ALC-Occupational Licensing Review Subcommittee
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Good afternoon folks thank you all for being here today our first order of business after a call to order his comments by the co-chairs I have no comments today so we'll move on directly to review of reports from our occupational authoration entities and we'll start out with the Arkansas Stateaththletic Commission which is exhibit C1.
Speaker 31
4:38
if you all would identify yourselves Lacey Kirchner counsel for the department of
laborbor and licensing. Ralphhudson director of labor good to see you Ralph. thank
Speaker 36
4:59
you all for being here and you all may proceed answered all of the questions that that y'all had provided the basic information that that
you needed and we're prepared obviously to answer any questions the committee may have members are there any questions of secret
I'll give you a moment to look over this
ens English you're recognized tell me
Senator Jane English
Unverified
5:46
what kind of licenses do people get?
Senator Jane English
Unverified
5:53
it off a second ago you pull
Speaker 38
5:58
that microphone just a little bit closer to you so the Arkansas State athletic Commission, regulates combat sports in the state so everything from professional boxers amateur boxers, any
competitive sport MMA those are all licensees they also licensed the judges of these events it's a sanctioning body so we've got to have judges we license the referee we licensed the physician per statute there's no fee to the physician for the you know for the ringside doctor things like that everything related to the event itself. So is there someplace they go and get
Senator Jane English
Unverified
6:37
these their skills training is there some
how did they how do they get a license? I mean what how do they take a license is
Speaker 38
6:49
there a training for it or the athletic commission has certain training requirements for referees and judges typically the ABC and and any other approved training that it's but it's pretty basic you know they go once a year get a day's worth of training and and then they're and they're they're done it's really it's not like CEUs or anything like that for a normal profession.
and the boxers by the way the professional fighters and even the amateur fighters there's nothing for that they're just they
Senator Jane English
Unverified
7:22
they're they're a fighter and and people don't
Speaker 38
7:25
pay a fee for the license they all pay a fee with the exception of the ringside physician. Everybody pays I think $15 for the fighters I've forgotten now I think 20 for the judges it it's it's de minimis senator all right thank you yes ma'am
entre deeses, ir you are recognized thank you Mr
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
7:51
Chair. would you refresh our memory about the commission itself? how many how many members are on the athletic commission and what that makeup looks like the athletic
Speaker 38
8:00
commission has7 available seats pursuant to the statute it currently has four which makes it complicated for us to to to get a quorum you know we got to have it means that we can't have one person missing or we can't do business. They meet
Speaker 36
8:17
quarterly every current member including the chair is serving an unexpired I mean an expired term and they all they're all doing it happily of course but I
Speaker 38
8:26
think that answers your question context and
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
8:29
and they are are they appointed by the governor eachach they they are yes and then and then the the last question if if the statute allows and legally and ethically I I would love for y'all to sponsor an event between the house and the senate I believe I believe
Representative Nick Burke said he would challenge me in a kickbo might even be
Chair
Unverified
8:51
we might even find a way to waive the event fee for for that just to see it think that might be good good thank
you thank you you're welcome senator p re s
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
9:04
ent s Richardson you're recognized sir thank you thank you Mr Chair so along those lines though I
I had a question so you said that it's it's supposed to be7 people on the commission and there's only4. Did I hear you correctly?
Speaker 38
9:19
Yeah the the statute allows for7 members each meeting a certain category that that the statute believes is critical to serve on a commission like that and currently
Speaker 36
9:28
there are four seated members yes sir ok are you guys working to add three bodies
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
9:33
to that or are you just we've submitted the things to
Speaker 36
9:36
to boards and commissions and and that's that's where we're at I mean how long how long have you been only four members there?
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
9:46
Well I'm not a board member I'm the
Speaker 36
9:50
director that has administrative oversight but the but the current members have been and I don't unfortunately not be happy to get them to you but I think nobody is in a term I think they all expired in 2022. and there may be one or two that expired earlier than that so even the four seeded members are in expired terms and haven't been officially reappointed but by statute they can continue to
serve of course and they do they all do and representative
Speaker 31
10:25
our office has been in contact with boards and commissions to try to get those it the to fill all of the positions to get make sure that we have current board members all the way across the board. our chief of staff has reached out so they've reached out but
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
10:39
I guess you guys aren't getting much traction is what I'm hearing to speak on that
Speaker 74
10:43
would have to ask our chief of staff exactly
Speaker 31
10:47
what he has heard but I do know that he does he is in contact
with boards and commissions on a regular basis not only for the athletic commission but for some of our other boards and commissions as
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
10:59
well and then my my last question is I was looking at some of the licensing fees on some of these things have they ever been changed or looked
Speaker 36
11:09
at to increase not in the s I think5 years that they've been with with with me and the statute limits the inspector fees the maxx is 125
by rule it was set at 100 I'm unsure of the date that that was set but it but that predates predates me all those fees predate me ok.
Speaker 77
11:39
thank you you're welcome sir. Thank you Mr chairir and Mrhudson and then lay
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
11:43
ir ch ner yeah Lay I think I remember you signing up. So Mr Hudson talk to me because I'm gonna pick up on the the conversation. Now I thought this
session we we actually changed did we not change where you all can begin to charge more fees
Speaker 38
12:04
or how did how did you you did you passed a bill that would allow the commission to invoice the promoter for actual costs it doesn't have to do with fees but actual costs associated with the event. So any out of pocket
that the state has to that the taxpayer has to put these events on inspector
Speaker 36
12:32
feesel if it's necessary meals mileage that's now invoiceable as august fifth. So promoters moving forward they'll get those those reimbursable expenses as opposed to fees, sir. back you know they'll recover that. OK so what is it
Speaker 84
12:47
what what is the commission gaining well it ends up being being a
wash it doesn't it doesn't end up just sucking on the funds and not and not recovering what we're actually out because
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
13:05
before we were out of that is if I'm not correct we we give us the
Speaker 36
13:11
history give us the history and then why the change was necessary happily happily so several years ago again predating me professional scripted wrestling was removed from the statutory authority of the commission and so the
commission itself lost its revenue and believe me when it comes to the you know any of the big ones that was a huge part of their special revenue of significant portion went away when it did that depleted what they had on board and then it's just been kind of a slow bleed you know since then this helps the commission at least not be putting out more money for to for a promoter to put
on an event then it actually recovers in fees because in the past the legislature only authorized the inspector fee to be recoverable. So if we had5 inspectors on site to run an event or42 or3 it was $100 per inspector but if they traveled or they overnighted or they had acknowledged the commission had to eat that well that goes away now with with the new legislation it it now to at least we can recover that as a
reimbursable out of pocket expense on the part of
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
14:30
the commission OK so then secondly and I think Representative Richard Floom was talking about so did we really did we need to
Speaker 38
14:41
adjust the fee? I I would leave that to the commission to to answer for you
Speaker 36
14:48
it I'm I'm not sure that fixes everything it would certainly help the statute does allow for it
Speaker 94
14:57
and I can't remember in the in the rules set that we're getting ready to submit can you remember
Speaker 36
15:05
did we increase the as to the 125? I just don't remember we
Speaker 38
15:08
can get that to you the statute allows us to charge as much as $125 as an inspector fee separate that from the costs associated reimbursable costs associated and so it would allow us the statute would allow us right now as it sits to raise that fee to 125. it's just that our rules
Speaker 36
15:25
have not made that have not made
that move and we're in the process of of of of getting those rules submitted so that so that you know and certainly we entertained that I mean I just don't recall when we edited those rules if if we included the additional you know that that making up that extra 25 dollars.
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
15:46
OK so where does the clinicians fund balance stand then are I mean you all have excess I mean we
have a lot of excess funds
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
15:59
possibly needs to be the the fee needs to be updated I would say I I think that is
Speaker 38
16:05
a fair assessment do you have anything to add? I'm not I'm not trying I'm not trying to ask you
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
16:12
the fee is not if if the fee is not adequate it's just not adequate and then we need to do something about it so that's Yes
Speaker 74
16:20
sir, I mean we their finances are one of our boards that are
Speaker 31
16:25
struggling a little bit financially, yes and I mean I'm happy to get you that their
financial information as well but I mean as far as a fee increase I think that would be ultimately up to this body if you want to allow the commission to have a fee increase because I mean as always will come before you for rule increases you know for any rule changes so I think we we would leave that into y'all's hands as to which way you feel like it needs to go. OK and and then lastly
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
17:03
your your commissioners did I understand you correctly to say that you have7 slots you only have four that are appointed in the their their appointments have expired? Yes, so is it just it's just hard
Speaker 102
17:17
fill in the sport I believe there's been applications made
Speaker 31
17:20
but beyond that we leave that up to the governor's office and their staff to to determine who they want to appoint to that board and how often and and how long was the appointment?
Speaker 96
17:37
e believe they're they're all two years
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
17:41
wow OK to your appointments ok all right thank you thank you
Speaker 104
17:45
Mister chairir. Thank you sir.ember members are there any
other questions seeing none without objection this report
stands as reviewed and Director Hudson thank you for all you're doing and I
especially want to thank you for what you've done helping me up in that Manillla Arkansas area sir y'all a happy to do it thank you Mr chairman you Next we're looking for the Arkansas manufactured Home Commission.
Aaron Howard
Unverified
18:43
if you would please introduce yourself sir my name is aaron Howard. I'm the
Chair
Unverified
18:53
director of the Arkansas manufacturing Home Commission thank you sir and proceed our division administers the federal programme for manufactured housing in Arkansas under our cooperative agreement with hud and we also are charged with administering the state manufactured housing program and we currently have approximately430 licensees and one of which is our new manufacturering in conway. it's our first in 23 years so we're excited about that
Speaker 113
19:13
we'll take any questions Members, are there any questions en ator English, you recognize ma'am. OK
Senator Jane English
Unverified
19:36
so thank you. I'm looking at this and I'm think en ator English, you recognize ma'am. OK so thank you. I'm looking at this and I'm wondering are these individuals that are paying $250 for the initial
Speaker 116
19:45
training in the test. It's companies we license the companies we license
Senator Jane English
Unverified
19:50
the companies the companies ok so and they then they train the the people people
ever have to take a test or anything like that is there anything requirement?
Chair
Unverified
20:02
Yes, the the there is training and testing it's usually the owner of the company for for ins installers is what we're talking about. manufacturers there's no test
Speaker 113
20:15
retailers there's no test. so I'm just
Senator Jane English
Unverified
20:18
reading here kind of like if you didn't have these if you didn't have these people these licensees I guess the examples that of things that could go wrong if they weren't tested and trained I guess I'm
wondering now where's the testing and training going on and what does that
Chair
Unverified
20:40
look like? Oh, well our training program is fairly robust we do have a
online version for for the entry piece but then we require a continuing education at least every three years a lot of our installers though opt to do it more often than that and we're one of the only states that I know of who offers on site training so we will go to the sites that where the homes are being installed and actually set the homes up with them and show them hands on how to do this. so a lot of there's actually a lot of states around us that have asked us about that program and are very interested in what we're doing so it's an on on the
Senator Jane English
Unverified
21:19
site job training type thing there is an online
Speaker 113
21:21
and also on site. OK and so do companies
Senator Jane English
Unverified
21:24
use that most of the time? They they they love
Speaker 113
21:26
to use that yes it went when they're doing the training or they're doing the training? I'm I'm out there every time the training yes that's my background I'm actually from the install side I grew I grew up in this industry this is about my4t0th year in this industry thank you Representativemcgrew , ir you're recognized
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
21:50
thank you chairman on the recovery fund on each one of these licenses is it is a separate recovery fund for each one or is it all in one?
Chair
Unverified
22:00
If I understand that each company has to pay into the recovery fund it's a deposit into the recovery fund but it is one recovery around for
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
22:07
whether it's a installer or whether it's a retailer that is correct. what is the balance of that recovery fund and when is the last time they had a payout? the current balance is around
Chair
Unverified
22:21
1.78 million and the payout we've just had well well it depends on what you mean by payout we've had some claims we had who who was it Cap Capert homemes that went out of business we maxed out our payout for helping our Kansans through that and then we've also have re refunds reimbursements so if a if an entity goes or ceases operation in Arkansas we're able to refund every cent that they paid into that that that's that stays their money
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
22:52
unless they have claims then we then of course they don't get that
Chair
Unverified
23:02
back. all right and is there if there is a claim is there a maximum claim amount? Yes and it depends on the entity let's see I don't want to tell you're wrong. Our maxx payouts per installer is 12,500 per retailer is 25,000 and per manufacturer is75,000 and Capert was a manufacturer and we maxed that out when when they went out of business it was a little over a year ago right thank you
and representative love sir you are recognized Thank you Mrir.
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
23:35
so I guess just for my knowledge when when when we talk about claims
and you said that there could be installation claims and then you you said one of the other two types of claims that you said well man manufacturers there could be some manufacturing defects anything that
Speaker 116
23:53
that affects the the life of the home the install of the
Chair
Unverified
23:58
home that's what those funds are for in in case someone it's it's in lieu of a surety bond is what it is we we have we hold this money and so it's it's a lot more efficient and and effective and that and the licensees are not paying in a fee each year to for a surety bond this is a one time fee that they can get back when
Speaker 113
24:16
they go out of business it stays their money unless there's a claim then they don't get it back and you say so your your
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
24:25
fund balance is pretty healthy so I guess you know
Speaker 113
24:28
what the fund balance in the recovery fund is 1.78 but our total liability there is about6.4 million so there's a shortfall if if everybody went out of business we the it would be a6.4 million dollar hit but highly unlikely we are looking for some ways to to cover that but yeah so so the fund is healthy and we're doing well but it's but you said
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
24:54
it's a one time $2500 payment for
Chair
Unverified
25:00
no go ahead it's different payments the installer's paying 2500 the retailers paying5,000 and the manufacturer's paying 10,000 and then it's different payout caps as well on the home so the payout caps again are 12,500 per installer,25,000 per retailer and75,000 per manufacturer which it's the manufacturer75,000 that we we did cap out we topped out when when Capert went out of business right
thank yousenator love representative ladyman, ir you recognize? Thank you Mr Chairman. I'm over here I just
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
25:42
got a question when I'm looking through here it shows the different people and it talks about manufactured home manufacturer and on the next page it talks about modular home manufacturers so that's two different types of businesses what's the definition
Speaker 126
26:01
how are those different? so the the manufactured homes the typical what we we all think of
Chair
Unverified
26:07
are gonna be the have the have a red hudd label on the back of it kind of like a Vvin number on a car and those are part of the the federal program the modulars are built to state and local codes and the enforcement of those is for local jurisdictions we are the kind of the one stop shop for licensing to make it convenient for any mud or hud code manufacturer so they don't
have to have multiple licenses they have one license
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
26:37
all right we'll when I'm looking at the modular home manufacturer you get3 and then it the modular homeme retailer there's zero individuals and salesperson there's three so you have0 people why do we need a license when nobody's getting
Speaker 126
26:54
them right and and to be clear the threes and the zeros would be anyone who is solely
Chair
Unverified
27:06
a a mad retailer installer but most but most of the s retailers and manufacturers they they do both but we only need one license we're not gonna make them buy two licenses the the hudd code covers both because they do put up the recovery fund money. The modular side does not require recovery fund deposit but we have as you noted only6 total in companies that have mod only licensing it's just no one hardly does that just mad they do both thank you you bet
ent er English you're recognized ma'am. so tell
Senator Jane English
Unverified
27:44
me what is a modular home look like? Similar to a manufactured
Chair
Unverified
27:48
home except they can be on frame like your like they would have a a a metal frame some some of them have metal frames some of them are on the ground no they would be with with blocks and you know piers and things so so it looks like your traditional manufactured home but some are off frame so they might have a a block foundation where these are craned or rolled off
of the temporary chassis and then set and you might not be able to tell the difference between that and a site built home so the mo du lar s are they come in a couple of different flavors thank you members are
there any other questions seeing none without objection this report stands as reviewed Thank you, ir. it's a good report
and you are dismiss and now we're coming to the Arkansas state boardard of registration forfessional geologist. and please introduce yourself
Speaker 146
29:15
my name is Kellyla. I'm the director of the state board offessional geologists thank you ma'am you may proceed right you've seen my report. I'm prepared to answer any questions that you may have. emb ers I'll give you a moment to review the report.
Representative ladyman, ir, you are recognized. thank you Mr
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
29:56
Chairman. Well I I answered my I see the number now but I was gonna ask you I didn't see how many registered geologists we have. so it looks like we have over400 yes sir that's correct so are those
spread around the state are they concentrated in certain areas they are within the state and
Speaker 146
30:13
outside of as well so some of them are outside the state
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
30:16
with their licensed here that's correct ok thank you sir
members are there any other questions we're laying off easyydext time we're going to make you bring a show and tell with some rockx to explain to us. I have
a few yes sir members without objection this report stands as reviewed thank you thank you ma'am you all are dismissed
Members are there any other business that you would like to bring forward today? seeing none we are adjourned
Agenda
A. Call to Order
B. Comments by the Co-Chairs
C. Review of Reports from Occupational Authorization Entities:
D. Other Business
E. Adjournment
Documents
Speakers
Senator Dave Wallace Chair
Unverified
Speaker 31
Speaker 36
Senator Jane English
Unverified
Speaker 35
Speaker 38
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 74
Speaker 77
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
Speaker 84
Speaker 94
Speaker 98
Speaker 102
Speaker 96
Speaker 104
Aaron Howard
Unverified
Speaker 113
Speaker 116
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Speaker 126
Speaker 146