ALC - Occupational Licensing Review Subcommittee
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- October 4, 2026
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
0:00
mr. co-chair do you have any comments i just want to take a second to recognize today is constitution day it was signed on september 17th 1787 helping to establish us as currently the oldest and sometimes miraculously the most stable government currently in existence so Just wanted to acknowledge at us today. Thank you, sir
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
0:32
with that we'll get started and We'll start with the state plant board Good afternoon
Speaker 9
0:50
if you all would identify yourselves Yes, sir, Cory seats Arkansas Department of Agriculture state plant board
Speaker 9
1:09
Department of Agriculture. Okay, and you all may proceed. Thank you, sir. We are here today for three occupational licenses. Actually, it's two. There are three on the agenda, but the third Lime vendor
Chair
Unverified
1:27
was repealed by Act 557 of 2021. So that license is actually not in effect now.
The remaining two are agricultural consultant licenses and grain dealer licenses. With
Speaker 9
1:43
regards to ag consultants, this license was created by Arkansas Code Annotated 1713-101 at SEC in 1987. The legislature in that act recognized that the agriculture community should have a choice in seeking the advice of whomever they choose regarding control of pests, plant pathogens, weeds, or the use of fertilizer, lime, or micronutrients,
but also recognized the benefit of having a mechanism whereby persons licensed by the state plant board as agricultural consultants may thereby hold themselves out as a licensed agricultural consultant. And it's that license that we are the first one that we're here for today. currently there are 100 well for 2026 there were 184 licensees and
Chair
Unverified
2:47
by having the required educational or experience background along with a period of continuing education required every two years they may maintain themselves out as an agricultural consultant and charge a fee for their service members are there any questions my
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:13
co-chair thank you mr. so I pretty much asked this question of everyone who presents before us
what is the current state of the career do we have enough people performing these duties do we need Do you have more, less, and if so, are y'all doing anything to promote more folks to take up this occupation?
Chair
Unverified
3:38
I would say our current status is adequate. We generally don't vary too far from the number we have right now, and I've been not made aware of any need for an increased number of people out there as an ag consultant.
Okay, awesome. Thank you. Members are
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
4:01
there any other questions seeing none without objections this report stands as reviewed the
Speaker 9
4:07
second license is for grain dealers this license was created by the arkansas grain dealers act from 2015 codified arkansas code annotated 224-101 at sec it requires grain dealers to obtain a license from the plant board before entering into contracts for the purchase of grain
these licenses are are issued to business entities and are issued to dealers in grain which are defined by statute as corn wheat oats barley
Chair
Unverified
4:40
rye rice sorghum soybeans and oilseed members any questions senator johnson sir
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
5:02
mr chairman uh gentlemen thank you for this i was
curious when we have these these special revenues and this particular license is is eight hundred dollars a year uh where does what is done with that revenue i know it's special revenue for something
Chair
Unverified
5:22
well with regards to this license it goes directly toward the costs of maintaining the people within the department of agriculture that monitor the program conduct the audits receive the reports that sort
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
5:37
uh gain data that the department uses for a myriad of purposes the license itself sir no the fee oh yes sir okay so it's not just to to i mean i i see these these regulatory things i want to make sure it's just not a circle well we collect money to to regulate you but main thing we do is collect the money and but this covers other grain related and commodity related things that
your department the department of agriculture does i
Chair
Unverified
6:10
would say specifically it goes directly toward these grain dealers uh there is a very long story about how this uh licensing procedure and this act came about but it is to ensure that grain dealers don't receive grain from farmers there is generally a period of time between when the dealer receives the grain and when the farmers
are paid for the grain and there have been situations both in Arkansas and other states where somewhere between those two events, the dealer goes under and the farmer is left without being paid for the grain that he sent. And a lot of small businesses deal
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
6:59
with that problem at one level or another. So thank you for that. I just wanted to make sure. I'm sensitive to the fact that everything we do regulatory-wise has a real purpose
and not just to perpetuate the system, so to speak. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members, are there any other questions? Seeing none, without objection, this report stands as reviewed.
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
7:33
Thank you, sir. And gentlemen, thank you all for being here today. Thank you, sir.
Next we have the Department of Health engineering section And if you
Speaker 34
8:06
would please introduce yourselves Good afternoon members. Thank you for allowing us to be here. Charles Thompson attorney Arkansas Department of Health. Theresa
Speaker 35
8:15
Lee, engineer, Department of Health. Craig Smith, attorney for
Speaker 39
8:19
Arkansas Department of Health. Thank you, and you all may proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are
Speaker 41
8:27
presenting two licenses under this report, water distribution operators and water treatment operators. Distribution operators are water system operators that deal with water distribution systems and facilities treatment operators obviously for treatment facilities water system operators are necessary to ensure the safety quality and quantity of water that are dispersed
in public water systems these licenses are required under the federal safe drinking water act and so with that open to any questions my co-chair
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
9:06
yeah good afternoon thank you for being here um so just kind of like i did with the previous um where are we at with having enough uh individuals to perform these duties across the state obviously water is a major issue that we're all are concerned about i know in some of the rural
areas that I represent they've been having trouble getting you know folks to that have these qualifications to come work within their water system so where are we at with this occupation and are we doing anything to
try to promote uh you know more of this in the state
Speaker 35
9:42
if there is a need yes sir you're correct we um do have problems in the rural areas and there is also a large number of water operators that are retiring right now. We have programs at some of the
community colleges and Central Arkansas Water has an internship program and of course our training academy, SAU tries to promote it. Okay, so we do have a pipeline where we're trying to mentor
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
10:09
the next generation it sounds like. Alright, thank you. Representative Bick? sir you're recognized thank you mr.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
10:23
chair and this may be a question that we
can talk about out offline I guess but the the
operators this is not so much about the operator themselves but how does are the systems actually I'm assuming they're the ones responsible for the quality of the water is there a routine checking of the water systems to make sure they are delivering yes sir we routinely sample the systems
Speaker 35
10:51
and we inspect them every two to three years and the funding for that is part
Speaker 35
11:03
this license or not part of it is through the 40 cent a month fee that everyone pays on their water bill and then we also get federal money okay just
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
11:13
a one quick question. Go ahead, sir. And the frequency of that roughly would be, I'm not sure it's not set in stone, but like you would check a system twice a year? We physically inspect the systems
Speaker 35
11:28
every two to three years, depending on the size, but we're also available all the time to make technical assistance visits if they need it or if we know of a concern. All
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
11:43
right, thank you. Members are there any other questions Seeing none without objection this report stands as reviewed. Thank you all for being here today. Thank you committee Next we have the Arkansas professional bill bondsman's license board
You all who we call when we get in trouble right if you will
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
12:20
please identify yourself Lacey Kirchner counsel for the Department of
Speaker 63
12:25
Labor and Licensing Paul Burnett director of the Arkansas professional licensing
Speaker 64
12:31
may proceed thank you mr. chairman we submitted this report with the clarification between the business fees and the transfer agent fees and with that we're happy to answer
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
12:40
any questions members are there any questions my co-chair so just like the previous for this occupation do we have enough folks that are licensed bail bondsman I guess would be the appropriate term and do we need more or less how is this occupation faring in the
Speaker 64
13:05
state right now Yes, Mr. Co-Chair, we are actually good, and on average we're averaging about two to three new agents a week.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
13:13
A week? A month. A month, okay. I was going to say, that's a
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
13:20
that. I'm sorry, a month, but yes, I think we're good. Okay. And then fees collected, looks like you're collecting about a little over half a million dollars every year and annual expenses roughly $100,000 less than that. Is that basically going to employees, or what are we spending the $400,000
Speaker 64
13:37
on? No, sir, co-chair. It actually goes to, yes, it goes to our operations, but the other part goes to domestic abuse and domestic peace funds
for the Child Abuse, Rape, Domestic Violence Commission. So that's where the rest of the funds go, sir.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
13:52
Okay, so you use just what you need, and then the rest gets transferred over
Chair
Unverified
14:00
there. Yes, sir. All right, thank you. Representative Gonzales,
Gordon Watkins
Unverified
14:04
you recognize her? Thank you, Mr. Chair. How much are you all transferring
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
14:11
over to the Domestic Peace Fund? It roughly estimates, too, and our finance department does it, so it roughly estimates about 75% of what we take in through the fees and fines.
We can only keep enough to keep our personnel and maintenance and operations up and running. Everything else gets transferred over. So, sorry, I will get back with you with that number exactly. That one I don't have in front of me. That's good enough. Do you know
Gordon Watkins
Unverified
14:36
if that, is that 100% of their funding, or do you know what it is? I do not know on that one. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Members, are there any other questions?
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
14:56
With that objection, this report stands as reviewed. Thank you all for being here today Members we don't know yet, but we think there will not be a meeting in October, but we'll find out after I think a LC tomorrow So with that, thank you all for being here and we are adjourned
Agenda
A. Call to Order
B. Comments by the Co-Chairs
C. Review of Occupational Authorization Entities:
D. Other Business
E. Adjournment
Documents
Speakers
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 9
Speaker 11
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 9
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 9
Chair
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 9
Chair
Unverified
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Speaker 9
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 28
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 34
Speaker 35
Speaker 39
Speaker 41
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 35
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 35
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 35
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 35
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
Speaker 63
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 64
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 64
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 63
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 64
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Gordon Watkins
Unverified
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
Gordon Watkins
Unverified
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified