State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs- House
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Bills discussed (10)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1053
· 5 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…ENFORCEMENT ACT". LAID ON THE TABLE Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1053 Dotson TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE…”
|
TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TO APPOINT THE DIRECTOR … | Dotson | Died in House at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1214
Act 372
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…APPOINTEE MEETS THE LEGAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION. HB1214 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EMERGENCY SERVICES ACT OF 197…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EMERGENCY SERVICES ACT OF 1973 CONCERNING FUNDING. | Wardlaw | Notification that HB1214 is now Act 372 |
|
HB1333
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…CE COMPACT TO COMPLY WITH CHANGES TO THE NATIONAL STANDARD. HB1333 Penzo PERMITTING NONIMMGRANTS LEGALLY ADMITTED TO THE UNITE…”
|
PERMITTING NONIMMGRANTS LEGALLY ADMITTED TO THE UNITED STATES UNDER A COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION TO … | Penzo | Died in House Committee at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1017
· 3 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HB1017 Rye CONCERNING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME; AND TO ADOPT DAYLIGHT…”
|
CONCERNING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME; AND TO ADOPT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENTLY. | Rye | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1112
Act 249
· 3 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HB1112 Lowery TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER IDENTIFICATION; TO…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER IDENTIFICATION; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VERIFICATION OF PROVISIONAL … | Lowery | Notification that HB1112 is now Act 249 |
|
HB1120
Act 685
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TS; AND TO AMEND AMENDMENT 51 OF THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION. HB1120 Slape CONCERNING CRIMINAL DETENTION FACILITIES REVIEW COMMI…”
|
CONCERNING CRIMINAL DETENTION FACILITIES REVIEW COMMITTEES. | Slape | Notification that HB1120 is now Act 685 |
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HB1236
Act 186
· 2 mentions in agenda, transcript
Matched: “…w Rep. Michelle Gray REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1236 M. Berry CONCERNING UNIFIED COMMAND OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN…”
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CONCERNING UNIFIED COMMAND OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN AND AROUND THE STATE CAPITOL IN THE … | M. Berry | Notification that HB1236 is now Act 186 |
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SB128
Act 70
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB128 J. English TO AMEND THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DIVISION O…”
|
TO AMEND THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT; AND TO DELEGATE … | J. English | Notification that SB128 is now Act 70 |
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SB145
Act 71
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB145 Gilmore TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTAN…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT TO COMPLY WITH CHANGES TO THE NATIONAL … | Gilmore | Notification that SB145 is now Act 71 |
|
HB114
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “a motion to to remove house bill 114 from the table is there any discussion on the motion oh i'm…”
|
Pre-2017 bill |
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Chair
Unverified
0:00
of business on the agenda was representative barry's bill house bill 1236 he has some amendments that he is working on on that still so he is not running that today uh next on the agenda house bill 1017 johnny representative rye you're recognized to present your bill
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
0:30
thank you sir I could be with you this bill actually is to create daylight saving time and stay on daylight saving time throughout the year but it's all keyed with a federal mandate that they're actually in charge of this situation but once this starts it would not have an emergency clause on it it
would start this fall and it would it would just stay the same through in and throughout for everyone out just one time to ran throughout
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
1:15
are you done with your presentation yes sir any questions from committee members Representative Gene, you recognize that for a question. How does
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
1:29
this deal with the state surrounding us?
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
1:33
It's got everything to do with it, Lane, because actually the federal is in charge of this situation, and they're not going to let one state go through unless the whole thing in central time
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
1:45
has changed. Is it Arizona that doesn't do it now? That's right. Is that the only state? I don't
know for sure. I think so. Well, parts of Indiana. Well, I'm on a border down there between Louisiana and Texas. We cross lines and do business.
I don't want to do anything that would affect people doing business down there. They need to be on the same time. Right. But my question is, if this bill is adopted, would Arkansas do it independently? I
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
2:18
don't think so. Well, I need to know that. Okay, okay. Well, it's federally mandated. Well, that scares me. Well, in a way, yeah. But at the same time, they're not going to let one state do this without the other states involved in this area.
Chair
Unverified
2:34
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes. Representative
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:43
Beck, can you recognize for a question?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And mine is somewhat related to Representative Gene's question. Did we pass some legislation back that determined that we would consider this if the bordering states agreed to do that, that we would do that?
My question is, is that going to conflict with that?
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
3:10
No, it's not going to conflict. That was Sarah Cappsville two years ago. And basically, this will fall right in line with it, Representative Beck.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:18
But it said that the bordering states had to go first. That's what her law
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
3:23
said. Right. Okay, yeah. So that would tie in with this. All right, thank you. Representative Speaks, you recognize
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
3:33
for a question? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Nelda Speaks
Unverified
3:37
My concern is, is little kids having to catch the bus. And I know it's dark when they catch them out in the country now, but it's going to be so much worse on them with trying to catch a bus and get in the mornings. Are you talking about school
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
3:54
children? Yes. Well, at 630 this morning, it was daylight. So, you know, you would think that we would be okay there. And I think the good thing about it is it gives you more daylight at the end of the day.
There's a lot of ladies that are getting off work, and at 4, 15, 4, 30, it's dark, which is a dangerous thing. So, you know, there's good and bad, but I think overall the good is there. Any more questions from committee members?
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
4:26
I don't believe we have anybody to sign up to speak for or against this bill. Does anyone in the audience want to speak for or against? representative rye would you like
Speaker 32
4:42
to close for your bill i appreciate you all so much and
appreciate a good vote what's the
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
4:54
will of the committee seeing no motion representative rye your bill fails
Chair
Unverified
5:04
for lack of motion i'm sorry representative rye your bill did not fail there's just no motion does not advance um committee next uh without objection i'd like to take one out of order uh representative penzo
you're recognized to present house bill 1333 and you're welcome to bring your guests up with you committee there's still some things in the works on this bill uh so this is for presentation only we're not going to take a motion and a lot of that we're going to limit questions on this as well so if you have questions later please uh get with representative penzo or the two gentlemen at the end of the table and i'm sure that they would be glad to talk with you
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
5:50
about it represent penzo you're recognized to start
Speaker 34
5:57
Thank you, Mr. Chair. House Bill 1333, Marshallese Law Enforcement Act, a lot of people have asked about what is COFA. The Compact of Free Association is an agreement that was made between the United States and three island nations, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia,
and the Republic of Palau. It was signed in 1986, and a little history on it. It all began back after World War II. The U.S. liberated those islands from the Japanese occupation, And then it just, over time, evolved into what we have today as the Compact of Free Association. It was kind of an exchange for an unfortunate event in history where we detonated a lot of atomic weapons,
did all of our nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. So there were 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958. Some of them, one of the largest nuclear weapons the U.S. ever tested was in the Marshall Islands. The compact is up for renewal in 2023, and I hope they get some of these issues cleaned up at that time. The compact allows citizens from those three island nations to come to the United States and freely come and go as they please.
They don't need, they do not need visas or labor certifications. So, and that lies one of the problems is that they don't get green cards. You know, anybody, whether they're from Mexico or Italy, if you come to the United States, you get a green card. The Marshallese don't need green cards because they can freely come and go under the compact. Act. In order to become a U.S. citizen, you have to have a green card for five years.
So therein lies the issue, and you have to be a citizen to be a law enforcement officer. So with these barriers in place, it's not possible for citizens of the Marshall Islands that live in the United States to ever become U.S. citizens, therefore prohibiting them from being law enforcement officers. There is military pathways out there to become citizens, but you have to have served during wartime or have a green card.
So therefore, during these times, there's not even a military pathway. I'd like to introduce Joel Miner. He's a jailer at the Washington County Detention Center. And then Lieutenant Nolan Ake is his supervisor there. And I'd like to turn it over to Joel and let him tell you a little bit about himself and his story.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
9:16
Sir, before you begin, could you state your name for the record and who
Speaker 38
9:22
you're with, who you're representing? I'm Joel Miner.
Joe Minor
Unverified
9:25
I'm with State Representative Penzo, and I'm poor against this bill that he's trying to pass. Okay. Thank you, sir. You're welcome to begin. Good morning, everyone. To begin, I first want to give special thanks to our Heavenly Father above for this beautiful day that he has blessed each and every one of us with.
Second, I want to also give thanks to Arkansas State Representative Penzo, for giving me this opportunity to stand before you all to speak on behalf of all Micronesians to help push forward a bill that can help open opportunities for becoming a first responder. My name is Joe Minor and I am the oldest son of Kitchener and Nelson Minor. I was born in the Marshall Islands and my hand and I flew into the United States when
I was at a young age. Coming here as a kid, I knew it was going to be challenging. I remember going to my first day of school and kindergarten at Lee Elementary in Springdale, and every soul in the room stood still and quiet as my teacher and I entered the classroom. I I remember my teacher introducing me to my other classmates.
From there, I knew the challenges were about to begin. I did not know or spoke English at the time. It was very hard adapting to the new lifestyle. With the support I received from the school staff and parents, I was able to adapt and learn to face any obstacles I may come across. I began reading a lot of books and watched educational videos just to improve my English skills.
I was also put in an English learning program that the school provided. By the end of the fifth grade year, I was out of the ESL program and was able to attend other classes. But another bigger challenge came in my path and had made me feel like I was never going to overcome it. As I got out of high school, I knew I wanted to become a police officer. I applied for the Washington County Sheriff's Office and worked and got hired on the year
of 2016. I work within the Washington County detention and have enjoyed every minutes and seconds of it. While working there, I still face obstacles and hardships. A detainee that was in there for murder charges stabbed me in the face with a pencil that I was sharpened enough that could have caused serious injury or death. Luckily, he was unsuccessful of whatever intention he had planned,
and I was able to secure him until more deputies arrived on scene to help. Now, with COVID-19, I, along with my brothers and sisters in blue, put ourselves at risk working hard to make sure all the detainees are safe and healthy. After my year and a half in the job, I got promoted to the rank of corporal. I wanted to attend the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy and become a certified officer.
I wanted to switch from detention to enforcement where I could put use of my skills and knowledge out on the streets. Most importantly, I wanted to serve and protect the people in the community. Later, I found out that I was unable to pursue my goals and dream of becoming a cop due to non-citizenship. I began doing some research of the Marshallese obtaining citizenship and even went to immigration lawyers to seek assistance.
I began reaching out to coworkers and supervisors at work to see if anything could be done. I remember at times of being frustrated and giving up on hope of overcoming this challenge. Even at times I would have thoughts of changing my career and goals since every attempt I took always came to a dead end. But eventually, of all the years of not giving up hope, my prayers were answered.
With me standing here in front of you, of each and every one of you, I'm here to inform you that in passing this bill, it will not only help me overcome my big challenge, but as well as benefit other islanders who were born on the islands for even bigger doors to career opportunities and much more. you for your time and god bless each and every one of you thank you for your
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
14:45
presentation does a representative pencil each other guests have anything to add to that
Chair
Unverified
14:50
can please recognize identify yourself for the record and state who you're with and
Speaker 45
15:01
you may proceed My name is Nolan Ake. I work for the Washington County Sheriff's Office. We have probably the largest population of Marshall Islanders anywhere in the state, including the islands themselves. We've got well over 6,000 of them.
they have a tendency not to report crimes against themselves and their children because they don't trust us they don't we don't speak their language we don't have we don't have any way of understanding them and i think this bill could help us if we could get more marshallese people to apply and work for the sheriff's office and other agencies around we would have the ability to have somebody on shift that can translate, you have no idea how much it helps us just having them there.
Being able to talk to the people that come in, people that call in, wanting to report a crime, having a Marshallese interpreter is just an awesome help. Having one being able to patrol the streets, work in those communities, work around everybody else be able to help us get through the daily task of doing our job and helping others is something that I would really help you consider because it has caused a real big rift in the
community because they can't talk to us, they don't trust us, so they won't tell us anything. I think this would help alleviate some of the problem. It won't, it's not a perfect fix, but it does help. It does open doors and it does give them a chance to serve the community in a way that I think if they want to, they should be able to. Anybody that is willing to stand on the floor and work with me should have the ability to do the job the same as I do. Thank you.
Speaker 35
17:00
Thank you for the presentation. Representative Penzo, did you have anything else
Speaker 34
17:07
to add? Yeah, just a few comments. Joel and his lieutenant reached out to me September 16th about this issue, and I was looking for a good solution on how to proceed with this. Ultimately, the best solution would be the federal government allow some kind of access for, you know,
compact free association residents to become citizens. I mean, we allow people with green cards to enter the country, become citizens, but we don't allow compact free association. You know, these people have helped the United States out a lot. I really would encourage our federal delegation to, you know, Congress and senators that represent the state to push forward on this at the state level to, you know, remedy this issue.
You know, there isn't – it's hard to find a good way to fix this at the state level. And I've struggled with this for months on how to approach it and what's the best way to do it. But we need to figure out some way, whether it's urging Congress to do it or some sort of something at the state level. So I appreciate you all allowing us to present today. and hopefully in the future
we can find us a solution. Okay, committee, thank Representative
Chair
Unverified
18:39
Penzo, thank you for your presentation and we've got other things on the agenda that we need to move on to so y'all may be dismissed. Committee, we're going to hear more about this bill in the future so there'll be plenty of time for questions later. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
19:16
committee representative ward law has just informed me that
his bill is ready to come off the
Chair
Unverified
19:21
table so representative ward law do you
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
19:25
have a motion to make a motion to uh i guess untable house bill 1214 for consideration okay we have
Chair
Unverified
19:34
a motion to to remove house bill 114 from the table is there any discussion on the motion oh i'm sorry that is a non-debatable motion i'm glad to have my help up here keeping me in line okay uh we have a motion to to remove house bill 1214 off the table all in favor say aye
All opposed? Congratulations, Representative Wardlaw. Your bill is off
the table. Can we run it real quick? No, let's hold off on running it real quick. Is Representative Lowry in
Speaker 20
20:06
the room? Okay. Representative Lowry, you're welcome to come to the end of the table. Representative Payton,
Representative John Payton
Unverified
20:12
you had a question. Well, I've got the fiscal impact statements as of yesterday that we were waiting for from DF&A, so I'm prepared to make a motion to take House Bill 1053 off the table.
Chair
Unverified
20:23
Okay. Okay. Committee will have a motion to remove House Bill 1053 from the table. All in favor, say aye.
Aye. All opposed? Okay. House Bill 1053 is off the table. Representative Lowry, you are recognized to present House Bill 1112. Thank you,
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
20:42
Mr. Chairman, and thank you, committee. When I first brought the voter ID law to you, or the voter ID bill, it was 2016. Multitude of things have happened since then. You passed, the House passed by, I believe, about 74 votes.
That proposal, 2016, the Senate passed by a similar margin because you had to have a super majority. In 2018, the legislature referred to the voters,
an amendment or an issue to vote on voter ID and to further affirm that. I didn't mention that between 16 and 18, you also had a challenge
that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Arkansas upheld the voter ID law.
In 2018, Arkansas Issue 2 won the support of over 690,000 Arkansans by a 79.5% margin, or that was the percent. That tracks very much with what the Gallup poll information that I had been giving you back in 2016, that 80 percent of Americans favor voter ID. Among those are 95 percent of Republicans,
obviously, but 63 percent of Democrats also support voter ID. Now, why I'm here before you today is because in 2016, one of the provisions that I added in, and you did affirm, after the The House had already voted for voter ID. A proposal had been presented to me, and our idea had been presented to me to allow a substitute for voter ID, which would be a signature sworn statement.
In this past election, we have found out how fraught that is with problems. The Los Angeles Times did a very in-depth article about saying that the most significant flaw that happens or the main reason that many ballots get rejected are because of signatures. And the real problem there, a forensic analyst who does signatures said that to adequately do that, to verify signatures, sometimes it takes hours.
We're asking our election workers, many of them who are not trained in verifying signatures, we're asking them to do it in seconds. So for that reason, I've brought a proposal to you today. I'm not going to belabor it because you've heard all the debates. You've heard that 80% of our Kansans support voter ID. But we had significant problems in Arkansas with signature verification. There is no uniform standard for signature verification.
State of Florida is one state that does train its workers, but it's limited training. Arkansas has no training for workers to analyze and verify signatures, and again, they're being asked to do this in seconds. It's one of the reasons why a number of the races in Pulaski County were held up for a number of weeks, why the number of provisional ballots seemed to continue to climb. New boxes were being discovered.
And, you know, if we had had a very concrete standard universally on mail-in ballots, which would have been the inclusion of a photo ID, that process would have taken significantly less time and probably would not have had some of the concerning ramifications that had happened. So I'm asking that you support the provision of removing the sworn statement,
the signature, as a way to cure a provisional ballot that we would go back to what you, in your wisdom, originally approved before I started tinkering with it, that we would have a pure voter ID proposal before us in Arkansas. The ballot initiative in 2018 that voters approved by 79.5% did not include any language about signature verification.
So the voters of Arkansas voted for a straight photo voter ID proposal. But because there was not any repealing language in that amendment, in that issue, it was not repealed what the legislature had done in amending Amendment 51 on signature verification. So really what you're doing is you are making voter ID consistent with what the voters approved in 2018 by a significant margin.
So for those reasons, I do ask that you would support this. I'm open for questions if any members have them. Representative Ladyman,
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
26:11
you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Lyre, so would this require a constitutional amendment?
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
26:18
No, it would not. But it does take a supermajority in the House and the Senate to approve this because we are amending a constitutional amendment, Amendment 51.
So it would take 67 votes in the House. I'm proud to say that there are 45 House members who are co-sponsors on this. So I feel confident that we'll make the 67 number burden. Can I follow up? Yes, sir.
Speaker 61
26:45
You're recognized. I'm not from Pulaski
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
26:47
County, so I may have this wrong, but I read or heard or talked to people that said there were a number of spoiled ballots that were laid aside and then they accidentally somehow got counted before they were verified.
And some of those I heard was due to signature verification. Is that true or not?
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
27:11
Well, the issue of ballots being counted that were not supposed to be counted, I mean, it really is a side issue, but you're exactly right. Many of them were ballots. I viewed the Election Commission hearing the live stream, or excuse me, the presentation before the Claims Commission. And frankly, I thought the most compelling defense or argument that was put forth in that Claims Commission
was representatives or attorneys for Representative Hudson who said that really some of these ballots that people say shouldn't have counted, they should have been counted. And they pointed to photo IDs to prove their arguments. And so I thought that that was the most compelling argument, that we have to have a concrete absolute standard for approving these ballots, especially,
and I don't think that we're ever going to go backwards on so many things that COVID brought about. And one of the things is going to be mail-in ballots. That is something that is going to be extremely bothersome, cumbersome. And as such, we have to have a concrete standard for approving and making sure that the absentee ballot application signature matches,
that the photo ID matches the information of the voter. Representative Jane, if you recognize
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
28:53
for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Lowry, other than a driver's license, what other means or photo IDs can people get?
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
29:05
I don't have the original bill in front of me, but there's a long list of IDs that are available.
The state of Arkansas even provides a free ID. This was something that had been done by the Secretary of State's office when we first passed a voter ID, which was in the 2013 session. And I've made the mistake. I said, I kept saying 2016 session, you approved this in 2017. But in 2013, the original bill commissioned the Secretary of State to provide equipment to each of the county clerks. That equipment was brought back in after the Supreme Court rejected that proposal in 2013
because it did not have the 67 percent, the supermajority support, not because of any of the other arguments on voter ID. that equipment has been returned to county clerks, and so that is available in each county for a free ID. Follow-up. Yeah, you're recognized.
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
30:13
So every county clerk in the 75 counties has this ability to give a photo ID to someone who does not have a driver's license?
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
30:24
That is correct. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, Representative Whitaker,
Chair
Unverified
30:33
you're recognized for a question. Let me go ahead and say, committee members, if y'all have multiple questions and you're trying to get to a point, just continue on. And if it comes to a point where you're asking questions, you know, building on something else, then I may stop you and move to the next. But feel
Representative David Whitaker
Unverified
30:53
free to continue on with your question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Lowry, the biggest complaint I'm getting from constituents isn't so much about the ID itself.
I mean, if this bill doesn't pass, voter ID doesn't go away, does it?
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
31:09
Voter ID is going to stay. Voter ID will stay, but the sworn statement will stay as well, which has been problematic. All right. The biggest concern
Representative David Whitaker
Unverified
31:18
my voters are sending to me, and this includes folks both in my county and from around the state, has been the requirement to return on Monday to the county board of election commissioners or county clerk.
Now, in Washington County, that would be the courthouse in Fayetteville. I assume that in the other 75, that's pretty much where people are going to have to go. The Monday after the election. What I'm hearing is that we've got seniors and disabled folks who this is going to add an extra burden, and some would argue an undue burden on their ability
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
31:57
to cast their ballot. What's your answer to that? Well, the answer is that many voters were having to return
anyway if their signature had been found to not be consistent with whatever record it was being matched against.
And because Arkansas does give an opportunity to cure your provisional ballot. So there was a notification. I know in Pulaski County there was notification given to voters if their provisional ballot had been set aside or not being counted. They were given an opportunity to cure it. They came back, some of them, even cured it by showing an ID or verifying, again, their signature.
So, and their vote still counts. I mean, this is one of the things we still allow several weeks for provisional ballots to be counted. I understand your argument, but, you know, 80% of Arkansans believe that a photo ID, and I have an answer at some point of what the forms of ID that can be used, but anyway, I wanted to answer your question. But again, we're not talking about
Representative David Whitaker
Unverified
33:06
the requirement to have photo ID when one votes. That's already the law, right?
Yes. Okay. Just wanted to be
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
33:16
sure. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I can answer Representative
Jean's question more fully now. Yes, please. Forms of ID. Forms of ID that are accepted,
driver's license, any photo identification card, a concealed handgun carry license, a United States passport, an employee badge, or identification document issued by an accredited post-secondary education institution,
the state of Arkansas, United States military identification document, public assistance identification card, a voter verification card is provided under Arkansas
Code, which is the free card that we provide. Thank you for that. Any
Chair
Unverified
34:00
additional questions from committee members? Okay, seeing none, we have two people signed up to speak against this bill. So, Ms. Lori Evans, are you in the room?
Okay. If you will please come take a seat at the end of the table and state your name and who you're with for the record, and you may proceed.
Speaker 84
34:38
Okay. Excuse me. Excuse me. I wish I had a drink of water first. Honorable Chairperson, honorable representatives, thank you for this opportunity to address the committee today.
Chair
Unverified
34:48
I'm Lori Evans with Indivisible Little Rock in Central Arkansas. We're an activist group that registers, educates, and mobilizes voters. With our sister chapters in northern Arkansas, Indivisible has 2,000 members statewide committed to an Arkansas on which every eligible voter freely exercises their right to vote knowing their vote will be counted. We oppose SB 1112. I'd like to offer you some data on why. This is data from Pulaski County Provisional. This is data on Pulaski County Provisional ballots with no ID in the November
2020 election. Oh, thank you so much, sir. All is publicly available information, so easily confirmable by calling the Pulaski County Election Commission. So 1,602 provisional absentee ballots had no ID included, but the voter signed the optional identity verification statement in the 2020 November election, so these votes were counted. 636 absentee provisional ballots were missing ID, and the verification of identity wasn't assigned. Only 206 of these
were cured by voters and so all so although all 636 were technically curable. So that's a total of 2,242 absentee provisional ballots that would have been automatically thrown out had HB 1112 been law at the time. 1,274 provisional ballots were also cast in person and were counted because the voter signed the optional verification of identity. So including absentee provisional and
in-person provisional ballots in Pulaski County alone, that's 3,518 ballots that would have automatically been rejected if not for the optional verification of identity and cure period for voters to show their ID. So the election commission fortunately has protocols in place to check against potentially fraudulent ballots. 1,340 provisional ballots were rejected based on the following reasons. Not found to be registered voters in Pulaski County, registered after the October 5th deadline, didn't live in the county, recently moved or never updated their voter
registration. Every single provisional ballot is checked against county voter records by certified staff to confirm whether it is a qualified ballot or whether it's to be disqualified. zero cases were found in the November 2020 election where someone without an ID signed the optional verification of identity and were trying to commit voter fraud. Do you want to go on record today
to vote for throwing out 3,518 valid votes in one county alone in Arkansas to protect against zero factual fraudulent ballots and some small number of theoretical fraudulent ballots. If we apply Pulaski County's 2% rate of all votes cast were provisional, we could extrapolate from Arkansas's 1.2 million ballots cast to project that more than 25,000 voters across Arkansas,
including in each of your districts, would have been disenfranchised had HB 1112 been law. To be more accurate on that, I wish I could provide this data for each of you for every one of your counties and districts so you can make a decision knowing how many of your own constituents' legitimate ballots would have been tossed out by HB 1112. Indivisible would be happy to contact every county in Arkansas to ask them that question and get that information and provide
that information back to the honored members of this committee should you move ahead on a vote today without that information on how all arkansas voters would be impacted by this bill we respectfully urge you to vote no on hb 1112. okay are there any questions for miss evans
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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39:04
from committee members representative mccullum you're recognized for a question thank
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
39:16
here today um thanks for taking the time i just had uh a general question about indivisible yes sir um i think that's who you said you were here with today um can you just tell me about the group
Speaker 95
39:34
and how it's funded and what nonprofit and just organizations that is? We are an unincorporated grassroots all-volunteer activist group here in central Arkansas. We're part of a national movement, Indivisible. We advocate also on issues in the government based on values of inclusion, compassion, and justice.
We basically fund ourselves. We raise money from members and community members in our area. We have a very modest budget. Does that answer your question? Yeah, thank you. Okay, sure. Any other questions from committee members? Seeing none, thank you for your
Chair
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presentation. Thank you very much. We don't have anybody signed up for this. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak for this?
Seeing none. We have one more against Nell Matthews. If you would identify yourself for the
Speaker 42
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record and state who you're with, you may
Speaker 97
40:39
proceed. I'm Nell Matthews, and I'm with the League of Women Voters of Arkansas. The league organization, I hope you all know, has been around for 100 years. It's interested in voter education, candidate forums. We are nonpartisan, and our goal is to see that every citizen is given the opportunity to vote.
So a couple of things that I want to point out. First off, there is no voter fraud in Arkansas. In about 2012, the league had a presentation when I was president of the Pulaski County League from the attorney for the commission of the Board of Election Commissioners, and he said there was one case in Arkansas at that time. It was a young woman who was voting for the first time.
She was in college. Her roommate had to go home and couldn't get to the polls that day. She was so excited about voting that she voted first for herself, then she got back in line and voted for her roommate because she knew how her roommate wanted to vote, and she just couldn't stand that her roommate wasn't going to get to vote. Well, she committed fraud, and it's a felony, and so that's the one case that they knew of. There is a few instances of people being confused. They go and vote early, and then they see the polls open on Election Day, and they go
back and try and vote again. They're always identified, and that's taken care of. But the idea that there's massive fraud out there, that we need to protect our election process and our ballots, is just not based on fact. So we passed a photo ID bill, and we require people to get their ID photocopied. Not everybody has access to it.
And in the pandemic, it's even harder to go in and find a place to get a copy of your photo ID. And so there's the sworn statement. If you swear that you are who you are and you match your, the officials match your signature, your address, your date of birth, and your residence to what is on your voter registration, you are who you are.
And the person who decides they're going to go in and vote multiple times, well, so you're adding one extra vote. I mean, you can say we shouldn't have even one extra fraudulent vote. But the idea that there's massive voter fraud, there's just no evidence for it. And as far as the cure that Representative Lowry mentioned, where people were allowed to come in and fix errors, the only cure is to bring in the photo ID.
If you misstate where you live, if you have the wrong date of birth, if you put that you were born October 2, 2020, your ballot is thrown out. You don't get to cure that. I know this because I'm working with a group that is trying to get that changed so that minor errors can be cured. Right now, there is no cure for anything except for failure to provide a photo ID if you don't do the sworn statement.
So I would remind you also that overseas citizens and military absentee voters are not required to submit an ID copy, nor are persons living in residential facilities. All that's required of them is a statement signed by the facility administrator. So some people don't have to do this. Why should all voters not be treated equally? And I just urge you not to pass a bill that we just don't need.
Chair
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44:43
Thank you. Thank you. We do have a question from committee member. Representative Wardlaw, you recognize for a
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
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44:50
question? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since voter ID has been law and constitutional law since we put it on the ballot, But have we seen a decline in voters or an increase in voters in the last couple elections? Well, it
Speaker 97
45:04
depends. You know, if it's a federal election, you get an increase. And if it's a hot topic, you get an increase. I
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
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think we saw a big... But to your point, this is disfranchising voting.
So I wanted to know, have we saw an increase
Speaker 106
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in the last two elections or a decrease?
Speaker 97
45:21
It's kind of hard to prove that one way or the other. because you don't know who is not coming to the poll because they don't have the ID. You don't know who gets the absentee ballot and then never returns it because they never managed to get the copy. It's kind of hard to prove that one way or the other. Any
Chair
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45:42
other questions from committee members? Seeing none, thank you for your presentation.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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45:48
We have no one else signed up for or against this. Representative Lowry would you like to close for your bill would you like to take any questions before you start your closing that would be fine are there any questions before we start before he starts closing saying none you're recognize close for your bill. Thank you, members. If you'll notice, I never used the
Representative Mark Lowery
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46:27
word fraud, not one time in my presentation. I did not claim that there was fraud. I didn't do that in 2017 when I presented the voter ID bill. But what I did do is I based the whole bill on studies that say that the faith in the election system has been eroded, slowly but surely. And that those same studies point out that the only thing that gives many Americans
confidence that their elections are fair would be that they know that the people who are voting are who they say they are. And the only absolute standard for that is to present a photo ID. In the Los Angeles Times article that I referenced earlier, one analyst said that the signatures that are more often thrown out are fake ones that are, excuse me, the biggest
error are fake ones being accepted as real rather than real ones being accepted as fake. So it's ripe with errors, what this one forensic analyst said. It's his job. That is what he does professionally is to compare signatures. One of the other issues that we had in Pulaski County, and I was glad to receive all these numbers that were pointed out by the lady from Indivisible, because it points out what a significant issue it was in Pulaski County. But in any of these cases
where provisional ballots may have been rejected because of a signature, they could come back with an ID, which 80% of Arkansans thought they should have in the first place, and they could cure that ballot. All we're doing is bringing this consistent with what the voters of Arkansas overwhelmingly, there's very few, and I'm sure you all know, there's very few proposals that go before the voters on the ballot where it gets 80% support.
And that was done without any kind of communications effort. There were not ads run. There was not money raised to do flyers. Eighty percent of Arkansans wanted a pure voter ID, and that's what they can get with your support. So for these reasons, I would ask for a due pass. Okay. Representative Lowry is closed for his
Chair
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bill. Representative Wardlaw, you're recognized for a motion. I have a motion due pass on the table.
Is there any discussion on the motion? Representative Whittaker, you're recognized for discussion. Thank
Representative David Whitaker
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you, Mr. Chair. I'll be voting no today. This probably comes as a shock to all of you, mostly because this isn't about the voter ID. It's a nice smokescreen, but the truth is it's about the ability of some people to get to two places, not just one. Our seniors and folks dealing with mobility issues in particular first have to try to
figure out how to vote. Many of them resort to absentee because they have mobility issues. Many of them don't have access to photocopy machines, which means they can't submit a copy of their voter ID. So first of all, step one becomes incredibly difficult. This bill will now add a second almost impossible chore for them to exercise their God-given right in a democracy, which is to vote. You will then, by, before the close of business the following Monday, not weeks as someone
suggested, by close of business the following Monday, they will have to make their way to the courthouse in the county seat. Well, guess what? If you live two blocks, that might not be quite the hurdle that somebody who lives many miles away and who may not have transportation, and even if they did, don't have the mobility to get there. That's why they voted absentee in the first place. That's why I'm of no
Chair
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today. Thank you. Thank you for that. Representative Love, you're recognized for
Representative Fredrick J. Love
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50:53
discussion on the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I want to echo the same sentiment as Representative Whitaker.
I will be voting no against this bill. So I think, number one, when we began to talk about the majority of what people would do, that doesn't always make it the right thing. I think Representative Lowry said somewhat in regards of 80% of the vote. And I will tell you, and not making this a race issue, but African Americans make up 15% of the state population. So if every African-American voted no against this bill because it's a disenfranchising bill,
then it would still be the majority of the people would vote for or would, in essence, be for the bill. So just because the majority of the people vote for something doesn't always make it the right thing to do. And so number two, though, and most importantly, if we're talking about the integrity of the system, this bill does not do anything to really improve the integrity of the voting system.
Representative Lowry says that people feel like, in his testimony, felt like this would be better for the system. But in actuality, it does nothing to actually improve the integrity of the system. And so for those things, and in that vein of what Representative Whitaker iterated before, I will be voting no. Thank you. Representative McCollum, you were
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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52:41
recognized for a discussion on motion.
Representative Austin McCollum
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52:44
Thanks. I'll be voting yes today and supporting this bill. I've reached out to as many county election commissions as I could. Benton County included, they're in total support. They're hard, yes. And I think the Gallup poll that I saw is 77% of folks that identify as non-white are in support of this issue as well. So I'll be supporting it. Thanks. Representative Ladyman, you're recognized
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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53:04
for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, unlike Representative Whittaker
Representative Jack Ladyman
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53:13
and Representative Love, I don't say that I'm speaking for all the disabled people, but I am speaking for quite a few of them that I know personally.
And, you know, to put the disabled people up as being opposed to this because they don't have assets or they don't have abilities bothers me a lot, let me tell you. because these people, I can speak from experience on this subject. These people that are in facilities, they have capability to copy. These facilities have copy machines. They have capability to get an ID.
You know, my son, who's almost 50 years old, he's had a personal photograph ID since he was five years old at no cost to him because we wanted something that identified who he was, not just to vote, but who he was as an individual. And there are a lot of people in that situation who have photo IDs or know how to get those. So it bothers me a lot that people here who haven't walked in the shoes of these disabled folks
throw them up as opposing this bill, so I will be voting yes for this bill.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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54:35
Seeing no one else for discussion, all in favor of this bill say aye. Aye. All opposed? No. Congratulations, Representative Lauer. Your bill is passed. Next on the agenda, Representative Slate, House Bill 1120. Are you ready to run that? Yes, sir.
If you'll have your guest identify himself for
Solomon Graves
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55:11
the record, you all may proceed. Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee. My name is
Speaker 121
55:20
Solomon Graves. I'm the Secretary of Corrections. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members. This morning, we're presenting a bill to you, the Act of Concerning the Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committees. As many of you well know, each judicial district has a jail inspection for cities and counties,
and of those there are two people, the coordinator and then the employee, and this person is appointed by the governor. Each judicial district has a committee that goes and inspects the jails with the review detention manager. And with that, they approve if it is in compliance and with standards. What this bill is asking to do, instead of a political appointee by the governor,
that it's going to be a career employee of the Department of Corrections under the Secretary of Corrections. And at that way, there will be continuity across the state. Right now, every time we have a new jail review director, he may have a different way he operates on the jails and looks at them. I've went through multiple of them, and some of them were extreme to very lax.
And this will set up continuity to be able to go across the state in a fair manner. And with that,
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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56:51
I believe we'll answer any questions you may have. Mr. Graves, did you
Speaker 123
56:58
have anything to add to that before we start with questions? Thank you, Representative Gonzalez. One thing I would, two things I would want to address. These were points that were brought to me by members before the committee. One, standards, criminal detention facility review standards, commonly known as jail standards, are not applicable to the Department of Corrections.
They regulate local detention facilities, which are your county jails. Those of you who have juvenile lockups in your districts, they also administer standards related to those. There is a specific exemption for standards to not apply to our state prison system. That is a long-settled point in the law. And also, this bill only deals with the administrative functions of the coordinator.
This does not get into an issue of what happens if there are violations of standards that are brought out by the inspection and ultimately adopted as fact by the committee. If there are deficiencies that are identified, there's a separate code section that spells out how that process goes. that appellate process is in the circuit court for the facility, wherever that may be.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
58:22
All right. Thank you. We'll take questions from committee members. Representative Meeks,
Representative Stephen Meeks
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58:27
you're recognized for questioning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you
for presenting the bill. Not against the bill, but one concern that I have is if by doing this, do we in any way impede the independence, if you will, of the inspector? Do we potentially create any conflicts of interest where you might have a secretary who's corrupt, for lack of a better word, who is using this review position to maybe cover up deficiencies that otherwise should be reported
and taken care of? So hopefully you understand the gist of what I'm asking, and
Speaker 123
59:10
I look forward to your response. Representative Meeks, again, I'm going to reiterate that standards has no jurisdiction over the Department of Corrections now. Their jurisdiction begins and ends with local detention facilities only, not state correctional facilities. The second piece, what this bill does, as Representative Slap alluded to, not only does it bring uniformity to the process, it also ensures additional resources to the standards
office. Right now, we have a coordinator and an administrative assistant that is responsible for providing administrative support to the standards process for 115 or so detention facilities across the state. This bill will allow me to, on an as-needed basis or my successor, to reallocate additional staff resources within the department to augment that staff to beef up the coordinator's ability to support the committee's
Speaker 128
1:00:05
role to provide oversight of local detention facilities.
Representative Stephen Meeks
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1:00:09
Okay, so they would remain, keep their autonomy to be able to do their job regardless of whoever's sitting in your position.
Speaker 123
1:00:18
This bill does not touch the decision-making of the committees. I was driving up this morning and realized good, bad, or indifferent. There are about 50 or
Speaker 124
1:00:27
so committee members across the state. They're broken up into review districts. I've
Speaker 123
1:00:33
been at this six and a half months now, and I don't know that I could tell you a name of any of the detention committee members in part
because that's not where my responsibility lies. All
Speaker 119
1:00:47
right. Awesome. All right. Thank you, sir. Thank
Chair
Unverified
1:00:52
you. Following up on Representative Meek's question, I had kind of the same concerns, and the part of the bill that gives me that concern is on page three, starting on line five through line seven. Could you explain that to me? It seems like it gives you direct responsibility on how the inspection can be conducted. So that's pretty strong power there, it seems.
Speaker 124
1:01:16
Senator Gonzalez. And that came directly out of our response to the COVID pandemic. As many state agencies have had to do, there are functions of the department, in this case the coordinator's office, that had to adjust due to COVID. The way the statute reads is it creates an assumption that there is an in-person inspection. That's not obviously feasible during the COVID pandemic. What we've had to do utilizing the governor's emergency powers is to allow for the distribution of what is in effect an inspection survey for inspections in 2020 and unless things change in the very foreseeable future for also 2021.
As you will note in the existing language, there is no provision for anything other than
Speaker 123
1:02:13
an inspection. What this is intended to do is to give the department leeway to set out a process that if an inspection is not feasible, that the secretary can authorize alternative methods for conducting that review. Representative Gonzalez, I'll also refer you back to page 1, beginning line 32, where it says that the office referring to the criminal detention facility review coordinator shall be responsible for promulgating, and I'll say upon approval of the secretary of minimum standards for the construction, maintenance, and operation goes on of those local facilities.
Speaker 124
1:02:53
The way the department intends for this process to go, and
Speaker 123
1:02:58
I've charged my chief of staff and my chief legal counsel working with our standards coordinator to set out a slate of amendments to standards, which are in many cases overdue. But one of the amendments that we'll be promulgating through your legislative council in the summer is this emergency review language that says, you know, standards will conduct inspections.
But if these specific things occur, for instance, a pandemic or a declared emergency, either federally or by the governor or legislative bodies, whatever the case may be, then the coordinator will be able to shift
Speaker 128
1:03:37
to this alternative method of inspection. Thank you for
Chair
Unverified
1:03:42
that. And I appreciate what you're
trying to do, but you've raised a little more concern in my mind of allowing surveys to be done in place of inspections. That's greatly concerning, and that's still a lot of authority placed in the Secretary's hands.
And although we may trust you and the administration now, who knows what's coming down the road. And I wish that that's the goal, that in these pandemic situations, that it was actually put into legislation. That's my opinion on it as of now.
Speaker 123
1:04:19
Would you agree? Well, Representative Gonzalez, I respectfully disagree with you again. The process for standards has to be promulgated through the Administrative Procedures Act,
which means that it has to go to the Legislative Council and be approved by the Legislative Council. So this is not an ability where I or my successor will be able to act in fiat. We'll be restricted by what standards says,
Chair
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1:04:48
Legislative Council approves through the rulemaking process. Yes, sir. I understand that. I'm going
Representative Jim Dotson
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1:04:57
to move on to other members. Representative Dotson, you're recognized for questioning. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, share the similar concerns that Chairman relayed, particularly with lines 5 through 7 on page 3.
I heard your response to that that you would be promulgating rules during the interim of course legislation trumps rules and so I would much prefer to have that actually in the language that because the way it's written here under the law if this is passed the inspection may be conducted in a manner deemed appropriate by the coordinator. It's not if there's an emergency. It's not if it's feasible or if it's not feasible
to conduct inspections and that sort of thing. And then secondly, or maybe more importantly, I guess I'm confused on the current role of this criminal detention facility review committee. You said that they're by district and
there's 50 members? By review district, yes. So how many review districts are there? There are eight or nine throughout the state. Okay, so these folks currently go to their local district
and review the facilities in there, do an inspection report, and basically what you're doing under this bill is taking many eyes that could be looking at inspections, making a determination, and moving them to basically a review committee of what one individual sees or deems necessary for inspection. I mean, I think I like half this bill and the
other half I really dislike.
Speaker 123
1:06:56
Taking your first point first, it is the department's intention that alternative methods of inspection will only be in the case of a declared emergency. So I have no problem, and Representative Slate just gave me the okay to say this, to run an amendment. If y'all are willing to pass it out with just this issue resolved, run an amendment on the other side and bring it back over to restrict that to just following the declaration of an emergency.
Taking your second point, there are some committees that do inspect. We have found post-transformation that what is happening in the majority of the state is what is reflected in this bill, which is the coordinator does the visits, and the review committee is just that. They're acting as their name says, which
Representative Jim Dotson
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1:08:03
Thank you. I appreciate the fact that you're willing to discuss an amendment. I mean, I would certainly feel a lot more comfortable with an amendment actually on here before it leaves this committee rather than having to come back to this committee after it goes through the entire process, which would have to do it anyway. But I do like the idea of having a single point under the secretary in order to make it more efficient.
I just wish the review and inspection part was left with the committee, criminal detention facility review committees, the eight or nine of them, so that there's a lot of eyes looking at these things. and it really didn't matter who the individual at the top happened to be. They were giving their reports up rather than having them funneled down at them. But thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all my comments. Representative Whitaker, recognize your question.
Representative David Whitaker
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1:09:04
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're going to shift gears here and we'll take you back up to page one under A1. This is a process question, really. We're changing here from a gubernatorial appointment to a direct hire by the secretary. Is this position currently subject to Senate review? No, sir. Okay, thank you.
Speaker 140
1:09:36
Is the appointed position a paid position? Yes, sir.
Speaker 124
1:09:42
It is a graded position on the state salary scale. For those of you who are familiar with what the scale looks like, it is a GS08 position, which is about halfway through the state salary scale. On the GS side, it goes from grade 1 to grade 15, so this is right at a mid-level position. Would there be any intent in changing that
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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1:10:04
grade level in the future? No, sir. Okay, thank you.
any more questions from committee members sorry seeing though the questions uh representative slave
Chair
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1:10:14
you have offered to amend this bill would you like to pull this bill down and offer those amendments back in this committee at a future date with the correct amendments yes sir i would okay we'll appreciate that without objection we'll let you pull this bill down and come back with amendments at a later time. Next on the agenda is Senate Bill 128.
Representative Dotson, you're recognized to present the bill.
Representative Jim Dotson
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1:11:01
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Chair members of the committee, Senate Bill 128 by Senator English here is really kind
of more of a process bill under, I'm not sure exactly when all of this happened as far as the functionality, but I think this became more readily apparent during the pandemic. If you look at the first part of the bill, I think there's some corrections there, just changing the division making sure it's referring to the division of emergency management when it's talking about division under the I guess under
transformation there's many divisions under various department headings so I think that that's page one and half of page two you'll see that correction made but the main heart of the bill is at the end of page two and really there's only one line on page three where it puts the the the arkansas continuity of operations program under directly under the division of emergency management so that if there's any sort of
continuity of of operations that need to be in place the department of emergency management or the division sorry of emergency management is the one that coordinates all of that I do have A.J. Gary here with me if there's any questions more than that on the bill, but I think the end of page two kind of lays out how those departments would flow and report in the case of an emergency. Okay, thank you for that. To save
Chair
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1:12:39
time, if you don't mind, we'll just move straight to questions instead of having more testimony. Representative Love, you're recognized for
Representative Fredrick J. Love
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1:12:46
question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Dotson, is this a division or the Arkansas Continuity Operations Program? Is that a program that's already established? Or is that
something that we're creating? I'll let Director Gary just kind
Representative Jim Dotson
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1:13:04
of answer that for you. Please identify yourself for the record. Yes, sir. A.J.
Speaker 146
1:13:12
Gary. I'm the director of the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.
And yes, basically, it does currently exist. This is under the DIS information systems. They approached me earlier about making, moving the continuity of operations program, I'll call it, from them over to the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management. we also do some continuity of operations planning so i have planners who are very familiar with that so when they approached me with it i agreed with with making that move all right thank you thank
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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1:13:50
you mr chair any other questions from committee members uh we have no one to sign up
sign up to speak for against this bill representative dotson would you like to close for your bill i'm closed for it
make a motion do pass okay we
Chair
Unverified
1:14:08
have a motion do pass any discussion on the motion all in favor say aye all opposed congratulations your bill is passed next on the list uh senate bill 145 um i'm so sorry your name slipped mine yeah representative baity you're recognized
to present uh senate bill 145 i'm terrible with names anyway i apologize it's not you it's
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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1:14:41
a good thing i only have two kids i'd probably forget their name mr chairman members of
the um committee is an honor to present my first bill in committee uh i think it's a very simple bill it's clean up language uh an act to amend the
Basically, the title specifies and defines exactly what the impact of the bill will be, an act to amend the Arkansas Emergency Management Assistant Compact to comply with the changes to the national standard. And with that, I'll entertain any questions from the committee. Thank you for that. Representative
Payton, you're recognized for questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative John Payton
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1:15:28
I guess my question comes near the top of page 3. There's a paragraph that says the governor or his designee shall not be obligated, and they'll have sole and absolute discretion over this. If this is just cleanup language,
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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1:15:46
where did that power already exist? I think that under paragraph
2 of the National Emergency Compact Act, It specifies that information that the governor or his designated representative,
which would be Director Gary of the Division of Emergency Management, would be those designees. And we'll defer questions, any further specific questions. Well, I guess my follow-up as he comes to the
Representative John Payton
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1:16:11
table would be who controls the language in that act? Did we vote on it? Do we get to have input on that? Or is that something at the federal level that we're just subjected to regardless of how they change it? Just before
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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1:16:28
you begin, please identify yourself again for the record.
Speaker 146
1:16:33
All right. Thank you. A.J. Gary, Director of the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management. So the EMAC, Emergency Management Assistance Compact, this is an agreement with all of the 50 states and territories. And what it does is allow us or any state to be able to send personnel from one state to the other to assist that state in times of disasters. Arkansas many times has sent our search and rescue teams to Texas and Louisiana, and we get reimbursed for that.
And a lot of those people that go to respond are local firemen. They don't necessarily have to be state agencies. But the agreement is that if we send people there with an agreement with the other states, then they're covered under liability, workers' comp, and then we're reimbursed for their time sending them down there. So it's, I mean, we've been doing that for a while. This language just puts us in line with the language that's been changed on the national level.
So there's no requirement for a state to send somebody. So if a state needs assistance, they'll put out a message to all the states saying what resource they need. If that state has that resource and wants to send it, then there's paperwork done through FEMA, and then there's an agreement that those personnel will go. So if it's, you know, state funding to that, then, you know, the funds come out of the state funds that are paid first and then reimbursed.
So that's, I think, where the governor's part
Representative John Payton
Unverified
1:18:13
comes in. Right. Thank you. And I understand most of what you said there. I think it's been going on for some time, and I don't know that it's broke. And I was always taught if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But my point is, who is in control of making those changes that you're talking about that would compel us to have to adapt to those changes? Where is that decided? What elected delegation or whatever has input on that?
Speaker 146
1:18:43
Okay, I think I understand what you're asking. So you're talking about at the
Representative John Payton
Unverified
1:18:49
national level? Yes, sir. We're responding, evidently, to changes that were
Speaker 146
1:18:53
made at the national level. Yeah, so perfect. I think I'm following you now, and I apologize. So the EMAC commission is made up of different states that are part of this agreement. So as they're making decisions on, you know, the whole group, so it's not just, and this is my understanding, it's not just a federal agency doing this.
These are the states that are involved in this compact because it is a state-to-state agreement. So we have an EMAC group which is made up of some different states that, you know, and their recommendation has been for the states to get in line with this language. So years ago when it was first passed, everybody was kind of on the same page, same language. And then through the time, some of that language was changed and some recommendations through that committee that has come out.
Representative John Payton
Unverified
1:19:49
So do you know if Arkansas has representation on that committee? And if so, how that representation was appointed or elected or chosen? Yeah, so
Speaker 146
1:19:58
we have every state has an EMAC coordinator, and we have one at the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management. So our EMAC coordinator is working with the other coordinators in the other states. So that person, you know, works for the Division of Emergency Management. So it works for me. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
1:20:19
Representative Meeks, did you have a question? Okay. Representative Dotson, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:20:27
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question goes to Section 2 of the bill on page 3 under liability. You have, it looks like you're adding local government subdivisions, private entities, yada, yada, yada. there on that and does this make those entities subject to the liability laws of the of the
Speaker 146
1:20:50
receiving state if the assistance is going so those resources that that go back and forth could be could be volunteer organizations they could be as I mentioned earlier they could be you know firemen that work for municipalities. So having this national agreement protects them on that liability and workers' comp type stuff.
Representative Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:21:22
I guess my question, though, is these entities,
say there are Arkansas entities that are going to Tennessee, are they under this, I think the way I'm reading it, they would then be subject to Tennessee liability laws, or would they still be subject to Arkansas liability laws
Speaker 145
1:21:44
if this is passed? So, and I think I have this right. I may have to
Speaker 146
1:21:49
follow up, but, you know, say if we're sending through this EMAC agreement, firemen from northwest Arkansas that are part of search and rescue,
Speaker 156
1:21:59
they're covered under their local liability workers' comp and so forth. So there's an agreement that they're covered
Representative Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:22:07
under that. So if there's some sort of a wonky law that was in the receiving state that they just were unaware of and they violated unintentionally, as long as it's not willful misconduct, gross negligence, or recklessness, they should be covered under their existing Arkansas liability protections is what you're saying? Yes.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
1:22:29
Okay. Thank you. Okay. Representative Meeks, let's hear your
Chair
Unverified
1:22:38
motion. Motion do pass. Okay, we'll have a motion do pass on the table. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Congratulations, your bill is passed. Committee, before we go, we're going to take up these bills that we just took off the table. House Bill 1053, Representative Dotson's bill. Representative Dotson, you do not have to represent this bill.
We take it back to the point that it was at when it was taken off the table, and we had or when it was put on the table I'm sorry and it had a do pass motion at that time so we'll take up that motion at this time. Is there any discussion on the do pass motion for Representative Dotson's bill? Representative Payton you're
Representative John Payton
Unverified
1:23:22
recognized. Thank you members and and this was put on the table basically because of a comment I made and I just want to reiterate that DF&A has supplied the financial,
the fiscal impact statements, and I plan to vote for it, and I appreciate
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
1:23:39
the committee. Okay, thank you for that. Seeing no more discussion, all in
Chair
Unverified
1:23:44
favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, congratulations. Your bill is back. Representative Wardlaw, you're recognized to present House Bill 1214. Committee, this is another one that we just took off the table. We've heard presentation on it already, So, Representative Wardlaw, you're recognized. I do not want to
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:24:00
make the committee live through any more than they've already lived through.
So, therefore, I'd make a motion to do pass. Okay. We
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
1:24:07
have a motion to do pass. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Congratulations. Your bill is passed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee. Thank you,
Chair
Unverified
1:24:17
committee, for staying with me today. If you all have more bills, no more bills that we need to deal with, please get them to me. Thank you. We are adjourned. Thank you.
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1017 Rye CONCERNING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME; AND TO ADOPT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENTLY.
HB1112 Lowery TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER IDENTIFICATION; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VERIFICATION OF PROVISIONAL BALLOTS; AND TO AMEND AMENDMENT 51 OF THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION.
HB1120 Slape CONCERNING CRIMINAL DETENTION FACILITIES REVIEW COMMITTEES.
SB128 J. English TO AMEND THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT; AND TO DELEGATE THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE ARKANSAS CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PROGRAM.
SB145 Gilmore TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT TO COMPLY WITH CHANGES TO THE NATIONAL STANDARD.
HB1333 Penzo PERMITTING NONIMMGRANTS LEGALLY ADMITTED TO THE UNITED STATES UNDER A COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION TO BE A CERTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER; AND TO BE KNOWN AS THE "MARSHALLESE LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT".
LAID ON THE TABLE Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1053 Dotson TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TO APPOINT THE DIRECTOR OF THE ASSESSMENT COORDINATION DIVISION AND TO STATE THAT THE APPOINTEE MEETS THE LEGAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION.
HB1214 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EMERGENCY SERVICES ACT OF 1973
CONCERNING FUNDING.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE, Feb 1, 2021 | Agenda | 1 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Chair
Unverified
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Representative Nelda Speaks
Unverified
Speaker 32
Speaker 34
Speaker 38
Joe Minor
Unverified
Speaker 45
Speaker 35
Speaker 20
Representative John Payton
Unverified
Representative Mark Lowery
Unverified
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Speaker 61
Representative David Whitaker
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Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 84
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
Speaker 95
Speaker 42
Speaker 97
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
Speaker 106
Representative Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
Solomon Graves
Unverified
Speaker 121
Speaker 123
Speaker 128
Speaker 124
Speaker 119
Representative Jim Dotson
Unverified
Speaker 135
Speaker 140
Speaker 146
Speaker 145
Speaker 156