Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development- House
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Bills discussed (1)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB74
Act 67
· 2 mentions in agenda, transcript
Matched: “…k Rep. Bruce Coleman REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle SB74 Hill TO AMEND THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY REFORM ACT…”
|
TO AMEND THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2013; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. | Hill | Notification that SB74 is now Act 67 |
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Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
0:00
Those that are wanting to speak for a bill or against a bill, make sure that you sign up. I think we only have one bill on our agenda for today, Senate Bill 74. Representative Evans, are you ready to present your bill? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Speaker 3
0:33
Colleagues, I first want to thank the many members of the
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified
0:37
private sector, our telecoms, providers that graciously came to the table and invested hours of compromise to be able to deliver this valuable piece of legislation for the benefit of all of our constituents. Secondly, I want to thank the lobbyists that represent those firms and for their due diligence and continual support as we work through the language and overcame many obstacles. And finally, I publicly want to give my appreciation to the members of the Light Committee in the Senate and the Senate as a whole who have unanimously supported this initiative with the votes of approval.
Madam Chair, I do have my mayor, Mayor Ken Kincaid from Cabot is here with us today who has signed up to speak on behalf of this bill. Members, this bill that I, along with Senator Hill, present to you today opens avenues for increased broadband for the state of Arkansas. The bill broadens the scope to allow our cities, our counties, improvement districts, and all municipalities the ability to partner with established providers to participate in the expansion of broadband services to those who currently have no service who are currently underserved.
No one is closer to understanding the needs of our people better than our mayors, our cities, and our counties, especially in those unincorporated areas. Gentlemen, ladies of this committee, this is about service, and service leads to economic development. We can no longer be in the bottom five across the nation in broadband. Broadband is the new electricity. Our businesses must have it. We must have cutting-edge technology to be attractive to new businesses. Our businesses are currently hampered back home due to the lack of dependable, high-class, first-rate technology and broadband.
As we all know, through this pandemic, we must take great strides in providing broadband for our schools, our health care systems in rural Arkansas, and to our homebound. This bill will further advance economic development opportunities. It will reduce economic development barriers and will allow local entities to provide for their citizens. By allowing our entities back home to partner with the private sector by raising funds and investing in infrastructure, we eliminate those spoken barriers to provide and meet the needs of Arkansans.
The emergency clause on this bill goes hand in glove with the existing broadband emergency that we all know is present in our state, the need for broadband expansion for our students, public health, and the safety of our frontline law enforcement workers. I'd be happy to answer any questions. I would appreciate a good vote at the
Speaker 7
3:20
proper time. Are there any questions? Representative
Speaker 9
3:27
Fortner. Thank you, Madam Chair. Representative Evans, is there any opposition to this?
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified
3:33
Currently at the time, there is no one that I'm aware of that is opposed to the point that they came to speak against it. I'm not aware of any opposition currently lobbying against it. I will tell you, though, that we met for several weeks with all of the telecom companies, all the current providers, and continuously
Speaker 9
3:55
amended the language to meet all their needs. Follow-up? You're recognized. Smaller companies like Yelcott and Natco, have they expressed any hesitation?
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified
4:07
They were represented by their association. They were actually some of the first ones that came to us and asked us to put some adaptive language in. We gladly were able to meet their needs so that they could potentially further expand their service areas. Thank you. Is there anyone else? Would you
Speaker 7
4:22
like to bring your mayor up to speak for it? Yes, ma'am. I'd like
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified
4:27
to give Mayor Kincaid the opportunity to speak on behalf of my district. thank you
Speaker 15
4:38
madam chair and uh members of the house thank you so much for giving me the
opportunity to be here today um would you please identify yourself for the record i'm sorry ma'am mayor kincaid uh city of cabot thank you thank you i'm very humbled to be here today and and as As Brian, Representative Evans, alluded to, we need change more now than ever. Even before COVID, Cabot had issues with Internet. We've got with the Attorney General. We've sent things to them.
We're just having major, major issues. And to be able to be a city that's competitive, we need this more than ever. We are losing jobs, businesses, and people to Conway and other areas because of our Internet. We want our city to be a site of businesses that the governor's office is bringing to our state. It is very important to our city's future and growth. Our business model and any business model will tell you that without infrastructure or capital improvements, you will have no growth.
We truly need this for growth. As you know, I'm not telling you what you don't already know, but I fully believe that the Internet is the new electricity. Everyone wants it. Everyone needs it. Everyone has to have it. When you go home, you want to be able to turn a light switch on and you have the Internet. Right now, we don't have that. We may be spotty for an hour. We may have some houses that don't have it. We may have some houses that have been out for a week and can't get their Internet hooked back up. Or we may have areas that there's no Internet in the area at all.
We really want this truly throughout our city. um as you know the governor has proposed millions for the internet he wants the best for our education system and our state's internet that is ranked as brian or representative evans just alluded to um which i think is 48th in the state is what i've read this bill would literally help us and help arkansas catch up no one cares more about your city or your area or your district more than you do and more than i do and i ask for your support we are not asking for money
we are asking for the handcuffs to be removed so we can make our decisions we need your help and support to repeal I mean, I'm excuse, sorry to repeat from earlier, we have to stay competitive for our business our military and our residents and our future as mayor of Cabot, I respectfully on behalf of the citizens of Cabot and other cities like us that need your help I ask you to please approve this bill and send it to the house floor Thank you so much, and I know with your help, Arkansas will be one of the best states in the country.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
7:27
Thank you, sir. Are there any questions? Representative Evans, are you ready to close for your bill? Yes, Madam Chair,
Speaker 8
7:38
I close for the bill and appreciate a good vote from the committee. Representative Eubanks, you're
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
7:50
recognized. Motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion, what's the will of the committee? All in favor say aye. Aye.
Those opposed, nay. Congratulations, Mr. Evans, your bill has passed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you,
Speaker 8
8:03
committee members, for the good vote. A quick
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
8:06
announcement. We're not doing pictures today because of the weather, so he's going to try to get it set up for Monday. I'll try to shoot you a text message if we can get it on the calendar for Monday. Representative Eaves, you're
Representative Les Eaves
Unverified
8:21
recognized. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I have just a thought. You know, in committees, these are the only chances we have to really vet bills and figure out what's going on and ask questions.
So I would like to see if it's possible that this committee starts the process of stop asking for a follow-up. If we could do that, that would be
Speaker 22
8:43
great. I will consider that. And with that, we're adjourned.
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- HOUSE, Jan 27, 2021 | Agenda | 1 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 3
Representative Brian S. Evans
Unverified
Speaker 7
Speaker 9
Speaker 15
Speaker 8
Representative Les Eaves
Unverified
Speaker 22