Senate Convenes
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (110)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB90
Act 902
· 14 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “…o Senate bills to concur in House amendments beginning with Senate Bill 90 amendments 1 and 2 and we will have to do the”
|
TO REQUIRE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO BE AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT PUBLIC COMMENT … | J. English | Notification that SB90 is now Act 902 |
|
SR68
· 8 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “begin with Senate resolutions 68 Senate resolution 68 by Senator McKee to recognize the division of Arkansas Stat…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE DIVISION OF ARKANSAS STATE POLICE'S INTERSTATE CRIMINAL PATROL FOR WINNING TOP HONORS … | M. McKee | Sine Die adjournment |
|
SR70
· 8 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SR 70 J. Scott TO RECOGNIZE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES® FOR…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES® FOR FIFTY YEARS OF SERVICE IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH … | J. Scott | Sine Die adjournment |
|
SR69
· 7 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “Next, we will take up Senate resolution 69. Senate Resolution 69”
|
TO PROCLAIM APRIL 9, 2025, AS ARKANSAS LINEWORKER APPRECIATION DAY AT THE STATE CAPITOL AND … | D. Wallace | Sine Die adjournment |
|
SB313
Act 733
· 6 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB313 #1 Irvin Irvin CONCERNING FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION…”
|
CONCERNING FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATIONS AND TREATMENT; AND TO PROMOTE AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES AND QUALITY … | Irvin | Notification that SB313 is now Act 733 |
|
HJR1018
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “Motion to transmit HJR1018 to the House”
|
THE CITIZENS ONLY VOTING AMENDMENT. | Ray | Approved by the Governor |
|
SB352
Act 721
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB352 #1 Stone Stone TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTAR…”
|
TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; AND TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED … | Stone | Notification that SB352 is now Act 721 |
|
SB451
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “Motion for SB451 to be recalled from the House”
|
TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL … | Hester | Died in Senate at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB311
Act 772
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…dget, Senate Bill 92 by joint budget y 183 central dots and Senate Bill 311 must interpinza sent 342 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 343…”
|
TO CREATE THE END ORGAN AND GENOMIC HARVESTING ACT; TO PROHIBIT COVERAGE OF CERTAIN HUMAN … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB311 is now Act 772 |
|
SB343
Act 734
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…Senate Bill 311 must interpinza sent 342 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 343 by Senator Irving, symbol 364 by Senator Hester, Senate Bil…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING STATE-OWNED MOTOR VEHICLES; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC PROPERTY; … | Irvin | Notification that SB343 is now Act 734 |
|
SB367
Act 735
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…e Bill 343 by Senator Irving, symbol 364 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 367 by Senator Irving. Sym369 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 37…”
|
TO REPEAL THE SMALL BUSINESS REVOLVING LOAN FUND FOR POLLUTION CONTROL AND PREVENTION TECHNOLOGIES ACT; … | Irvin | Notification that SB367 is now Act 735 |
|
SB374
Act 751
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…enate Bill 367 by Senator Irving. Sym369 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 374 by Senator”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM. | B. Davis | Notification that SB374 is now Act 751 |
|
SB475
Act 773
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…y 4:35 by Central Irving Centerville 439 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 475, a central disinville 478 Stubberville sent before 80 cent…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE PHARMACY SERVICES ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION ACT; AND TO REGULATE PHARMACY SERVICES ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATIONS. | J. Dismang | Notification that SB475 is now Act 773 |
|
SB539
Act 723
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…bout 5:30, 5 of Central Hestersonville 537. My Sen Gilmore, Senate Bill 539 of Gilmore Saville 544 by Center”
|
TO UPDATE AND CLARIFY CERTAIN PORTIONS OF THE LAW REGARDING THE DIVISION OF COMMUNITY CORRECTION … | Gilmore | Notification that SB539 is now Act 723 |
|
SB92
Act 777
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “joint budget, Senate Bill 92 by joint budget y 183 central dots and Senate Bill 311 must…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSFORMATION AND SHARED SERVICES APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB92 is now Act 777 |
|
SR75
· 2 mentions in chapter
Matched: “Motion to suspend the rules to place SR75 on Today's Calendar”
|
TO HONOR SYLVIA ANN HINDSMAN CORNWELL FOR HER EXEMPLARY, DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE SENATE AND … | Hester | Sine Die adjournment |
|
HB1017
Act 904
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “it. Will your Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1017, by Representative Collins, recommend do pass?”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING PAID MATERNITY LEAVE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES; AND TO REQUIRE … | A. Collins | Notification that HB1017 is now Act 904 |
|
HB1105
Act 1004
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1105 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - SECRETARY'S O…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - SECRETARY'S OFFICE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1105 is now Act 1004 |
|
HB1163
Act 1005
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1163 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND LICENSING - BOARDS A…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND LICENSING - BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS APPROPRIATION FOR … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1163 is now Act 1005 |
|
HB1178
Act 993
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1178 R. Scott Richardson Wallace TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE CONTRACTING OF A MUNICIPAL ATTORNEY; TO AMEND THE LAW … | R. Scott Richardson | Notification that HB1178 is now Act 993 |
|
HB1202
Act 1006
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1202 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - D…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - DISBURSING OFFICER APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1202 is now Act 1006 |
|
HB1312
Act 909
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1312 Brooks English TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER…”
|
TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. | Brooks | Notification that HB1312 is now Act 909 |
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HB1365
Act 938
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1365 K. Brown English TO REMOVE RACIAL AND GENDER QUOTAS AND QUA…”
|
TO REMOVE RACIAL AND GENDER QUOTAS AND QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP FOR CERTAIN BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COUNCILS, … | K. Brown | Notification that HB1365 is now Act 938 |
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HB1471
Act 966
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1471 Wooldridge Flippo TO AMEND THE EXPIRATION DATE OF ALL LICEN…”
|
TO AMEND THE EXPIRATION DATE OF ALL LICENSES OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS IN SPEECH-LANGUAGE … | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1471 is now Act 966 |
|
HB1562
Act 941
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1562 Gazaway Caldwell CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF AN ORAL LEAS…”
|
CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF AN ORAL LEASE OF FARMLANDS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING … | Gazaway | Notification that HB1562 is now Act 941 |
|
HB1624
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1624 Gazaway Boyd TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE MEMBE…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP OF COUNTY LAW LIBRARY BOARDS. | Gazaway | Died on Senate Calendar at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1646
Act 917
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1646 McGrew McKee TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN L…”
|
TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED COMPARTMENTS WITHIN A DESIGNATED AREA. | McGrew | Notification that HB1646 is now Act 917 |
|
HB1662
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1662 B. McKenzie B. Johnson TO PROHIBIT LOBBYING FOR A COVERED F…”
|
TO PROHIBIT LOBBYING FOR A COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY. | B. McKenzie | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1682
Act 942
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1682 Puryear Davis TO CREATE THE GOOD NEIGHBOR ACT; AND TO CLARI…”
|
TO CREATE THE GOOD NEIGHBOR ACT; AND TO CLARIFY FOOD DONATION LIABILITY AND IMMUNITY. | Puryear | Notification that HB1682 is now Act 942 |
|
HB1683
Act 924
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1683 McAlindon Penzo TO PROHIBIT THE PROCUREMENT BY A GOVERNMENT…”
|
TO PROHIBIT THE PROCUREMENT BY A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY OF AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE OR A COMPONENT … | McAlindon | Notification that HB1683 is now Act 924 |
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HB1719
Act 905
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1719 Vaught Davis TO AMEND THE DAYS INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL NUMBER…”
|
TO AMEND THE DAYS INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MATERNITY LEAVE DAYS APPROVED BY … | Vaught | Notification that HB1719 is now Act 905 |
|
HB1728
Act 906
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1728 Ennett Davis TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS…”
|
TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS RECEIVING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR A DISABILITY AT INSTITUTIONS … | Ennett | Notification that HB1728 is now Act 906 |
|
HB1766
Act 907
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1766 Ennett CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND EMPOWER (RISE) ACT. | Ennett | Notification that HB1766 is now Act 907 |
|
HB1832
Act 975
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1832 M. Shepherd Hester TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT…”
|
TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AND COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE … | M. Shepherd | Notification that HB1832 is now Act 975 |
|
HB1874
Act 795
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1874 B. McKenzie Davis AN ACT TO AMEND THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL D…”
|
AN ACT TO AMEND THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING THAT EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT … | B. McKenzie | Notification that HB1874 is now Act 795 |
|
HB1876
Act 927
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1876 R. Scott Richardson Bryant REGARDING THE OWNERSHIP OF MODEL…”
|
REGARDING THE OWNERSHIP OF MODEL TRAINING AND CONTENT GENERATED BY A GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOL. | R. Scott Richardson | Notification that HB1876 is now Act 927 |
|
HB1903
Act 911
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Calendar. Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1903, by Representative Walker, recommend do pass? Calendar. Com…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO PROVIDE SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH FLEXIBILITY REGARDING ALTERNATIVE … | Walker | Notification that HB1903 is now Act 911 |
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HB1913
Act 928
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1913 J. Moore Stone TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSE…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSES; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE QUALIFICATIONS … | J. Moore | Notification that HB1913 is now Act 928 |
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HB1916
Act 979
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1916 Bentley Clark TO AMEND THE PROTECTING MINORS FROM MEDICAL M…”
|
TO AMEND THE PROTECTING MINORS FROM MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACT OF 2023; AND TO INCLUDE GENDER-AFFIRMING … | Bentley | Notification that HB1916 is now Act 979 |
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HB1926
Act 980
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1926 Unger Bryant TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE SUSPENSION, RE…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE SUSPENSION, REVOCATION, OR NONRENEWAL OF A PERSON'S DRIVER'S LICENSE … | Unger | Notification that HB1926 is now Act 980 |
|
HB1933
Act 912
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1933 McCollum Irvin TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRIC…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS; AND TO CREATE A … | McCollum | Notification that HB1933 is now Act 912 |
|
HB1942
Act 1023
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1942 L. Johnson Davis TO REQUIRE CERTAIN REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR…”
|
TO REQUIRE CERTAIN REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR HOME- AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES WITHIN RISK-BASED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1942 is now Act 1023 |
|
HB1943
Act 962
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1943 L. Johnson Davis TO AMEND THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED ORGANIZ…”
|
TO AMEND THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED ORGANIZED CARE ACT; TO IMPROVE THE ENROLLMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS … | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1943 is now Act 962 |
|
HB1945
Act 913
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ass? Calendar. Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1945, by Representative McCollum, recommend do pass? Calendar. A…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE … | McCollum | Notification that HB1945 is now Act 913 |
|
HB1952
Act 947
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1952 Hawk Dismang TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE ATHL…”
|
TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION; TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO THE STATE … | Hawk | Notification that HB1952 is now Act 947 |
|
SB183
Act 724
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Bill 72 by Joint Budget, Senate Bill 92 by Joint Budget, Senate Bill 183 by Senator Dodson, Senate Bill 311 by Senator Penzo, Senate…”
|
TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT; AND TO AMEND THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS … | J. Dotson | Notification that SB183 is now Act 724 |
|
SB342
Act 749
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 183 by Senator Dodson, Senate Bill 311 by Senator Penzo, Senate Bill 342 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 343 by Senator Irving, Senate…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INJURIES TO CERTAIN ANIMALS BY DOGS TO AUTHORIZE TREBLE DAMAGES. | A. Clark | Notification that SB342 is now Act 749 |
|
SB364
Act 750
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 342 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 343 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 364 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 367 by Senator Irving, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES RELATED TO CONTRACTORS. | Hester | Notification that SB364 is now Act 750 |
|
SB369
Act 778
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 364 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 367 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 369 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 374 by Senator Davis, Senate…”
|
TO REPEAL THE COMPUTER AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT RECYCLING GRANTS; AND TO REPEAL THE COMPUTER AND … | Irvin | Notification that SB369 is now Act 778 |
|
SB397
Act 931
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB397 #1 D. Wallace Wallace TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFO…”
|
TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RAIL EMPLOYEES IN REPORTS INVOLVING RAILROAD FATALITIES. | D. Wallace | Notification that SB397 is now Act 931 |
|
SB402
Act 725
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 369 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 374 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 402 by Senator Penzo,”
|
TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE COOPERATIVE FROM REQUIRING OR TAKING … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB402 is now Act 725 |
|
SB406
Act 752
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 406 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 420 by Senator Hester, Senate…”
|
TO REQUIRE A COUNTY RECORDER TO VERIFY CERTAIN INFORMATION BEFORE RECORDING A DEED TO REAL … | A. Clark | Notification that SB406 is now Act 752 |
|
SB420
Act 736
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 406 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 420 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 425 by Senator English, Sena…”
|
TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR WATER DEVELOPMENT STATE PROGRAMS; TO AMEND THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT; AND … | Hester | Notification that SB420 is now Act 736 |
|
SB425
Act 722
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 406 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 420 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 425 by Senator English, Senate Bill 435 by Senator Irving, Sena…”
|
TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING ENHANCED TRANSPORTATION; AND TO DECLARE AN … | J. English | Notification that SB425 is now Act 722 |
|
SB431
Act 987
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB431 #1 J. Bryant Bryant TO AMEND THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2…”
|
TO AMEND THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2013; TO ELIMINATE THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR … | J. Bryant | Notification that SB431 is now Act 987 |
|
SB435
Act 753
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…420 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 425 by Senator English, Senate Bill 435 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 439 by Senator Irving, Senat…”
|
TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT UPON A HEALTHCARE WORKER; AND TO DEFINE … | Irvin | Notification that SB435 is now Act 753 |
|
SB439
Act 737
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…425 by Senator English, Senate Bill 435 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 439 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 475 by Senator Disman, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND LICENSING; AND … | Irvin | Notification that SB439 is now Act 737 |
|
SB443
Act 949
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB443 #1 J. Bryant Bryant TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD…”
|
TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF APPRAISERS, ABSTRACTERS, AND HOME INSPECTORS; TO … | J. Bryant | Notification that SB443 is now Act 949 |
|
SB458
Act 988
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB458 #1 G. Leding Leding TO REQUIRE A COURT TO CONSIDER THE IMPA…”
|
TO REQUIRE A COURT TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF FACTORS SUCH AS TRAUMA AND INVOLVEMENT … | G. Leding | Notification that SB458 is now Act 988 |
|
SB478
Act 738
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 439 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 475 by Senator Disman, Senate Bill 478 by Senator Stubblefield, Senate Bill 480 by Senator Hammer.…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS DIESEL ENGINE FREEDOM ACT OF 2025; AND TO PROHIBIT STATE ENFORCEMENT … | G. Stubblefield | Notification that SB478 is now Act 738 |
|
SB480
Act 739
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…by Senator Disman, Senate Bill 478 by Senator Stubblefield, Senate Bill 480 by Senator Hammer. Senate Bill 481 by Senator Gilmore. Sena…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE INVESTMENT OF STATE FUNDS. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB480 is now Act 739 |
|
SB481
Act 779
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…by Senator Stubblefield, Senate Bill 480 by Senator Hammer. Senate Bill 481 by Senator Gilmore. Senate Bill 484 by Senator Irving. Sena…”
|
TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE SYSTEM OF PROPERTY INSURANCE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF … | Gilmore | Notification that SB481 is now Act 779 |
|
SB484
Act 726
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…480 by Senator Hammer. Senate Bill 481 by Senator Gilmore. Senate Bill 484 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 487 by Senator Irving. Senat…”
|
TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS WHEREBY A VACANCY IS FILLED ON A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF … | Irvin | Notification that SB484 is now Act 726 |
|
SB487
Act 754
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…481 by Senator Gilmore. Senate Bill 484 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 487 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 488 by Senator Irving. Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW ON THE DESTRUCTION OR EXPUNGEMENT OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY RECORDS. | Irvin | Notification that SB487 is now Act 754 |
|
SB488
Act 755
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 484 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 487 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 488 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 490 by Senator Irving. Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING WHEN A JUVENILE IS CONSIDERED TO BE ADJUDICATED DELINQUENT. | Irvin | Notification that SB488 is now Act 755 |
|
SB490
Act 972
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 487 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 488 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 490 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 500 by Senator Petty.”
|
TO ALLOW A COURT TO WAIVE CERTAIN FEES WHEN A JUVENILE IS ORDERED TO REGISTER … | Irvin | Notification that SB490 is now Act 972 |
|
SB500
Act 780
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 488 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 490 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 500 by Senator Petty.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LEVEE DISTRICTS; AND TO ALLOW A LEVEE DISTRICT CREATED BY … | J. Petty | Notification that SB500 is now Act 780 |
|
SB504
Act 727
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 504 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 508 by Senator Irving. Senat…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM ACT. | Irvin | Notification that SB504 is now Act 727 |
|
SB508
Act 756
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 504 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 508 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake Johnson…”
|
TO AMEND THE FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT OF A STIPEND FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC … | Irvin | Notification that SB508 is now Act 756 |
|
SB512
Act 758
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…y Senator Irving. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 512 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ROBBERY AND AGGRAVATED ROBBERY. | B. Johnson | Notification that SB512 is now Act 758 |
|
SB513
Act 759
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 504 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 508 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 512 by Senator Blake…”
|
TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF MAIL THEFT; AND TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF … | B. Johnson | Notification that SB513 is now Act 759 |
|
SB514
Act 760
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…or Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 514 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 516 by Senator Gilmou…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A SKIMMER; AND TO INCREASE PENALTIES … | B. Johnson | Notification that SB514 is now Act 760 |
|
SB516
Act 761
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…or Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 514 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 516 by Senator Gilmour, Senate Bill 520 by Senator Sullivan, Se…”
|
TO ALLOW A PERSON FILING AS A CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF JUSTICE OF THE … | Gilmore | Notification that SB516 is now Act 761 |
|
SB519
Act 958
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB519 #1 J. Boyd Boyd TO AMEND THE STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR…”
|
TO AMEND THE STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR LIFE INSURANCE; AND TO REGULATE THE PAYMENT OF … | J. Boyd | Notification that SB519 is now Act 958 |
|
SB520
Act 747
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 516 by Senator Gilmour, Senate Bill 520 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 521 by Senator Davies, Sen…”
|
TO PROHIBIT DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION OFFICES, OFFICERS, POLICIES, OR PRACTICES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT. | D. Sullivan | Notification that SB520 is now Act 747 |
|
SB521
Act 748
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…16 by Senator Gilmour, Senate Bill 520 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 521 by Senator Davies, Senate Bill 523 by Senator Irving, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT; AND TO EXTEND THE TIME PERIOD … | B. Davis | Notification that SB521 is now Act 748 |
|
SB523
Act 762
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…520 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 521 by Senator Davies, Senate Bill 523 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 527 by Senator Irving, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; AND TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PRIVATE … | Irvin | Notification that SB523 is now Act 762 |
|
SB527
Act 774
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 521 by Senator Davies, Senate Bill 523 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 527 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 535 by Senator Hester, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HEALTH AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ME ACT OF 2021; AND TO INCREASE … | Irvin | Notification that SB527 is now Act 774 |
|
SB533
Act 934
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB533 #1 Dees Dees TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF CONSUMABLE HE…”
|
TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCTS BY THE ARKANSAS TOBACCO CONTROL BOARD; … | Dees | Notification that SB533 is now Act 934 |
|
SB535
Act 781
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 523 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 527 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 535 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 537 by Senator Gilmour, Sena…”
|
TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR THE ARKANSAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS … | Hester | Notification that SB535 is now Act 781 |
|
SB537
Act 763
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 527 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 535 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 537 by Senator Gilmour, Senate Bill 539 by Senator Gilmour,”
|
TO CREATE THE EARNING SAFE REENTRY THROUGH WORK ACT; AND TO CREATE A SENTENCE CREDIT … | Gilmore | Notification that SB537 is now Act 763 |
|
SB54
Act 1015
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB54 AN ACT FOR THE AUDITOR OF STATE - DEPUTY PROSECUTING ATTORN…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE AUDITOR OF STATE - DEPUTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB54 is now Act 1015 |
|
SB544
Act 775
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 544 by Senator Mark Johnson, Senate Bill 547 by Senator Sulliva…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LICENSURE ACT. | M. Johnson | Notification that SB544 is now Act 775 |
|
SB546
Act 935
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB546 #1 K. Hammer Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE TRUST F…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE TRUST FUND CONTRIBUTION FEE FOR WATER PERMITS RELATED TO … | K. Hammer | Notification that SB546 is now Act 935 |
|
SB547
Act 728
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 544 by Senator Mark Johnson, Senate Bill 547 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 551 by Senator Hammer, Sen…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED STUDENT LIVE WITHIN A CERTAIN RADIUS OF A … | D. Sullivan | Notification that SB547 is now Act 728 |
|
SB551
Act 764
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…Senator Mark Johnson, Senate Bill 547 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 551 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 555 by Senator Scott, Senate…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANVASSING FOR A PETITION FOR A LOCAL OPTION ELECTION. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB551 is now Act 764 |
|
SB555
Act 765
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…547 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 551 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 555 by Senator Scott, Senate Bill 559 by Senator English, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE OFFENSE OF VIDEO VOYEURISM; TO EXTEND THE STATUTE OF … | J. Scott | Notification that SB555 is now Act 765 |
|
SB559
Act 729
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 551 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 555 by Senator Scott, Senate Bill 559 by Senator English, Senate Bill 560 by Senator English, Sen…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021. | J. English | Notification that SB559 is now Act 729 |
|
SB560
Act 740
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 555 by Senator Scott, Senate Bill 559 by Senator English, Senate Bill 560 by Senator English, Senate Bill 563 by Senator Irving, Sena…”
|
TO DECREASE THE BASE CONTRIBUTION RATE; TO INCREASE THE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENT RATE; TO INCREASE FUNDING … | J. English | Notification that SB560 is now Act 740 |
|
SB563
Act 741
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…559 by Senator English, Senate Bill 560 by Senator English, Senate Bill 563 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 573 by Senator Petty, Senate…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE THE ARKANSAS LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY COMMISSION TO IMPOSE A CIVIL PENALTY FOR CERTAIN … | Irvin | Notification that SB563 is now Act 741 |
|
SB573
Act 783
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…560 by Senator English, Senate Bill 563 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 573 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 574 by Senator Petty, Senate…”
|
TO AMEND THE METHOD OF VALUATION UNDER ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE 16, § 5, BY DEFINING … | J. Petty | Notification that SB573 is now Act 783 |
|
SB574
Act 742
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 563 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 573 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 574 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 578 by Senator Hester, Senate…”
|
TO REQUIRE A MUNICIPALITY THAT OPERATES A WATERWORKS SYSTEM OR SEWAGE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE SERVICE … | J. Petty | Notification that SB574 is now Act 742 |
|
SB575
Act 989
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB575 #1 C. Tucker Tucker TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSTALLMENT…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSTALLMENT FEES COLLECTED IN CIRCUIT AND DISTRICT COURTS; TO AMEND … | C. Tucker | Notification that SB575 is now Act 989 |
|
SB578
Act 766
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ill 573 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 574 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 578 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 580 by Senator Hammer, Senat…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EARLY VOTING; AND TO ALLOW A COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTION … | Hester | Notification that SB578 is now Act 766 |
|
SB580
Act 767
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 574 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 578 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 580 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 584 by Senator Hammer, Senat…”
|
TO EXTEND FINANCING FOR PURCHASES OF VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT FOR A RURAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB580 is now Act 767 |
|
SB584
Act 768
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 578 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 580 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 584 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 590 by Senator Gilmore, Sena…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LOCAL INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB584 is now Act 768 |
|
SB590
Act 769
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 580 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 584 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 590 by Senator Gilmore, Senate Bill 597 by Senator Blake Johnso…”
|
TO CREATE THE RECIDIVISM REDUCTION SYSTEM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; AND TO DECLARE AN … | Gilmore | Notification that SB590 is now Act 769 |
|
SB597
Act 770
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…584 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 590 by Senator Gilmore, Senate Bill 597 by Senator Blake Johnson, Senate Bill 598 by Senator Englis…”
|
TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF THREAT OF HARM UPON A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION EMPLOYEE. | B. Johnson | Notification that SB597 is now Act 770 |
|
SB598
Act 743
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…Senator Gilmore, Senate Bill 597 by Senator Blake Johnson, Senate Bill 598 by Senator English,”
|
TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS RELATED TO THE DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES; AND TO AMEND THE … | J. English | Notification that SB598 is now Act 743 |
|
SB599
Act 744
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 599 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 600 by Senator Tucker, Senat…”
|
TO ELIMINATE INTERLOCUTORY DECREES OF ADOPTION; AND TO AMEND THE REVISED UNIFORM ADOPTION ACT. | C. Tucker | Notification that SB599 is now Act 744 |
|
SB600
Act 771
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Senate Bill 599 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 600 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 604 by Senator Davis, Senate…”
|
TO REGULATE CONTRACTS; TO MANDATE CONTRACTUAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN CONTRACTS; AND TO CLARIFY PROPER JURISDICTION … | C. Tucker | Notification that SB600 is now Act 771 |
|
SB604
Act 730
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…l 599 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 600 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 604 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 610 by Senator Dismanine, Sen…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING THE COURSE CHOICE PROGRAM. | B. Davis | Notification that SB604 is now Act 730 |
|
SB610
Act 745
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 600 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 604 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 610 by Senator Dismanine, Senate Bill 618 by Senator Irving. Se…”
|
TO AMEND THE GENERATING ARKANSAS JOBS ACT OF 2025; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. | J. Dismang | Notification that SB610 is now Act 745 |
|
SB611
Act 900
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB611 #1 Dees Dees TO AMEND THE SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ACT.”
|
TO AMEND THE SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ACT. | Dees | Notification that SB611 is now Act 900 |
|
SB618
Act 731
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…604 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 610 by Senator Dismanine, Senate Bill 618 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 624 by Senator Davis, Senate…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT DUE PROCESS AND PROTECTION ACT. | Irvin | Notification that SB618 is now Act 731 |
|
SB624
Act 732
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…10 by Senator Dismanine, Senate Bill 618 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 624 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 627 by Senator Irving. Compar…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE … | B. Davis | Notification that SB624 is now Act 732 |
|
SB627
Act 746
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ll 618 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 624 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 627 by Senator Irving. Compare the enrolled copies with the ori…”
|
TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT SECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND … | Irvin | Notification that SB627 is now Act 746 |
|
SB636
Act 1017
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB636 AN ACT TO TRANSFER FUNDS; DEFINE THE MONIES TO BE AVAILABLE…”
|
AN ACT TO TRANSFER FUNDS; DEFINE THE MONIES TO BE AVAILABLE IN THE RESTRICTED RESERVE … | J. Dismang | Notification that SB636 is now Act 1017 |
|
SB637
Act 1018
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB637 TO AMEND THE REVENUE STABILIZATION LAW; AND TO DECLARE AN E…”
|
TO AMEND THE REVENUE STABILIZATION LAW; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. | J. Dismang | Notification that SB637 is now Act 1018 |
|
SB67
Act 1016
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB67 AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC DEFENDER COMMISSION APPROPRI…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC DEFENDER COMMISSION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB67 is now Act 1016 |
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Unknown speaker
0:00
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Chair
Unverified
4:00
Senate will be called to order. Are there any requests for leave at this
time? Seeing none, Madam Secretary, please call the roll. Boyd, Bryant, Caldwell, Clark, Crowell, Davis, Dees, Dismaine, Dotson, English, Flippo, Flowers, Gilmore, Hammer, Hester, Hickey, Hill, Irvin, Blake Johnson, Mark Johnson, King, Letting, Love, McKee, Murdoch, Payton, Penzo, Petty, Rice, Scott, Stone,
Stubbeville, Sullivan, Tucker, Wallace.
Thank you, Madam Secretary. If everyone in the chamber and in the
galleries would please rise. We'll first be led in prayer by Senator Letting, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Senator Letting, you're recognized. Bow your heads. Dear Lord, we thank you for having us all here
Senator Greg Leding
Unverified
5:11
today and keeping us safe throughout what has been a very long and trying session. But we have all been trying our best to do good work. But we all know that all of us are always working to be better. We just ask for your continued guidance on this, you willing, O Lord, next to last day of the session, as we try to wrap up our important work and get back to our families safely.
Speaker 6
5:30
Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, the indivisible, and with liberty and justice sherry sherry thank you senator letting for those uplifting words ladies and gentlemen the galleries welcome to your arkansas state senate it is our expectation that each of you will exercise proper decorum and govern
Chair
Unverified
6:01
yourselves accordingly during today's proceedings without objection the rules will be suspended and the Senate will dispense with the reading of the journal The morning hour has now begun. I'd like to welcome Senator Scott, who will be introducing our Senate pages for today. Senator Scott, you're
Senator Jamie Scott
Unverified
6:24
recognized. Thank you, Madam President. Members, I would like to recognize our Senate pages joining us today. When I call your name, please come to the
front to be recognized. Marley Page, Marmel Charter High School. Camille Hayes, Marmel Charter High
School, Mariah Henson, Marmel Charter High School, Taylor Jamison, Marmel Charter High School, Kamari Rhodes, Marmel Charter High School, Logan Lane, Marmel Charter High School, Jasper Strahd, Catholic High School, Lucas Mazzani, Marmel High School, and Baxley Vaught, Wynn High School. Senate, I would like y'all to give them a warm welcome.
Thank you. Thank them for being here with us today. Thank you, Senator Scott,
Speaker 29
7:15
and welcome to each of our Senate pages. We are glad to have you all here today
Chair
Unverified
7:23
in the chamber with us. Any other announcements or introductions? Senator Hester, you're recognized for an announcement. Members, I would
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
7:31
like to ask the House to recall Senate Bill 451. That's a bill of mine that didn't get the emergency clause yesterday. It should not have
got sent down. It inadvertently did, but they're asking us to send it back. I'm good with that. All those
Speaker 44
7:46
I think it's a motion. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed?
Speaker 47
7:58
Ayes have it. motion carries. Any other announcements or
Senator John Payton
Unverified
8:03
introductions? Senator Payton. Is this where I make the motion to transmit
SJR? Thank you, Madam President. I need to make a motion to go ahead and transmit HJR 1018, which is the citizens only vote amendment we passed yesterday.
Speaker 44
8:19
We need to transmit that to the House. All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes
Chair
Unverified
8:29
have it. Motion carries. Other announcements, introductions. Senator Filippo.
Senator Scott Flippo
Unverified
8:32
Thank you, Governor. Members, if you'll help me welcome our doctor of the day, Dr. Brad Schultz, the brother of Representative Bart Schultz, so we know who got the brains in the family. Brad, good to have you here. And as always, the exquisite Lee Fazio. Thank you, Lee, for being here this session. We
Speaker 54
8:46
appreciate you very much. Any other announcements or introductions?
Chair
Unverified
9:02
Madam Secretary, are there items at
the desk? Yes, we're your Committee on Enrollable Bills. To whom was first, Senate
Bill 72 by Joint Budget, Senate Bill 92 by Joint Budget, Senate Bill 183 by Senator Dodson, Senate Bill 311 by Senator Penzo, Senate Bill 342 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 343 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 364 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 367 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 369 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 374 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 402 by Senator Penzo,
Senate Bill 406 by Senator Clark, Senate Bill 420 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 425 by Senator English, Senate Bill 435 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 439 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 475 by Senator Disman, Senate Bill 478 by Senator Stubblefield, Senate Bill 480 by Senator Hammer. Senate Bill 481 by Senator Gilmore. Senate Bill 484 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 487 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 488 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 490 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 500 by Senator Petty.
Senate Bill 504 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 508 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 512 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 513 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 514 by Senator Blake Johnson. Senate Bill 516 by Senator Gilmour, Senate Bill 520 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 521 by Senator Davies, Senate Bill 523 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 527 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 535 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 537 by Senator Gilmour, Senate Bill 539 by Senator Gilmour,
Senate Bill 544 by Senator Mark Johnson, Senate Bill 547 by Senator Sullivan, Senate Bill 551 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 555 by Senator Scott, Senate Bill 559 by Senator English, Senate Bill 560 by Senator English, Senate Bill 563 by Senator Irving, Senate Bill 573 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 574 by Senator Petty, Senate Bill 578 by Senator Hester, Senate Bill 580 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 584 by Senator Hammer, Senate Bill 590 by Senator Gilmore, Senate Bill 597 by Senator Blake Johnson, Senate Bill 598 by Senator English,
Senate Bill 599 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 600 by Senator Tucker, Senate Bill 604 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 610 by Senator Dismanine, Senate Bill 618 by Senator Irving. Senate Bill 624 by Senator Davis, Senate Bill 627 by Senator Irving. Compare the enrolled copies with the original
Speaker 59
11:25
fines named correctly enrolled at 8.39 a.m. delivered to the governor for her approval. Please file
Chair
Unverified
11:37
it. Will your Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1017, by Representative Collins, recommend do pass?
Calendar. Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1903, by Representative Walker, recommend do pass? Calendar. Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1945, by Representative McCollum, recommend do pass? Calendar. Any other announcements
or introductions? Any further business to come before the body in the morning hour? If
not, the morning hour has expired. We will now begin the business agenda.
We will begin with Senate Resolution 68.
Senate Resolution 68 by Senator McKee to recognize the Division of Arkansas State Policies Interstate Criminal Patrol for winning top honors at the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Awards. Senator McKee, you're recognized.
Thank you, Madam President. We'll
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
12:45
let all these fine gentlemen get in here and get lined up.
Members, the Arkansas State Police's interstate criminal patrol team received multiple awards and accolades at the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Awards on April 1st in Biloxi, Mississippi. They were recognized as the 2024 Agency of the Year because of successful seizure of illegal narcotics with a street value of $32,250,476.
They confiscated 25 vehicles and recovered $4,100,000 in cash. Trooper Anna Escamilla was named the 2024 Officer of the Year for netting 21 drug seizures, 7 currency seizures, amounting to $4,984,884, making 27 arrests, seizing 7 vehicles, and confiscating 2 weapons.
Corporal Chris Short was recognized for the largest cash seizure, which totaled $813,490, made it during a single traffic stop in Crawford County. The team was also recognized in 22 and 23 as Team of the Year. So this was the third consecutive year, and this was the third consecutive year that a team member was named Officer of the Year. So we're incredibly proud of this team with the Arkansas State Police.
We wanted to make sure that we, number one, had a chance to introduce them to you, but give you a chance to recognize them and show them the appreciation and respect that they deserve. So I would appreciate a good vote on this resolution, just
as we appreciate these guys working hard for us. Thank you, Senator McKee, and
Speaker 75
14:51
what a pleasure it is to have so many of our members of State Police here with us, and the Colonel of State Police, Mike Hager, and his leadership of these fine men and women. Senators, all those in favor of Senate Resolution 68
Chair
Unverified
15:04
to recognize the Division of Arkansas State Police's Interstate Criminal Patrol for winning top honors at the Gulf Coast High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Awards. Please signify by saying
Speaker 6
15:14
aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Senate Resolution 68 is adopted. Madam Chair, with your permission,
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
15:33
I'd like to give Colonel Hager just one or two minutes
to heap some accolades on these fine folks. Absolutely.
Speaker 79
15:39
Mr. Secretary, you're recognized. Thank you, ma'am. I
Mike Hager
Unverified
15:45
can't stand here, first of all, without thanking this body for the support that you guys have given our agency. It cannot be overstated how much that you have done for us, and as a result, what we've been able to give back to the state of Arkansas. As you know, I sent out a number of videos over the last few months
to try to introduce you and the citizens of Arkansas to your Arkansas State Police. Our staff is higher right now than we've been in 25 years, and that's a direct result of the commitment from the governor and from this body to give us the opportunity to serve the citizens of Arkansas. This is not about the state police. When our numbers are up, that means that we're able to serve your sheriffs, your chiefs, your communities. We're an assisting agency by statute and by mission. And we can't thank you enough for the opportunity to serve you and thank you for the support that you've given us.
I want to give you just an idea real quick of what these gentlemen have accomplished in LADY. The Gulf Coast Hight is comprised of 173 agencies in six states. If you think of the Southeastern Conference, that basically is the Gulf Coast Hyder region. There's more than 1,000 officers that are part of that. These ladies and gentlemen have received this honor five of the last six years. That other year, we're not going to talk about because it was a sham.
We're pretty sure that they got cheated. Because of the commitment that you guys have made to us and our agency, starting last year, we were able to put these guys in a full-time capacity. And having done that, their numbers are off the charts. It was strong before, but what they've done now, it's amazing. And we couldn't be more proud of the work that they do. Just want to introduce you real quick. The team commander is Lieutenant Dennis Overton. He wasn't able to be with us today. He's out of state, but we also have Sergeant Chase Melder,
Sergeant Rocky Rapert, Corporal Bernard Pettit, Trooper First Class Antonio May, Corporal Dustin Ronald, Trooper Jackson Daniel, Corporal Chris Short, Corporal Dustin Linkus, Trooper First Class Tanner Hess, Trooper Anna Escamilla, and Trooper First Class Tanner Middlecoff. I can tell you the easiest and best part of my job is to honor and recognize the men and women that I get to work with every day. I couldn't be more proud of them and more proud of your service to this state.
Chair
Unverified
18:14
Thank you. - Thank you, Colonel, and thank you again to our men and women at state police. Congratulations to all of you in this
division. But thank you to all of our state police.
Next, we will take up Senate Resolution 69. Senate Resolution
69 by Senator Wallace to proclaim April 9, 2025 as Arkansas Line Worker Appreciation Day at the State Capitol
and commend the men and women who serve Arkansas as utility line workers. Senator Wallace, you're recognized.
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
19:54
Governor, members, last week on the 9th of April, we recognized our Arkansas linemen and honored
them while they were here. I'm not going to read this whole resolution, but I'm going to say that, be it further resolved, that the Senate proclaim April the 8th, 9th, 2025 as Arkansas Lineman Appreciation Day at the State Capitol.
Chair
Unverified
20:16
With that, I would ask for a good vote. Thank you, Senator. All those in favor of Senate Resolution 69 to proclaim April 9th, 2025's Arkansas Lineworker Appreciation Day at the State Capitol and to commend the men and women who serve Arkansas as utility
lineworkers, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed, ayes have it. Senate Resolution 69 is adopted.
Next, we will take up Senate Resolution 70.
Senate Resolution 70 by Senator Scott to recognize Ronald McDonald House to charities for 50 years of service in improving the health and well-being of children and their families and directly impacting the local communities of the state of Arkansas.
Senator Jamie Scott
Unverified
21:06
Senator Scott, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, I know we're on a really tight schedule today, so I'm very appreciative of the latitude to recognize the Ronald McDonald House and charities today.
It's been a while. They have a lot of people. They do
a lot of good work. It takes a lot of people, a lot of hands. Whereas, Ronald McDonald House Charities has been committed to supporting families when a child is seriously ill since the opening of the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1974. Whereas, Ronald McDonald House Charities has continued to create ways to support families along with their child's health care journey. And whereas since 1974, McDonald's Corporation, its franchise, and its customers have collectively donated over a billion dollars to help Ronald McDonald House charities serve millions of children and their families throughout the 62 countries and regions that it operates.
Whereas in 2003 alone, McDonald's Corporation, along with its Arkansas franchise and customers, that's many of us, raised more than $967,000 for local Arkansas Ronald McDonald House Charity chapters, which is equivalent to 9,670 overnight stays for families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities programs in Arkansas. Whereas Ronald McDonald House Charities remains dedicated to enhancing its programs and creating a world where all families have what they need as their families are pursuing
the best outcomes for their children.
Madam President, I ask for a good motion in recognizing the great work and service that they do to our families when they're in need in the state of Arkansas. Thank you, Senator Scott.
Chair
Unverified
22:52
I was first introduced to the Ronald McDonald House Charities when I was in college. The organization I was part of would come down every year and work with the Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock. And so I've been familiar and appreciate the work of you all for more decades than I'm going to admit today.
Senators, all those in favor of Senate Resolution 70 to recognize Ronald McDonald House Charities for 50 years of service and improving the health and well-being of children and their families and directly impacting the local communities of the state of Arkansas. Please
Speaker 6
23:25
signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, ayes have it. Senate Resolution 70 is adopted. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you all.
Chair
Unverified
23:46
Thank you all. Keep up the great work. Next, we will move to Senate bills to concur in House amendments, beginning with Senate Bill 90, Amendments 1 and 2. We'll have to do
Speaker 118
24:12
individually the amendments. And we will have to do the amendments and the bills individually.
Chair
Unverified
24:17
Amendment 1, Senate Bill 90. Senator English, you're recognized. Just my bill, my amendment. All those
in favor of Amendment 1, Senate Bill 90, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment
1 is adopted. It's concurred then. Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 90.
Speaker 6
24:44
My bill, my amendment. All those in favor of Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 90, please signify by saying aye.
Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment is concurred
Chair
Unverified
24:54
then. Senate Bill 90 by Senator English to require members of
the public to be afforded the opportunity to present public comment at each meeting of a school district board
Senator Jane English
Unverified
25:05
of directors. Senator English, you're recognized. Thank you very much. Basically what this does is it sets up the process for the public to have comment period
Speaker 6
25:16
at school board meetings. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any
objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Payton, present. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 34 yes 0 nay 1 present Senate bill 90 passes as amended please enroll it amendment
Chair
Unverified
25:51
1 Senate bill 313 amendment 1 Senate bill 313 sender urban you're
recognized thank you motion to concur with the house
Speaker 44
25:58
amendment all those in favor of the amendment please signify by saying aye aye any opposed eyes have
Chair
Unverified
26:06
amendments concurred in. Senate Bill 313 by Senator Irving concerning forensic metal health evaluations and treatment and to promote the improved efficiencies and quality in the Department of Human Services. Senator Irving you're recognized. Thank you
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
26:18
members this is the bill that we worked on for probably a year and a half and so glad to finally have it here on the last day. Just
appreciate all the work by the County Sheriff's, the Department of Human services, all the judges, prosecutors, everybody for this legislation. So it's been a lot of work and very, very good policy that it's going to be really good for the state of Arkansas to make sure that these inmates aren't lingering in county jails and they
get the help that they need. I'd appreciate a
Speaker 136
26:51
good vote. Any questions for Senorvin? Anyone wish to speak against or
Speaker 6
26:55
for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary,
please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Seeing no one, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 35, yea, zero, nay. Senate Bill 313 passes as amended. Please unroll it. Amendment 1, Senate
Chair
Unverified
27:19
Bill 352. Amendment 1, Senate Bill 352. Senator Stone, you're recognized. Thank you,
Senator Matt Stone
Unverified
27:26
Madam President. Members, my bill, my amendment. All those in favor
Speaker 44
27:30
of the amendment, please signify by saying aye.
Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have
Chair
Unverified
27:40
it. Amendment is concurred then. Senate Bill 352 by Senator Stone to prohibit anti-Semitism in public and elementary secondary schools
and to prohibit anti-Semitism in state-supported institutions of higher ed. Senator Stone, you're recognized.
Senator Matt Stone
Unverified
27:54
Members, this bill, this amendment just adds House members as co-sponsors. Any
Speaker 6
28:00
questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? I'm going to start on this side. Senator Flowers, no.
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Senator Letting, present. Senator Tucker, present. Love, no. Scott, present. Murdoch, no.
Chair
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Any other senators? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 29, yea, 3, nay, 3 present. Senate Bill 352 passes as amended. Please enroll it.
Amendment 1, Senate Bill 397. Amendment 1, Senate Bill 397. Senator Wallace, you're recognized. Thank
Senator Dave Wallace
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you, Governor. Members, this House amendment added a House sponsor. All those in favor of the amendment,
Speaker 6
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Please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment is concurred then. Senate
Chair
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Bill 397 by Senator Wallace
to protect confidential personal information of rail employees in reports involving railroad fatalities. Senator Wallace, you're recognized. Members, again, it
Senator Dave Wallace
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just adds a House sponsor. With that, I ask for a good
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vote. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection? Question, yes, Senator Payton.
Senator John Payton
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29:29
Thank you, Madam President. Do we do this for like airline pilots and crew and, say, Greyhound bus drivers? I mean, it seems like pretty special treatment
Senator Kim Hammer
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29:39
here. Senator Payton, I think anything we can do to pilots would be very good. I would agree. But I'm just curious, do we do this exemption for any other segment? If you brought the bill, if somebody brought the bill,
Senator Dave Wallace
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perhaps you could. So we don't currently do that? No, sir, we do not.
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Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed.
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I am closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Clark, no. Payton, present. Any other senator? Seeing no other. Please cast up the ballot by a vote of 33 yeas, 1 nay, 1 present.
Senate Bill 397 passes as concurred in. Please enroll it. Amendment 1,
Chair
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Senate Bill 431. Amendment 1, Senate Bill 431.
Senator Bryant, you're recognized. Thank you,
Senator Joshua Bryant
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Madam President. Members, Amendment 1 removed some language that was left unintentionally during the
amendment process here in the Senate. We had affirmative defense applies to all victims. There was a clause in there that just left it to 18 and older, which is inadvertent. I'm working with Senator Irvin's Senate Bill 620 that has also been passed through.
There's different provisions for under 17, and then we
removed the over 18 from this bill.
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All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes
Chair
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have it. Amendment is concurred in. Senate Bill 431 by Senator Bryant to amend the Human Trafficking Act of 2013 to eliminate the statute of limitations for certain offenses to create
safe harbors for victims and prohibit certain sexually explicit products that resemble a child.
Senator Joshua Bryant
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Senator Bryant, you're recognized. Thank you. The rest
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of the bill remains intact plus the amendment. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please
Chair
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roll the vote. any senator wish to change his or her vote seeing no one please cast
up the ballot by vote of 35 yea, 0 nay, Senate bill 431 passes as concurred in, please enroll it
amendment 1, Senate bill 443 amendment 1 to
Senate bill 443 Senator Bright, you're recognized thank you Madam
Senator Joshua Bryant
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32:15
President, amendment 1 removes the statute of limitations for civil remedy from 3 years back to 1 year, we pass it out
of the Senate, increasing it to three years, the House felt that was a bridge too far, so
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we pulled it back to one year. All those in favor of the amendment, please signify
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by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have
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it. Amendment is concurred then. Senate Bill 443
Chair
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by Senator Bryant to amend the duties of the State Board of Appraisers, Abstractors and Home Inspectors, to amend the
law regarding licensure of abstractors, to amend the law
regarding licensure of home inspectors and declare an emergency. Senator Bryant, you're recognized. Thank
Senator Joshua Bryant
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you. The rest of the bill remains intact
Speaker 6
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as is plus the amendment. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator King, not voting. Senator Flowers, present. Any other Senator? Seeing no
Chair
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other, please cast up the ballot. By vote of 33 a, 0, nay. One not voting, one present.
Speaker 6
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Senate Bill 443 passes as concurred in, please. And the corresponding emergency clause is adopted. Please enroll it. Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 458. Senator Boyd, are you jumping ahead here? Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 458. Senator Letting,
Chair
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you're recognized. The amendment just adds a house sponsor.
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All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment
Chair
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is concurred then. Senate Bill 458 by Senator Letting to require a court to consider the impact of factors such as trauma and involvement with the child welfare system on a person who committed a crime as a minor during a transfer or sentencing hearing. Senator Letting, you're recognized.
Speaker 6
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Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection rolling the vote?
Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Payton, present. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by vote of 34, yea, 0, nay, 1, present. Senate Bill 458 passes as concurred, Dan. Please enroll it. Senate Bill 519. Amendment
Chair
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34:40
1, Senate Bill 519. Senator Boyd, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam
Senator Justin Boyd
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34:46
President. This bill is a compromise between us and the House.
The bill had 60 days to do a surrender when it was sent over the House. They had wanted 30 days, so we compromised it 45 days. So I'd appreciate
Speaker 44
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a good vote. All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes
Speaker 98
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have it. Amendment is concurred in. Senate Bill 519 by Senator Boyd.
Chair
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35:15
to amend the standard non-profiteur law for life insurance and to regulate the payment of interest on deferred payment
of any cash surrendered value according to the terms of the policy.
Speaker 6
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Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Seeing Senator Gilmore, no. Any other senator? Senator King not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by
Chair
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a vote of 33, yay, 1, nay, 1, not voting.
Senate Bill 519 passes as concurred in. Please enroll it. Amendment 1
Chair
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36:05
Senate Bill 533. Senator Deese, you're recognized.
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
36:10
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is my bill, and the House amendment just cleans
Speaker 44
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up some of the trigger language. All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Chair
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36:22
Ayes have it. Amendment is concurred then. Senate Bill 533 by Senator Dees to provide for the regulation of consumable hemp products by the Arkansas Tobacco Control Board
and to amend the Arkansas law to allow regulations and
purchase of consumable hemp products. Senator Dees, you're recognized. Thank you, members. Same bill. Nothing
Senator Tyler Dees
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36:40
substantially changed. This had to do with the AG's language related to the trigger portion and related to federal court options. Appreciate a good vote. No questions. Anyone
Speaker 44
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wish to speak against or for? Senator is closed. Any objection
Speaker 6
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to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary, please roll the vote.
Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Dotson, present. McKee, present.
Chair
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37:09
Bryant, present. King, not voting. Flowers, present. Tucker, present. Any other senator? Love, present. Scott, present. Letting, present. Any other senator? please check the board seeing no
Speaker 6
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other please cast up the ballot by vote of 26
yay zero nay one not voting eight present Senate bill 533 passes as concurred in please enroll it amendment one Senate bill 546 amendment one to Senate bill 546 Senator Hammer
Chair
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37:48
you're recognized thank you madam governor this is an amendment that was added
Senator Kim Hammer
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37:55
on the House This is an agreed-upon amendment with me and
also ADQ that we've been working on for the last two months. And so I agree with the amendment that was added.
Speaker 44
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All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Amendment passes. Amendment is concurred in. Apologize. Senate Bill 546
Chair
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38:23
by Senator Hammer to amend the law concerning the trust fund contribution fee for water
permits related to non-municipal domestic sewage treatment works. Senator Hammer, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Governor. As I mentioned, this is
Senator Kim Hammer
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38:35
an agreed-upon amendment. It added a phrase that would make it an affordable option for those that this would apply to.
Worked with ADQ for the last two months, and all parties are in agreement, industry and ADQ as alike. So I
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appreciate a good vote. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak
Speaker 6
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against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? King, not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by
Chair
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a vote of 34 yea, 0 nay, 1 not voting. Senate Bill 546 passes as concurred in.
Speaker 6
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Please enroll it. Senator Clark, you're recognized. Thank you. Members,
Senator Alan Clark
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39:19
I'm honored to have my wife here today. I'd like to ask for leave. Leave.
Chair
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39:27
Thank you, Senator. Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 575. Amendment
1 to Senate Bill 575. Senator Tucker, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. This
Senator Clarke Tucker
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39:38
is just—we're establishing the task force to look at the fees. This adds a couple people to the task force that asks to be added,
And it delays the enforcement as to AOC on the fees
until July 1st, 2026. That's what's in the amendment. Appreciate a good vote
Speaker 44
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on the amendment. All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have
Chair
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40:02
it. Amendment is concurred then. Senate Bill 575 by Senator Tucker to amend the law concerning installment fees collected in circuit and district courts, to amend the law concerning driver's license reinstatement fees,
and to create the Justice System Task Force. Senator Tucker, you're recognized.
Senator Clarke Tucker
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40:18
Thank you, Madam President. Members, just a reminder, this is the bill that's going to move to general revenue, the driver's license reinstatement and installment fees, and then take
a look at the other fees during the interim and make recommendations for us in the next General
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Assembly. So I appreciate a good vote. Any questions? Anyone
Speaker 6
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wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote.
Speaker 44
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Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator King, not voting.
Speaker 6
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Senator Payton, present. Any other senator? Seeing no other. Senator Stubblefield, present. Anyone else? Please check the board. Seeing no one else, please cast up the ballot. By vote of 32 yeas, 0 nay, 1 not voting, 2 present. Senate Bill 575 passes as concurred in. Please enroll it.
Chair
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41:15
Our last amendment here, Amendment 1, Senate Bill 611. Amendment 1, Senate Bill 611.
Senator Tyler Dees
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Senator Dees, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. Members, Amendment 611 has to do with taking learnings from, a big shout out to Senator Tucker and his help in his lawyer eyes to help us fix some things that we found that needed to be cleaned up for the intent of the bill. Also, it had to do with some things that have been struck in federal court. We want to make sure we didn't have in our bill. And so that's what the amendment does.
Speaker 44
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All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Amendment is concurred then.
Chair
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41:54
Senate Bill 611 by Senator Dees to amend the Social Media Safety Act. Senator Dees, you're recognized. Appreciate
Speaker 44
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a good vote on this one. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any
Chair
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objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Flowers, no. Payton, present. King, not voting.
Bryant, present. Penzo, present. Dotson, no. Any other senators, please check the board. Seeing no other, please cast
Speaker 6
42:36
up the ballot by vote of 29 yea, 2 nay, 1 not voting, 3 present. Senate Bill 611 passes as concurred, Ann. Please enroll it. Senator Hester. Senator Hester and Senator Hammer.
Senator Bart Hester
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Madam President, I move we suspend it. Senator Hickey, whatever 18 members want to do is what we
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will do. Jimmy, 18 members will do what we want
Senator Bart Hester
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to do. Madam President, I move we suspend the rules and read Senate Resolution 75 across the desk and add it to today's calendar. All those in
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favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Speaker 98
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Ayes have it. Motion carries. Senate resolution 75 by Senator Hester to honor Sylvia M. Hunt.
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and then we'll finish our script. Senate Resolution 75 by Senator Hester, Senator Hammer, and the remaining 33 members of the Arkansas Senate of the 95th General Assembly to honor Sylvia Ann Hinesman-Cornswell on her exemplary dedication and service to the Senate and the state of Arkansas.
Senator Bart Hester
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45:07
Madam Secretary, I'd like to ask Anne to join
us here, along with Senator State, Senator Blake Johnson, Senate Majority Leader, Senator Greg Letting, Senator Minority Leader, to join us as well.
Madam President, I would like to ask for leave for some of these special guests on the floor for this important resolution. Senators, please help me welcome Anne's three children, Brett Cornwell and his wife Kim of Houston, Texas, Amber Cornwell Pinter and her husband Ben Pinter of Fayetteville, and Arden Cornwell Johnson and her husband Steve Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia, three of Anne's grandchildren, Andrew Pinter of Atlanta, Georgia, Catherine Pinter, who will be attending dental school at Lyon College in Searcy beginning in August, and Madison Cornwell of College Station, Texas.
Senator Kim Hammer
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45:56
Madam Governor and fellow senators and guests we also have with us
today two of Anne's longtime friends and legislative colleagues. Diane Bell, retired deputy clerk of the Florida
House of Representatives, if you would raise your hand, Diane. And also Denise Weeks, retired principal clerk, North Carolina House of Representatives. Denise, would you raise your hand, please? And Madam Secretary, I'd like to ask that the resolution be read in its entirety, please. Madam
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Secretary. Whereas in a remote corner in a basement office at the
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Arkansas Capitol, an entire wall is lined with shelves filled with Senate journals bound in red leather
that contain an accurate, official, and complete history of Senate activity in every volume for the past 45 years has been compiled by Sylvia Ann Hinesman Cornwell and her staff. And whereas Ann
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worked with 193 senators over the course of her career, and whereas over those 45 years, Ann was the leader in modernizing
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the Senate Journal and all official Senate records from ink
and paper to electronic and digital. Not kidding. Whereas Anne is
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the first female to be Secretary of the Senate and to serve as its director
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in Arkansas history. Whereas Anne's achievements were recognized on a national level when in 2002 she was named President of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries. And whereas Anne has worked for the Senate from the 73rd General Assembly in 1981 through the 95th General Assembly in 2025 for a total of 23
General Assemblies. Whereas Anne began her career in the Senate in 1981 as the journal clerk, became the Assistant Secretary of the Senate during the 1991 regular session, served as the Assistant Secretary and Fiscal Officer of the Senate during the 93 regular session, and became the full-time secretary and fiscal officer of the Senate during the 1995 regular session. And whereas Anne became secretary and coordinator of legislative services during the 2007 regular session and has
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been serving as the director of the secretary of the Senate since the 2009 regular session.
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Whereas Anne has served Arkansas outside
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of her Senate duties, devoting her expertise and time to several endeavors, such as the Mason Advisory Council, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission, and the Junior League of North Little Rock as president of
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its sustainers. Whereas Anne received the
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National Conference of State Legislature's 2011 Legislative Staff Achievement Award from the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries, the American Legislative Exchange Council 2008 Volunteer of the Year Award,
and other awards for her accomplishments and outstanding leadership during her tenure as president of ASLCS. And whereas Anne is a 2011 graduate of the Henry Toll Fellowship Program sponsored by the Conference of State Governments and served on the CSG Annual Meeting Committee and the Suggested State Legislation Committee, and she has been active with the Southern Legislative Council's Legislative Service Agency Directors, serving as a member of the Southern Legislative Conference Host Committee.
And whereas Anne is active with the National Conference of State Legislatures and its staff section, specifically the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries, and twice in her career, served on the Executive Committee of NCSL and the NCSL Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee, and she's a past member of the Mason's Manual Revision Commission, where she served two terms, which is a total of 20 years. Each appointment to Mason's is 10 years long, so those books over there on our parliamentarian's desk, two of those.
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Whereas throughout the decades, Anne has
ensured that senators and staff were always promptly
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and adequately reimbursed for all of their miles, hotel stays, countless meals, and made trips to attend NCSL, SLC, ALEC, and other conferences. Whereas Anne is a native of Russellville. She's a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, a loving wife to her favorite dance partner and late husband, Gilbert Cornwell, and a loving daughter of Sam and Mary Lou Hinesman, who were both groundbreaking sportsmen. Whereas Anne's
enthusiastic love of all sports, especially the Arkansas Razorbacks, is a well-known fact of life at stadiums and arenas across the country. And whereas early in her career, Anne learned from the Secretary of the Senate, then Lee Reeves, and Secretary Hal Moody, and later worked with the Senate's permanent staff. And this paragraph lists all the permanent staff that have matriculated through the Senate through the tenure that she has been here, including our names and those of us who are still here. Whereas Anne worked with a variable group of who's who of senators in Arkansas
government. Her children are laughing because they know these stories. Beginning in the 1980s, when she worked with Max and Knox. And then in the 90s when she worked with the Young Golfers. And then into the 2000s when she worked with the Brotherhood. Ann served during the terms of governors Bill Clinton, Frank White, Jim Guy Tucker, Mike Huckabee, Mike Beebe, Asa Hutchinson, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
And whereas Ann advised lieutenant governors as they presided over the Senate, Winston Bryant, Jim Guy Tucker, Mike Huckabee, Winthrop P. Rockefeller, Bill Halter, Mark Dahr, Tim Griffin, and Leslie Rutledge. And whereas Anne worked with senators who served
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as president pro tem, starting with then-Senator Ben Allen, and it lists all of the pro tems to our current president pro tem, Senator Hester.
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Whereas Anne worked closely with the leadership of the Bureau of Legislative Research, and it lists those individuals up to our current, which is Marty Garrity, leadership of legislative
audit, up to our current, which is Kevin White, and leadership in the House of Representatives, two clerks, including our current clerk, Sherry Stacks, parliamentarians and chiefs of
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staff. Whereas Anne developed strong relationships with senators who moved to
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other positions throughout state and federal government, and it lists an array of senators who are former senators who have served on all levels, state agencies, up to Congress, starting with Vic Snyder, Mike Ross, and just spanning the different agencies, the Supreme Court, several former
members. If you have an opportunity to read this resolution, you really should. It's a great snapshot in Arkansas Senate history. Whereas Ann managed to delicately balance the responsibility of also being the boss of session staff, who were also spouses of senators. In this paragraph list, several of the spouses who have come through, including Sue Cooper, Ginger Cheatham, Vicki Critcher, Emory Chesterfield, and Mandy Dismang. Whereas Anne trained an expert of dedicated frontline workers
who carried out chamber operations, and it lists several of those individuals who have matriculated through, including the current ones who sit on the line today. Whereas Anne worked with and became friends with session staffers in the journal room, known as heaven, engrossing room, the bill room, the quiet room, the kitchen, and the page desk, and it lists several, if not all, of those individuals
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that she's worked with. Whereas for every legislative session, Anne recruited a band of sergeants at
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arms, including J.R. Teague, Leroy Boaz, and it lists several of the sergeants who have served
here in the Senate throughout the years. Whereas for 45 years, Anne Cornwell has been the heart and soul of the Senate because of her dedication to the institution and its processes, loyalty to the first branch of government, unmatched work ethic, affection for each senator, and support of Senate and legislative staff, and whereas Ann's tenure as Secretary of the Senate has included 16 regular sessions, 8 fiscal sessions, and 20 extraordinary sessions of
the General Assembly, she has left her unique imprint on traditions, protocol, atmosphere, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Senate, and her contributions will be recorded in every future history of the chamber. Now therefore be it resolved by the Senate of the 95th General Assembly of the state of Arkansas that the Senate honor, one more time, after 22 years, I finally get to say her beautiful name out loud, Sylvia Ann Hinesman Cornwell, for her dedicated service to the Senate and to the state of Arkansas. Be it further resolved that upon adoption a copy of this
resolution be presented to Ann Cornwell, Director of the Senate and Secretary of the Senate by the Assistant Secretary of the Senate and the members of the Senate of the 95th General Assembly. Before we move for adoption, just a couple of snapshots. I just want to thank our Senate Information Officer John Reed, who did a lot of research to pull all this information together. 45 years is a long time and that's a lot of composites.
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All the Senate staff who have contributed to today's ultimate surprise. To Ann's family,
thank you for saying yes and supporting your
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mom all these years because you only get one, and she's
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pretty magnificent. And to Diane and Denise, see, Anne, I do listen. I know about your friends. Thank you so much for traveling to be with us. And finally, Anne, it is impossible to say thank you for thousands and thousands, literally, of pages of legislation that have passed through your hands. thousands and thousands of roll calls.
Because the soundtrack of the Senate is the roll call. There are 7,386 state legislators in this nation, and very few hear their name day after day. But in the Arkansas Senate, we do, and you have been that soundtrack for 45 years. It's impossible to truly say thanks, but we're sure going to try. So we hope that you enjoy this day, and thank you for the unmatched service you have given to every single Arkansan. I will turn it to Senator Hester and Senator Hammer to move for adoption. With that, Madam
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
56:58
Secretary, we ask for a good vote. Thank you, Senator Hester,
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and thank you for bringing this resolution. As a lieutenant governor, I got to know Anne, not in this chair, but in
Chair
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57:11
the chair of a mutual friend and our mutual hairdresser over the last decade. That's why we both look so good. I've been blessed, and the state
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has been blessed, Anne, to have you. And with that, senators, I would ask for a good vote for Senate Resolution 75 to honor Sylvia Ann Hinesman-Cornwell for her exemplary dedicated service to the Senate and the state of Arkansas. All those in favor,
please signify by saying aye. Any
Chair
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opposed? Ayes have it. Senate Resolution 75 is adopted. Thank you.
Senator Bart Hester
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58:21
This may be the first time in 45 years you've told a senator no, but I would like for you to talk. Do you
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have anything you'd like to say? Well, I really don't like to speak, as
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you can tell, but you just don't know what this means to me. To have all my family and two of my very best friends through all the years, Denise and Diane. The other three couldn't make it because they're in Canada and Virginia and scattered out.
But we were always called the yaw-yaws for like 35, 40 years. And we've always had a great time. And I'm the last one hanging. So now I get to join them and we'll have a great time. I've loved the staff. I've had great staffs through all the years. That's how everything got worked. And I'm leaving you in December with a fantastic staff. And I know that they'll probably be a lot better than what I ever did. But I just can't tell you how much I appreciate it.
I really do. So that's it. I just can't
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talk anymore. Madam Governor, we'd like to ask Lee
Senator Kim Hammer
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59:42
for all the guests that are on the floor, first
of all, and then I'd like to ask for a recess with no end time to be determined so there can be pictures and members.
what we want to do we want to get all the current senators around ann and she'll stand in front of the seal when we adjourn in a little while to go to the reception that we have for ann at five o'clock we want all the current senators to assemble out on the steps so that we can get a picture of ann with all the current senators on the steps so so please stick around and make sure and then the last thing I would say is, just for those that were watching live stream, Senator Hickey was just a little bit
out of character a while ago. And that was part of the setup to surprise Ann. So for those that are watching live stream, just want that clarification. Madam Governor, I'd ask that we have a recess and leave for all of
Chair
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1:00:45
our guests. Leave for the guest requested. Thank you. And Senate will stand in recess. Amen.
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Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
1:20:52
Hey, Ms. Cornwell. Hey, and I do have, members, I do have one more presentation. Former Senator Eddie Joe Williams is doing some great work in retirement, and he wanted to share that with Senator Cornwell.
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So Ann, today, you were able to do something that no one
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else has done. Everybody's spot. You brought everybody together. That's true. Thank you. I'm able to say it. It's not out. Keep me up. Two.
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Every two years, you get a whole new batch of senators up here. You have all the patients in the world. I appreciate that. Experience. And then you get a few house members, and y'all know what that means. You've got to retrain them completely, but you always do it with class.
No matter how hectic it gets, you're always seen put together. You've had several boards. I've made you several boards. I know you love the Razorbacks, and so we better get another one for
Chair
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1:22:45
Senate. All these guys. Senator Hester, before we come back in,
it was suggested that perhaps while everyone is still smiling and likes each other, maybe y'all should do your picture now on the steps. Because three hours from now, we might not feel as jolly. Members, if we'll go out to
Senator Bart Hester
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1:23:02
the front steps, we're going to take a picture with Ann and then there won't be any commitments once session's over. Members, picture with Ann.
Unknown speaker
1:23:49
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Speaker 218
1:27:49
- Thank you. Dear Ms. Cornwell, the House of Representatives respectfully request the return to the House
Chair
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1:28:22
of Senate Bill 451. Respectfully submitted,
Speaker 303
1:28:38
Please file it. Senator Wallace, do you have- House Bill
Chair
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1:28:42
1178. 1178. Okay. We'll get to that in just a moment. I believe Senator McKee informed me that we're passing over
Speaker 300
1:28:49
Senate Bill 644. However, Senator Dismang, are we ready to take up budget?
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:29:01
Members, we're going to take each one of these as a standalone vote, so there's not going
Speaker 162
1:29:17
to be any bashing, just as a heads up. we'll
Speaker 310
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begin with house bill 1105 house bill 1105 by joint budget
Speaker 218
1:29:31
an act for the department of human services
secretary's office appropriation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year Senator Dismang. Thank you, members, for having
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:29:40
any questions. House Bill 1105. Any questions? Anyone wish
Chair
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1:29:44
to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing
Speaker 6
1:29:50
no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator King? Not voting. I'm sorry.
Chair
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1:30:04
The Senate had come back. Oh. And so, but we don't have our board up yet. I don't
Speaker 44
1:30:09
think I banged the gavel enough, so let me. All right. Well, here she comes.
Speaker 6
1:30:57
her vote Senator King not voting any other senator Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 34-yay, 0-yay, 1-not voting.
Chair
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1:31:11
House Bill 1105 passes and the corresponding emergency clause is adopted. Please return to the House. House Bill 1163. House
Bill 1163 by joint budget, an act for the Department of Labor and Licensing,
boards and commissions appropriation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Senator Dismayne. All right. Happy taking
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:31:29
your questions on House Bill 1163. Any questions? Anyone
Speaker 6
1:31:32
wish to speak against or for? Senator Dismang has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? King, not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no.
Clark not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by vote of 33 a 0 nay to not voting. House bill 1163 passes and the corresponding emergency clause is adopted. Please
Chair
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1:32:09
return to the house. House bill 1202.
House bill 1202 by joint budget, an act for the Department of Finance Administration, disbursing officer appropriation
for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Senator Dismang.
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:32:22
Any questions on House Bill 1202? Senator Payton,
Senator John Payton
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1:32:27
you're recognized for a question. Thank you. Senator Dismang, what's the bottom line?
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:32:32
How much are we appropriating in this bill? This says an actual appropriation of $141
Speaker 136
1:32:37
million. Thank you. Any other questions? Anyone wish to speak against or
Speaker 6
1:32:40
for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Payton, present. King, not voting. Clark,
Chair
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1:32:54
present or not voting? Not voting. Any other senator?
Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by vote of 32 yeas, 0 nay, 2 not voting, 1 present. House bill 1202 passes and the corresponding emergency clause is adopted. Please return to the House. Senate bill 54.
Chair
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1:33:20
an act for the auditor of state deputy prosecuting attorneys appropriation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Senator Dismang. I have to
Speaker 336
1:33:27
take any questions. This is one we amended
Speaker 6
1:33:30
yesterday. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for?
Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? King, not voting. Clark, not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other senator, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 33 yea, 0 nay, 2 not voting. Senate Bill 54 passes, and the corresponding emergency clause is
Chair
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1:33:57
adopted. Please transmit to the House. Senate Bill 67. Senate Bill
67 by joint budget, an act for the Arkansas Public Defender Commission
for appropriation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Senator Dismang. Any questions on Senate Bill
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:34:11
67? Seeing no questions, anyone wish to speak
Speaker 6
1:34:14
against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator King not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other senator, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 34 yea, 0 nay, 1 not voting.
Senate Bill 67 passes, and the corresponding emergency clause is adopted. Please transmit to the House.
Chair
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1:34:42
Senate Bill 636. Senate Bill 636 by
Joint Budget, an act to transfer funds to find the monies to be available in the restricted reserve fund, and to allow additional funds to be made available for state departments, agencies, and
institutions, and declare an emergency. Senator Dismang. All right, members, this
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:35:01
is the surplus distribution bill. We've discussed it, I think, at length, and then had another meeting, or we've had several
meetings on it. I'd be happy to take any questions
Speaker 136
1:35:13
on the allocations. Any questions? I guess I'm looking at RSA
Senator Fredrick J. Love
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1:35:19
and I see a number for surplus but how much is our surplus as of right now? Well, I would tell
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:35:27
you I think that's going to probably change and I would anticipate there would be a change in forecast because the feds have pushed the due date for tax returns into the next fiscal year. We were already doing that.
I don't think there's been a determination on what we do with the November extended date, but that will change our revenues. So at this point, I think we were projected around $238 million, if you remember, but I don't have that off the top of my head. All right. Thank you. RSA, and this is not RSA, we're on the surplus bill, but what I would say is RSA itself, it's all Schedule A, and it's all expected to be fully funded. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Chair
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1:36:08
Thanks. Any other questions for Senator Dismayne?
Anyone wish to speak against or
Speaker 6
1:36:14
for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator King, not voting. Senator Stubblefield,
Chair
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1:36:29
present. Payton, no. Clark, no. Any other senator? Flowers, present. Any other senator? Seeing
Speaker 6
1:36:36
no other senator, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 30, yea, 2, nay, 1, not voting, 2, present.
Senate Bill 636 passes and the corresponding emergency
Chair
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1:36:48
clause is adopted. Please transmit to the House. Senate Bill 637. Senate Bill 637 by Senator
Dismang. Declare the revenue stabilization law and declare an emergency. Senator Dismang, you're recognized. Revenue stabilization, there are no surprises
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:37:02
or significant changes from what the governor proposed in her balanced budget. I'd be happy to take any
Speaker 136
1:37:12
questions for Senator Dismayne? Anyone wish to speak against or for?
Speaker 6
1:37:17
Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? King voting no. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 34 yea, 1 nay. Senate Bill 637 passes, and the corresponding emergency clause is
Chair
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1:37:41
adopted. Please transmit to the House. Now we
will go back to the regular calendar,
Speaker 6
1:37:56
which we will begin at the top of page 3, beginning with House Bill 11, House
Chair
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1:38:03
Bill 1178 by Representative Richardson and Senator Wallace to amend the law concerning the
contracting of a municipal attorney, to amend the law concerning sums collected by district courts,
and to amend the law concerning cost-sharing and district court expenses. Senator Wallace, you're recognized. Thank
Senator Dave Wallace
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1:38:20
you, Governor. Members, this bill provides a mechanism for cities and incorporated towns that do not have a district court and do not have a police department to receive the appropriate distribution of sums collected by the district court to ensure that they get reimbursed.
it changes four words on page 3 line 21 the law currently reads a town or city that has a police department and does not operate a district court shall receive only the paraded sums collected as provided what this bill does is strikes the words has a police department and what this means is if you're a town of $1,000, if you've got one police officer,
you get reimbursed part of the fees and fines from the district court when you have a criminal that goes in front of the district court. If you're a town of $700,000 and you don't have a police officer, you don't receive any reimbursement. So those towns are forced to pay out of their own pocket, but they're obviously a very limited budget. So once again, it changes four words. And it ensures that a town that whether they have a police department or not, they'll receive part of the fees and fines minus the court cost.
And that's what this bill does. And with that, I will stand by for your questions. Any
Speaker 136
1:39:53
questions for Senator Wallace? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator?
Speaker 6
1:40:02
I'm closed, ma'am. Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Seeing no one, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 35, yay, zero, nay.
House Bill 1178 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill 1312.
Chair
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1:40:27
House Bill 1312 by Representative Brooks to amend public school funding amounts under the Public School Funding Act of 2003.
Senator Jane English
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1:40:36
Senator English, you're recognized. Thank you very much. This is the House bill on school funding for adequacy. Per student funding, it's the House bill. Any questions for Senator English?
Speaker 6
1:40:52
Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? King, not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote
Chair
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1:41:14
of 34 yay, 0 nay, 1 not voting. House Bill 1312 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill 1365.
House Bill 1365 by Representative Brown to remove racial and gender quotas and qualifications of membership for certain boards, committees, councils,
and commissions. Senator English, you're recognized.
Senator Jane English
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1:41:35
Thank you very much. This bill does exactly what it says. It removes the racial and gender quotas for boards
Chair
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1:41:43
and commissions. Any questions for Senator English? Anyone wish to speak against? Senator Tucker, you're recognized to speak against.
Senator Clarke Tucker
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1:41:56
Thank you, Madam President. When I got to the Capitol today, I bumped into
Senator Filippo. And, you know, he had this real forlorn look on his face. He said he was real worried. Hadn't hardly been able to sleep the last couple nights. And I said, what's wrong? And he said, with session coming to a close, I just don't know when the next time I'm going to get to see you speak is going to be. And I said, fear not, Senator Flippo. You're going to get some opportunities this afternoon. So Senator Hester is going to give you another opportunity later this afternoon.
So I just want to thank you all for giving me the opportunities to hone my public speaking skills this session, and I want to dedicate this speech right here to Senator Scott Flippa. In all seriousness, members, of all the DEI bills that have come through the legislature in the last session or two, I believe this one is the most harmful, and I'll explain why. You know, we have a difference of opinion about some of the other bills, and that's fine.
because what we've talked about, whether it's admissions in higher education or particular jobs, the view on the majority side is that certain outcomes are mandated through quotas. And this bill is actually much different than that. This bill is eliminating the opportunity of some people to have a voice in what's said. All of these positions on these boards and commissions are unpaid. So, there is no advantage to serving on these boards.
The only thing that matters is how you're affecting policy. And over time, we have thoughtfully added certain positions on certain of these boards and commissions to guarantee a voice for people who have been historically underrepresented and oppressed. And in one fell swoop, we're going to eliminate all of those from state law. I'll just give you, I'm just going to give you one example. This is on the first page if you look at it. This is the State Board of Education. this line will be deleted from code. The membership of the state board shall reflect
the diversity in general education. That's what the law says. The membership of the state board shall reflect the diversity in general education. And we are so afraid of diversity that we are eliminating that line from code. It doesn't even say what kind of diversity. It just says diversity. And diversity is important. I'll give you an example of the way we have diversity in this chamber, okay? That is geographic diversity. Now, I would love, personally, for all 35 senators to
be from Little Rock, Arkansas. But that's not possible under the state constitution. You know why? Because the constitution guarantees geographic diversity for the entire state to be represented in this body. And we have lost all common sense when it comes to that word because of the politics of the time. And this bill goes too far. What it does, again, is eliminate the ability of populations who have been historically underrepresented or oppressed to even have a voice in their state
government. And that is wrong, and I hope we don't pass it
Speaker 182
1:45:18
this afternoon. Anyone wish to speak for, on, or against? If
Speaker 6
1:45:29
not, Senator has closed. Objection to rolling the vote. Objection noted. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. Boyd? Boyd?
Speaker 4
1:45:41
Bryant? Caldwell? Caldwell? Clark? Crowell,
Speaker 356
1:45:50
Crowell, Davis, Davis, Dees, Dismang, Dotson, Dotson, English,
Chair
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1:46:01
Flippo, Flowers, Gilmore, Hamer, Hester, Hickey, Hill, Irvin, Blake Johnson, Mark Johnson, King, Ludding, Love, McKee, Murdoch,
Speaker 258
1:46:29
Payton, Payton, Penzo, Petty, Rice, Scott, Stone, Stubbafill, Sullivan, Tucker, Wallace. Senators who did not
Chair
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1:46:55
vote or who wish to change your vote, Boyd, yes.
Kroll yes any other senators please check the board seeing no
other senator please cast up the ballot by vote of 24 yay 6 nay for not voting one
present House bill 1365 passes please transmit rather return to the house House Bill 1471
House Bill 1471 by Representative Woodridge and Senator Flippo to amend the expiration date of all licenses
of the Board of Examiners in Speech, Language, Pathology, and Audiology Senator Flippo,
Speaker 363
1:47:35
you're recognized Thank you Madam President. Members, this bill is
Senator Scott Flippo
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1:47:39
brought to me by the Department of Health. Currently in statute they are required to have a renewal date for the Board of Examiners in Speech, Language, Pathology and Audiology. And so that date is set in statute as June 30th Each year, they've been voting to extend that to October and other dates of the year, so this would just allow them the flexibility to a rolling expiration date based upon when the license comes up for renewal.
Speaker 6
1:48:04
Appreciate a good vote. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Seeing no, Senator, please cast up the ballot by vote of 35 yeas, 0 nay. House Bill 1471 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill 1562. Senator Caldwell, if not, will pass over it temporarily.
We'll come back to it. House Bill 1624. House Bill
Chair
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1:48:41
1624 by Senator Boyd and Representative Gassaway. To amend the law concerning the membership of county
law library boards. Senator Boyd, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. This bill is
Senator Justin Boyd
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1:48:52
a really good bill. It's a law library board update. It provides the following updates and clarifications on law library boards. It clarifies the term of an attorney member is five years. It clarifies how a vacancy of an attorney member on a county law library board shall be filled.
It requires the appointment of a circuit and a district judge on a county law library board. It establishes terms for judge members, and it establishes how a vacancy of a judge member on a county law library board shall be
Speaker 180
1:49:27
filled. Any questions? Senator Davis? Senator Davis,
you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Madam President. I see the new language as putting a circuit court judge
and a district court judge on the board.
But would any judge currently have the opportunity, the way the process is now, to be voted on this law library board? If they're a member of the Bar Association in their county, I see that attorneys that are members are the ones that vote and decide which attorneys are on this board. And considering that judges are attorneys, I'm assuming if you're a judge, even without this bill, you already have the ability to be voted on to the law library board. Do you understand that, to be correct?
Senator Justin Boyd
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1:50:19
Sorry, I didn't bring my bifocals today, so I'm taking my glasses off and on. I do. I didn't understand it the first time, but I understand it now. So in rural areas with few practicing attorneys, the addition of judges to a county law library board just makes sense. The inclusion of
judges can ensure stability and consistency in county law library oversight, especially as attorney members come and go.
Chair
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1:50:43
Any other questions? Seeing no other questions, anyone would speak against or for?
Speaker 6
1:50:52
Senator, you're recognized closed. I'd appreciate a really good vote. Thank
Speaker 4
1:51:06
you. Senator has closed. Any objection rolling the vote? Objection noted. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. Boyd? Bryant? Caldwell?
Speaker 356
1:51:19
Caldwell? Clark? Clark? Crowell? Davis? Dees? Dismang? Dismang? Dotson?
Chair
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1:51:24
Aye. English. Aye. Flippo. Aye. Flowers. Aye. Gilmore. Gilmore. Hammer. Aye. Hester. Hester. Hickey. Aye. Hill. Hill. Irvin. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. Aye.
Speaker 258
1:52:10
Payton? Penzo? Petty? Rice? Scott? Scott? Stone? Stubbeville? Sullivan? Tucker?
Chair
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1:52:24
Tucker, Wallace. No. Any senator who wished to vote who did not vote or change their vote? Senator Flippo, no. Hester, no. Kroll, present. Hill, yes. Johnson, no.
Speaker 6
1:52:43
Mark Johnson, no. Flowers, no. Hammer, present. Any other senator? Please check the board. Senator Gilmore, yes.
Speaker 350
1:52:56
Any other senator? Any other senator? Please check the board.
Speaker 6
1:53:07
Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 12, yay, 11, nay, 10, not
Chair
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1:53:13
voting to present. House Bill 1624 fails. Senator Boyd. Thank you,
Senator Justin Boyd
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1:53:24
Madam President. I'd like to make a motion to expunge the vote by which House Bill 1624 failed, just in case.
Chair
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1:53:32
Motion to expunge the vote by which House Bill 1624 fails. All those in favor of the motion? Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have
it. Motion carries. Senator Caldwell, we will now take up House Bill 1562.
House Bill 1562 by Representative Gassaway concerning the termination of
an oral lease on farmlands and to amend the law concerning notice of termination. Senator Caldwell, you're recognized. Thank you, Governor. I appreciate that.
Senator Ronald Caldwell
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1:54:03
Members, presently, if you want to terminate an oral lease on a farm, you have to service that by certified mail. In modern times, we have other ways that are legal under the law, and it just brings that up to date. If you wanted to use a private server to deliver that
Chair
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1:54:21
notice, you could do that. Any questions for
Speaker 6
1:54:24
Senator Caldwell? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote?
Senator Flowers, present. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 34 yea, 0 nay, 1 present. House Bill 1562 passes. Please return to the House.
Chair
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1:54:48
We'll now go back to House Bill 1646. House Bill 1646 by Representative McGrew
and Senator McKee to require certain materials to be stored in locked compartments
within a designated area. Senator McKee, you're recognized. Thank you, Governor. Members, this
Senator Matt McKee
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1:55:05
bill simply seeks to give parents and teachers a mechanism
to make sure that material that deals with sexuality is age-appropriate in kindergarten through fifth-grade schools. There was some confusion on the enforcement mechanism. I think we've got that worked out, so I'd
be happy to take any questions. Questions for Senator
Chair
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1:55:25
McKee. Anyone wish to speak against or for questions? Senator Hill, you're recognized for a question. Did you
Senator Ricky Hill
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1:55:35
get the answer to the questions for it? Can the school board revoke a license?
Senator Matt McKee
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1:55:41
It's not the school board. It's the professional licensing standards board. Professional licensing standards. I think that's the right board. Okay.
Chair
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1:55:53
any other questions anyone wish to speak
Speaker 6
1:55:56
against or for senator is closed any objection rolling the vote seeing no objection madam secretary please roll the vote any
Chair
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1:56:05
senator wish to change his or her vote
senator flowers no senator tucker no
murdoch no love no no. Letting, no. Scott, no. Any other senator? Senator Irvin, please check the board. Senator
Speaker 210
1:56:35
Davis, present. Please check the board. Seeing no
Speaker 6
1:56:43
other, please cast up the ballot by a vote
of 28, yay, 6, nay.
Chair
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1:56:50
One present. House Bill 1646 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill 1662. House Bill 1662, Irvison
and Mackenzie and Senator Blake Johnson, to prohibit lobbying for a covered foreign entity. Senator Blake
Johnson, you're recognized. Members, this bill will permit our enemies
for being able to pay to play in Arkansas state government. Appreciate a good
vote. Questions? Senator McKee, you're recognized for a question.
Senator Matt McKee
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1:57:35
Senator Johnson, I appreciate you bringing this bill. Do you think our adversaries
respect our freedoms? Absolutely. Do you think they take advantage of us? Absolutely. Do you think that this bill in any way inhibits the freedoms of Americans?
Chair
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1:57:51
No, sir. Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Anyone wish to speak against? Senator Rice, you're
Senator Terry Rice
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1:58:07
recognized to speak against. Members, we had this yesterday. I won't go back over much, but I will remind you this criminalizes lobbying, includes felony and up on your imprisonment. And I'll read you the executive order from the White House again.
It says, because of the national security interest at stake and because of the Act Vest Authority for Investigations and Enforcement of an Act only in the Attorney General, attempted enforcement by the states or private parties represents an encroachment on the powers of the executive. The Attorney General shall exercise all available authority and preserve and defend the executive's exclusive authority to enforce the act.
I think I have voted for all the China, and I don't remember Russia, but would have two anti-adversary bills that we've had in the many years. I think this is targeted at something that is not necessary at this time, and I'd ask for a no vote. Speak for Senator
Chair
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1:59:23
Dismang. You're recognized to speak for. Thank you, Governor.
Senator Jonathan Dismang
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1:59:29
Members spoke for this bill yesterday. I just want to provide some clarifications, particularly to a comment Senator Rice had
made or a question you had for me about, I guess, the strengthening of my position against China. And I would agree that my position has strengthened, and I think it should probably for all of us in this chamber. I don't care what party you are in, Democrat or Republican, but if you talk to a national expert with China, these are not our allies. They intend to do harm, and they're doing harm mainly to our children.
Whether it be the Chinese vape products that they refuse to sell in their own markets but sell in our markets the delta eight nine products that are coming here chemically alterated into this country all the way to the social media i have kids at home that are in this age group that utilize some of these social media platforms i can promise you what's happening is not good for them and so again my position has changed yours may have moved away but mine has strengthened and and again it's because my own experiences what i'm hearing about what i'm
reading about what the actual opinions are not even opinions that we get the information that we get about what they want to do to us as a country. And so I don't think that China should have a seat at the table whenever we're debating our bills. I don't think they should have a seat at the table when we're debating policy for the state of Arkansas. So with that, I'd ask for
Speaker 182
2:01:00
a favorable vote. Anyone else wish to speak against for or on? Senator Mark Johnson
Senator Mark Johnson
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2:01:04
to speak for. Thank you, Madam President. Many of my trusted colleagues have a couple problems with this, and it seems to be about the First Amendment. I want to emphasize to everyone that we have such an open society, and our First Amendment is to guarantee our citizens the rights. And the First Amendment, of course, talks about religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievance.
Now, when people form a group, they're peaceably assembling, and if they hire a lobbyist, they're petitioning their government for redress of grievance. This is a privilege, a right, that we grant to our citizens. This is not a right we grant to our enemies or even other aliens that are visitors, including students at a university in our country that want to disrupt our educational process.
I think Senator Dismane covered how much and how insidious the Chinese are and how they have infiltrated our country. So we have to recognize the difference between our citizens and their free speech and their right to assemble and their right to petition the government and allowing our enemies to do the same. So I would appreciate a yes vote. Thank you, Madam
Chair
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2:02:37
President. Speak against. Senator Clark, you're recognized.
Senator Alan Clark
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2:02:45
I wasn't going to speak again today. But according to
our forefathers, I'm not granted any rights. I have rights from the time I'm born as a human being that our Constitution and the Bill of Rights recognizes. They don't give them to me. They recognize that I have them. And this right of free speech is precious.
We have made mistakes many times in this country, and we will again, around this issue about who, because there's other people that have not too long ago have tried to shut me down and close down and not allow me to be hurt on social media and other places, and they will try again. I will not participate in anything that allows us to say these people can't speak
because these are Americans that are talked about in this bill. They're Americans and I want to know, I want to hear what Saudi Arabia is thinking. I may be crazy, but I want to hear it. I want to hear what Israel's thinking. I want to hear what Russia's thinking. I want to hear what the Ukraine's
thinking. And I want to hear what China's thinking. And I'm against
Chair
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2:04:12
it. Anyone else wish to speak for, against, or on the bill? If not, Senator Blake Johnson, you're recognized. Close.
Members, whenever I came down here and asked my wife if I could run for this office, she asked me why. And I told her, because I want to leave, this state and this nation better for my kids than it is for me. I don't want us to be the second leading economy in the overall.
I want us to be the first and
I want us to be the greatest
Speaker 4
2:05:09
always and I'd appreciate a good vote. Senator has closed. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. Boyd,
Speaker 415
2:05:20
Boyd, Bryant, Caldwell, Caldwell, Clark, Crowell, Crowell, Davis, Dees, Dismaine, Dotson,
I am. English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Irvin. Irvin. Blake Johnson. Mark Johnson. King. Letting.
Lisa Mabry-Williams
Unverified
2:05:58
Letting. Love. McKee. Murdoch. Murdoch. Peyton. Penzo. Petty. Rice. Scott. Scott. Stone.
Stuboffill Sullivan Tucker Wallace Any senator
Chair
Unverified
2:06:25
wish to vote who's not voted, Senator Boyd Yes Any other senator Any other
Speaker 6
2:06:33
senator wish to change your vote or to vote Senator Hill, present Any other senator Seeing no other Senator, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 16,
Chair
Unverified
2:06:49
yay, 12, nay, 6, not voting, and 1 present.
House Bill 1662 fails. House Bill 1682.
Speaker 143
2:07:04
House Bill 1682 by Representative Fury
Chair
Unverified
2:07:07
and Senator Davis to create the Good Neighbor Act and to clarify food, donation, liability,
and immunity. Senator Davis, you're recognized.
Thank you, Madam President. House Bill 1682, known as the Good Neighbor Act, maintains the protections
of our current law in terms of how food is donated, while also providing more descriptive definitions food, food products, and eligible parties. This bill also adds liability protection to our nonprofit organizations and churches that distribute donated food which encourages more donors to participate. Happy to answer any questions. Any
Speaker 6
2:07:57
questions for Senator Davis? Anyone wish to speak against or
for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote. Seeing no senator, please cast up the ballot by
Chair
Unverified
2:08:14
a vote of 35 yea, 0 nay. House Bill 1682 passes. Please return to the
Speaker 143
2:08:24
House. House Bill 1683. House Bill 1683 by Representative McClendon and Senator Penzo to prohibit
Chair
Unverified
2:08:29
the procurement by a governmental entity of an electric vehicle or a
component of an electric vehicle that was manufactured in whole or in part using forced
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:08:41
labor. Senator Penzo, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. House Bill 1683 ensures that Arkansas taxpayer dollars do not support industries built on forced labor. This bill specifically prohibits government entities from procuring electric vehicles or their components if they are manufactured wholly or partially using forced labor. A significant portion of the world's
cobalt, a mineral essential for electric vehicle batteries, is mine using children as young as four, according to a congressional commission. In the Congo, these children spend up to 12 hours a day in dangerous gravel fields or perilous mine shafts, not by choice, but because the demand for cobalt has skyrocketed, driven largely by the global push for more batteries. In China, where over 60% of the world's lithium and cobalt are refined, Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are
subjected to forced labor under state-imposed labor transfer programs. These programs involve coercion, mass detentions, and constant surveillance, with workers forced into mining and refining operations for critical minerals. I support free markets, but there are moral lines we must never cross. One of those lines is allowing children to be exploited for the sake of electric vehicle production. Just as the diamond industry took steps to eliminate blood diamonds, Automakers are working to source minerals responsibly.
Many leading manufacturers are shifting toward battery technologies that reduce or eliminate the need for cobalt. Tesla, General Motors, and Rivian are investing in ethical sources and developing battery technologies that minimize reliance on cobalt. Federal guidelines already encourage this shift. By 2025, at least 60% of battery components must be manufactured or assembled in North America. Critical minerals must be sourced from the U.S. or free trade partner countries.
This transition is already underway, and HB 1683 ensures that Arkansas leads by example. As legislators, we are entrusted with taxpayer dollars, and we have a duty to spend them wisely and ethically. That means ensuring we do not fund industries that exploit and enslave children. HB 1683 upholds Arkansas's commitment to human rights and moral responsibility. The Auto Alliance engaged extensively in discussions on this bill and remained neutral while the governor's office supports it.
I urge you to support this bill to ensure Arkansas does not contribute to forced labor in the electric vehicle supply chain.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:11:20
Senator Sullivan, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Madam President. Is there a list of countries or companies that are doing this? That are doing
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:11:31
what? Using forced labor. The countries specifically aren't. It's the mining of the raw materials to make the batteries. So
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:11:38
I'm wondering, so how do we identify who those people are?
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:11:41
Is there a list somewhere? There is resources available to find out where this, because mostly it's coming from the Congo and China are two of the big offenders. And
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:12:00
if there is a, maybe we accept a product and find out later that they're using child labor, is there a clawback, reachback law? I don't believe so.
Chair
Unverified
2:12:13
Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Senator Payton, and then Senator Flowers, and Senator
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:12:25
Mark Johnson. Thank you, Madam President. And Senator Penzo, I'd love to vote for this bill if it did designate how we're going to make the determination and inform our state agencies of the KO list, if you want to call it that. I think we had a bill two years ago that kind of did the same thing with investments,
and we gave that responsibility to the Attorney General's office. But are you saying that in this bill, it doesn't describe how we're going to create and maintain a list of-
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:12:59
The AG's office is familiar with this legislation, and
it's available to know where things are sourced from. Well, is there anything in the bill
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:13:14
that says that the AG office is going to have the authority to create or maintain a list?
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:13:26
I don't know that the AG's office would be the one that would have the list, or maintain the list.
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
2:13:45
All right, thank you. Thank you. Senator Flowers, you're recognized. Thank you, Governor. Senator Penzo, weren't you the sponsor of at least two bills from the last session
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:13:56
that loosened child labor laws? No, I was actually the sponsor of the bill that put penalties in place for violators of child labor laws that did not exist in this state.
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
2:14:06
That is the legislation I ran. It seems to me like I recall you sponsoring a bill that loosened notice requirements to parents. You
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:14:24
don't remember that? I had a piece of legislation that had to do with permits,
work permits. For children? For children, but then I also had legislation that created penalties in the state for violators of child labor laws
because they did not exist in this state until we passed legislation during the last session that
Speaker 444
2:14:45
I sponsored. I remember something quite different.
Chair
Unverified
2:14:52
I'm sure you do. Senator Mark Johnson, you're recognized
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:14:56
for a question. Thank you, Madam President. Senator Penzo, why are you putting on electric vehicles? Don't we have cobalt going into other entities and other kinds of vehicles and other kinds of things?
I know cobalt goes into jet engines. That's a very critical component for jet engines. And anyone that's ever used a really good drill bit knows the cobalt bits are the best drill bits. So anytime you've got a cutting tool to build a gasoline-powered car, even, you'd be using cobalt cutting tools probably in the manufacturing process. I mean, you know, I don't want to help anybody that is exploiting children, but I'm just wondering, it seems rather selective to pick on cobalt
and to pick on these things, you know, when, you know, we have countries, we've been talking about China today, they have children that are being abused, and then they're also doing things with other things. If we're going to pick on the bad actors, I'm all
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:16:04
Can you explain why we just limited it to this? Yeah, I'll
explain that. So drill bits use minimal amounts of cobalt.
Batteries that go in vehicles are huge. The majority of these batteries are manufactured in China, and the resources are mined in China. So it's a starting point. I wouldn't say we're picking on electric vehicles. fully support. It's a starting point. Tesla, like I said, GM, Rivian, they're already making alternative energy, different types of batteries that don't
rely on these minerals because they realize there's a problem. It's kind of like, like I said, with blood diamonds. I mean, that's kind of, it was a an attempt by people to make a difference in how diamonds were mined. This is just a starting point and we probably should look at other other things. It's just a lot easier. Most of these materials go into these huge batteries that are in electric vehicles, so it's like I said just a good starting point. Do you know
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:17:17
that the percentage of cobalt that is a component of those lithium-ion batteries that are... I don't know the exact percent. Do you have one of these? Oh, I sure do. Does it have a lithium-ion battery made with cobalt in there? I'm sure it has. I'm sure if we added them
all up and piled them up, they'd probably outweigh the car batteries at this point. Could. If
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
2:17:39
you'd like to run some legislation on cell phones, we can discuss
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:17:43
that. Let's work on that in 2027. Sounds good. Thank you, Senator. Thank you, Madam President.
Chair
Unverified
2:17:48
Any other questions? Anyone wish to speak against or
Speaker 6
2:17:54
for? Senator's closed. Any objection to rolling the vote? I'm seeing no objection. Madam Secretary. Oh,
Chair
Unverified
2:18:02
do we have an objection? Okay. Madam
Secretary, please call the roll. Boyd, Bryant, Caldwell,
Speaker 356
2:18:16
Caldwell, Clark, Crowell, Davis, Davis, Dees, Dismang, Dotson,
Chair
Unverified
2:18:23
yes English Flippo Flippo flowers Gilmore yes Hammer yes Hester yes Hickey Hill? Hill? Irvin? Blake Johnson? Blake Johnson? Mark Johnson? King? Letting? Love? Love? McKee? Murdoch? Payton?
Speaker 258
2:19:10
Stone? Stuboffel? Stuboffel? Sullivan? Tucker? Wallace?
Chair
Unverified
2:19:35
Senator Blake Johnson, yes. Senator Hickey, no. Senator Stubblefield, yes. Caldwell, present. Payton,
Speaker 125
2:19:47
yes. Dismang, present. Hill, yes. Davis, present. Any other senator, please check
Chair
Unverified
2:19:56
the board. Seeing no other, please
Speaker 6
2:20:03
cast up the ballot by vote of 19 yea, 9
Chair
Unverified
2:20:08
nay, 1 not voting, 6 present.
House Bill 1683 passes. Please return to the House. Senator Dismayne. If I
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
2:20:22
can make a motion to expunge the vote by which House Bill
Chair
Unverified
2:20:28
1662 failed. All those in favor of the motion to expunge the vote by which House
Speaker 6
2:20:34
Bill 1662 failed, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Motion carries. Next, 16, or rather, House Bill 1719.
Speaker 98
2:20:46
House Bill 1719, there is an involved in Senator Davis. To amend the days included in the total number of maternity leave days approved by a
school that offers maternity leave. Senator Davis, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. This bill essentially just says
that if a day is approved as maternity leave for an individual that's eligible for paid maternity leave, this is teachers, and that day occurs on an unpaid contract day, then the day approved as maternity leave shall qualify for paid maternity leave.
The simplest way to explain this is we have teachers who are on maternity leave, And they are taking time off, paid, they're accumulating their days to be able to take off for maternity leave. Christmas break comes up, or a holiday, a day that teachers are not on contract. The school districts are counting that non-contract day against the paid maternity leave day that the teacher has.
And so we're just clarifying that if it is not a contract day for a teacher, that it does not count as a day against their paid maternity leave. That's what we're trying to clarify
Speaker 6
2:22:04
with this. I'm happy to answer any questions. Questions for Senator Davis. Anyone? Question for Senator Clark, you're recognized. This
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
2:22:10
is from the learns bill from two years ago? This is not. We will
have a bill on the floor tomorrow that does deal with that. But this is separate.
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
2:22:22
We had maternity leave before? Yes. We had
maternity leave before. What we did with LEARNS was said that the state would match, do a 50-50 match on paid maternity leave. But maternity leave existed for teachers before LEARNS. So we're doing
27 school districts who choose to participate. Thank you. any other questions
Speaker 44
2:22:52
Senator Payton and Senator Hammer Senator Payton you're recognized and Senator Hickey I'm sorry Senator Hickey thank you
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
2:22:59
Madam President so the way I understand it the idea of maternity leave is for healing and
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:23:07
bonding and maybe organization and getting your schedules worked out those of us who have had kids understand what a dramatic impact it is on the daily life So we set this maternity leave for a certain period of time, not based on an award, but based on a length of time we think it should take
for a family to get adjusted and heal up and be ready to return to work. How is it that the holidays don't count? Are they not healing and bonding and doing all those things on the holidays that they would do on any other day? It seems like the period of time, whether it included a holiday or not, would still be the period of time that we have determined is sufficient for that to take place. How does the holiday affect that?
It impacts it because teachers, every school district does their
maternity leave different. Teachers are accumulating their days off that they're allowed, paid days off. And they're doing FMLA and other things to be able to gather together, you know, four weeks paid off. So, for example, if you were a teacher and it was Christmas break and you got the flu over Christmas break and you were sick, well, you think, well, I'm sick, I'm at home, we're not on contract, so it doesn't matter.
But if the school heard you were sick and said, actually, those count as sick days, you just lost three sick days, and you said, but I'm not on contract, you can't take away my sick days on days I'm not even on contract for. That's exactly what they're doing to teachers with their paid maternity leave. The teachers are the ones accumulating the time off. Those, by contract, are their paid days off. But they're using those for maternity leave. And instead of getting to, you know, have one week before Christmas
and then the two weeks off for Christmas that no teacher is contracted for. It is not contracted day. And then add another week at the end of that, the school districts are counting the time off that everyone has off and eating up their paid days off for maternity leave. That's the issue.
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:25:25
on that, but that's the issue if the maternity days are just a working benefit and not considered something that's a necessity to give people time to heal
and to bond and to get organized. I mean, I look at it kind of on the flip side of the coin. They're basically getting double days off when you have it that
way. So anyway, I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah, if teachers are spending two years saving up their paid time off and accumulating that so they can have that time off after they've had a baby, but they just happen to get pregnant and end up having a baby on December 15th,
they shouldn't be punished because they had maternity leave fall at a time where they were not contracted to work. So where's the punishment? They get the days off. They get paid for the
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:26:18
days off. They don't get paid for the days off. They don't get paid during the Christmas break? Those are non-contracted days. Well, your bill says that if it's a paid holiday, otherwise paid holiday. So if you're bringing up Christmas break and it's not an otherwise paid holiday, then
then it's outside the realm of the bill. It's
an unpaid contract day. So I'm saying if it falls on an unpaid contract day, they can't take that day from you and say like, okay, if they can't take that day from you and say those are one of your paid days off, that's what they're doing it's not a paid day off because it's an unpaid contract day you see you see what i'm saying
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:27:07
yeah can you tell me the page and line because obviously i've misread
that page i mean page one line 20 26 line 30 any holiday or any other day during a contract year designated by a school as a day on which academic classes will not be held shall not be counted towards the total number of days the school approves as maternity leave for an individual eligible for paid maternity leave. So if a day approved as maternity leave for an unpaid, excuse me, if a day approved as
maternity leave for an individual eligible for the paid maternity leave occurs on an unpaid contract day, under the individual's current contract, that day approved as maternity leave shall qualify for paid maternity leave. They can't, they just can't count it against them. If teachers already are not working that day, say it falls on Halloween or Thanksgiving break where they're already off, they're not contracted on those days. That shouldn't eat up their paid days off.
Senator John Payton
Unverified
2:28:10
Okay, so your bill only affects the unpaid days off.
Yes. Okay, thank you. Yes. I think I
Chair
Unverified
2:28:18
can vote for it. Okay, thank you. Senator Hammer,
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
2:28:23
you're recognized for question. Thank you, and I'm asking because I don't know, so clarification. this only applies to the female who's having the baby. This does not apply to the spouse, correct? Correct. Okay. And then the second thing, and tell me how this bill would apply to this situation. A teacher becomes pregnant, and she runs out of days,
and subsequently that could cost her a year against her retirement in the teacher retirement system. That is a scenario that has actually happened. So under this bill, would it create more days for that teacher in that scenario to be able to use them so as to maybe have a wider window and that not affect the time that she missed that
cost her on her teacher retirement? What
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
2:29:14
do you mean if she ran out of days? Well, Sharon, will this bill extend the number of days that a mother could have in order to prevent running out of time where it would not be counted against her as days off?
So I'm going to try to answer your question, and maybe I'm not fully understanding. It doesn't necessarily create more days. It just says if your paid maternity leave falls at any point and there falls over a holiday or an unpaid contract day, then that day doesn't count, doesn't eat into your paid maternity leave. It doesn't count against you. So if it fell over Christmas break, maybe it extends the days because that's two weeks long and they'd still have time after.
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
2:30:07
Right, which means that they would have, they would actually be able to benefit their days that otherwise they would be using of their sick leave days. Is that correct? Correct. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Any
Speaker 6
2:30:28
other questions? I'm seeing no other questions. Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection to rolling the vote?
Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator
Chair
Unverified
2:30:52
Clark, present. Senator Rice, present. Any other senator?
Speaker 6
2:30:59
Seeing no other. Oh, Stubblefield, present. Any other senator?
Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 32 yeas, 0 nay, 3 present. House Bill 1719 passes. Please return to the House.
Chair
Unverified
2:31:22
House Bill 1728. House Bill 1728, by Representative
Ennett and Senator Davis, to require reporting on the number of students receiving accommodations for disability at institutions of higher
education. Senator Davis, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President.
So, currently the state does not collect or report statewide data to
examine the post-secondary outcomes for students with disabilities. This lack of information on post-secondary outcomes for these students with disabilities prevents the state from connecting students with disabilities to workforce. This bill simply requires that institutions of higher ed submit this information to the Department of Higher Ed so that we can better track outcomes of students with disabilities.
The responsibility is still on the student with a disability to register with the school. It's not mandating the institution find out from every student if they have a disability or not, but if students report and the schools know about it, then they've got to submit that data to the Department of Higher Ed so we can track those outcomes and connect those students with workforce. Happy to take any
Speaker 6
2:32:36
questions. Questions for Senator Davis. Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator is closed. Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? King not voting. Any other senator?
Chair
Unverified
2:32:59
vote King yes any other senator seeing no
Speaker 6
2:33:05
other please cast up the ballot by a vote of 35 yeas here or nay House Bill 1728 passes please
Chair
Unverified
2:33:16
return to the House House Bill 1766 House
Bill 1766 by Representative Ennett and Senator Davis to to create the Arkansas Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower RISE Act.
Senator Davis, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President.
This bill requires that higher
ed institutions provide information to new students and students regarding their disability resource center and accommodations that the institution offers. Just like the last bill, the responsibility is still on the student to report their disability with supporting documentation to the institution. This just simply requires the institution on the front end, whether it's online or, you know, freshman enrollment or whatever,
to provide information to students about their Disability Resource Center and their accommodations. Happy to answer any questions.
Chair
Unverified
2:34:08
Senator Dees, you're recognized for a
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
2:34:11
question. Thank you, Madam Governor. Senator, will you help me on one section of the bill, and I'll point you to
it. It's page four, line 10, and it does talk about advise admitted
students who have self-identified as a disability. That language kind of concerned me that if students are just self-identifying a disability
and making that known to the school, could you help me understand that segment
a little bit? Yes, so it says that with that, it says not require the student to be re-evaluated for the presence of the permanent disability. So they should have some type of documentation. So maybe if someone says, you know, I'm neurodivergent, maybe they didn't have a full-on, like, IEP in K-12, then they can provide that supporting documentation to say, this is how, you know, I would like to be accommodated in class.
But they work through that, and the institution can decide, you know, with, in partnership with that student, what those accommodations look like. I like that description. I
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
2:35:19
do have a fear that that could open up for students maybe taking advantage of that. Do you have a concern there, or do you feel like that's not too vague of language to allow students to self-identify disabilities? I don't
think that it's too vague, and I understand
the concern there, just with that language, but I think in context,
saying that they've got to provide paperwork that they do have and then have an established process to follow if they believe that accommodation, if they work it out and figure out what the accommodation is or if the student is asking for something that's just over the top and they're not able to accommodate, there's a process there that says basically the institution, if they believe in accommodation, would fundamentally or substantially alter an essential requirement of the course or program
or cause an undue burden there's a process in place for them to be able to sort of protest that.
Chair
Unverified
2:36:23
Any other questions? Any other questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senators closed. Any objection? Rolling the vote. Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary,
Speaker 6
2:36:33
please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Payton, no. Bryant, present. Dees, present.
Chair
Unverified
2:36:41
Penzo, present. Any other senator? Hickey, no. Caldwell, no. Stubblefield, present. Rice, present. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please
Speaker 6
2:36:58
cast up the ballot by vote of 27 yea, 3 nay, 5 present, House bill 1766 passes. Please return to the house. House bill 1832. House bill 1832 by Representative
Chair
Unverified
2:37:14
Shepard and Senator Hester to amend the rules of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals of the state of Arkansas
and to amend a rule of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals under the authority granted by the Arkansas Constitution. Senator
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:37:28
Hester, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Governor. Members, according to the Arkansas Constitution Amendment 8, Section 10, the General Assembly, shall have the power to establish jurisdiction of all courts. What this bill does is it moves jurisdiction of facial challenges on the constitutionality of bills that we pass from the Pulaski County
Circuit Court or the Circuit Court up to the
Court of Appeals. It's that simple, and I'm happy to answer
Chair
Unverified
2:37:52
any questions. Questions for Senator Hester? Senator Love, you're recognized for a question.
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
2:38:00
Thank you, Madam Chair. Now, Senator Hester, what necessitates this bill? What's going on that I may not know about that necessitates this? Sure. Well, when
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:38:10
there's a constitutional challenge, it gets sent to a court that is elected by a subset of a subset of a subset of Arkansans.
What we're going to move it to is to a group of judges that is elected by all Arkansans and should represent all Arkansans. You
know, this has had my attention for quite some time and working on this for, this is the third session. What I
have seen, I think most of us do, is we waste a lot of taxpayers' time, time in courts, effort and energy when we start at the Pulaski County Circuit Court, because they seem to have a very differing opinion of how to read and interpret the Constitution from our Supreme Court.
Chair
Unverified
2:38:58
All right, thank you. Other questions? Senator Mark Johnson, you're recognized for a question. Thank
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:39:05
you, Madam President. Senator Hester, do you know why all these challenges, all these things end up in Pulaski County? We've got 74 other counties. Do you know why they're traditionally
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:39:17
have been in Pulaski County? Well, I think there's a few reasons. They all don't have to be. Most of them are assigned there,
mostly because of the jurisdiction that we've allowed. But I
would also say it's, you know, it's court shopping, right? They are confident if they want to challenge
the conservative legislature to start with the Pulaski County
Speaker 446
2:39:37
courts. Well, my understanding of history has
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:39:41
been that our Attorney General, who has to defend the state in this, his office is in Pulaski County, and so there was this, it'd be easier on all the parties involved if
you just started in Pulaski County. But that was when everything was paper, and now I think most courts require electronic filing of cases. I may be wrong, but I think it's universal now that
it's all done. And it would seem, as you said, we seem to get some local bias sometimes having just one county do it. And I'd be curious, you may not know, but how often the Pulaski County Circuit judges are overturned by the appeals courts in these types of cases, which just anecdotally seems like a lot. Would
you agree? I can say with fact, it is most of the time. Okay, and well,
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:40:27
I'm just seeing that, and I think
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:40:30
in the horse and buggy days, it made a lot of sense that the AG didn't
have to go to Pocahontas or Texarkana or Rogers or Bentonville or Fayetteville to answer a case, but today's, it's a little bit simpler today, isn't it? It
should be a lot simpler today. So this should streamline a lot of the litigation, shouldn't it not? That is hopeful, and I would suspect that we'll have a lot less challenges
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:41:00
knowing that they don't get some immediate relief from a judge who they know how is going to rule.
Knowing that they've got to go to a court elected by all the people of Arkansas,
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:41:15
I suspect we'll get a lot fewer challenges. Thank you for the explanation. I think
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
2:41:21
it's a good bill. Thank you, Madam President. Senator Hickey, you're recognized? Yes, I'm sorry, Senator Hester. This hasn't been on my radar, and I don't mean to blindside you. So it's my understanding, though, that the courts themselves are the ones that set their own rules. So does our Supreme Court set those procedures and rules, or do you know? Yeah, we set the jurisdiction. The Supreme Court would set the rules. Okay.
Let me ask you this, if you know. Do you know if we've requested or even asked the courts if they would consider doing it a separate way instead of us trying to do it from a legislative standpoint? point? Do you know if that's been pursued or not?
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:41:54
I would say we have visited with people on the courts, but we did not ask if they would just consider changing it.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
2:42:00
Okay. Do you know if they have that ability to do that? Or have y'all? I don't know. Yeah, they don't
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:42:06
have the ability to change jurisdiction. Okay. All right. Thank you, sir.
Chair
Unverified
2:42:11
Any other questions? Senator Murdoch, you're recognized. Thank you,
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:42:14
Madam Governor. Senator Hester, it's akin to the question that Senator Hickey You mentioned as it relates to, had the inquiry been made to the courts for them to make the adjustment for whatever you think or whatever group you're representing think may be necessary. And you said that that has happened, and what was the result of that? Well, no, I'd
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:42:35
say there has been some visiting certainly with the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, but I didn't go ask anybody in the courts.
I quite frankly don't care, right, as much as they care about how we operate. We are a separate branch
of government. We have a role of setting jurisdiction, and that's what we're going to do. They can certainly set their rules and proceedings how they want
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:42:58
to within their courts. So in your earlier testimony, you talked about court shopping or something, or judge shopping or court shopping. Legislatively now, that's what this bill appears you're trying to do. You're trying to put it in a different space so that you can get it where you want it
for the results that you want. Would that be
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
2:43:21
consistent? Yes. I would further state that I want it in a court that is elected by all the people of Arkansas, not just a few. But when all the
people of Arkansas have a say on a judge, it turns out they're far more likely to follow
Speaker 33
2:43:40
the Constitution. Other questions? Anyone wish to speak against?
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:43:45
Senator Tucker, you're recognized. thank you thank you madam president this bill is really a stunning affront to the judicial branch of government and the separation of powers as established by the founders of our country in committee this is presented to us as constituents approach members of the general assembly and say why did this bill get struck down that y'all passed and that's the explanation for why we need this bill the answer to that question is thank you for the question the founders of our
country did not want a single branch of government that was all-powerful. They wanted three branches of government that were co-equal and gave checks and balances to each other. The check on the legislature by the judicial branches, they interpret the laws that we pass. If they don't conflict with the Constitution, if they do conflict with the Constitution, then the laws get struck down. That's the balance of power between the legislative and the judicial end of conversation. That's it. It's the judicial branches of government how they handle their own business. I wanted to answer the question that you asked very specifically, Senator Hickey, this bill amends a rule of the
Supreme Court of Arkansas, okay? And they have entirely the power to do exactly what this bill does. And it's up to them to determine how they manage their own business, just as it's up to us to determine how we manage our own business. So the fact is, you know, just from a philosophical level. If you agree with the founders that we should have three co-equal branches of government that provide checks and balances to each other, you should vote against this bill. Even if you
think that the judicial branch is inferior to the legislative branch and they should do what we say and what we tell them to do, there are a lot of questions that are not answered. There's a fiscal impact on this of zero dollars. Would you know how many times DF&A called the Court of Appeals of Arkansas to find out how it was going to impact them? Zero. DFNA wasn't in committee yesterday to answer any questions about how this was going to impact the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals was there, and they said this is going to have a huge impact on how we do our business for a number
of reasons. One is the Court of Appeals is not set up to take evidence. Trial courts are set up to take evidence. They would have to, they don't know how they would be able to handle this logistically. They're going to have to change their courtroom, build a new courtroom, do something to be able to handle the taking of evidence with witnesses and exhibits and that sort of thing. We don't have data on how many cases this would involve. I wish the lieutenant governor could come down here and speak because she knows more about this than I do.
But I'm just going to explain the way that this works. What the Court of Appeals said is that there were 30 facial challenges in the last six months to statutes. But the way that this works is if there's a civil lawsuit that involves the challenge to the constitutionality of a statute, the lawyers, by rule, have to send a letter to the Attorney General's office. Almost every single time, the Attorney General says, so long as the parties are well represented by lawyers on both sides, the Attorney General says, y'all, take care of that.
We trust the other side to oppose your argument that this law is unconstitutional because we just don't have the manpower to send lawyers to every case in Arkansas where there's the challenge to the constitutionality of a statute. And so there's no data tracking for how many times the Attorney General says, I'm not going to intervene in this case. So we have no knowledge about how many cases this will put in the Court of Appeals of Arkansas. The Court of Appeals is going to have to hire new lawyers. They're going to have to hire court reporters. They're going to have to hire special masters.
So there's going to be a very significant impact on the Court of Appeals if this law goes into place. So at the end of the day, questions that I think it would be responsible of a General Assembly to have answers to before we pass a law like this, again, even if you think the judicial branch is inferior, is how many cases are going to be sent there? We have no idea the answer to that question. How is the Court of Appeals going to be able to handle this? We have no idea to the answer to that question. How much money is it going to cost the Court of Appeals? We have no idea what
the answer to that question is. We also have no idea. One other example, and then I'll sit down. But oftentimes in lawsuits, the constitutionality of a statute is a minor issue. This bill does not answer the question how the Court of Appeals will address that as part of the overall lawsuit. You might have a month-long lawsuit with a lot of very complicated fact issues, but if there's a facial challenge to the constitutionality of a statute as part of that, The whole thing's now going to be heard in the Court of Appeals.
And every citizen of Arkansas who challenges the constitutionality of a statute has a right to appeal it to the Supreme Court of Arkansas. So to Senator Hester's point, it will be addressed ultimately by a court that's elected by the entire state. But that's not how the process starts, and that's determined by the judicial branch of government, how they handle their own business. I'd be glad to answer
any questions. Senator Hickey and then Senator
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
2:48:53
Sullivan. Just one, and I heard you mention something about that this was the rule of the Supreme Court, and I heard what Senator Hester thought, and again, I've not been engaged on this, but do you think that if the Supreme Court wanted to do this,
Speaker 500
2:49:06
that they could change the jurisdiction that way?
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
2:49:09
They could do it today if they wanted Senator Hickey. Okay, so that's not anything you don't
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:49:18
believe that we have to do as far as from a legislative standpoint? No, sir. This bill, look at the bill. Once there's some introductory language, once you get to the next section of the bill, it actually changes language. It's not changing code. It's changing Supreme Court Rule 1-2A. It's changing a Supreme Court rule. It's their rule they promulgated that this bill changes. Okay. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:49:40
Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Madam President. You made the point clearly that the courts have the check and balance over the legislature. Does the legislature, do we not act as check and balance over
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:49:55
the courts? Absolutely, 100% we do. Thank you. If they issue a decision that interprets one of our laws that we disagree with, we pass a new law and what we say goes, unless it conflicts with the Constitution. But we're the only branch of government that can initiate, can introduce laws.
So that's our main power, right? We're the only branch that can introduce laws, and if we pass a law, the court has to do what we
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
2:50:24
say, unless the law we pass conflicts with the Constitution. Senator Dodson. Thank you, Madam President. Senator Tucker, you made the statement that it's co-equal branches of government. Right. And I would say that they're separate, independent branches of government, but give you a little bit of pushback on whether or not they're co-equal.
And I would ask the question, does this body create circuit courts and if it does if we have the power to create a court or take the create the the court seat away through legislation how is something like that co-equal there's a check this
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:51:04
this is a partial answer to senator sullivan's question you know what else we have the power to do not just to introduce laws we have the power of the purse. We have to pay the salaries of the judicial branch of government. So that's another way that
we have a check on them. All three branches of government are created simultaneously in the U.S. government and in the state government by the constitutions of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Arkansas. When the branches of government are listed, or as Mr. Treat educated me earlier this year, they're listed as departments in the Arkansas state constitution. The legislative branch is listed first, and that's because we're the closest to the people, then the executive, then the judicial branch. But they are three separate but co-equal branches of government that provide checks and balances
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
2:51:53
to each other. Again, I would disagree with the co-equal
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:52:05
part. Thank you. Senator Petty, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. I would check the Federalist Papers. Alexander Hamilton, he
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
2:52:12
had a different opinion. Yes, Senator Petty. I think mine's a little more local than going back that far here. I'm a little confused. You sort of sounded like anyway, and you respond to this, that you disagreed that our Constitution gave us, as the General Assembly,
the right to set jurisdiction. But then you went on to more discussion about other things. But just for clarification, and I'm assuming that this is the most current accurate, it does say what Senator Hester says in Section 10 of Amendment 80, that the General Assembly shall have the power to establish jurisdiction of all courts and venue of all actions thereon unless otherwise provided in the Constitution, and the power to establish judicial circuits, districts, and the number of judges, etc.
So, did you agree or disagree with the fact that we, as the General Assembly, have the right to establish that? One thing I
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:53:08
have not said from the well today is that we cannot pass this law. I think we can pass this law. I don't believe we
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
2:53:15
should. But the current law says that we set the jurisdiction. And that's what I'm
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:53:20
trying to understand if you agree or disagree that that's the case. We set the jurisdiction for courts. This is a matter of venue. This
is a matter of form. and Senator Murdoch was 100% correct,
this is legislative forum shopping, is what it
is. And it's parking these cases in the Court of Appeals of Arkansas. Amendment 80 of the Arkansas Constitution says that we can do this by a two-thirds vote. That's why I haven't said that we can't do it. Being able to do something, whether we could do something or whether we should do something are two different questions. Well, the
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
2:53:55
two-thirds vote, and again, I'm not an attorney, The two-thirds votes is dealing with the annulment or an amendment of the rules.
The setting of the jurisdiction doesn't say anything about
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:54:05
two-thirds. I think there's some confusion about that word jurisdiction. What this bill does, as I said to Senator Hickey, is it amends
a Supreme Court rule. And that's what the two-thirds is referring to in Section 10 of Amendment 80.
Chair
Unverified
2:54:23
Senator Mark Johnson, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Madam President.
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:54:29
To follow up, Senator Tucker, on Senator Petty's point,
Amendment 80, and he quoted it verbatim, it says, provides that the General Assembly shall have the power to establish jurisdiction of all courts and venue of all actions therein. So if that's the case, you're saying we shouldn't do this because it's a venue change, But we're changing something that is ultimately a statewide action to a statewide venue. How do you justify
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:55:05
Well, just to be clear, there's been a lot of talk about this should be heard by a court elected by the state of Arkansas. That's not, just to be clear, that's not the Court
of Appeals. The Court of Appeals is not that court. It's still a subset of
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
2:55:23
Arkansans. So just to, you know, make sure everyone's clear on that. Well, but it's the only court, Senator, excuse me, would you agree that even though we don't all vote on all of those judges on the Court of Appeals, they are represented by districts that encompass every citizen.
Every citizen has a right to vote for at least a member of that
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:55:42
court. Would you agree? Court of Appeals panels consist of three judges, not of the entire court. So, when you have three judges, they're going to represent three Court of Appeals districts that's not going to cover the entire state. Do they never sit in bank on things? They do sit in bank on things. Senator Hester can correct me if I'm wrong. I don't believe this bill calls for on-bank proceedings of all the facial constitutional challenges. It still would be a panel of judges, so it would be three Court of Appeals judges.
Speaker 500
2:56:12
They could, amongst their Court of Appeals themselves, choose to sit in bank on this. And if that's
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
2:56:17
what they choose to do, then by all means, that's what they should do because it's their decision how they regulate their branch of government. Thank you, Senator. Thank
you, Madam President. Once again, just to address those last two questions, I haven't said one time this is not something that we
have the authority to do. But it's just a question of whether we should do this because we're demanding that
a separate and co-equal branch of government follow our wishes, which is not something that we should do.
Chair
Unverified
2:56:46
So, I'll be voting now. Anyone else wish to speak for, against, or on the
bill? For Senator Clark, you're recognized to speak
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
2:57:05
for. Thank you, Madam Governor. Senator Tucker is an able attorney. I'd like to
clear up some things. In our testimony in judiciary, we had one judge speak against.
He didn't sign up as he was speaking for anybody but himself. He did not represent that he was speaking for anybody but for himself. And he didn't say that we couldn't do it. Wasn't part of what he had to say. As chair, and those of you who are chairs understand this, I have got, you know, just unbelievable calls this session. about bill after bill after bill. I received none. Didn't receive any from appeals court members,
didn't receive any from Supreme Court members, didn't receive any from circuit court judges, none. So they don't seem to have the problem with this bill that Senator Tucker does. Cost. I understood how DFA got their numbers. There's going to be a cost somewhere. If it costs the appeals court more, it's going to cost the circuit court less. Because if it's one place, it ain't going to be the other. That's why they came up with zero, zero.
I know I always have to live by whatever report they give me, and the report was zero. And I think it's a very rapid report. They did bring up, you know, things like, you know, a couple of us have volunteered to take them a chair. They didn't have a chair for the, they testified they didn't have a chair for the court reporter. So somewhere in that building, I think they can store a chair that we'll be glad to supply. And I think, you know, where they had a place to do it, I hope in all those new buildings over there,
I hope they've got a place. Turned out, finally, through testimony that they did. The appeals court is elected by the entire state. Now, they are elected by districts, but when you file a case in Garland County, it's going to be Garland County judges that were elected in Garland County. You file a case in Plaski County, it's going to be Plaski County judges that were elected in Platton County. But when you file a case before the appeals court, you don't know what three judges you're
going to get. Between all of them, they were elected from across the state, and it's going to be random, So it's much more closer to being from the whole state. And even the Supreme Court meets in panels. So you could come back there and say, well, you know, you don't know that you're getting somebody from the whole state. Yes, this is much closer. It was spelt out in committee that we definitely, you know, this is former Speaker Shepard's bill.
He has absolutely no doubt. But he wasn't unclear on his facts that we can do this. He was also very clear that the Supreme Court will set the rules on how this is done. We have absolutely no say-so on what the rules will be. They do. We are in no way telling the courts what to do. I mean, any more than the courts say what you did is unconstitutional, you can't do that.
So we're completely within our rights to set the jurisdiction of the court. And this prevents court shopping. Right now, the cases are primarily filed in Pulaski County. But if you want a liberal decision, file in Pulaski County. If you want a conservative decision, file it Northwest Arkansas. And this will do away with that completely. This will say, it's going to the Court of Appeals. You don't know which judges you're going to get.
And most likely we'll get a fair decision. And I think this is a bill I did not know that it was coming. I'm thankful for it. It's been needed for a long time. I'd appreciate a
Chair
Unverified
3:01:23
good vote. Anyone else wish to speak against for or on the bill? If not, Senator Hester, you're recognized
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
3:01:30
to close. Thank you, members. I'm just going to address one subject on the potential
costs. these are facial challenges. I mean, there's no need for evidence. There's no need for it. Like,
it's on its face. Is it constitutional or not? I understand it's complex. That's why Speaker Shepard and I,
this is the third session we've been working on this piece of legislation. We think we've got something that's
Speaker 350
3:01:59
good for you. I would really appreciate a good vote. Thank you. Madam
Speaker 4
3:02:04
Secretary, please call the roll. And Senators, this does take 24 votes. Boyd,
Speaker 356
3:02:16
Bryant, Caldwell, Clark, Crowell, Davis, Dees, Dismang, Dotson, English,
Chair
Unverified
3:02:24
English Flippo Flowers Gilmore Hammer Hester Hickey Hill Irvin Blake Johnson Mark Johnson King King Letting Leading
Speaker 258
3:02:55
Love McKee Murdoch Payton Penzo Penzo Petty Rice Scott Stone Stubbeville Sullivan Tucker Wallace
Chair
Unverified
3:03:26
Any senator who did not vote or who wishes to change your vote?
Senator Stubblefield, were you a yes? I just want to make sure. Okay. Okay. Senator
Speaker 6
3:03:42
Penzo, yes. Any other senators who did not vote or who wished to change your vote? Any other senator? Seeing no other senator, please cast up the ballot. By a vote of 26 yay, 7 nay, 2 not voting, House Bill 1832 passes. Please return to the House.
Chair
Unverified
3:04:03
House Bill 1874. House Bill 1874 by Representative McKenzie and Senator Davis, an act to amend the use of professional development funding that exceeds the maximum amount awarded to public schools for public school teachers
under the Public School Funding Act of 2003. Senator Davis,
you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. This bill just takes the $16.5 million that was mandated to be spent on Solution Tree or professional learning communities to be spent on things that will improve student outcomes through the implementation of the LEARNS Act.
So I just want to be clear, schools can still use money on Solution Tree. Some schools love using Solution Tree and other schools prefer other things, so that does not change. But the money at the state level that was mandated to be spent on that, we're just moving this to allow it to be used for implementation of learns to improve student outcomes. Happy
Speaker 6
3:05:05
to answer any questions. Any questions for Senator Davis? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed.
Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or
Chair
Unverified
3:05:17
her vote? King not voting. Any other Senator? Scott not voting. Tucker not no. Any other senator? Seeing no other please cast up
Speaker 6
3:05:29
the ballot by a vote of 32 yeas, 1 nay, 2 not voting. House bill 1874 passes. Please return to the house. House bill Senator Hester you're recognized. Thank you members. I think we
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
3:05:45
all know that we've got a very
important event recognizing Secretary of the Senate Ann Cordwell at 5 o'clock. So we're going to stop somewhere around 4.30. I know that staff will be able to go there and enjoy that and hopefully come back over here and finish up. But the point of this is the less we get done today, the longer we're going to be here tomorrow. So I want to push this as far as we can push it, still being able to make sure Ms. Cornwell can get over there a few minutes early before we honor her.
Anyway, so just know that as much
as we can get done, better,
Speaker 350
3:06:27
somewhere around 4.30. Thanks. Thanks, Senator Hester. Next, we'll
Chair
Unverified
3:06:31
take up House Bill 1876. House Bill 1876 by Representative Richardson and Senator Bryant regarding the ownership of model training and content
generated by a generative artificial intelligence tool. Senator Bryant, you're recognized. Thank
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:06:46
you, Madam Governor. Members, this deals with the product inputs
and product outputs inside of an AI generative tool. So if you gather data and compile it and keep moving that inputs around till you get the resulting product that you want when that occurs, what this bill says is you retain or the business you work for retains ownership of your input data and the output data. I thought I'd be glad to attempt any questions. Any questions for Senator
Chair
Unverified
3:07:13
Bryan? Senator Boyd, you're recognized for a question.
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
3:07:23
So, sorry. So when you're saying AI, is this like GROC or...
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:07:28
Correct. ChatGPT. Correct. ChatGPT, GROC, Microsoft Source. And there's not something in the contract that says they own
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
3:07:34
it or anything? Yeah, it does not
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:07:37
override any other contracts. It's just whenever you're using open source AI generative tool, you have ownership of your inputs and your outputs. Any
Speaker 6
3:07:47
other questions? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed.
Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? King, not voting. Any other, Senator? Flowers present. Any other senator? Seeing no other senator, please cast up the ballot by
Chair
Unverified
3:08:11
a vote of 33 yeay, 0 nay, 1 not voting, 1 present. House Bill 1876 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill
Speaker 218
3:08:20
1913. House Bill 1913 by Representative Moore and Senator Stone to amend the law concerning driver's license and
Chair
Unverified
3:08:27
to amend the law concerning the qualifications for an intermediate driver's license.
Senator Matt Stone
Unverified
3:08:31
Senator Stone, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. Members, I think currently in Arkansas law, there exists a scenario where an 18-year-old could be in an accident and then lose their license for up to 12 months. If that was to happen, they're generally out of high school. That could make them ineligible to drive where they go off to college or make them ineligible to drive as they get ready to enter the workforce. This would remove that loophole. Of course, if a 16- or 17-year-old loses their license for reckless driving, that's one thing.
but by the time you're 18 and you're old enough to be the age of majority, you should not be able to be penalized where you can't enter the workforce or go off to college. With that, I don't open to any questions. Any
Chair
Unverified
3:09:16
questions for Senator Stone? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. I'm closed. Thank you. I appreciate a good vote.
Speaker 6
3:09:27
Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote?
King, not voting. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast
Chair
Unverified
3:09:42
up the ballot by a vote of 34 yeas, 0 nay, 1 not voting. House Bill 1913 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill
Speaker 218
3:09:55
1916. House Bill 1916 by Senator Bentley and Senator Clark to amend the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2016. 2023, and to include gender-affirming interventions as a right of action for medical malpractice.
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
3:10:10
Senator Clark, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Governor. This adds health care professionals, mental health professionals, along with the rest of the medical profession that was already included, To those who are not allowed to use gender affirming intervention, since we've come up with the idea of gender affirming versus the care that was given in gender dysphoria cases, the number of those who identify as transgender has grown 377%.
poll that I read. California, 26%, which is even higher than those numbers, identify as something other than binary. It's something that does not work. It harms kids. I haven't talked about this a long time, trying to be brief, 2%, 2%, not 2%, the vast majority of gender dysphoria
cases historically, according to the American Association of Child Psychiatrists, occur in males and is first recognized around the age of 2 to 5. The, no one knows what causes it. And, but what we do know is that between the ages of 18 and 25, 72 to almost 90% cease to believe that they're the opposite gender.
The, we had a, the only study, The only large study, controlled study, that's been done on the subject, especially when dealing with adolescents, was 153 that were followed in Sweden. And those that received the gender-affirming care, along with drugs, along with—
by that, I mean purity blockers and cross-sex hormones— 100% had surgery as adults or before to be changed to the other gender. On one side, as many as 90% cease to believe that they're the opposite gender. On the other side, it's 100% continue in that.
And the adolescents are adolescents. So I would appreciate a good vote. I'd be happy to take
Chair
Unverified
3:13:21
any questions. Questions for Senator Clark? Anyone wish to speak against or for, against Senator Tucker? You're recognized to speak against. Thank you, Madam President. Members, I
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
3:13:37
anticipate this will be my last time down here this session, and I can promise you that
nobody is happier about that than this guy right here.
in all seriousness, on this bill. And there's one primary point about this, and that is if you just look at the first page of the bill, it defines gender-affirming intervention as basically anything supporting a patient's identification with the opposite gender. And then it has Senator Payton's favorite words, including without limitation, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormone therapy. Usually it's after that, including without limitation. That represents what you're really after.
And we heard testimony in committee yesterday, there's not a single mental health therapist in Arkansas, not one, providing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy to teenagers. So the bill does not do anything productive so far as that goes. Before the including without limitation language is where the problem lies. Because that language is so broad that it can mean anything under the sun. If you call someone by a different name other than what's on their bursars, certificate, that would be gender-affirming intervention under the definition of this bill.
And we heard testimony from mental health therapists, if you merely stay silent while your patient, your client, is talking about their experience with gender dysphoria, that under this definition could mean gender-affirming intervention. So what the effect of this bill, it's not going to help any, it's not going to reduce the number of teenagers getting puberty blockers or cross-sex hormone therapy, not by one, because none of them are getting them from these therapists. What it will prevent is teenagers experiencing gender dysphoria from getting any mental health therapy at all.
That's what the outcome of this bill is going to be. On top of that, it creates more liability for mental health professionals, which means their insurance rates go up, which means the costs for mental health in Arkansas go up for all Arkansans. There's a whole lot else wrong with the bill, the way the bill is written, but I'm not going to go into all of that. The primary point is this bill will preclude teenagers experiencing gender dysphoria from merely seeking mental health therapy in Arkansas,
and we should vote against it for
Chair
Unverified
3:15:57
that reason alone. Anyone wish to speak for? Anyone else wish to speak against or on? If not, Senator Clark, you're free
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
3:16:08
to close. Thank you, Madam Governor. I've heard a lot of medical bills sitting here on the Senate floor this past session. I haven't heard
one yet on doctors that defined what a doctor was. I haven't heard one on dentists that defined what a dentist was.
I haven't heard one on nurses that defined what a nurse was. The profession has a definition. And the medical profession has a definition of gender-affirming health care. If this ever goes to court, that's what will be used as the definition within the profession of what gender-affirming health care is. Everyone that testified knows exactly what it is, and it is the acceptance.
Let me tell you what it is. It is the acceptance that whatever the young person tells you is correct. That has never been the way psychiatrists have practiced. They have always questioned, they have always got down, and found that most that presented in the past actually weren't gender dysphoric at all. And like I said, there's a reason why we've got almost a 400% increase, and we're not helping kids. We're hurting them. I appreciate a good vote. Senators closed.
Speaker 350
3:17:26
Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change whose
Chair
Unverified
3:17:44
or her vote? Scott, no. Love, no. Tucker, no. Murdoch, no. Letting, no. Flowers, no. Any other senator?
Speaker 6
3:17:57
Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote
Chair
Unverified
3:18:00
of 29 yea, sixth name, House Bill 1916 passes. Please return to the house. House Bill 19.
Before that, I would like to recognize Senator Hammer for a point of personal privilege. Members, I want to draw your attention, if you would,
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
3:18:15
please, to the West Gallery. We are privileged to have in our attendance today the participants for the Youth of the Year contest for the Boys and Girls Club. And they're in the gallery. Just stop by to say hi. Would you all express your appreciation
Chair
Unverified
3:18:29
to them being here in the West Gallery? Thank you, Senator Hammer. Next, we'll
Speaker 218
3:18:43
take up House Bill 1926. House Bill 1926, by Rep.
Chair
Unverified
3:18:47
Unger and Senator Bryant, to amend the law concerning the suspension, revocation, or non-renewal of a person's driver's license for failure to pay a court-ordered fine, and to amend the law concerning a defendant's inability to pay a court-ordered fine.
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:19:02
Senator Bryant, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. Members, I appreciate Representative Unger bringing this bill. As I discussed with the intent of what he was trying to do here, his volunteer service into the world of the incarcerated and those trying to make amends and rejoin society is often hindered whenever they can't pay their fines and fees and they lose their driver's license by the court for that inability. Therefore, they cannot go make more money to pay their fines and fees. So his initial attempt was to maybe remove that tool from the court's toolbox. That was not well received.
The courts still need that tool in certain instances. So what he did is he amended a law to make sure it's very clear what data is needed for the court to make the appropriate decision for that person that owes fines and fees. So it was accepted by the court. It's a very reasonable bill. With that,
Speaker 6
3:19:53
I'm glad to take any questions. Any questions for Senator Bryant? Anyone would speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? King, not voting. Any other
Senator? Seeing no other, please cast
Chair
Unverified
3:20:11
up the ballot. By vote of 34 yeas, 0 nay, 1 not voting. House Bill 1926
passes. Please return to the House. House Bill 1933. House Bill 1933 by Representative McCollum
and Senator Irving to amend the law concerning a school district board of directors and to create a recall election and petition for
Speaker 310
3:20:35
removal of a member of a school district board of directors.
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
3:20:40
Senator Irvin, you're recognized. Thank you, members. So similar to mayors, city councils, or quorum courts, what this bill does by Representative McCollum is that it outlines a recall process for a school board member. There's no cost for a special election because it aligns with the next school board election. But the process is outlined in the bill and happy to answer any questions. Any question for Senator Irvin? Anyone wish to speak against or for?
Speaker 6
3:21:15
Senators closed. Any objection rolling the vote? Seeing no objection. Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator Scott, no. Flowers, no. Any other Senator? Seeing no other Senator, please cast up the ballot. By vote of 33A to nay, House Bill 1933 passes. Please return to the House.
Chair
Unverified
3:21:45
House Bill 1942. House Bill 1942
by Representative Johnson, Senator Davis, to require certain reimbursement rates for home and community-based services within risk-based provider organizations. senator davis you're recognized thank you madam
president so this bill just requires dhs to do a rate
study and when they do that rate study they've got to show what they should be paying for home and community based services this is in regards to the past the passes and then it just says that
if the rate study is done and the outcome of the rate study produces more produces an increase greater than 10%, then the department may phase in the rate increase across two years to pay for these services. Otherwise, those need to be added to be able to pay people who are providing these services within the pass. I'm happy to answer
Speaker 6
3:22:42
any questions. Questions for Senator Davis? Anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed. Any objection rolling the vote?
Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator wish to change his or her vote? Dotson, present. King, not voting. Payton, no. Any other senator? Seeing no other senator, please cast up the ballot. By vote of 32 yea, 1 nay, 1 not
Chair
Unverified
3:23:13
voting, 1 present. House Bill 1942 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill
Speaker 218
3:23:19
1943. House Bill 1943, by Representative Johnson, Central Davis,
Chair
Unverified
3:23:23
to amend the Medicaid Provider-Led Organized Care Act and to improve the enrollment and selection process in risk-based provider
organizations and to empower beneficiaries with information. Senator Davis, you're
recognized. Thank you, Madam President. This bill also deals with passes. It's really a patient-centered bill. It requires that
the passes create an online rating system with several different metrics so that families can know how well each individual pass is providing services, so when they're making decisions during open
enrollment, they can look and see what they think best fits for them, which pass best fits for them. It also requires that on those websites that passes have up-to-date provider directory information, so again, that during open enrollment, parents know which of the providers are in network with their pass. That's a current problem right now. They're having to sign up for a pass or be assigned to one, and it's hard to get information about which providers are actually in network.
And so they end up choosing a pass where maybe all their providers are not in that network, and then they can no longer see that provider. It's not a covered service. And so this is just transparency on the front end so that families can see what's available and make decisions based on what they think best suits their child that needs these services. I'm
Speaker 6
3:24:50
happy to take any questions. Questions for Senator Davis. Seeing no questions, anyone wish to speak against or for? Senator has closed.
Any objection to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any Senator wish to change his or her vote? Senator
Chair
Unverified
3:25:08
Payton, present. King, not voting. Bryant, present. Dotson, present. Any other Senator?
Speaker 6
3:25:14
Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a vote of 31,
Chair
Unverified
3:25:20
yea, zero, nay, one, not voting, three, present. House Bill 1943 passes. Please return to the House. House Bill 1952.
Speaker 98
3:25:30
House Bill 1952 by Representative Hawkins, Senator Dismang, to assist the administration of the
Chair
Unverified
3:25:36
State Athletic Commission to provide funding to the State Athletic Commission to continue its mission to promote a robust, healthy, and
safe combative sports industry. Senator Dismang, you're recognized. Thank you, Governor.
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
3:25:48
Members, just a couple of statements. Every state has an athletic commission that oversees these types of events. And so back in 2017, I believe, we pulled professional wrestling out of the purview of the athletic commission.
There's been a request by WWE and others to have that reinstated because it helps with their insurance rate. As it states right now, they're only allowed to charge $150. That does not cover the mileage, hotel, whatever, the other expenses associated. And so they are losing money as a commission. They're not able to cover their expenses. And this is going to allow them to recoup those and essentially break even. So there's no new fees, but it brings professional wrestling back in. And again, one of the main reasons for that is that is a request by the WWE.
And we will stand to lose those events if we do not have an operating athletic commission. With that, I would be happy
Chair
Unverified
3:26:43
to take any votes. Any questions? Anyone wish to speak
Speaker 313
3:26:53
against or for? Senator has closed. No, no, no. And that's the bottom line because Jonathan Disming said so.
Speaker 6
3:27:10
Any objections to rolling the vote? Seeing no objection, Madam Secretary, please roll the vote. Any senator
Chair
Unverified
3:27:19
wish to change his or her vote? Payton, no. Stubblefield, no. Bryant, no. Any
Speaker 6
3:27:29
other? Seeing no other senator. Penzo, present. Any other senator? Dotson, no. Any other? Please check the board. Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by a
Chair
Unverified
3:27:43
vote of 30A, 4A, 1A, 1 present.
House Bill 1952 passes. Please return to the House. Senator Penzo, recognized for
a better be a non-motion. Hopefully
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:28:03
it's a quick one. Thank you, Madam President. motion to extract house bill 1946 from education committee that would be the baby olivia amended version where we addressed all of the
objections that the education committee made i would just like the opportunity to present it somebody said why don't you
Speaker 6
3:28:35
run both and i think we should The motion is to extract House Bill 1946 from education. Is that correct?
Chair
Unverified
3:28:47
That is correct. Yes. Question for Senator
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
3:28:50
Penzo. But you're extracting it for purpose of vote, not amendment.
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:28:54
Not today. I don't want to vote on today. I'm extracting for the purpose of bringing it
to the floor tomorrow. I'm not trying to do it today. That way everybody can actually take a look at it tonight, decide if the changes were made adequately. Okay, so you're not going to
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
3:29:10
amend it, you're just trying to... Right, right. I just wanted a clarification. Senator Hester? So a question
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
3:29:17
to the chair. If a bill is extracted, does it have a three-day cooling period? So would the rules need to be suspended to hear it tomorrow?
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:29:25
They would. Okay. Correct. i was going to do this thursday
Speaker 44
3:29:49
but uh the mood wasn't right so council advises that there is a two-day cooling period but that
you can extract it now and then ask for the
Speaker 79
3:29:59
rules to be suspended to take it up tomorrow so Yes, which is
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:30:02
my intent to address this tomorrow after everybody's had a chance to look at it tonight. I'm just asking for the opportunity to extract it now, review it, and then we
can discuss tomorrow whether or not y'all want to suspend the rules and allow me to hear it. All right, you all have heard the motion.
Speaker 361
3:30:26
I'm sorry, Senator Scott, do you have a question? I do. You're recognized? Dr. Penzo, you
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:30:41
ask a lot of us. Wouldn't you agree? I would agree. Okay. And I do appreciate the latitude I've had. I mean, y'all gave me the opportunity to fix the race selection abortion ban and allowed everybody to vote for it that had voted against it. I would like to offer the same opportunity for the members
that have voted against baby olivia to have the opportunity to vote for the cleaned up
version of it and have that you know set the record
Speaker 539
3:31:09
straight on how you feel so question for
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
3:31:13
sent by senator urban so i know that senator davis um filed a bill and passed a bill do we
know the status of that bill that also addresses exact same issue i don't is it
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:31:25
this this addresses different things it's a little bit more broad
Chair
Unverified
3:31:29
in scope than hers was. But do we know the status of that bill? We do not. Any other questions? If not, motion to extract House Bill 1946. All right. Is this debatable? Yep. Just on the motion, not the bill itself. Right. So,
Senator Davis, you're recognized to speak against the motion to extract.
Thank you, Madam President. So, a little bit of clarity. We did pass a bill. The bill that myself and Representative Kendra Moore passed, Senate Bill 450, passed off the House floor today. There were no amendments to it, so it is on its way to the governor's desk. That bill addressed the amendments that we were requesting in Senate education for the Baby Olivia bill. Those amendments were not made, so we filed a bill that addressed our concerns. After I ran that bill out of Senate Ed, Senate Bill 450, another bill was filed, which is the bill that we're debating on extraction.
And that bill failed in Senate education. because we already have a version that, as I said, is on its way to the governor's desk. For that reason, I'm asking you to vote no on
Speaker 330
3:32:57
extraction. Anyone else wish to speak for or against the motion to extract? Senator,
Chair
Unverified
3:33:02
would you like to close? I would, thank you,
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
3:33:07
and I'll make it real quick. So if you remember, this was the bill that we went back and forth.
We talked about amending it. This is the language that we were going to amend, and they decided to run the other bill. So this is the agreed-to language as well. It just addresses the video that was cut out. So this has no mention to baby Olivia, no mention to live action. We addressed the age. We addressed everything that was asked to be addressed, and this is what we were going to run.
and they decided to file a separate bill. So I don't believe you can ask questions during closing, unfortunately. But I would just ask for a good vote on this. This is the language that Mary and I agreed to come to address all the concerns they had, and there was a choice to run a different bill. Like I said, this is political, and everybody in here knows it's political. So I would like
the opportunity to run my version of the agreed-to amended language.
Speaker 44
3:34:19
And I'd appreciate a good vote. All those in favor of the motion to
Chair
Unverified
3:34:28
extract House Bill 1946 from education, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All
Speaker 168
3:34:34
those opposed? No. No's have it. Motion fails.
Speaker 356
3:35:08
Clark, Crowell, Crowell, Davis, Dees, Dees, Dismang,
Chair
Unverified
3:35:20
Dotson, English. Flippo. Flowers. Gilmore. Hammer. Hester. Hickey. Hill. Hill. Irvin. Blake
Johnson, Blake Johnson, Mark Johnson, King, Letting, Love, McKee, McKee, Murdoch, Murdoch, Payton? Yes. Penzo? Yes. Petty? Petty? Rice? Aye. Scott?
Speaker 58
3:36:12
Stone? No. Stevifil? Yes. Sullivan? Aye. Tucker? No. Wallace? No.
Chair
Unverified
3:36:24
Any senator wish to vote on the motion? Who did not? I see D's. Yes. Boyd, yes. Hammer, yes. Any other senator? Hill, no. Any other senator
Speaker 6
3:36:38
who did not vote or who wishes to change your vote? Crowell, no. Any other senator? Seeing no other, please cast up the ballot by vote of 14 yea, 15 nay, 5 not voting, 1 present.
Chair
Unverified
3:36:55
The motion to extract House Bill 1946 fails. Senator Hester, you're recognized. Members, I'm going to
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
3:37:00
ask that we adjourn for the day. We got through quite a bit. We will come
back in at 9 a.m. tomorrow. But we've got a 5 o'clock that's pretty important. Madam Secretary,
Speaker 218
3:37:29
We are committee on state agencies, Tumas first, Senate House Bill 1951 by Representative
Chair
Unverified
3:37:39
Collins, recommended to pass. Calendar.
Speaker 218
3:37:44
Notice of passage of Senate Bill 451 and then the emergency clause from the House. Enroll it. House Bill 1671 by Representative Johnson, Senator Boyd, to amend the law concerning the gross receipts tax and to create a general sales and use tax exemption for sales to qualified non-profit organizations, House Bill 1671.
Chair
Unverified
3:38:13
Revenue and tax. House Bill 1878 by Representative McGruder to ensure early voting access for Arkansans residing in population centers and to require a county board or election commissioners to
Speaker 218
3:38:26
conduct early voting in a city. In certain circumstances, House Bill
Chair
Unverified
3:38:42
announcements. Senator Hammer, you're recognized.
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
3:38:44
Hey, members, Senator Hester's tied up back. Notice the board. It got moved to 8.30, not 9. It's 8.30 tomorrow morning. We'll be in session for Senator Hester. And I said I would announce this, but I know we've got another obligation. Independent producers have rescheduled a capital clay shoot, but it conflicts with what we're about to do. So just told
Speaker 75
3:39:06
them I'd announce it. I did my job. All right. If there's no further announcements, The Senate will stand
Chair
Unverified
3:39:12
in adjournment subject to the clearing of the desk until 8.30 a.m. April 16, 2025.
Agenda
Call to Order
Roll Call
Prayer
Pledge of Allegiance
Introductions of Senate Pages
Announcements
Motion for SB451 to be recalled from the House
Motion to transmit HJR1018 to the House
Doctor of the Day
Items to be Read Across the Desk
SR68 M. McKee TO RECOGNIZE THE DIVISION OF ARKANSAS STATE POLICE'S INTERSTATE CRIMINAL PATROL FOR WINNING TOP HONORS AT THE GULF COAST HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA AWARDS.
SR69 D. Wallace TO PROCLAIM APRIL 9, 2025, AS ARKANSAS LINEWORKER APPRECIATION DAY AT THE STATE CAPITOL AND TO COMMEND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE ARKANSAS AS UTILITY LINE WORKERS. FIFTY YEARS OF SERVICE IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES AND DIRECTLY IMPACTING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
SR 70 J. Scott TO RECOGNIZE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES® FOR FIFTY YEARS OF SERVICE IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES AND DIRECTLY IMPACTING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
Motion to suspend the rules to place SR75 on Today's Calendar
SR75 Hester TO HONOR SYLVIA ANN HINDSMAN CORNWELL FOR HER EXEMPLARY, DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE SENATE AND TO THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
Recess
Reconvene
SENATE BILLS TO CONCUR IN HOUSE AMENDMENTS
SB90 #1 & 2 J. English English TO REQUIRE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO BE AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT PUBLIC COMMENT AT EACH MEETING OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
SB313 #1 Irvin Irvin CONCERNING FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATIONS AND TREATMENT; AND TO PROMOTE AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES AND QUALITY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.
SB352 #1 Stone Stone TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; AND TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
SB397 #1 D. Wallace Wallace TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RAIL EMPLOYEES IN REPORTS INVOLVING RAILROAD FATALITIES.
SB431 #1 J. Bryant Bryant TO AMEND THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2013; TO ELIMINATE THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES; TO CREATE SAFE HARBORS FOR VICTIMS; AND TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PRODUCTS THAT RESEMBLE A CHILD.
SB443 #1 J. Bryant Bryant TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF APPRAISERS, ABSTRACTERS, AND HOME INSPECTORS; TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING LICENSURE OF ABSTRACTERS; TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING LICENSURE OF HOME INSPECTORS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB458 #1 G. Leding Leding TO REQUIRE A COURT TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF FACTORS SUCH AS TRAUMA AND INVOLVEMENT WITH THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM ON A PERSON WHO COMMITTED A CRIME AS A MINOR DURING A TRANSFER OR SENTENCING HEARING.
SB519 #1 J. Boyd Boyd TO AMEND THE STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR LIFE INSURANCE; AND TO REGULATE THE PAYMENT OF INTEREST ON DEFERRED PAYMENT OF ANY CASH SURRENDER VALUE ACCORDING TO THE TERMS OF THE POLICY.
SB533 #1 Dees Dees TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCTS BY THE ARKANSAS TOBACCO CONTROL BOARD; AND TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS LAW TO ALLOW REGULATION AND PURCHASE OF CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCTS.
SB546 #1 K. Hammer Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE TRUST FUND CONTRIBUTION FEE FOR WATER PERMITS RELATED TO NONMUNICIPAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS.
SB575 #1 C. Tucker Tucker TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSTALLMENT FEES COLLECTED IN CIRCUIT AND DISTRICT COURTS; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSE REINSTATEMENT FEES; AND TO CREATE THE JUSTICE SYSTEM TASK FORCE.
SB611 #1 Dees Dees TO AMEND THE SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ACT.
HB1178 R. Scott Richardson Wallace TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE CONTRACTING OF A MUNICIPAL ATTORNEY; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SUMS COLLECTED BY DISTRICT COURTS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING COST SHARING FOR DISTRICT COURT EXPENSES.
HB1312 Brooks English TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003.
HB1365 K. Brown English TO REMOVE RACIAL AND GENDER QUOTAS AND QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP FOR CERTAIN BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COUNCILS, AND COMMISSIONS.
HB1471 Wooldridge Flippo TO AMEND THE EXPIRATION DATE OF ALL LICENSES OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS IN SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY AND AUDIOLOGY.
HB1562 Gazaway Caldwell CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF AN ORAL LEASE OF FARMLANDS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING NOTICE OF TERMINATION.
HB1624 Gazaway Boyd TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP OF COUNTY LAW LIBRARY BOARDS.
HB1646 McGrew McKee TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED COMPARTMENTS WITHIN A DESIGNATED AREA.
HB1662 B. McKenzie B. Johnson TO PROHIBIT LOBBYING FOR A COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.
HB1682 Puryear Davis TO CREATE THE GOOD NEIGHBOR ACT; AND TO CLARIFY FOOD DONATION LIABILITY AND IMMUNITY.
HB1683 McAlindon Penzo TO PROHIBIT THE PROCUREMENT BY A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY OF AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE OR A COMPONENT OF AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE THAT WAS MANUFACTURED IN WHOLE OR IN PART USING FORCED LABOR.
HB1719 Vaught Davis TO AMEND THE DAYS INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MATERNITY LEAVE DAYS APPROVED BY A SCHOOL THAT OFFERS MATERNITY LEAVE.
HB1728 Ennett Davis TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS RECEIVING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR A DISABILITY AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
HB1766 Ennett CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND EMPOWER (RISE) ACT.
HB1832 M. Shepherd Hester TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AND COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS; AND TO AMEND A RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT AND COURT OF APPEALS UNDER THE AUTHORITY GRANTED BY THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION.
HB1874 B. McKenzie Davis AN ACT TO AMEND THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING THAT EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT AWARDED TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003.
HB1876 R. Scott Richardson Bryant REGARDING THE OWNERSHIP OF MODEL TRAINING AND CONTENT GENERATED BY A GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOL.
HB1913 J. Moore Stone TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSES; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR AN INTERMEDIATE DRIVER'S LICENSE.
HB1916 Bentley Clark TO AMEND THE PROTECTING MINORS FROM MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACT OF 2023; AND TO INCLUDE GENDERAFFIRMING INTERVENTIONS AS A RIGHT OF ACTION FOR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE.
HB1926 Unger Bryant TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE SUSPENSION, REVOCATION, OR NONRENEWAL OF A PERSON'S DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO PAY A COURT-ORDERED FINE; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A DEFENDANT'S INABILITY TO PAY A COURT-ORDERED FINE.
HB1933 McCollum Irvin TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS; AND TO CREATE A RECALL ELECTION AND PETITION FOR REMOVAL FOR A MEMBER OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
HB1942 L. Johnson Davis TO REQUIRE CERTAIN REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR HOME- AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES WITHIN RISK-BASED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS.
HB1943 L. Johnson Davis TO AMEND THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED ORGANIZED CARE ACT; TO IMPROVE THE ENROLLMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS IN RISK-BASED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS; AND TO EMPOWER BENEFICIARIES WITH INFORMATION.
HB1952 Hawk Dismang TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION; TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION TO CONTINUE ITS MISSION TO PROMOTE A ROBUST, HEALTHY, AND SAFE COMBATIVE SPORTS INDUSTRY.
Budget Bills and their Emergency Clauses to be considered which have been introduced by Joint Budget Committee
HB1105 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - SECRETARY'S OFFICE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 20252026 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1163 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND LICENSING - BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1202 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - DISBURSING OFFICER APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR.
SB54 AN ACT FOR THE AUDITOR OF STATE - DEPUTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 20252026 FISCAL YEAR.
SB67 AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC DEFENDER COMMISSION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR.
Budget Bills and their Emergency Clauses to be considered which have been introduced by Senators
SB636 AN ACT TO TRANSFER FUNDS; DEFINE THE MONIES TO BE AVAILABLE IN THE RESTRICTED RESERVE FUND; AND ALLOW ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR STATE DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS; AND TO DECLARE AND EMERGENCY.
SB637 TO AMEND THE REVENUE STABILIZATION LAW; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
Items to be read across the desk
Announcements
Adjourn
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Chair
Unverified
Senator Greg Leding
Unverified
Speaker 6
Senator Jamie Scott
Unverified
Speaker 29
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
Speaker 44
Speaker 47
Senator John Payton
Unverified
Senator Scott Flippo
Unverified
Speaker 54
Speaker 59
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
Speaker 75
Speaker 79
Mike Hager
Unverified
Senator Dave Wallace
Unverified
Speaker 118
Senator Jane English
Unverified
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Speaker 136
Senator Matt Stone
Unverified
Speaker 125
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
Speaker 162
Speaker 143
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
Speaker 98
Senator Tyler Dees
Unverified
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
Speaker 213
Speaker 224
Speaker 225
Speaker 232
Speaker 235
Speaker 251
Speaker 239
Speaker 258
Speaker 259
Speaker 261
Speaker 268
Speaker 30
Speaker 274
Speaker 277
Speaker 286
Speaker 218
Speaker 60
Speaker 303
Speaker 300
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Speaker 310
Speaker 240
Speaker 147
Speaker 336
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
Speaker 347
Speaker 182
Speaker 4
Speaker 356
Speaker 363
Speaker 180
Senator Breanne Davis Chair
Unverified
Speaker 350
Senator Ronald Caldwell
Unverified
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
Speaker 210
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Speaker 415
Lisa Mabry-Williams
Unverified
Senator Clint Penzo
Unverified
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
Speaker 444
Speaker 446
Speaker 58
Speaker 190
Speaker 466
Speaker 481
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
Speaker 33
Speaker 500
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
Speaker 313
Speaker 361
Speaker 539
Speaker 330
Speaker 168
Speaker 377
Speaker 231
Speaker 561