2025 Boys State House Meeting
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (2)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1001
Act 3
· 7 mentions in transcript
Matched: “please read HB 1001. House Bill 1001 by Representative Ross. To create the, the…”
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AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATION FOR … | House Management | Notification that HB1001 is now Act 3 |
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HB1002
Act 1
· 3 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…sent, the bill is passed. Mr. Clerk, please read House Bill HB 1002. House Bill 1002 by Representative”
|
THE GENERAL APPROPRIATION ACT FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1002 is now Act 1 |
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Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
0:12
I invite the members, staff, press, and guests in the galleries to stand, to be led in prayer by the house chaplain, EJ Moore, and to remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to be led by a representative
Speaker 4
0:27
Lex Gamble or Representative Perry. If you will, bow your heads. To heavenly Father, as we come to you today in this prestigious place. Let us all gather around, have a good time. Enjoy where we're at and realize that this is an honor. This is a privilege
that we all get to share with each of our brothers and sisters here. Thank you so much for allowing us to have this opportunity and let us go far in life and do things in your name, Lord. You are a possible of all great things, Lord, and we know we can accomplish anything with you on our side and your ain't my prayer. Amen.
Unknown speaker
1:26
Members, please indicate your presence by pushing your yellow
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
2:04
Cass up the ballot, Mr. Clerk with 79 members present, the chair sees a quorum. The chair appoints the following committee to notify the Senate that the House is organized and ready for business, which would be no. The chair appoints the following committee to notify the governor that the house is organized and ready for business, which would be James Willett.
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
2:40
Typically at this time, when you've been appointed by the Speaker, the, the gentleman that was appointed would go to the Senate and report that the house is assembled and ready for business, and also the person that was appointed to address the governor and I, I don't know Representative Hawker. OK. OK. I See if they're going to if they are. If not, we'll roll right into legislation.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
3:10
All right, we'll move on to the House bills. Mr. Clerk,
Speaker 24
3:22
please read HB 1001. House Bill 1001 by Representative Ross. To create the, the, the privatization of Education Act to repeal the Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account program and to declare an emergency.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
3:41
Representative C Rose, you recognized to uh Recognized to explain the
Speaker 30
4:07
bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for addressing me. And I'll begin now.
Speaker 31
4:13
Representatives, I love Arkansas. But you know what I love more? Our state's future. And that future starts with education, specifically public education.
Speaker 32
4:20
Well, we need to understand right now and as our state, is our government is supporting these privatized schools, such as private schools, and giving them our public schools money. So, and the status quo in the state of Arkansas, we see that um if you choose to go to a private school, you can get these things called vouchers, which take out right now $6800
per student that uses a voucher from public school. funds to go directly into private schools' pockets. However, the big issue of this is 6800 isn't enough to pay for a private school tuition in itself. So the people that are using these vouchers are people rich enough to already go to private schools and are just getting more money to uh just getting money to throw on top of it. And the big issue right now is that the entire state wants to like Christianize schooling, and that's a huge problem. Uh, the founder of um these programs, Milton Friedman,
declared this as a war on public education. We need to understand is that right now in the state of Arkansas, we're seeing a war on public education by funding private schools and defunding public schools. The only way to fix this issue and fix each and every one of our education and the future education of the state is to get rid of these voucher programs, so we can focus on our students and focus on the public education systems. Thank you. I'm ready for questions. Representative Andrews.
Chair
Unverified
5:44
So my question about this, my question about this bill is, will this bill take away from Arkansas teachers' salaries because I do want to specify that it is known
Speaker 32
5:54
that Arkansas teachers are the highest paid in the country. Uh, no, this bill literally just defunds private schools and private schools aren't held to any, uh, Like funding like any like mandate Representative McCollum,
Speaker 44
6:15
for what purpose? to clarify with this specifically, uh, just get
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
6:26
rid of the vouchers. So, when the speaker, Bill presenter, takes questions. process is you stand in an apologies for this, but you stand the speaker will say for what purpose? You'll say question, he'll say Representative Unger. If the speaker leads the well, or not
the speaker, but the presenter leaves the well. You don't get to ask your question. You've got to be recognized by the speaker before you launch
Speaker 3
7:02
into the question. Representative Rose has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative McCollum.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
7:17
You're recognized for speaking against the bill. Uh, so I'm neither speaking for or against the bill, but I
Chair
Unverified
7:24
just wanted uh to clarify my question that I was unable to ask. I was wondering, uh, whether you were specifically just getting rid of vouchers or how you intend to, uh, defund or uh allocate funds more towards public schools rather than private schools.
Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Representative Lynch,
Representative Roger D. Lynch
Unverified
8:19
you're recognized. To speak for the bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the house Public education is the backbone of our society.
Education is the most powerful tool that we have. And we have to make sure That every citizen of Arkansas. Has access to a high quality of education. Many of us come from public schools. I myself come from the Rock Central. It's a school rich in diversity. And that is something that is often lacking in private education. So that is why we need to allocate more funding to public
education will still recognizing that we still do need to put more effort into ensuring that such funding is appropriately allocated towards programs that ensure that we will build a better future for Arkansas. Thank you I've spoken for the
Speaker 60
9:14
bill. Are there any representatives wishing to speak against the bill?
Speaker 64
9:42
Uh, so, private schools, um, While they do contain a lot of uh people of the uh middle class and higher. There are still those who cannot afford to go there. And uh in those counties. The schools may not be the best. The public schools and I mean, we can allocate funds there. All day, but I do believe that right now, the children of Arkansas need to be
Representative Brandon Achor
Unverified
10:07
supported by those private schools and the government should help with that, so.
Speaker 3
10:22
The representative has spoke, has spoken against the bill. Are there
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
10:25
any representatives that would like to speak for the bill. Representative McAloon. You were recognized to speak for the bill.
Speaker 68
10:42
Public education is something that's necessary. I
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
10:44
mean, without it, there is just private education and that goes back to the times before we even had America.
Where the only way to get teaching was if you already came from a wealthy family or a You've got lucky, really. Public education stops that and it helps make it to where it's more accessible to everyone and it allows all of us to go to college, get a good education, and make our way through the world. So defunding public education for private education doesn't help anyone. It only defunds. The only thing that helps a majority of Americans get anywhere in life.
Speaker 3
11:24
The representative has spoken for the bill. Are there
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
11:26
any representatives wishing to speak against the bill? Representative Browne, you're recognized to speak
Speaker 73
11:41
against. I would just like to say that I feel we've made an unfair assumption that, um, All people going to private schools are already well off enough to attend those schools. There are some families that are just getting by that maybe that's $6800 does help.
And I feel it would be unfair to them. Uh, I know that there's some people in here that share my similar beliefs as a young Christian and maybe those parents don't want their children going to public schools that preach evolutionary theory, and I feel it's unfair to them, so. against the
Speaker 3
12:13
bill. Are there any representatives wishing to speak for the bill? Representative
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
12:20
Mayberry, you were recognized to speak for the bill.
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
12:29
Hello? OK. So, uh, I would like to point out that many states have tried this bad thing and have failed. If you want to look that up, that is a fact. Also, the fact that schools are preaching scientific facts and uh it goes against your moral beliefs or your faith, uh. Kinda doesn't matter because it's a public school and the people that want to go to private schools, uh, that can't afford it, that's why we have public schools. That's the whole point of them is that they can afford it and have a good education that teaches fact
instead of faith, which is something completely different and against our First Amendment right. OK. And uh it's kind of I'll explain it. We shouldn't, we shouldn't be teaching Christian morals or faith in a public school because that, that is against the First Amendment. In the Constitution. Thank you. This representative has spoken for
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
13:19
the bill. Are there any representatives wishing to speak against the bill? Representative Richardson, you were recognized to speak against the bill.
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
13:35
I'd like to start by saying what this
Speaker 78
13:38
bill does well, um, Arizona, the great state of Arizona, has a similar program, um, and in, uh, and in 2023, 52.4% of students that used their, uh, voucher program, we're already, um, private school students. And the year after 71.2% of students that use their voucher system were previously private schools students, um, the
voucher system mainly benefits, uh, wealthy students that can already afford, uh, private education. The $6000 that is allocated, uh, from pri uh public school budgets is simply not enough to afford, uh, a private education,
so students will, I believe in a universal, uh, pre-K system, uh, like the great state of Oklahoma, uh, in there was a 2006 study that was conducted that would estimate um that uh universal pre-K would cost the government to, uh, 226 million dollars and adjusting for inflation, it would cost $350 million annually. Um There was another study that was conducted that said that
universal pre-K would benefit the Arkansas. Uh public by bringing in 2490 million in total benefits by 2050. Uh, I look at
Speaker 79
15:18
universal pre-K like an investment in, uh, our Arkansas and our Arkansas students and something that's very necessary for the future of our great state.
Speaker 78
15:30
I'd like to start by reading a speech that I prepared, uh, on this matter. In the context of many public
Speaker 79
15:40
platforms, key policy parameters involve not just How, but whom? Which populations should be eligible for benefits. This is evident in recent policy proposals at the federal level in the United States, which depart from the targeting characteristic of much US policy to expand benefits to all individuals who meet broader eligibility criteria. Even when many could be in for a Marginal for the goods or services in question central to the rhetoric behind such
proposals, such as Medicare for all or Universal childcare is that access to some services is a basic right, not a privilege for those who can afford it. Another rationale is that. Programs for the poor are pro are poor programs. That means tested programs end up underfunded due to a lack of broad-based political support. But in the, but, but can universal programs be justified on efficiency grounds.
In theory, there are clear, uh, efficiency rationales for targeting. By targeting benefits on difficult to change characteristics correlated with how levels of human capital, policymakers can reduce moral hazard, keep costs down, and redistribute towards those most in need. On the other hand, The The greater number and political power of stakeholders in the universal programs might hold public Goods providers more
accountable, raising the productivity of public spending relative to a targeted program. Practically in cases where there are more direct, uh, interactions. Across programs, beneficiaries, universal access may also allow for human capital spillovers that increase the productivity of public spending for an implicit target population, such as disadvantaged children. It is nevertheless difficult to
gain empirical attraction on this question. In the very least, it requires the same kind of program that can be observed under widely different conditions of access. A situation that rarely arises in practice. Preschool education in the United States may provide a rare proving ground, perhaps nowhere today in the, is the variation in programs across more striking. In 2015 to 2016, not all states funded pre-K.
but among the 43 states that did, there was great cross state variation and eligibility rules. Some state programs are universal serving all four year olds that need age eligibility requirements. Others are more targeted, meaning that they all are also a means tested or targeted enrolled based on other factors. In the, in the first part of this speech, I take advantage of the rich cross-state variation
in rules governing eligibility for state-funded pre-K to to compare universal and targeted programs. On the same basis using the same data and research design. Despite a large literature on preschool education spanning disciplines, such an exercise has yet to be carried out. A mature body of research explorers targeted pre uh preschool programs, most famously, the federal Head Start program. And the and the model preschool
interventions of the distant past. There is also an emergent research on state funded pre-K, both streams of literature tend to conclude that the benefits of preschool extend exceed the cost. Yet it is difficult to compare the findings of universal and targeted preschool programs directly due to the differences across studies and methodology, outcomes, timing, and contributial enrollment patterns. I addressed this gap in the literature by working with, with, um, no, never mind. OK, I find substantial positive
effects of They funded pre-K on the test scores of 4 year olds in states with universal, uh, universal pre-K eligibility, improves the average 4 year old's standardized reading and math scores by significant 12%, 60% of a standard deviation. I can, I cannot uh rule out equal effects of universal pre-K attendance by family income, but low income children experience substantially larger test score gains. Pre-K attendance
impacts for for children in states with targeted programs are significantly smarter. Affect sizes vary, but this basic set of results is robust to, to, uh, To changes in the uh Estimation sample, including changes the range of ages or the set states considered. It also arises for for other, another outcome. Uh, parent reports of their four year old's kindergarten
readiness, albeit with less precision. Supporting a casual inter Interpretation. Uh, my, uh, preference especially. Also does not yield similar patterns of impact for a measure of mental development at age 2 or, or host of other child observities. A key feature of the universal and targeted pre-K programs under study is that per pupil costs are actually quite
similar. The larger test score gains for universal programs alone thus suggests that there are more cost effective. But this conclusion could be hasty since some other characteristic of states with universal programs rather than the programs access itself. could generate the same pattern of attendance uh impacts. For example, universal programs were relatively more likely to require a small class sizes, which have been rigorously shown to improve early states with
universal programs may also have more populations. Uh, more likely to in general or university program. I rigorously explore these possibilities in the second part of this, of this sporting evidence. I also show that consistent with access in the casual mechanism, the impacts
similar to those of universal uh public kindergarten, which I estimate for kindergarten entry using an RD approach. The evidence is thus relatively cost effective in the 3rd and final part of this, uh, paper. I monetize the test score gains for a tentative parameters like
the magnitude scores and earnings. Universal pre-K delivers a benefit to cost ratio well above one, much like universal kindergarten. Well, significantly less precise than Then the difference in test scores. Uh, the magnitude of the
Speaker 92
23:17
difference on that point benefit cost ratios across programs is substantial, uh, speaker, if you.
Speaker 78
23:29
Good. On that point. Uh, I call for the relevance of this. Yeah,
Speaker 25
23:36
uh, I believe that this is on topic because, uh, this bill is about education
Speaker 79
23:43
reform and so I will continue to, uh, Read my speech. OK. Speaker,
Speaker 79
23:54
that we can have a 68 pages,
so I'm gonna use my 30 minutes of allotted time. Uh, if we could wrap it up, OK, thank you. The proceeds as follows. The next section describes the landscape of state funded preschool in the United States and the state funded pre-K programs of study in this paper. Section 3 outlines the research design. One employ the estimate of casual impact of these programs on age 4 test scores and section.
For introduces the data and presents an explanatory assessment of whether The design identifying assumptions hold the ECL. S B section 5 gains the main impact estimates for universal and targeted pre-K. Along with a series of
Speaker 79
24:53
estimates and their differences. Section 4, explore potential alternative expectations for their larger
Speaker 103
25:02
impacts of pre-K attendance on stage you could wrap up your speech very quickly, that'd be greatly 30 minutes of allotted time, and I'm going to use my 30 minutes of allotted time.
Speaker 83
25:06
Thank you very much. OK. Along with a series of specification checks on these estimates and differences. Section 4 explores Sound clerk if you could kill his mic.
Speaker 3
25:51
take your seat. Representative Crawford, for what purpose? On that motion? I I
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
25:57
would like to make a motion for immediate consideration. That's a proper motion and it is
Unknown speaker
26:06
not debatable. The question before the uh before the House is immediate consideration of HB 1001, all in favor of vote aye, all opposed, vote no. Uh, Mr.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
27:27
voted? The vote of 64 years. The motion has passed.
The question before the House is passage, uh, is the passage of HB 1001, prepare the machine, Mr. Clerk. Has everyone voted? As everyone voted. Pass up the ballot, Mr. Clerk.
With a vote of 65 y and 14 nays and
Speaker 24
28:26
0 present, the bill is passed. Mr. Clerk, please read House Bill HB 1002. House Bill 1002 by Representative
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
28:31
Hendricks. To create the mental health omnibus Act.
Chair
Unverified
29:27
So mental health is on the decline, especially for young children, um, What this bill is designed to do is, um, Eliminate the use of e-cigarettes, um, provide a suicide prevention grant program. And Um, established funds for potentially selling e-cigarettes or tobacco to minors.
Speaker 95
30:04
Representative Hendricks has explained the bill. Are there any questions? Representative Wong, for what purpose?
Speaker 110
30:17
I have a question. Uh, proceed. You're recognized. Is this uh bill only specific to e-cigarettes or
Speaker 128
30:22
all nicotine use products. All nicotine. Thank you. Representative
Chair
Unverified
30:28
Burkes, for what purpose? I have a question
Uh, proceed. You're recognized. Um It's to eliminate Improper use and provide mental health support and peer groups for young children who suffer from anxiety, suicide, um, improvised suicide
prevention programs, um, Because essentially nicotine. Doesn't really
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
31:06
Help in a sense, but
Speaker 132
31:11
It doesn't really solve Problems. Representative PD for what purpose? Question, you were recognized. Um,
Chair
Unverified
31:23
if selling nicotine products to minors, uh, illegal already. What's the point in banning
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
31:33
it? Still crack down on future
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
31:41
abuses of nicotine products and young children. Representative Eubanks, for what purpose? I Uh, you are recognized. Uh, how would the banning of nicotine products to minors affect the use of products like nicotine patches and strips for the purpose of weaning off
Chair
Unverified
32:00
of an addiction. Some people can't immediately stop and so doctors and other medical professionals will allow them to use nicotine strips and patches to slowly.
Um, that is where the peer groups come in and Um Just to provide support for those children who
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
32:24
do suffer and need help. Progressing and getting off of
Chair
Unverified
32:29
those products, um, we're just offering a better
way to To use those products. Representative Brooks, for what purpose? You're recognized. So, would this bill enact a, um,
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
32:48
person or aid to those who suffer with mental health such as
Speaker 146
33:07
a therapist, um, for Can you repeat that? So with this bill, um, provide aid such as a therapist for any, uh, children. Yes Representative McClaire for what purpose? Um
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
33:22
I wanna have a motion to limit, uh, debate time for for and against to 5 minutes. Just on this bill or in general on every bill? So 4 minutes on 5 minutes, minutes for each side. That is a proper motion and it is not debatable. The question before the House is immediate consideration of a limit of debate to 5 minutes. All in favor say aye.
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
33:56
All opposed say no. The motion fails. All right, gentlemen, here, here's what just happened. Uh, when we vote, voice vote, we voice vote motions, we've got to have more than just I Hey, you got, you gotta let it be known. That vote threshold is a little bit higher. It's a 2/3 vote threshold. Typically we would put that on the board, but we're hoping for the, for expediency purposes, we could just Roll with it.
Point being is, on these, uh, uh, when you come to the world to speak for and against. Speak on the topic, speak on the bill. We don't typically don't go down there and read. Prolonged speeches and prolonged comments from other places need to be concise and to the point, so that you prove your point, because what happens is, in a, in a situation with our, our general assembly, if Representative Childress goes down there and, and talks for At a time, extended time, he tends to lose a little bit of credibility as far as going forward with his bills and his
points and perspectives. So you won't be concise and to the point. If we want to limit debate, that's well within your ranks, but right now,
Speaker 152
35:10
you probably won't want this to play out a little bit, because you only have a few bills, but you can bring that motion back. But when you do vote, voice vote, be heard
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
35:19
because it's the call of the chair, whether that motion is adopted. The representative has presented the bill. Are there any
Speaker 154
35:28
representatives wishing to speak against the bill. Representative Barnes, for what purpose? Uh, I'm here to speak against
the bill that was uh previously uh presented. I think that the banning of E-cigarettes and nicotine products is actually kind of counterintuitive after all. In the United States, we banned, uh, Hard drugs like crack, cocaine, all of that. And there's still plenty of use. And in my opinion, I think that if people really wanted to use nicotine,
Speaker 3
36:21
they will find a way illegally or legally, they will find a way.
Speaker 146
36:30
So. This representative has spoken against the bill. Are there any representatives wishing to speak for the bill? Representative McClure. You're recognized. So I just wanted to uh clarify this bill. I'm a co-sponsor on it. We're not banning the nicotine products. Um, we are just, uh, So a lot of teachers, when they see a, a student using nicotine,
sometimes they don't report it. We are wanting to uh enforce harsher penalties on those teachers. And, uh, we're wanting to enforce harsher penalties on the people who sell these nicotine products to minors. So like maybe a larger fine, a suspension, but I wanted to say we are not banning them. We don't want them banned. We want to enforce harsher penalties for
Speaker 156
37:14
those. Who sell them or for those who don't report them used in schools. Thank you. This has spoken for the bill. Are there any representatives wishing to speak against the bill?
Speaker 64
37:32
Representative Representative Anchor. You are recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, in this bill, it talks a little bit here about adding
mental health programs in schools. And, um, My issue with that is that schools are already Uh, struggling to keep up financially, especially in instead of Arkansas and some of the more rural communities. And with that, uh, unless we You know, I don't see in hearing in here about grants for that, so. That kind of falls on them. Uh, also with, um, The harsher punishments to uh selling to miners. Uh
Speaker 40
38:37
A lot of those miners have fake IDs. And Uh, that could easily put a small business out of business
Speaker 3
38:46
cause they got arrested and can't do business. And so, um, that could be a hit to the economy of Arkansas. Uh Thank you. Those representative has, has spoken against the
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
38:52
bill. Those wishing to speak for the bill, please rise. Representative Ray, you are recognized.
Representative David Ray
Unverified
39:11
You speak for the bill. Uh, I want to focus on just the second part of this. On section 2, the Department of Health shall establish and administer a grant program providing education to minors. School personnel and mental health professionals. Specializing in suicide prevention.
This is not the e-cigarette bill. It's a mental health bill. It is literally titled. Um, the mental health ominous Act. It's not e-cigarettes. The end goal is not to end the use of e-cigarettes. It's the end the constant suicides that we have going on, not just in this state, but in our entire country. Mental health is a huge issue, and they are using it out as they're using e-cigarettes as an outlet.
We need to change that outlet to something that's gonna be beneficial. Um, and The funding part of the aspect would be um Potentially taxpayer money. And grants, as it mentions, um, I am one of the representatives on this bill. Um Along with the financial assistance to mental health organizations in the state so that we can um reach more people, especially in the rural areas, um, I've seen this from a personal aspect cause.
I lost my best friend about a year ago and I tried to take my own life. Along with 12
Speaker 156
40:50
others that thought about it and two others that tried and another person that was successful. This is a bill
Speaker 3
40:54
not to e-cigarettes, it's to end suicide and to get them help. representative has spoken for the bill. Are there any representatives wishing to
Speaker 159
41:10
speak against the bill? Representative Maddox, you are recognized to speak against the bill.
I would just like to bring to your attention that 2nd page, line 4, it specifies that school personnel shall not report the illegal use of an e-cigarette by a minor, and I don't think that would be
Speaker 156
41:34
much of a crackdown on the use of nicotine if school officials would not be able to report it legally, and I believe it could definitely
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
41:44
cause more issues than good. Thank you. This has spoken against the bill. I am not
Chair
Unverified
41:50
looking for representatives speaking, wishing to speak for the bill.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
41:58
Representative Collins, you will recognized to speak. for the bill. for immediate consideration of this bill. That is a proper motion. It
is not debatable. The question before the House is the immediate consideration of What was the motion? Of the immediate consideration, all in favor say aye. All opposed say no.
Thing is, it is unclear. We're going to uh clerk open up the Repair the machine, Mister Clerk. We'll go on to a machine building. Has everyone voted? Cass developed, Mr. Clerk.
Unknown speaker
43:07
By the vote of 57 years, 18 nays, and 2 present. The motion has passed. The question before the house is the passage of the calendar uh
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
43:40
For voting on the bill, we're voting on HB 10002, the omnibus bill, the omnibus, the mental health omnibus Act. As everyone voted. Cast up the ballots, Mr. Clerk. By a vote of 43 years, 33 nays,
and 3 present, the bill is passed. Representative McClure,
for what purpose? Motion on that
Speaker 167
44:20
motion, you're recognized. Every bill to take a total of 10 minutes.
Speaker 3
44:29
total of 10 minutes of debate. What? total of 10 minutes. Yes sir.
That is a proper motion. It is not debatable. The question before the House is to limit debate to 10 minutes per bill. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes have it. This motion has passed. The debate will be limited to 10 minutes per bill.
Speaker 24
45:15
Mr. Clerk, please read item HB 1003. House Bill 1003 by Representative Mercer to reduce the usage of tobacco in Arkansas
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
45:25
and to increase funding for future legislation.
Speaker 168
45:36
Representative Mercer, you were recognized to explain the bill.
Chair
Unverified
45:50
Good morning, my fellow House of Representatives. Today, I come to you with a bill, a bill about health. And about funding for our government and our legislation. Arkansas has received a B 1 C, and 3 F grades in American Lung Association's latest report on the state's tobacco prevention and cessation. The bee was from the use of tobacco products, while all the
F grades are from the taxation and how little it is compared to the rest of the nation. How many people are suffering from our tobacco tobacco usage. People are suffering 6000 Arkansans die every year due to tobacco usage. We are 6th ranked in the nation. For how many people use tobacco products. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined.
Tobacco is a big problem, a big health problem that we must solve, and the economics of it are also a problem. Our cigarette tax is $1.15 per pack, versus the national average, which is $1.93. We are much lower in every percentage. Our tobacco is so much far lower taxed in our state. For this, lots more people are able to access it, lots more people are able to suffer from it.
Our economy may get revenue from this, but this taxation increasing it will get us more revenue because we'll be getting more money for legislation, but it will also reduce the amount of people that are in um taking in these tobacco products and suffering. Legislation has been passed on this before and it's restricted, not allowed uh minors to be able to buy tobacco products or anyone under the age of 21, and, but they are able to still access it. Tobacco products are a problem,
a problem that must be solved and handled with efficiently and now. E-cigarettes are a big problem in schools. Vaping is a huge problem all over the state. Tobacco products, plague our nation, and we must deal with this by increasing the taxes, which does not ban it, as we had talked about in the last bill banning it causes problems with
people who are suffering from addiction. But this will give them a way out. It'll reduce the amount of people who use tobacco products.
Speaker 171
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This is our way of fixing this problem. Thank
Chair
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you. Representative Johnson, for what purpose? Question, you are recognized.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
48:48
Um, is this a tax on just cigarettes or all tobacco products.
Speaker 172
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This is a sales tax on all tobacco products. OK, thank you. Representative Womack, for what purpose?
Chair
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49:05
Question, uh, you are recognized. What is that all the Memphis that will be used to um ban tobacco or? Can you
repeat that? The methods used to ban the tobacco and keep it from students and minors. So that is, um, that's not exactly what this bill
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
49:17
is handling. It's handling more of the um people who
Speaker 177
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average people who just go in and buy tobacco
Speaker 178
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products. It's a sales tax trying to reduce them. OK
Chair
Unverified
49:36
Representative Hall, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized. So this 40% tax, um, if a doctor prescribes a patient tobacco, Will this patient be forced to, um, pay that tax, more money for
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the tobacco, they, they were prescribed. This bill covers, um, tobacco at like shops and any
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store that's put up, not necessarily a prescription because
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prescription drug is something that is prescribed by doctors, professionals who
understand the need for this, so no, not necessarily. Representative Meeks, for
Chair
Unverified
50:12
what purpose? Question, you are recognized. Uh, should we consider that the crime rate might go up because of the increase in tax, because for people that can't afford it anymore, that are struggling with addiction. That is something to consider, however, Taxes go up all the time and crime rate is something that will have
Representative Jon Milligan
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50:33
crime rate that comes from tobacco being used as
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a drug that is something that can fuel crime and the crime that that might go down from that might level out. The thing that you just mentioned. Thank you. Representative Dalby, for what purpose? Can you hear me? Uh, question, you're recognized. Uh, so, This bill has to do with tobacco products, but as
Chair
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50:57
far as I can see, it doesn't have anything to do with, uh, maybe e-cigarettes or any liquid form of nicotine. Uh, is that a correct assessment?
Speaker 132
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Um, so e-cigarettes and um vaping, all that is considered a tobacco product under the law and under the US government's definition. Thank you. Representative Beatty, for what purpose? Um, Uh, question. You're
Chair
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recognized. Um, what would stop, why, how would the tax taxes stop, uh, addiction, like someone who's addicted to it. Why not just pay the extra 40 more cents for. So, if you're addicted,
You're trying to get out of it, but you just can't. But maybe there's a bit more money you have to pay now. And while it may be just 40 more cents for one thing. Are they really just gonna buy one thing, that adds up eventually, eventually, it becomes more of a, a way more of a cost. And so not only can your heart say no to it, but your wallet's starting to say no to it as well.
Speaker 186
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So there's two factors there that cause you to want to get out of that addiction. You have more telling you, this isn't the right choice.
Speaker 5
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Representative Shepherd, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized the tax
Speaker 190
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increase be? be a 40% tax increase on tobacco products and 40% um from the manufacturer. Thank you Representative
Chair
Unverified
52:38
Eaves for a purpose. Question, you're recognized. So in the bill in the subtitle of this bill, it
says, it is also has the purpose to increase funding for future legislation. Can you expound on that a little bit? Yes, so, um, while the main purpose is to reduce tobacco usage and increase the health of the people. If people are still to buy tobacco products with that tax, there is further funds that can go towards helping people with addiction or other legislation for any
Speaker 162
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of the problems we have discussed here today and we'll discuss later on. Thank you.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
53:23
Representative Collins, for what purpose?
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
53:30
is. Representative Mayberry, for what purpose? Question Uh, you're recognized. Thank you. Um, so you said that it was going to be a 40% increase on tobacco products. Do you realize how much that is? Yes, I do. OK, that's a lot. So most people that use tobacco
Chair
Unverified
53:53
products, they're not just gonna quit, they're just gonna be angry at you. Are you prepared for that? That again, please. The people who use tobacco products, they're not gonna just quit. They're going to be angry at you. Are are you prepared for that? I am prepared for that because it's the health of the
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
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people that I care about. It's the health of our state, health of our counties, and I'm prepared to have people angry. But
Representative Jon Milligan
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I'd rather people be mad at me, then people die because of them suffering from tobacco.
Chair
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They're just gonna be mad at you. I support this bill. I, I want you to know that, but it's gonna be hard to pass this and there's
Speaker 3
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gonna be a lot of people that don't support you. I understand
Speaker 159
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that, but I'm willing to take this challenge. I'm willing to move forward so we can push for more health, more people to be better, the better men of the people,
Speaker 156
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the betterment of our societies. Thank you. Representative Milligan, for what purpose? You're recognized. Um, may you please uh explain
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
54:56
section 2 section C, where Milligan, uh, Representative gone gone off the milk.
Speaker 197
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There are no more questions for the speaker. Would anyone like to speak against the bill?
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
55:19
Representative Perry, you're recognized. To speak against the bill.
I rise today in opposition to this act, not because I support tobacco use, but because I support smarter policy. Well, the intention behind this bill is admirable, reducing tobacco use and protecting our youth, the execution is deeply flawed and it raises a lot of concerns about fairness, effectiveness, and even an impact that's going to last in the long term. Uh, first and foremost, this bill, Proposes a 40% increase in the existing tobacco tax, a move
that disproportionately burdens lower income Arkansans. Let's be honest, the wealthy will not feel this tax, but working class individuals, many of them who are already struggling to make ends meet, will. Tobacco addiction is a public health issue, yes, but it is also a socioeconomic issue and punishing the poor under the guise of reform is not good governance. It is legislative overreach. Second, Let's talk about effectiveness. If our goal is to reduce tobacco usage, then why are we taxing
existing tobacco users instead of investing directly into education, to prevention programs and cessation support. Increasing taxes does not stop addiction. It drives it underground, encouraging illicit trade and reduces the trust in government. We should be focused on creating better support systems, not slapping on another tax and calling it progress. Third, the bill vaguely states that it will increase funding. for future legislation. What does that even mean? Where are the guarantees that this funding will actually go towards
anti-tobacco programs rather than being funneled into unrelated projects or lost in bureaucratic red tape. And finally, the tax is a sunset clause, 3 years. If the goal is to discourage long term tobacco use, then why such a short term measure. This isn't a reform. This is a quick revenue grab disguised as moral action. Let me be clear, I am not defending big tobacco. I am defending smart, fair. an effective policymaking. This bill fails to strike that balance, instead of punishing
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people for an addiction. Let's focus on compassionate
Representative Jon Milligan
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evidence-based solutions that uplift rather than penalize our communities. Seeing as the
Chair
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time has elapsed, we'll proceed on to a vote. Prepare the machine. Representative Mercer, you are recognized to close your bill. And thank you to all of you for hearing my bill outs. I'm here
to present a bill that has a legislation for the people. A legislation for health, a legislation for life. I'm here for people to stop suffering, not for a quick cash grab, but for the people, I understand the concerns that we have raised. But I hope that y'all all vote yes and it'll be very thankful if you would vote yeah
Speaker 52
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on this bill, because this bill is for life, this bill is for health, this bill is for the betterment of people. Thank you. Representative Mercer has closed the bill.
Unknown speaker
58:34
The question before the house is the passage of HB 1003. Prepare the machine, Mister Clark. Has everyone voted? Cast of the ballot, Mr. Clerk.
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
59:08
By a vote of 24 years,
Speaker 24
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54 nays, and 2 present, this bill has failed. Mr. Clerk, please read house item HB 1004. House Bill 1004 by
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
59:38
Representative Potts. And that to create the Arkansas sustainability System to create
an income tax credit for the production of renewable energy sources. And to incentivize energy production. Potts, to explain your
Speaker 204
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bill. Just an address to the chamber. Let's try to keep all these speeches pretty short and brief so
Speaker 205
1:00:02
that we can get to as many speakers as possible.
Hello everybody, um. The ideal of a House bill one Uh, 1004 is to incentivize the adaption of clean and renewable energy across our business sector and reduce a collective carbon footprint. Um, this is in order to position our state as a leader in sustainable development because to be honest, the state of Arkansas, while we are trying to progress towards having cleaner renewable energy, um.
We're not quite where we should be, in my opinion. Um But essentially what this bill is going to do is it's going to give a 20% tax credit to businesses that use solar panels and that implement solar panels into their businesses and um I believe that This would This would end with long term
economic growth and lower energy costs because I'm from El Dorado, which if you don't know is in the southern part of the uh Of the state and um the oil company, the oil
Speaker 3
1:01:31
business uh around there is very prevalent and I think that we could do a lot better. Then using
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crude oil. And um Yeah, that's pretty We'll now move on to questions.
Speaker 205
1:01:47
Representative Allen, for what purpose? Um, I have a question. Uh, you're recognized. Uh, I agree with, and you mentioned solar energy, but what about other forms? Um, so, So essentially what I'm understanding is that you're thinking this is too narrow and that we need to expand into other. Yes. Um, the bill focuses on solar energy because it's the most accessible and it's the most scalable, um.
It's rapidly deployable technology for business, um, that being said, it doesn't exclude future legislation. So they're in the future, we can implement other forms
Speaker 206
1:02:26
of clean energy, but essentially I just want to get I just want to get
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:02:32
the ball rolling and I want to lead the
Speaker 94
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way so we can have more forms of clean energy, but it's not gonna happen all at once. Representative
Speaker 95
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Long, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized.
Speaker 208
1:02:49
Where will the, where will we get the land to put these solar
Speaker 205
1:02:55
panels and will it take away from struggling farmers in the state of Arkansas. Um The land that most of the solar panels will. In my head, the the land that the solar panels will be built on would be where the business. Say for instance, there was a supermarket that wanted to get
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:03:22
in on this and they decided to use solar panels,
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
1:03:36
it would be either on top of their store they already own.
Speaker 78
1:03:40
I don't um Encroaching on other. farmers Thank you. Representative Richardson, for what purpose? Questions? You're recognized. In Arkansas, the federal solar investment tax credit currently
offers is 30% tax credit on the cost of installing, uh, solar panels. Uh, my question is, you mentioned 20%. Are you in favor of
Speaker 205
1:04:06
decreasing the current um tax credit, uh, by 10% or increasing it, uh, uh, if you are in favor of increasing it to 50%, where do you believe? Um
To be honest, I had up with the bills, but
Speaker 211
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um I would neither decrease it by 10% or increase
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:04:37
it by 50 or increase it 250.
Speaker 216
1:04:43
Um, I feel increasing it to 50% would Be too much of a. Representative Brown, for what purpose? Question, you are recognized.
Speaker 205
1:04:59
Under Section 32D, um, is your intention for the expiration after 20 years, would they be allowed to file once again, or are they limited to one time? Um, this is my intentions with this is that you can renew this bill, um. Seeing I basically just see how
Speaker 206
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it increases. Our renewable energy sources and
Speaker 218
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if it's good and we should keep it going, then yes. Representative Moore, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized. Um, so I helped write this bill and to clarify, uh, Doesn't this bill, it's not just about solar, it's about all clean energy sources. It's not solar specifically and also doesn't this bill, um, Isn't the purpose of this bill to, um,
Speaker 206
1:05:54
it's not To increase solar farms and
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:06:01
things such as that, but it just encourages in, uh,
Speaker 3
1:06:08
companies to switch to that to go cleaner. Is that correct? Yes, you are correct. Representative McEldin. Representative McClure, for what purpose?
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:06:15
Question, you're recognized. Never mind The speaker has left the well. Would anyone like to speak against this piece of legislation.
Speaker 64
1:06:37
Representative Andrews, you'll recognize this is for speaking against the piece of legislation. Representative Anchor, you'll recognized to speak against this piece of legislation. Thank you. Uh, so, uh, especially in Arkansas, We are no stranger to uh inclined weather.
Uh, hail and tornado. Uh, I'm from Jonesboro. We had a Turtle Creek Mall. We no longer do. Um, solar panels, uh, contain toxic chemicals. That if damaged by uh hail or strong, uh, storms can leak those chemicals into our environment. And, um, Ruin our beautiful natural state. Uh And wind turbines, uh, or have
adverse effects on populations of birds. Um, which is not good. So With all that being said, I don't think that we are the right state for this. I think that there are At least not right now until we can get the correct footing. For, uh, the kinds of renewable sources that we should be using. I do not believe the ones that are mentioned in this bill. Or, uh, a good fit for. I don't
think that my constituents would agree either. Um I mean, all of them have homes that have been affected. By these storms and I would hate to see that they can no longer live there
Representative Brandon Achor
Unverified
1:08:16
during a nuclear meltdown or A wind turbine got picked up during a tornado and thrown through their living room. Thank you.
Chair
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1:08:54
anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Andrews. For what purpose? Uh, you're recognized to speak for the bill. Also you have about a minute to speak on this piece of, um, I'll keep this short. Basically, what we have is a,
well, it's a problem, but it's also an advantage at the same time. Arkansas, the natural state is expanding. Arkansas is growing. We are getting bigger as a state, and we are having more of an impact on our entire country. However, this comes at a cost, the cost of energy. This, what this bill does is this bill gives us a solution to a problem, a problem that's caused by Arkansas growing. If you are in favor of Arkansas growing. becoming a more impactful state
for the our entire nation and you agree with
Speaker 3
1:09:51
this bill. You agree with this solution. This is an excellent solution to a
Speaker 205
1:09:59
problem that's caused by Arkansas becoming a better state. So, if you are in favor for that, then you are in favor for this bill. Seeing as the time has nearly elapsed, Representative Potts would you like to close the bill? You're recognized. Thank you, Speaker. Um, The goal is clear with this
bill. I want to incentivize the adoption of clean renewable energy across the business sector. I want to reduce our collective carbon footprint and I want to lower the energy costs. And that would mean more capital for business to invest in expansion and hiring
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:10:29
and in strengthening our local communities, um, This is why I think you should, um thank you for your time, guys. The question before the house is
the passage of HB 1004 pair the machine Mr. Has everyone voted? Uh, casts of the ballot, Mr. Clerk. By a
Speaker 108
1:11:10
vote of 60 years, 12 nays, and 8 present. This bill passes. We'll now move on to a 10 minute recess and we'll come. Alright, we'll move on to Senate Bill 2, SB 2. Mr. Clerk, please read SB2.
Unknown speaker
1:12:03
Senate Bill 2 by Senator Geddy to utilize the natural resources of Arkansas to create and stimulate the economic well-being of all Arkansas to declare an emergency. Are there any sponsors for this piece of legislation?
Representative Wilkins, you're recognized to explain this bill.
Chair
Unverified
1:13:24
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanna start opening up by reading this bill again, OK? It says an act to utilize the natural resources of Arkansas to create and stimulate the stimulate the economic well-being of all Arkansas, Arkansans to declare an emergency and for other purposes. Arkansas, the natural state. What's wonderful about Arkansas is it's, that is exactly what it is. I don't think that there
could be a more well-described way to put Arkansas. We are abundant in natural resources and I think it would be ignorant to not use those, to not utilize those for our economy. Arkansas is growing as an economy and for it to continue to grow, we need to be able to access all of our strengths. Specifically, our resources. I think if we open up and we use these resources. There can be nothing but benefits from using them. I know some of you may have, um,
Concerns when it comes to our environment, but Believe me when I say this, the people that we have handling these situations, care about our environment just as much as anybody, and we'll go about this in the best way possible to preserve our environment in any way that we can. Thank you.
Speaker 234
1:15:00
The floor is open for questions. Representative Vaut, for what purpose? I have a question. You're recognized. Um, I see on here lithium mining, um,
Chair
Unverified
1:15:12
and he stated that Arkansas is the natural
state. What is so natural about um like opening up the whole ground for lithium. I think when it comes to this issue,
We've been using natural resources for years, and I think Opening up the lithium
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:15:37
deposits. I think the way that we handle it is some
Speaker 235
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of the best in the country. I think that we can use these resources the best way possible while keep preserving the beauty of Arkansas. Representative Unger, for what purpose? Question You're recognized. So, um, I just want to ask, uh,
Chair
Unverified
1:16:01
Even if you have a controlled, um, like clearing of environments and all that. What is that gonna do to the waterfowl and whitetail deer population that a lot of Arkansans go out and hunt and a lot of our uh hunters out here rely on each season. I think it's an excellent question. I myself am a hunter as well. I share your same concerns, but I believe in this bill. I believe in the people that are handling this situation. I believe that they know what they're doing when it
Speaker 238
1:16:31
comes to this. So I think even though I share the same concerns as you, I believe in the people that are handling this situation. And I think that they will do their best to preserve our wildlife as well, as well as I can. Thank you. Representative Barnett, for what purpose? Question, you are recognized. In section 138 states that all of the members of the lithium mining commission shall be residents and citizens of the state of Arkansas and at least 21 years of age. And it follows
that in B and says at least the majority of the members of the
Chair
Unverified
1:17:09
lithium mining commission shall be experienced in the development, production, or transportation of lithium. And my question is, do our experts that we have, uh, currently, are they residents of Arkansas that would excellent question. Um, Uh, yes, in short, you people in, in
Speaker 67
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this situation are Arkansans, and I think that is,
Speaker 209
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uh, I believe that's excellent because who better to
Speaker 214
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handle Arkansas problems and Arkansas people. Representative McGruder. You, for what purpose? That you are recognized. Uh, is this
Speaker 244
1:17:52
dangerous? No, I don't, I do not think so. I think
Speaker 245
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the public should not be concerned when it comes to this bill. Representative.
Speaker 44
1:18:06
Oh, well, let's open up new job opportunities. Yes, that's another benefit of this bill that I haven't even talked about. Good question. Thank you. Representative McCollum, for what purpose? So I know that Arkansas has some rich, uh, lithium deposits, uh, recently found in Smackover. I was wondering if you believe that there could possibly be more benefit in terms of safety, environmental, uh, sustainability, and even
Chair
Unverified
1:18:40
potentially economic benefit with higher demands for electric vehicles. Do you think that there could be potentially more value in waiting to use some of these natural resources such as lithium. I think when it comes to waiting, I think, um, in the last presidential administration, I think we've been waiting long enough. I think, um, you know, I think
Speaker 224
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with that administration putting a hold on, on Wells, oil rigs, things
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:19:04
of that nature. I think that put us at an economic
Chair
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1:19:10
standstill, and I think we need to do our best to get back in the game. Representative Brinks, for what purpose? Of course. You're recognized. Could you elaborate more on the bill? Yes, I can do my best to. So, what this bill is, this bill is opening up the use of our natural resources as our Kansans. This bill, the reason we're doing this is because our economy in Arkansas is growing. And I think what we need to continue to grow is energy. Energy found in our natural
Speaker 159
1:19:41
resources. I think the best way to continue to grow economically is to
Chair
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1:19:48
take full advantage of all the resources that we can as the state of Arkansas. Representative Milligan, for what purpose? You're recognized. May you please regulations that we're gonna have in place for lithium, these uh lithium deposits. We're going to make sure that they dispose of all hazardous materials in a safe, um, in a safe way that
preserves our Excuse me, I'm
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:20:14
trying to find preserves our. So there, there's gonna be very strict, um,
Speaker 253
1:20:21
Environmental concerns and environmental Um,
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
1:20:24
procedures in place with this bill. Thank you. Representative Perry, for what purpose? Question, you'll recognized.
Chair
Unverified
1:20:32
So the supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution gives federal law precedence over
state law. So how does this bill propose
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:20:53
to legally So, federal law, you know, as well as, as
Speaker 257
1:20:58
I do. It trumps state law. So whatever the federal laws in place is
Chair
Unverified
1:21:03
what we have to go by, regardless of our opinions and or our beliefs. Representative Furman, for what purpose? You are recognized. This section
Representative Tony Furman
Unverified
1:21:13
on um Part B. It says at least the majority of the members of the lithium
Speaker 53
1:21:21
mining commission shall be experienced in the development, production or transportation of lithium.
Speaker 259
1:21:30
What makes someone like, what are the requirements you need to have a
Chair
Unverified
1:21:35
background in this field in some form of higher education in this field. Thank
you. Representative Warren, for what purpose? You're recognized.
Why lithium, uh, mining band already. So lithium mining was banned due to environmental concerns, but I think The way that we're, we are handling this and this new proposed bill, I think, um, some of the things that weren't addressed previously, I think we have addressed them in this bill. I think some of the procedures that are in place now weren't in place before and that's why I think it used to be dangerous, but
Speaker 224
1:22:06
now with all of the knowledge that we've gained due to poor practice. We have
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:22:16
implemented new practices, new procedures to best
preserve our environment as Arkansas, as the state of Arkansas. As a time reminder, we have
Chair
Unverified
1:22:32
about one minute left. Are there any representatives that are wishing to speak against this piece of legislation. Representative Steele. You will recognize to speak against this piece of legislation. Please be brief as we have a thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um,
So with your mining, it produces carbon emissions. It pulls up land and it contaminates and it can contaminate water that can harm people and wildlife. Well, I know that there are regulations in place to try to protect against this negligence and accidents do happen in all processes. So I want you all to consider that before voting on this bill. Also, ask yourself the question, do you want our incredible forests
Speaker 156
1:23:12
and our incredible landscapes to be turned into a quarry. Thank you.
Speaker 250
1:23:25
Representative Wilkins, would you like to close out your bill? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Chair
Unverified
1:23:38
First of all, I just want to say I appreciate all of the insightful questions and the discussion that we were able to have. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I support
this bill. I believe in this bill. I think this bill can only help Arkansas, can only benefit Arkansas. This bill is talking about resources, natural resources. We as Arkansas are the natural state, which means I think it would be the smartest decision for us going forward to take full advantage of our natural resources as Arkansas to stimulate economic growth to To do our best to grow as Arkansans and
Speaker 224
1:24:15
as the state of Arkansas as a whole to make
Speaker 52
1:24:22
more of an impact in our country. I think
Speaker 108
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Arkansas, we're growing. And I think this bill stimulates that growth. Thank you. Representative Wilkins has explained the bill. The question before the House is the passage of 8, SB 2 the clerk. Has everyone cast their ballots the ballot.
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
1:25:10
By a vote of 27 years, 47 nays, and 6 present, this bill has failed. The, just a quick note, uh, on that bill, if you'll notice, it did contain an emergency clause. If, if it had been passed, which it was defeated, it would have needed 54 votes for the emergency clause to be a, uh, to be enacted, which makes it effective upon the signature of the governor. So, we typically say when they emergency clause, you want your one vote is for the bill and the emergency clause. But if it, if you don't
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:25:40
hit the threshold for the emergency clause, the bill can still pass, and then
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:25:52
we would have turned immediately and considered the emergency clause. We just got a little quick there and just wanted make you aware that that could have happened, but the bill was defeated, so no harm, no foul. This chamber will now take a 10 minute recess and we will reconvene at 10:57. Hey Hey guys, uh, real quick, great job. Um, so what we're waiting
on right now is, uh, we just did one Senate bill. The Senate's way behind. You guys are kind of getting through this. Uh, they're currently on Senate Bill 3 right now. So the reason why we're in a 5-minute recess. It's because we got to wait for those bills bills to come over here. Senate Bill 1, so if you were the sponsor that, that one failed on that end over there, so we will not hear that over here. Um, so we're really waiting on to see what happens with Senate Bill 3 and Senate Bill 4 to decide whether we take that up in this chamber. Uh, so in the meantime, would you say 10:15?
Unknown speaker
1:26:42
OK, OK, so what we're gonna do, if you guys will, I mean, you guys can talk and roam and everything like that. Don't, I mean, don't kind of leave your area, uh, and then we'll get going here in about 5 minutes or so. Uh, and if you need a break, find a representative, um, that
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:42:48
Hey guys, if you can start getting back into your seats, please. Hey, if there's anybody outside, if you can get them to come inside, that's a a House of Representative member. Yeah Like the recess bell.
Uh, OK, guys, so here's what we're doing. We're still waiting on the Senate. It's no surprise that the Senate is, uh, taking forever, uh, when we're in, when we're in session, uh, they're notoriously slow and clearly for Boise State that that tradition continues, um, and so here's what we're gonna do, uh, here in a moment, our speaker is going to bring us back in and the governor of Boise State is going to come up and he's gonna, he's gonna talk to you guys, correct?
Speaker 268
1:43:50
Yeah, he's gonna do, he's doing an interview right now. Uh, but we're gonna to gavel back in here in just a moment. I want to make sure that we've got everybody it was somebody sitting beside somebody that's not
Speaker 294
1:43:58
back yet. Do you guys know? So he's not back, he's not back, he's not back. So we got about 3. more I just saw him on the hall. Yeah
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:44:53
So while we wait, thumbs up, thumbs down. Is this what you expected whenever you guys came in here? Yeah? Who, uh, who's been here before you, you said it's not what you expected? Who, uh, who's been here before? That uh sat in the gallery while we were in session. Anybody? 1234 handful, yeah, great. Who would come back To watch when we're in session. That's awesome. That's great. Well, man, look, here's the deal. I I'm, I'm pretty honored
to be able to share this, uh, this is my 2nd year to do this because At the end of the day, I said this on Wednesday. You guys are the future of Arkansas. No matter what you do at this point, You guys, no matter how you think, whether you know, you, you're more progressive or conservative, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you guys go on to be future leaders in this state, right? And and this is a, this is the start. You guys can go on from now on, you guys are now cemented in as
a legacy of being a Boise State guy. There's members that Speaker Evans said you guys met Johnny Rye, a lot of those guys who They, they, their legislators now they were boy state guys, right? It's almost like a fraternity for, uh, a lot of you because you're, you're building connections, you're building relationships with people that you normally wouldn't ever meet, right? So, you know, I know you've heard a lot about Sher the moment.
Live in the moment, take it all in. But the reality of this is that There's no, there's not many people that get to sit in these chairs. We have 100 seats in this in this chamber. And if you think about that in the vast majority of how many high school upcoming seniors are on the state. Essentially 75 of you got to sit in this chamber today. Pretty impactful, so, uh, I hope you guys had a great day. We're, I'm kind of stalling a little bit because we're so the governor when you get to be
Unknown speaker
1:46:56
governor, he's currently doing a TV interview, uh, down at the, down at the end of the chamber, but he's gonna come in and address you guys here in just a moment. I believe he's coming right now. So I'm gonna hand it back over to the speaker and let you guys do your thing. This house is now back in session.
Speaker 124
1:52:03
Decorum Mr. Sergeant at arms, for what purpose? Admits admittance of the governor to the House chamber, admit that, Governor.
Speaker 234
1:52:39
Mr. Governor, you're recognized. Hey, how are y'all doing? Good. Thank you guys for everything you've done to get me here. I just want to thank you one last time while we're here. Um You say I'm very grateful. And it's good to see all y'all, all y'all's faces. One last time, so yeah, thank you guys. Thank you, Governor.
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:53:37
OK. We are still waiting on the Senate. I know it. That that's what we say all the time, of course, so real quick, where Wade, Paul, Johnny, uh, who else, we're on the state ropes at. Uh, Lincoln, you guys, hey, y'all come down here real quick. Yeah, get him. So here's what we're gonna do in the meantime. I know that you guys had a lot of questions on bills, right? And once we'll, we'll end this once we find out about the Senate, but do you guys have any
Speaker 313
1:54:08
questions for us because, you know, we didn't really get to do Q&A the other day and, uh, when
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
1:54:12
we're at UCA. So if you've got a question, just raise your hand and you can kind of address whoever we'll let the speaker call out since
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:54:19
he didn't get to do a whole lot, we'll let you identify what who's gonna ask questions. Questioners please rise. Uh, Representative Mayberry, for what purpose? Uh, a question. Yeah, you're recognized. I just
Speaker 204
1:54:34
want to ask, can we repeal the Learns Act? Can we repeal the Learns Act?
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:54:46
boy. I, uh, you know, that's a great question. We're not in session right now, right? So, uh, you know, we're not of course we, so we wrapped up session in April. That's when we did that, right? And so if that were to happen, right, we would do it in 2026, uh, 2027, whenever we'd come back 26 when we come back into session. And then, um, they was, you'd have to
Speaker 313
1:55:04
have a rep so you could call your representative. Who's your representative? Oh it's my berry? OK. So you
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:55:16
would basically call her and ask her
Representative Wade Andrews
Unverified
1:55:27
Lawrence Act. All right, thank you. Cool. Thank you. Ray. What is the most important policy that y'all have. Wait, I'll let you lead off with that one. I, I think everyone up here could probably. Have their own opinion on what what's the most important.
You could probably have a debate on what's controversial. Um, we all have those people that we that each of us ran that we. It's always a good cut taxes. It's, it's always good to improve education for the state, um, we did a higher ed bill this and y'all are right now probably looking at where to go to college, uh, what you want to do
after high school, um. Hopefully, it's somewhere that y'all either are gonna go to college or you're gonna join the military, any of those three options, you know, employed and enlisted or enrolled is basically what the, uh, The Department of Ved is kind of promoting right now, um, but in the higher ed bill, it makes it easier. You get, so if you go to apply for college. You have one application.
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
1:56:52
For every set of multiple and bunch of fees and it's past session. Kind of the way I look at it, we want to make sure that we keep the public safe, and we educate kids, that's two of our most important things, uh, we did do the, the college access program and we ran some bills to keep and pass them to keep sex offenders out of public swimming pools and, uh, we've done some, some criminal offenses. We did some things about, uh, the death
Speaker 324
1:57:23
penalty to allow that to go forward. So anyway, I think I look at it, our job is to make sure we educate kids. And we keep the public safe. So that's a couple of important things that we did do this session. Woolridge. Thank you. um, good as uh
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:57:48
I don't know how to word this. As kids work to give us
what you would do at this point, is that what you're asking? Yeah, like can you give us any advice? Man, I, I, I think really set goals, right? Uh, and I, I won't speak for everybody up here, but I, I, I think that right now is the, the time. I know that there's a lot of people trying to figure out what's next after high school, right? You're, you're trying to decide, you're gonna go to college or you're gonna go to the military, you're just gonna go straight in the workforce. Um, I, I think it's never too soon to start setting goals for yourself on what that is. So whether it's politics, whether it's business, whether
it's, uh, just life in general. Where do you, where do you, you know, I know when I was a junior, right? I had a 5-year plan. I had a 10-year plan, and I had a fifteen-year plan. I wrote it down and you know, this was before you could make notes on your cell phone to, to keep up with. And so I had a, I had a little journal and I had that and, you know, I would periodically check back into those goals to see if I was hitting those goals and, and
Speaker 327
1:58:49
doing that. I think really for, for you guys, that's the biggest thing is find out what
Representative Glenn Barnes
Unverified
1:58:56
you wanna do. Find out what you wanna do right now, uh, in life. And it
doesn't have to be a career, but What do you want to get out of life? And, and start there. And if there's anybody you wanna add. Let me add to that. Also, if you're planning to go to college. You need to take the ACT now. OK, uh, colleges do accept the ACT the another, there's another test that they will accept, but you need to take the ACT because you want to try to get your score above a 21.
If you can do that. And that will get you a ticket into college, OK? Average ACT. And the Delta is about a 15, the average for the state is about an 18 right now. So if you're gonna go to college, you really need to focus on the ACT. If you're not gonna go to college, then you need to decide what skill
Speaker 331
1:59:48
set you might want to do, and then you can do something concurrent while you're in high
Representative Glenn Barnes
Unverified
1:59:53
school, OK? That's one of the good things about the Learns Act is the concurrent education that you
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
2:00:06
can do. But as um um uh as Brother Hawk said, you need to um get focused and decide what your goals are. Short term 1 to 3 long term 5 to 10. You need to really know what you wanna do with your life. Thank you. Thank you. Representative Hudson. Excuse me, uh, I want to add to that. What was your name again? Noah Norwood. Williams.
Noble, uh, most importantly, uh, what I've learned in in my years of experience is finding a mentor really matters. Uh, It's great to set goals, uh, but I think this young man here asked me about how to get involved in politics, and the key is finding someone that you see in those positions that are currently holding those positions and ask them how they got there. And you can model or or copy off some of the things that they've done, uh, and cause oftentimes when those people er in those
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
2:01:08
positions, they can give you a template. You may not agree with that template wholeheartedly,
but it'll give you a guide on how you can achieve whatever goals you set for yourself in life. So finding a mentor is very important. Hey, real quick, um, so the Senate, they did not pass any bills except for the one. no surprise. So we're
Speaker 339
2:01:28
gonna take one more question. I'm gonna let the speaker figure out
Speaker 340
2:01:31
who that one question's gonna come from, and then we're gonna gavel out so you guys can get back on the bus. So here's the next question from? Representative Hudson
Well, first off, I want to say good morning. Well, I've heard the term that you know that anybody can become, you know, a politician, you know, anybody can run for president, but I do have a question about
Representative Wade Andrews
Unverified
2:02:01
be prepared for politics and so to know things that is in depth with it, what type of college um major or and or minor would you recommend? I'll.
You know. We are a citizen legislature, Parkland legislature. I, I, I'm not gonna say there's one college degree that you need to go to college for if you want to run for the House of Representatives journalism. I've got a degree in agriculture business, uh. He's a, he's a. Education PE coach. We have a very diverse background. I think if you care about Arkansas, if you care about people.
If you're able To get along with people and you, you're good at Uh, conversing and networking, and it's those type of qualities. And I, I promise you, there are people who are elected to this body. That do not have a college degree. Um, colleges are for everyone, and it takes all sorts of, it takes all kinds of kinds to make this world go round. It takes a very diverse body. It's important for us to have a
diverse body of every different type of background. So don't go to college just because you want to be a politician. Go to college, if, if you want to go to college, go get a degree that you think that that's a field of work that you could Um, be good in. Because we can't survive on just the salary. We all have jobs outside of here. Like I said, we got a PE coach, um, RJ and I do some real estate, um, Mr. John here, he's, he's he, he kind of, but he, but he's, he's
retired, so he's the best part of life. Um, we got Pastor, uh, Business owner, like I said, it takes all kinds of kinds. And so, yeah, you can go get a poly-sci degree. But that's if you
Speaker 187
2:03:55
want to go to DC and be a grunt worker and over underpaid, overworked staff member for
Speaker 340
2:04:01
Congress, um, You know, what do you like to do? Mm. What do you like to do? What do you see yourself doing?
Well, um, so, so my plan is I'm sorry. Well, my ambition, um, We can talk about this later too if you don't want to talk now. Uh, he said, but my true, my true ambitions in the future are to run for,
Speaker 345
2:04:33
for, for political offices, um, I do desire and I do
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
2:04:42
want to be um the president one day,
hopefully that it's, that is my main goal that I'm looking towards. Thank you all. I just want to add it to that, to a response to your initial question. It's not that you have to major in a particular area of study in terms of running for politics, so I, I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and then I have a master of divinity degree with the concentration and ethics and counseling and
I think when you're thinking about, especially if you're wanting to go to college and study any field of study, the thought in your mind needs to be what field do you want to contribute to? And when you're thinking about it from a political standpoint, you will be able to serve with an expertise in a certain area. So we have legislators that are well rounded, some that are college educated, some that may have gone to trade school, some that may have not had any formal
higher education, but they have something that they
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
2:05:53
are passionate about and that they are likely to be an expert in. And so when you're considering what a study you want to go into, you need to consider what area you want to impact and have an impact on. Guys, it's, it's an honor to be with you guys here today. Um, You would not be here unless you were special people. That's the way I, I feel about it. And, uh,
the world in the next 20 years is coming your way. But I, I want, if there's one thing I can leave with you, it would be this. Let's go from being people to servants. Because the best politicians are the ones who really take care of other people, uh, just like in the Lions Club, different kinds of
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
2:06:39
functions that you can get involved in. If you ever want to come back here, But uh It's very important the things that you're following over the last 3 or 4 days, and, and I know each one of us appreciate
you being here. Thank you. Thank you guys for the questions. Real quick before we get out of here, I just saw him walk in the room. The education chair for the House of Representatives is Keith Brooks who is in the back of the
Speaker 266
2:07:02
room, so all of our education bills, uh, throughout the session go to Keith and so I wanted to give him a round of applause since he came to Boise State. No. Hey guys, hey, thank you so much for
Speaker 108
2:07:08
participating in Boise State. I'm gonna let the speaker gavel us out. Right before that, let's give a
Speaker 3
2:07:20
round of applause to these legislators who have been guiding us through the
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
2:07:27
Capitol today. Thank you for electing me as your Speaker of the House. It's been a great time being up here and controlling debate. There being no further business, this session of Arkansas Boys State is adjourned to sign and die.
Agenda
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Documents
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Speakers
Representative Jon Milligan
Unverified
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Representative Rebecca Burkes
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Chair
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Representative Austin McCollum
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Representative Roger D. Lynch
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Representative Brandon Achor
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Representative Mindy McAlindon
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Representative Julie Mayberry
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Representative R. Scott Richardson
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Representative Jon S. Eubanks
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Representative Keith Brooks
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Representative David Ray
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Representative Mark Perry
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Representative Tony Furman
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Representative RJ Hawk
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Representative Wade Andrews
Unverified
Representative Paul Childress
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Representative Glenn Barnes
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Representative Jessie McGruder
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Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
Representative Johnny Rye
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Speaker 266