Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development- House

Bill. Is there anyone. Representative Stan Berry will you go to the end of the table there's somebody who can join you at the end of the table that can help you with the bill. I just keep picking on you because you're at the end of the table. Please introduce yourself for the record and then you may proceed. Thank you madam chair Stan Berry. And I have with me with Wharton who looked at a fund set up thank you. Yes ma'am what's for from the Arkansas department of culture you may president Mr secretary ward. Thank you ma'am and and I do want to say thank you to represent very for office or work on the on this. This one is a bill from St Irvin very very simply it's it's just a clean up bill for unpaid roads when when transmission efficiencies Act happen but moved from the role Services Division to natural resources which is part of the Department so this just cleaned up some language to make it easier to administer the rules in the programs and and distribute funding for FOR them Pedro program in Arkansas. Are there any questions. Seeing no questions is there anybody here to speak for the bill. Against the bill what's the will of the committee. Motion to pass from representative in it. Is there any discussion on the motion. All those in favor say aye Agence narrow congratulations representative berry you pass the bill. So it doesn't seem that US senator Johnson is here yet or a representative Lundstrum so we'll do house bill nineteen twenty. Representative Eubanks. And I believe you have a guess that's gonna join you also. Thank you madam chair Jon Eubanks state representative district seventy four. Thank you Cody Berkom Arkansas cattlemen's second vice president. If the members I've worked on this bill as hard as representative berry worked on the previous bill I might have a. Thirty. Explain the details of this particular bill. Thank you Sir thank you committee just real quick I'll make some brief comments so I appreciate the opportunity testified here briefly this afternoon on the H. B. nineteen twenty back in two thousand nineteen the University of Arkansas partnered with the Arkansas beef council and to do a an assessment survey on what beef cattle producers in Arkansas all or some of the top pressing issues of our industry and in that so assessment survey government regulations ranked at the as the second largest threats according to beef cattle producers here in the state and to be clear we're we're not necessarily talking fully L. our state regulations but federal regulations as well and but they saw that is the second largest threat to our industry is is regulation so you know they say believes that because regulation is considered such a threat to our producers that we needed it need to be addressed and it is prudent to review all regulations that cattle producers and dairy producers here too so you know we wanna with sports like to thank representative vault Center so filled in Attorney General Leslie Rutledge for their leadership and work on this issue and so what we have here with H. B. nineteen twenty is simply a bill to to pull out all regulations that concern cattle and dairy producers in the state of Arkansas with that be to the Arkansas department of ag eighty two or you need the rest of the at a different bureaucracies that they will be pulled out look at it and uh they will to those agencies will determine whether they would like to carry those rules forward if they would like to repeal any of those rules it sets out the outlines the process is there which it'll go through to to a to do that. Try to answer any questions if you have any representative Smith you're recognized for a question yes this is for representative Eubanks have you had any known opposition to this bill none whatsoever thanks are. Are there any other questions. Anybody here to speak for the bill against the bill what is the will of the committee. Representative Smith makes a motion do pass. How would you like to close representative Eubanks I'm so sorry yes madam chair I would like to close a thank you committee for considering this legislation and I make a motion to pass okay motion to pass for a representative Eubanks and representative Smith is there any discussion on the motion. What. What's the will of the committee everybody in favor say aye Agence narrow congratulations representive Eubanks you've passed your bill representative Gazaway are you ready to do house bill eleven fifty two. You may I introduce yourself for the record. Thank you madam chair representative Jimmy Gazaway. House district fifty seven you're welcome to proceed thank you madam chair before I begin an explosion the bill I want to explain procedurally kind of what's happened this is the bill that relates to allowing emergency medical care for injured police dogs this bill started in House Public Health impasto that committee unanimously passed off the house floor with hardly any dissenting votes went to the Senate and there's been and it was heard in Senate ag committee then it went to the full Senate and and I think in Senate act there was a very minor amendment made to include police dogs this originally just pull applied to dogs used by police department and Solomon graves requested an amendment in the Senate for dogs used by the department of corrections also because they have dogs trained and a search and rescue and things of that nature and so he asked that the bill also apply them so there is a very minor Senate amendment put on this bill about the dogs used by the the department of correction and so it passed the Senate I believe unanimously and now we're back here to concurrent Senate Amendment but it got assigned to the ag Committee of course this committee as opposed the public health committee that originally heard it I don't know if that's a real issue we're just concurring in a minor Senate amendment at if anyone has I'll explain the entire bill if that helps the committee or I'm happy to just explain the Senate amendment which I think I've kind of already done are there any questions I have conferred with the parliamentarian and everything is fine for to go through here to concur okay wonderful any questions sing no questions is there anyone here to speak yes our representative Hillman you're just. K. anybody here to speak for the bill R. for the amendment against the amendment represents of Hillman has made a motion do pass do pass to concur concurrence Senate Amendment all those in favor say aye I can't say no congratulations you have passed your concurred amendment up now you have house bill nineteen thirteen are you ready to present it also I am all right you may proceed please put of state your name again for the record representative yes await District fifty seven. house bill nineteen thirteen is a bill that will bring levee districts in the same classification as other construction projects we just recently passed a believes ACT for forty that changed bids for municipal construction projects to fifty thousand the the threshold for bids was fifty thousand levee districts or drainage districts and there's a lot of these drainage districts on the eastern side of the state for the St Francis river and and several of these drainage districts that were set up many years ago and occasionally they have. Construction projects related to the drainage district in the levy and because we bumped up that threshold for fifty thousand for sensually all other local government projects for the bidding requirement I was contacted by someone who represents the drainage districts several of these drainage districts on the eastern side of the state that said it would. It would only be fair if we treated the drainage districts the same way that we're treating all these other projects and bump that bit requirement up to fifty thousand for them as well and so that's what this bill does and I'm happy to answer any questions. Are there any questions. Saying no questions there's no one to speak for against but I'll ask the audience anybody here to speak for the bill. Against the bill. What's the will of the committee. Motion do pass for a representative Coleman during discussion on the motion all those in favor say aye. Agence narrow congradulations representative Gazaway eve passed another bill out of here thank you manager thank you Committee. And also I think we just might have received representative Christiansen's Amendment. They're passing it out right now. Representative Christiansen you're welcome to join us at the end of the table. I believe representative Christiansen has worked with the Municipal League and they'll be joining him at the end of the table also both of you may I state your name for the record and you may proceed. Representative Craig Christiansen District forty seven. Lanny Richmond legal counsel for the Arkansas Municipal League. Madam chairman thank you for the opportunity committee this are simple changes that we needed to do and representative Coleman I thank you very much after the meeting the other day that you made a comment regarding production animals versus working animals in working with Mister Richmond we added a couple things to this bill I think make great perfect sense we added section two that says as used in this section working animal does not mean poultry swine dairy cows beef cattle sheep goats or other similar non performance production enterprise it clarifies the bill and concerns that some buyers of ad and it included an additional sentence on the bottom of section the court says the ruling conflicts with this section but does not supersede a municipal zoning ordinance under statute fourteen fifty six four oh one and the Municipal League is on board with this at the eleventh hour last night the Humane Society presented me with a question and concern over the fact that the bill might be considered a loophole we plugged that loophole with an eleventh hour amendment so that puts the Humane Society also on board with this bill but amendments been passed out to you and it says we're going to substitute safety including without limitation statute five days sixty two dash one oh one which is a general animal safety law and fourteen days fifty four dash one oh three which is an extensive broad encompassing municipal powers law therefore matters in our Humane Society know that their authority will not under any provision of this act be superseded. Okay so even explain the amendment yes representative aids you have a question motion. I got a question represented Eubanks you're recognized for a question. It are there to amendments we had to amendments one was incorporated into the bill as we see now okay I'm sorry madam chair we can we did one and then followed with another without. One first and we need to approve the amendment and then you can proceed from there how about that issue you will just move too quickly for that so I I move we adopted men in that kind of a day now you may proceed. All those in favor say aye. I'm tired too sorry. Now you may proceed all right the amendment is adopted now the bill had the initial amendment from the Municipal League which clearly defined what a working animal does not mean that also included four of the security of the mayors in our our town administrators that said that or rule conflicts with this section does not supersede a municipal zoning ordinance and I think everybody is on board with it if if Mister Richmond would like to address that. Yes I'll just add that I'd greatly appreciate the representative working on this instantaneously and any concerns that I had on behalf the Municipal League are settled with these amendments and I've advised everyone that that's the case thank you. Are there any questions representative Eads you're recognized for a question. just read over the bill and are you trying to tell me that. H. Kickin can't be a working animal it could be if it was an exhibition it would move over into that category but if it is being used as a allaying hand that is a production item. It's more terrified that. Are there any other questions. Saying no more questions is there anyone here that would like to speak for the bill. Against the bill would you like to close for your bill I'm close for a bill what's the recommendation of the committee. Motion to pass as amended from representative Cooper is there any discussion on the motion all those in favor say aye Agence narrow congratulations your bill is passed as amended thank you madam chair thank you Committee. And with that I don't see anyone here referred senate bill three twelve. Or Senate bill six thirty snow we did six thirty seven so saying no one returned.