ayes have it. Okay. We are now moving to item H. And under item H, we have item number one, a motion to file as reviewed the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System. request to review investment summaries. I entertain a motion. I have a motion. I have a second. Senator Hammer, is there a discussion on this? Okay. All right. So I have a motion. I have a second. No discussion. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. All right. Moving down
to item number three, we have a presentation of report. Senator Hammer, is this the one that you have questions on?
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
1:14:45
Yes, sir. Sorry. Yes, sir. Just a couple quick ones, if you don't mind, for the department.
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:14:50
Okay. With that, would the department please come to the table? And again, I would ask that we move expeditiously and be brief. It'll be short. Thank you.
Speaker 153
1:14:58
The insurance. And they're at the table. If you would
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:15:02
recognize yourself for the record, you may proceed with answering whatever questions Senator Hammer has. Good morning. Daniel Holland, Insurance
Speaker 156
1:15:09
Department. Jimmy Harris, Insurance Commissioner, AID. Thank you. Just
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
1:15:16
record, on Act 350, the payment for timely payment was 714 days, and then there would be a 12% per 12% interest payment that would be due if it wasn't paid, 30 days if it's paper. Have you all collected any interest payments from any late charges that you've been able to substantiate through your investigation? No, not at this point.
Speaker 155
1:15:39
That's the rule draft that we're working on. That's a pretty specific kind of statute
Speaker 158
1:15:43
and I think a lot of the the PBMs and the pharmacies frankly are waiting on the rule draft But now we haven't collected any of that. What's the time frame on
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
1:15:53
the rule draft that you're going to get it for us?
Speaker 158
1:15:56
We should have our our final draft done. I would say within the month of January And then at that point it'll it'll be up for review So this month you ought to
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
1:16:06
have it out to where it could be in front of rules in February
yeah i think so yes sir okay and then the second thing rule 128 just a quick snapshot where
Speaker 158
1:16:18
you on just real quick uh yes we've got the next round of reporting coming in march uh we're going to look at that specifically for those deficient plans that we've discussed uh see if there was any upward movement there um and then that's going to give us kind of a final idea now that everybody knows what's happening with rule 128 and the corrective action plans have been done So hopefully we see some better numbers and less deficient plans than we did last time, but we'll find out in March.
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
1:16:43
So you think February will show some real movement on the department's position on getting this moving because it's been out there for about 16 months. I know we've been waiting on reports and everything, but you think it'd be fair to say next month when you come from us, you're going to be able to have enough data
Speaker 159
1:17:01
to make a significant move on enforcing it? Probably
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
1:17:05
not next month. I would say the following
Speaker 158
1:17:08
month. So March, we could bet on March? We'll get the data in on March the 1st. We will have to review it, categorize it,
figure out how many plans are deficient below NADAC. A conservative estimate, probably results of the March reports, we'd probably be able to give that in April. Okay, well, offline. Thank you. Thank
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:17:27
you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Senator. Thank you, gentlemen. I want to follow up real quick.
Speaker 157
1:17:33
I'm sorry, excuse me. the rule question that's going
Speaker 162
1:17:35
to have to go through blr to that approval so it's probably not going to be this month it's got to go through the approval processes before it comes before you
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
1:17:46
for approval thank you gentlemen all right see no other discussion i'll hear we're going to take a vote all in favor of accepting this report well actually we don't need its presentation so we're We're going to move right along to item 3B. I do have a motion to approve the Arkansas Economic Development Commission Rural Services block grant funding. Any discussion? Any questions?
I'll take a motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I have a second. I see no discussion on this. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Going on down to item number five, Division of Environmental Quality. I'll entertain a motion to file as reviewed. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I have a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Moving on to item number 8B, Division of Parks.
I'll entertain a motion to file as reviewed. I have a motion. I have a second. I have a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? as have it. Members, I appreciate that. I think that brings us to the end of the meeting. Thank you very much. Have a good weekend. We are adjourned.
Agenda
A. Call to Order.
B. Roll Call.
C. Approval of the Minutes of the Last Meeting, December 19, 2025.
D. Presentation of the December 2025 Revenue Report – Dr. Carlos Silva, Legislative Economist
E. Report of the Executive Subcommittee — Sen. Ben Gilmore, Rep. Les D. Eaves, Co-Chairs
F. Reports of Standing Subcommittees:
G. Reports of Interim or Special Committees: (none)
H. Review of Communications:
I. New Business: (none)
J. New Interim Study Proposals and Interim Resolutions: (none)
K. Business Carried Over: (none)
L. Adjournment.
Documents
Speakers
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
Speaker 23
Senator Scott Flippo
Unverified
Representative Les Warren
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Representative Les D. Eaves
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Representative Tara Shephard
Unverified
Senator Jane English
Unverified
Speaker 41
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
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Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
Speaker 69
Speaker 67
Speaker 53
Speaker 72
Speaker 79
Speaker 84
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
Speaker 102
Senator Jim Petty
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Speaker 107
Speaker 108
Chair
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Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Speaker 61
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
Speaker 130
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
Representative Mary Bentley
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Representative Jon S. Eubanks
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Speaker 139
Speaker 145
Speaker 50
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 153
Speaker 156
Speaker 34
Speaker 155
Speaker 158
Speaker 159
Speaker 157
Speaker 162