State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs- House
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Transcript
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Bills discussed (49)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB181
Act 242
· 6 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…t said we can't find people with that qualification I wrote Senate Bill 181 and just said you can have that degree or someone approved…”
|
TO AMEND THE LIBRARY LAW; TO AMEND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE STATE LIBRARIAN; AND TO … | D. Sullivan | Notification that SB181 is now Act 242 |
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SB536
· 4 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB536 D. Sullivan TO ABOLISH AND TRANSFER THE ARKANSAS STATE LIBR…”
|
TO ABOLISH AND TRANSFER THE ARKANSAS STATE LIBRARY AND THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD; AND TO … | D. Sullivan | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1024
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1024 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC EMPLOYEES; AN…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC EMPLOYEES; AND TO REPEAL THE LAW PROHIBITING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1028
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1028 A. Collins TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE LAW CONCERNING OBSCEN…”
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TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE LAW CONCERNING OBSCENITY AND THE PROCESS FOR CHALLENGING MATERIALS INCLUDED … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1035
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ORITY GRANTED BY ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51, § 19. HB1035 A. Collins TO CREATE THE ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 2…”
|
TO CREATE THE ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 2025; TO ALLOW ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION; TO … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1036
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1036 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION;…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION; TO ALLOW VOTER REGISTRATION DURING EARLY VOTING AND … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1037
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…OT QUESTION COMMITTEES AND LEGISLATIVE QUESTION COMMITTEES. HB1037 A. Collins AN ACT TO CREATE THE PREREGISTRATION TO VOTE ACT…”
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AN ACT TO CREATE THE PREREGISTRATION TO VOTE ACT; AND TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF ARKANSAS … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1038
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1038 A. Collins TO CREATE THE NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING ACT OF 2…”
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TO CREATE THE NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING ACT OF 2025; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1039
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…NG; AND TO REPEAL VOTER QUALIFICATIONS FOR ABSENTEE VOTING. HB1039 A. Collins TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE BALLOT…”
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TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE BALLOTS; AND TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING ELECTIONS. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1040
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1040 A. Collins TO CREATE THE WATER IN LINE ACT OF 2025; AND TO…”
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TO CREATE THE WATER IN LINE ACT OF 2025; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1041
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1041 R. Scott Richardson TO PROHIBIT DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT DE…”
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TO PROHIBIT DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT DEEPFAKES IN ELECTION COMMUNICATIONS. | R. Scott Richardson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1042
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…RNING PENALTIES FOR MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES RELATED TO VOTING. HB1042 A. Collins TO CREATE THE DIRECT DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2025; TO R…”
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TO CREATE THE DIRECT DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2025; TO REPEAL THE ENSURING ACCESS FOR ALL … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1043
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1043 A. Collins TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING OF NONCANDID…”
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TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING OF NONCANDIDATE EXPENDITURES PERTAINING TO APPELLATE JUDICIAL ELECTIONS; AND TO … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1058
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1058 Unger TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF I…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; … | Unger | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1059
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…GIVING ADVANCE NOTICE TO ENTITIES OF REQUIRED INSPECTIONS. HB1059 Unger TO PROVIDE THE OPTION FOR A FREE LIFETIME HUNTING AND…”
|
TO PROVIDE THE OPTION FOR A FREE LIFETIME HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSE TO A COMMERCIAL … | Unger | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1069
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1069 S. Meeks TO OBSERVE STANDARD TIME YEAR ROUND IN ARKANSAS; A…”
|
TO OBSERVE STANDARD TIME YEAR ROUND IN ARKANSAS; AND TO ELIMINATE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IN … | S. Meeks | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1078
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1078 Long TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING RUNOFF ELECTIONS; AND…”
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TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING RUNOFF ELECTIONS; AND TO PROVIDE FOR A RUNOFF ELECTION FOR … | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1162
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1162 Duffield TO ESTABLISH GOOD FRIDAY AS AN OFFICIAL STATE HOLI…”
|
TO ESTABLISH GOOD FRIDAY AS AN OFFICIAL STATE HOLIDAY. | Duffield | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1281
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…CANDIDATES FOR THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. HB1281 McAlindon TO AMEND REPORTING FOR A CANDIDATE FOR CERTAIN MU…”
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TO AMEND REPORTING FOR A CANDIDATE FOR CERTAIN MUNICIPAL OFFICES AND FOR COUNTY OFFICE; AND … | McAlindon | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1352
Act 937
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1352 Beaty Jr. TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS CONCERNING ACTIONS RELATED…”
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TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS CONCERNING ACTIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN FOREIGN ENTITIES. | Beaty Jr. | Notification that HB1352 is now Act 937 |
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HB1415
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…E ARKANSAS CODE THAT RESULTED FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 1996. HB1415 L. Johnson TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO RESPOND TO A…”
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TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO RESPOND TO A REQUEST FOR A FIRE INQUIRY. | L. Johnson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1459
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1459 L. Johnson CONCERNING RECURRING REPORTS SUBMITTED TO THE GE…”
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CONCERNING RECURRING REPORTS SUBMITTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. | L. Johnson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1461
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ERNING RECURRING REPORTS SUBMITTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. HB1461 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE EVALUATION OF NE…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE EVALUATION OF NECESSITY OF VARIOUS COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS. | L. Johnson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1494
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1494 Hawk TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS GUIDANCE OUT OF THE DARKNESS AC…”
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TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS GUIDANCE OUT OF THE DARKNESS ACT; AND TO REQUIRE STATE AGENCIES … | Hawk | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1604
Act 943
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…AWS CONCERNING ACTIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN FOREIGN ENTITIES. HB1604 McAlindon TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PROHIBITED CONTRACTS…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PROHIBITED CONTRACTS BY STATE AGENCIES; AND TO PROHIBIT THE USE … | McAlindon | Notification that HB1604 is now Act 943 |
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HB1614
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1614 Lundstrum TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DESIGNATIONS RELATED…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DESIGNATIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN CRIMINAL JUSTICE GRANT PROGRAMS. | Lundstrum | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1621
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1621 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AN…”
|
TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO EXEMPT PERSONAL INFORMATION OF … | Wardlaw | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1631
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…S, ELECTED MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS, AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILY. HB1631 Wardlaw TO ADDRESS THE ISSUANCE OF HUNTING AND FISHING LICE…”
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TO ADDRESS THE ISSUANCE OF HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES TO FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS. | Wardlaw | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1667
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…AND THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. HB1667 Bentley TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AN…”
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TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING … | Bentley | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1694
Act 996
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…STATE AGENCIES TO PURCHASE PROMOTIONAL ITEMS MADE IN CHINA. HB1694 Hawk TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ALTERNATIVES TO ELECTRONIC…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ALTERNATIVES TO ELECTRONIC FILING FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS. | Hawk | Notification that HB1694 is now Act 996 |
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HB1720
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…RKANSAS; AND TO ELIMINATE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IN ARKANSAS. HB1720 Vaught TO CREATE THE BABIES AT WORK ACT; TO ALLOW STATE AGE…”
|
TO CREATE THE BABIES AT WORK ACT; TO ALLOW STATE AGENCIES TO PERMIT PUBLIC EMPLOYEES … | Vaught | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1753
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…DIANS TO BRING THEIR INFANTS SIX MONTHS OR YOUNGER TO WORK. HB1753 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION; TO OPT…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION; TO OPT-OUT OF THE NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT … | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1769
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…BLIC MEETINGS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967. HB1769 Barnett CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER STANDARDS; AND T…”
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CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER STANDARDS; AND TO REQUIRE A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OR ASSESSMENT TO BECOME … | Barnett | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1773
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…END PROVISIONS OF ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51, § 5. HB1773 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR BA…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR BALLOT QUESTION COMMITTEES AND LEGISLATIVE QUESTION COMMITTEES. | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1849
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1849 Gramlich TO ALLOW FOR THE CROSS DEPUTIZATION OF MUNICIPAL,…”
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TO ALLOW FOR THE CROSS DEPUTIZATION OF MUNICIPAL, COUNTY, STATE, AND TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ON … | Gramlich | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1878
Act 978
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1878 McGruder TO ENSURE EARLY VOTING ACCESS FOR ARKANSANS RESIDI…”
|
TO ENSURE EARLY VOTING ACCESS FOR ARKANSANS RESIDING IN POPULATION CENTERS; AND TO REQUIRE A … | McGruder | Notification that HB1878 is now Act 978 |
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HB1883
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1883 Long TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS FOURTH AMENDMENT PROTECTION ACT…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS FOURTH AMENDMENT PROTECTION ACT; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE … | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1884
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…CONCERNING THE COLLECTION OF ELECTRONIC DATA AND METADATA. HB1884 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE MARKING AND COUNTING O…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE MARKING AND COUNTING OF PAPER BALLOTS. | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1973
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1973 B. McKenzie TO PROVIDE THAT A GOVERNMENTAL BODY SHALL NOT U…”
|
TO PROVIDE THAT A GOVERNMENTAL BODY SHALL NOT USE STATE OR LOCAL FUNDS TO ENTER … | B. McKenzie | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB12
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…bers and Staff Only'. SENATE BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle SB12 B. King TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AN…”
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TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING … | B. King | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB184
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB184 D. Sullivan TO TRANSFER THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ARKANS…”
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TO TRANSFER THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ARKANSAS EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION COMMISSION AND THE STATE … | D. Sullivan | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB376
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB376 A. Clark TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; A…”
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TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING … | A. Clark | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB471
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB471 A. Clark TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANDIDATES FOR NONPART…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANDIDATES FOR NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS; AND TO ALLOW CERTAIN CANDIDATES FOR … | A. Clark | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB486
Act 955
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB486 B. Johnson CONCERNING SAFETY AND PRIVACY IN CERTAIN ENTITIE…”
|
CONCERNING SAFETY AND PRIVACY IN CERTAIN ENTITIES; AND CONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF MULTI-OCCUPANCY RESTROOMS, CHANGING … | B. Johnson | Notification that SB486 is now Act 955 |
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SB489
Act 950
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB489 G. Leding TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF…”
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TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF A MONUMENT ON THE STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS … | G. Leding | Notification that SB489 is now Act 950 |
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SB491
Act 956
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB491 K. Hammer TO REQUIRE A VENDOR THAT CONTRACTS WITH THE OFFIC…”
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TO REQUIRE A VENDOR THAT CONTRACTS WITH THE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS DIVISION TO SUBMIT DATA FOR … | K. Hammer | Notification that SB491 is now Act 956 |
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SB565
Act 936
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…AW CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE. SB565 Flippo TO ALLOW PROCUREMENT CERTIFICATIONS TO BE COMBINED;…”
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TO ALLOW PROCUREMENT CERTIFICATIONS TO BE COMBINED; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE REPRESENTATION IN … | Flippo | Notification that SB565 is now Act 936 |
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SB570
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…Y AND THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB570 J. Dotson TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP O…”
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TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE. | J. Dotson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB613
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…AND TO AMEND THE COOPERATIVE PURCHASING REPORTING DEADLINE. SB613 C. Penzo TO CREATE AN ELECTION PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE FLUOR…”
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TO CREATE AN ELECTION PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE FLUORIDATION OF A PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM. | C. Penzo | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
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So if everybody begin to take their seats so we can get started we have a lot of business to
do This meeting of state agencies is hereby called to order. Chair sees a quorum.
As I said just a moment ago, we have a lot of business to do in this committee. We have a very limited amount of time, and I want to let all those in attendance know, looks like there's not as many people as there was this morning, but I want to let everyone know that I've already heard requests for members to limit public comment. That has not been the practice of this committee over the course of this session, And I want to make it clear that I do not want to do that. I think it's a very important part of the process that everyone who has come to the Capitol to speak has the opportunity to do so.
But please be aware that you need to, given our time constraints, keep your comments brief. If other people have made the point that you have made or that you intend to make, you may just want to say I echo someone's comments and forego speaking because we only have a limited amount of time. And if this continues to become repetitive or drag on for longer than would be necessary, and someone makes that motion, I'm going to be inclined to take it. The amount of time that we have is finite.
This session is going to end April 16th, and we only have a few more committee meetings left, and we've got a lot of business to do. So I hate to do that, and I'm taking a lot of time explaining this. But with that being said, just please be aware of that going forward. Senator Sullivan. you are recognized on Senate bill 536 and my understanding is that you have an amendment that's correct mr. chair all right staff do you have that amendment
staff will pass out that amendment to the committee members All right.
Everyone should have a copy of the amendment. Senator Sullivan, you're recognized to present the amendment. Thank you again,
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:59
Mr. Chair and committee. So I had a call recently. We've had many, several amendments to the bill, multiple, at the request of librarians and community members that we've made. This bill is a result of that. I was called the other day on page 19, lines 5 and 6, where it says the collection under subdivision of this section shall not include any material described under five dash.
That was inappropriate material. So I don't think there was a problem with it, but in order to clarify that, we have stricken that line. So the concern was that a collection would have to meet standards where it was appropriate without a definition there nor a definition to collection, and we struck those lines. That's the amendment. Senator Sullivan
has explained his amendment, are there any questions by the committee? Seeing no questions by the committee, I have a motion to adopt the amendment.
Representative Meeks, is there any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all those in favor, say aye. All those opposed, the ayes have
it. The amendment has been adopted. Senator Sullivan, you're recognized to present the bill as amended.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
4:13
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And again, I don't want to be too repetitive, but I think it's critical for our members to know that the original bill had the ATN in it and the PBS, I'm sorry, the library board, and we met with AETN with a short meeting, couple of hours, and they agreed,
and we pulled that bill down. I had the same meeting with the state library director and members of the library board. A special meeting was called, and I spoke to most of the members individually. Didn't ask them to make a commitment, but just ask that they take a stand with a public statement for the board only, non-binding, that said we're going to protect children from sexually explicit material, A. And B, we disaffiliate at the State Library Board with the American Library Association.
They declined on a vote of 4-3. Two very simple requests that were denied, and that opened the door. Then we came up with 563. members i'm going to assume i think you all have read the bill you've heard from people on this so i'm not going to go through the bill very much just to address a couple of points on issues that i've heard one of the i heard about the people were concerned about the definition of a director that who can be a director of a library the current statute is that librarians
must have a master's degree on a course approved by the American Library Association. Folks, there are no universities or colleges in the state of Arkansas to my knowledge that offer that. So they're going out of state. So as a result of that and hearing from board members that said we can't find people with that qualification, wrote Senate Bill 181 and just said you can have that degree or someone approved by the board. Well, I heard from a number of librarians
that said we don't like that. We're a professional organization. We want professional standing. So we put that in the bill. In the bill, it offers two options. I don't have the page in front of me right now, but there are two options. One is to have a master's degree approved by a national accrediting agency, not necessarily the ALA, or to a bachelor's degree with some experience. So we're offering very good options there
to maintain quality work. Also, I know we have regional libraries. So if you have a regional library and you're the librarian in charge, which is in the bill, then you don't have to have all of those at each individual library. You have to have somebody in charge at the regional level that has that higher degree. And if you don't have someone, they have three years to reach that. If you notice on page 13,
it talks about definitions of libraries and directors. Again, those are just definitions. There's people that are confused about what passed a couple of years ago, 372. This bill does not address the appropriateness of material in the library. It does talk about sexually explicit material as defined by federal law, it references that, and that talks about genital to genital contact.
It talks about how to define that, but that's just in definitions. It has nothing to do with what's in your collection. What the bill does say is that you have to have a plan, and that plan, the Department of Education will work with you on that plan on how to protect children. So for example, if you have a one room library and you have material that falls under that classification, what might your plan be
and how might you work with the department? Well, you would work with the department, for example, to put a sign up that says adults only. You have worked your plan and you qualify for state aid. Couple things in general. Folks, under the Department of Education, everything we're doing is geared towards literacy. And I think you know that and every step we've taken has been geared towards literacy. We have libraries that have what they call libraries of things.
And they have everything from lawn mowers to garden equipment to fishing rods to all kinds of things. Folks, that's fine. If they wanna have a library of things and their county wants to pay for that, have at it, it's a great thing. However, if we're going to have a library of things, we shouldn't be using state money to have that. Another question that's come up is whether the Department of Education can handle that.
And Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'd like to bring Secretary Oliva to the
Speaker 14
9:30
table. Yes, sir. Secretary Oliva, you're recognized. Good afternoon. Jacob Oliva, Department of Education. Thank you for allowing me this session to speak in a committee that's not an education committee, so new chartering territories here. I think we've been asked a question a lot about if we were to dissolve the State Library, which functions as a separate state agency, and bring in those programs and services
under the umbrella of the Department of Education, would there be an interruption of services? So we've done an analysis of the programs that they support primarily a big program of state aid we feel very confident that if we bring those tasks under our agency especially with the staff that currently works within the library we can make a full seamless transition maintain a lot of the state-level procurement and services that we provide the state libraries we do not believe that there will be a reduction in service in fact
we feel like we can be even more efficient and eliminate a little bit less bureaucracy. Any rules that would need to be promulgated under the capacity that was formally under the state library system would then just be able to come to the State Board of Education, which we already have a process in place for promulgating and implementing those rules. So we feel very confident that if this bill was to pass favorable, we'll make sure that we're not only continuing high-level support services for our libraries across the state, but maybe find ways to help make them even better.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
10:53
And just to piggyback on that a little bit, in just a committee a few minutes ago, Department of Education was streamlining reporting. They were helping people do a better job and more streamlined report. Last in the Senate, we had a gentleman that testified that he had 1,200 data points on reports to fill out. I asked for the copy of those reports. Folks, most of it was just duplicate, a different name, a different address, the same thing. They just have to fill it out seven times. I get that. part, but there are ways to streamline those things.
We just passed that bill on education, and there are a lot of ways to do that. If you read another place in the bill talks about incentives, folks, we have about $5,800 that we use to distribute to our libraries. It's done on a capitated rate. It doesn't have any incentives in it for libraries that are doing special things. There are things that we can do to incentivize increasing literacy rates in our libraries.
We can give money, for example, if you want to hire staff trained in the science of reading. We can make accommodations for that. I've already talked to the secretary. They have one of the largest professional development libraries in the state. That right now is not accessible to librarians, charter schools. We can make that accessible. So there's a lot of great things that can happen that the board in the past has not sought to do those things.
This board under the Department of Education will be forward looking, we can achieve that. Folks, we have, for example, the CALS library here in town gets $500,000, over $500,000, about 10% of the entire budget. And I have it on record and a quote from the director that says he doesn't need the money, $500,000. He doesn't need the money, but he keeps getting it while some of our rural libraries struggle.
Well, why are we not having some incentives out there and some other criteria? The previous board has not done that. Members, I think if we could go on and on about this, you could read the bill and representative, you have anything to add or we'll take questions. We'll take any questions. Thank you. All right. Senator Sullivan has explained
his bill. Are there any questions about the committee? Representative Clowney, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'm sorry, I was a few
Representative Nicole Clowney
Unverified
13:27
minutes late to the presentation. So if you missed it, or if you said this and I missed it, I apologize. But
a concern was raised to me about some rural libraries, specifically with respect to the degrees that are required under current law versus what would be required if this change went through. It's my understanding that if this change goes through, in order to be a librarian, you would have to have at least a bachelor's degree. Is that true of all librarians currently? And if
not, what happens to those rural librarians who don't have those degrees?
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
14:04
Sure. Good question. One I've gotten. So, one, there's three years to remedy that. And an opportunity to meet with the board if you need extended time to achieve that. our goal is not to close libraries our goal is to keep professional people in there the senate bill 181 that passed allowed a library board to hire whomever they choose and i heard from a number of librarians that thought that was a terrible idea that there needed to be a professional standard so this bill has a professional standard you either have a
master's degree or you have a bachelor's degree in library sciences or a related field So you really have three different choices there, and you have three years to get there, and you have an appeal process if you can't make it. Does that answer
your question? Thank you. Representative Ray,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
14:59
you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Sullivan, I've gotten a lot of emails about this bill, as I'm sure it's not a surprise to anybody here.
I guess I'm, you know, a lot of these emails say the same thing, and I just want to give you a chance to address them if you would like. It says that libraries are going to lose millions of dollars, disrupt library services to the people of Arkansas, including things like interlibrary loan and things like that. Can you comment on that? Sure, it's in the
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
15:37
bill that all the interlibrary loans stay.
You know, folks, it's much like having a business. And your business sells and you have new ownership, new leadership. It doesn't mean the business goes out of business because they bought it because they want to stay in business. So our goal is to keep libraries going and fully funded. I think we've done a poor job of allocating funds in order to help maximize what they do. And I think Secretary Leva said that exact same thing. There's a lot of streamlining we can do. There are no incentives built in.
Again, you have, I don't know where in the bill they say that. I've talked to a lot of people. Many of the people, when I said, have you read the bill, said no. I haven't read the bill. But the things that you're addressing are in the bill. The data points, the databases of online, all that stays. We're just taking the leadership and replacing the leadership. The very first two paragraphs say everything stays. So if someone's going to say we're going to lose our funding,
I need to see specifically where that is and how they would lose it.
Does that address your question? Yes. Thank you. Representative Collins, you're
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
16:57
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So it's from your initial story, it sounds like
you came to the library board with a couple of demands and they didn't heed the demands and therefore we have this bill. But I guess I kind of want to understand why you think that it should work that way. I mean, you're one legislator. You're not the entire legislature that's passed a law signed by the governor that is the policy of the state.
You're one of us, you know, and you have things that are important to you, and I understand that, and that's fine. We all do. But why should this
board, which is an independent board, you know, answer to your call? I mean, sure, a couple
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
17:38
of things. One, they're not an independent board. They're under the oversight currently of the legislature. So, yes, I'm one of several in the legislature. I think you ran a couple of bills the other day having to do with libraries and books and things. They don't answer to you any more than they answer to me. We come before the committee
People vote on your bills. They vote on my bills Second it wasn't a demand. It was a request That if you would like to remain solvent and do what you do To do do these two simple things very easy, and they chose not to Now that's is on
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
18:20
okay. I mean, I guess that sounds to me like a threat, and now we're delivering on the promise behind the threat.
But why not just propose the legislation with the things that you wanted them to do? That's the other related part to this. Why not, if affiliation with the American Library Association or whatever it is is important, why not just make that the policy of the state with the buy-in from the legislature rather than the or else, which is,
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
18:50
I guess, where we are right now? I think they can do a lot better, and I think this bill helps with accountability. After talking with librarians in the Senate testimony, people said, we just want the money.
We don't want oversight. Well, that's our job. You hear that librarians are the experts in library book selection. That's true. They have oversight over that. That's true. They're the best trained to do that. That's true. We're the legislators, we're the keepers in how to distribute the taxpayers' money, we're the experts in that, and that's where we came to a disagreement. The librarians want very little oversight, and it was testified almost word for word
that way. They want to run their library the way they want to run their library, and I agree with that. I hope that would work. They did not take the offer and opportunity for them to be in charge. Now, I don't see how one can say I'm threatening them when I gave them a very easy opportunity to stay solvent. That's not a threat. That's an opportunity, but you can take it how you want. I can't determine how you take it, but I gave an opportunity to do that, and any decision
will be made by 135, 136 people. Well,
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
20:11
I will say it does sound like a threat even as you put it that way, but
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
20:18
I appreciate the answer. Representative Collins, if I may, I personally have received numerous complaints from citizens that have expressed their disappointment that the library board does not seem to be willing to address what they think is the real need. And I think several of them are going to be here
tonight to speak about their problem
that they have basically with the board not being receptive to their complaints.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
20:51
I'll just add one more thing. When people came to me, I asked them if they had gone to the board. I
did not talk to one librarian that called the board up and said, why did you make the decision that you made would you talk to Senator Sullivan and see what he if we agree to what he's requested would he drop the bill I mean that's exactly what happened with the live with the ATN we had some problems they agreed to work
together when we had problems when I had problems with the board and I'd say other legislators have problems with the library board they refused to sit down the table and address it. I didn't have anybody come to me on Senate Bill 181 and 184. I didn't have any librarians come to me and say can we work with you. They only came when it passed the Senate the other day and people literally chased me down in the hall. I had to hang up on one because they just were so aggressive and rude that I didn't need to talk to them, but I made the change they
requested in this amendment right
Representative Cindy Crawford
Unverified
22:03
here representative Crawford you're recognized thank you mr. chair thank you for bringing this bill I know we've had some issues in my area not my
district but in my area of sexual books when kids walk in the door that they were displayed. So we do need some regulation. The things I guess that
the emails that I've gotten, you've touched on, but some are saying that they receive private funds that if it's a government entity, they would no longer be able to receive. Have you heard that? Yes, and that's in the bill that they
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
22:51
can still receive if they have foundations and private funds. They can still receive those private funds and federal government funds. All those flow the same
way. And I'll touch on what you just said about sexually explicit material. This bill defines what that is, but it doesn't prevent the library from having sexually explicit material in the library. If folks choose to do that, they can they just need to make it have a plan on keeping children from that if they do that then they have met the qualifications to receive state aid I don't know if you all saw it but yesterday day before yesterday meta
Instagram said that protecting children from sexually explicit material is critically important and they are changing their format to protect children they're going to gray out and block out sexually explicit material they're going to have parent signatures folks the whole nation is taking steps to protect children why that was so hard for the library association to say we will have a statement non-binding statement non-binding statement on how
we're going to protect children and they refused to do that that's just
Representative Cindy Crawford
Unverified
24:13
incredible to me. Follow-up. You're recognized. So they'll still be able, the libraries will still be able to
have their own boards and friends of the
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
24:23
library and all of those that help raise funds? Yes. Their local library board will stay intact, as will their funding streams, foundations, all those remain. Whatever is there now remains there. This bill does not affect the local library
Board directly. It's just the Oversight
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
24:47
Board. Okay. Thank you. Representative Ennick, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you already addressed this, please forgive me. Who will make
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
24:59
decisions about content restrictions? The Local Library and Local Library
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
25:06
Board. If this passes, what are the Department of Education's plans to increase workforce training opportunities through the state
library and to assure those programs are available in every corner of the state?
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
25:21
Yes. I mean, that's in the bill. That whatever programs are being done now remain. The goal is to improve those. Like I said, to have access to the state professional development library. They don't have access to that now. Our goal is to give them access. Personally, my goal is to have training in the science of reading available on that website and for our folks. Our goal as a state and our policies as a state is to improve literacy.
And that's what I think we can do a better job of focusing on. And a key to that
Representative Nicole Clowney
Unverified
26:05
is professional development. thank you representative clowny you're recognized thank you mr chair just to go back to follow up on some something that representative collins was asking um i know we keep talking about the current makeup of the board and votes that they didn't take and all of that um can you let me know when the next appointment will be made because it sounds like
it was a closed vote it was four to three so when is the
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
26:26
next appointment being made I heard that it's like 45
days from I don't know I
didn't hear the detail of it I could have been 45 days ago I just don't know the answer to that I know that's a it's a tough job they only meet once every quarter and their ability to effectuate significant change we just haven't seen that and I think there's significant opportunity and again I think that's a key word there's great opportunity here just as we've seen in the Department of Education other areas there's great opportunity there and I
think we can effectuate that and I think the legislature will be a big part of that you know we it's our job to have oversight they we can call this department of education before ALC we can call them before our body to ask those questions I'm not aware that ever happened with the current library board that we call them and legislators ask questions of them but I expect that to happen does that answer your question it does I
Representative Nicole Clowney
Unverified
27:30
guess I'm just my sort of
overarching question is if this is going to be a new appointment that we get in just a matter of a month or two by this governor, why not wait and see how, you know, I think some of these issues could be resolved without doing this complete overhaul of the system that this bill proposes. So why is this preferable to just kind of waiting and seeing if we can work out some of the
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
27:53
issues that you have? According to their website, Representative Clowney, when I was looking at it recently, I think the next person's terms expiring,
I believe it was like October. That gives you, you know, of course, much longer than 45 days from now.
And that would be, of course, if that person was
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
28:09
replaced. And I'll just add to that, it's a tough job. Can you imagine a board member who's never faced the criticism y'all face every day? Thousands, hundreds of emails they're getting, telling you that you're stupid, telling you as they walked out of the gallery the other day, we're all crazy and we have no idea what we're doing. How long does a normal person, can they take that? And for us to effectuate significant change, it's going to take people like you and me to make the hard decisions to move forward and help our libraries achieve all the opportunity that's out there.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
28:49
Representative Meeks, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So going to
the function of the library board itself, as I understand it, the main purpose of the library board is to give grants to local libraries and then set policy. I guess there is an actual state library itself. So what we're doing is moving that state library, the one library, under Department of Ed, and then that grant making also to Department of Ed.
Is that a characterization of what they do? They
basically do grants and set policies for the one state library. There are actually
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
29:28
two things there. There are the library board that oversees county libraries, and there's a state library that's pretty much the repository of professional, the documents that we have, other federal and state documents. That's their primary responsibility. If you look in the bill, it separates sections one and two. That's what it does. It says this is now under the Department of Education.
So Department of Education will now be the repository for all those state documents and other things that the state library does. Then they also take over the responsibilities of the board. So the board is supposed to do several other things. The board is also supposed to be in charge of training and training for all of our libraries. And if you'll look at the bill, the bill is very specific on what they're going to help, help with documentation, help for grants. help write the grants, help, you know, what can we do with the plan to improve our services?
So it's very comprehensive in what we can do to streamline and what we can do to help our libraries improve. And the Department of Education already has those people in place, but we're also transitioning all the staff that are currently working. They'll move with those functions. So we're not firing, I don't know how many people work there, 30 or so, but nobody's being terminated as a result of the transition. Okay.
Speaker 69
30:57
Any other questions by the committee? Seeing no,
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
31:07
Representative Beck, you're recognized, sorry. So this is sort of on lines of representative
rights. One of the things that I've heard from emails is that there's additional reporting and there's no funding for that additional reporting. And that's fairly close. So my question is, as far as you know,
is there any additional reporting?
And is it the same? Yeah, I answer that in
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
31:37
two ways. One, the gentleman that testified, and he may be testifying to that today, he's here, that said he had 1,200 data points to fill out. You know, we can streamline that. We can make one report for your seven libraries and consolidate that into one. So all the regional libraries, I would say, would have less reporting, and the data that they're reporting is most likely the very same data they're going to report anyway.
I mean, it's the, you know, who's in charge, what are you doing, what are your services you provide, what's your plan to do better, what's your five-year plan, your three-year plan. I don't know if they have been doing multi-year plans. They should be. You're a business guy. I bet your businesses have one- and three-year and five-year plans. Those are good things. So to say that, one, it's harder, maybe. Some of it will be easier, but that's the goal in education, is for us to streamline those services and make it easier.
Our goal is not to make it harder, which is what you're hearing, but I don't think that's our goal and not what we're going to do. Does that answer your question? Yes,
thank you. All right, seeing no other questions by the committee, thank you, Senator Sullivan and Representative Long. We do have several individuals signed up to speak for and against the bill. I'm going to start at the top of the list, but I want to give you all the same admonition that I did before. Please, to the extent you can, keep your comments brief.
I've been asked by members already to limit the debate. I'm not going to do that at this time. But I'm trusting you to keep your comments to what's necessary and not go on and on necessarily. And so with that, looks like our first witness is June Matheny, speak for the bill. If you would state your name
Adam Webb
Unverified
33:38
and any organization you're here representing, you'll be recognized to present your remarks. Hi.
June Matheny
Unverified
33:49
My name is June Matheny and I'm here representing myself. I've been fighting this type of thing
Speaker 80
33:55
for a very long time, and I did go address the library board in January. I presented my situation that I didn't feel comfortable taking my grandkids to the library because of explicit books that were eye-level with them. One's eight, one's four, and they, so you know how low the carousels are. I also had a handout that I gave out.
No one even bothered to look at it. The people behind me that were there speaking just like I was, they wanted to see it. I went in the library the other day here because I go a lot, but I will not take the grandkids. There's too many things, and you cannot hold on to them. And they love books. We're in the Imagination Library and all that. But what I would ask the library board to do is remove these books from eye level of my kids and put them where their parent will have to take them in to get it or whatever.
I should not have to be the person that is guarding them to keep them from seeing something that's readily available. I know it's my job, and that's okay. I do it, but I choose not to take them now. So, and I also have to look at the books if I get them with some, because I've gotten a couple before and I've had to take them back because they were inappropriate. So that's my concern. And that's all I have to say. Thank you. All right. Thank you,
Ms. Bethany. Would you, before you leave, are there any questions by the committee?
All right. Thank you very much for being here and thank you for those remarks. Next we have Ms. I'm sorry, we have to speak against the bill,
Speaker 84
35:49
John McGraw. Thank you for having me. In my, when
Speaker 85
35:52
I'm on the clock, I'm representing Faulkner County, Van Buren County Libraries, but I'm here today in a personal capacity.
Speaker 86
36:00
I've been doing, I've been in libraries for over 32 years now. I represent a large system that has a pretty solid tax base to handle a lot of these problems. problems, but I'm mostly speaking for rural and small libraries today. My main concern with this bill is the loss of local control. Given that we're supposed to be talking about abolishing the library board, there's a grab bag of ideas in here, many of which are great, many of which we do, but which are expensive and costly, and if you don't have a good return on investment, I don't know that they're good
for every single library, and I don't know that your state age should depend on things like having 30 hours a week of operations, I don't think the interlibrary loan is as cheap as people think it is. Last month alone, we spent about $800 in postage just for interlibrary loan, and looking at some of my peers, my interlibrary loan numbers are very, very small. I don't think that mandating interlibrary loan is going to be a good solution for a lot of libraries that are small libraries, rural libraries that are struggling to get by. Most of the libraries in Arkansas, most of the libraries in the United States are small
and rural libraries and I think there are lots of costs here that have not been laid out for you. I do not think that many libraries are going to be able to have a year's operation budget available in order to qualify for state aid. If any of these libraries go out of eligibility, I don't know that they're going to be able to meet standards like that in the absence of having state aid in order to re-qualify for state aid. That would include the hours requirement. Many of my libraries are not open 30 hours a week, but that's not because I don't want to serve the people who live there.
It's because that is appropriate for the communities that we have, or that is appropriate to the staffing that I have. Last month, I was speaking about, and I'm the guy with the 1200 data point annual report, but that came up in committee last time because the senator was saying that libraries do not want accountability. We have a ton of accountability, and while, yes, I have a few things on my 1,200 data points that don't change, like phone numbers or street addresses, almost everything in that report does change.
The books we check out, the audio books we check out, how many audio books are for children, how many programs are for children, are these programs looking at getting people
Speaker 85
38:19
back to work? All of these things document the things that we do, and they're all very important, but they're not nothing. And we do have a lot of accountability now. And to say that
Speaker 86
38:29
we don't is just not accurate. There's a lot of stuff in here. I also testified against the change in requirements. I eventually came around to see your point of view about having experience qualify.
But now this bill goes in the opposite direction, and it goes even further than where we're at now. It not only says that regional library directors will have to have the degree, but every public library director will have to have the degree. It is true that you cannot get that degree in the state of Arkansas, but I did my program online through Alabama. There are tons of programs. There are services through the state library to help librarians get the degree if they want the degree. The absence of the program in the state of Arkansas is not an obstacle for anybody to get the degree in this day and age.
We have more degreed librarians probably than we have jobs for degreed librarians. Sorry. Other structural issues for me include whether or not the Department of Education is ready to take on the job. A couple years ago, I was part of a committee that recommended changes to the funding so that smaller communities that are unable to have a millage would be able to get state aid. I do not know what has happened with those recommendations. Those rules were sent off the Department of Education.
As far as I know, they're still waiting to get promulgated. I have concerns that anything that would get promulgated would be done in a timely fashion. I'm not confident the Archives is prepared to take on the role that the Archives is given in this document. I'm not sure what's happening with patents as well. That's not even terribly mentioned in here. And finally, yeah, the next appointment is in October. I don't really see that waiting until October to get a 4-3 turn into a 3-4 majority is that big of a burden. I think that we're just throwing the baby out at the bathwater in this case.
Also, March 31st, the IMLS, the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, was shuttered. And I don't know that millions of federal dollars are going to be coming to Arkansas in the near future. I don't know that the State Library is prepared right now for the loss of millions of dollars in operating funds. And if they have to have a plan to do that, I'm sure that's going to curtail the services that they're able to offer. I do not think it's realistic with IMLS shuttered just last week that we're going to be doing
Speaker 85
40:49
business as usual if we dissolve the State Library. I've already gone through two once-in-a-generation recessions in my career. And if a third one arrives next quarter, people, Arkansans are going to be showing up to their libraries in order
Speaker 86
41:02
to search for jobs, to go back to school for degrees they don't have currently, or to simply start a small business. This is what's happened to me in the past recessions, and I don't think our small and rural librarians are going to be there for Arkansans in the next recession when they're needed.
So that concludes my remarks, and I'm happy to take
any questions. Thank you, Mr. McGraw. Are there any questions by the
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
41:30
committee? Representative Rose, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry, could you remind me of your last name? McGraw, M-C-G-R-A-W. Thank you, Mr. McGraw. Thanks for
joining us today. So I understand, am I correctly understanding your testimony or your representation here is that you are supportive of the Arkansas
Speaker 85
41:49
library system? Yes. I mean, I've been on committees to make recommendations. I've made recommendations.
Speaker 86
41:54
I've been a critic, but overall, I think this is a net negative that is going
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
42:01
to cost small rural libraries a lot of money that they do not have. I
got it. In your position, have you or your libraries received any type of requests concerning children's books, materials that may be inappropriate?
Speaker 97
42:16
Yes. We get them all the time. We're currently doing one on
Speaker 86
42:21
a teen book based on a Lifetime movie that allegedly has language that is perhaps stronger than teens are ready for.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
42:28
So have you complied with or responded to all of those requests? I have
one outstanding request based on this book based on a Lifetime movie, yes. So when you say outstanding, does that mean you haven't complied or you are complying? We are complying.
Speaker 85
42:41
We have to put it out to a committee to read. We have a single copy of the book, so getting that through five or seven hands of people to read a book while we're doing everything else that's on our
Speaker 86
42:52
plates takes a little time. But I have all my committee reports in, and I'm ready to write that report to the complainant.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
43:00
So the state library system, or the library board, pardon my lingo here, they
request these materials. And your process is that you then have your folks look through them and decide whether you're going to send
that to them or not? No, no, this is all strictly done in my county system. It
Speaker 85
43:19
has nothing to do with the State Library Board whatsoever. Okay, so who requested that you review those?
Speaker 86
43:25
Oh, anybody can request that we reconsider materials, whether it belongs in our collection or whether it's properly cataloged.
Is this book too strong for teens? Does it belong in the
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
43:36
adult section, for example? So have you had any kind of request from the State Board?
- Not that I recall, no. - So it's your recollection, your testimony, you have not received any requests from the State Board concerning any materials that may be inappropriate for children? - That's correct. - Okay,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
43:55
all right. Thank you. - Representative Meeks, you're recognized. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and appreciate you being here and taking some questions.
So to kind of what Representative Rose was asking, I first became aware of this issue. And before I even get to that, this is my library system that we're dealing with here. I've done programs for the library system, supporter of the library, try to be there. However, that being said, when I learned the issue with the inappropriate books, I did come down to the library, as you know. I did find two extremely explicit sexual books in the children's section, and I did bring that to your attention.
Yes, sir. I filled out the form to ask for that to be reviewed, and I thought that it was going to be taken care of at that point. I didn't hear anything for a year and a half, and a year and a half later, I get a response from you that you felt the books were okay, And they were back on the shelves. And not only that, since I've been back, we actually have new and more copies of those books. And you can understand why that's concerning to myself
as a parent, I don't take my, I would love to take my child to the Faulkner County Library, but we can't because of the fear of some of the material that's there. But I would love to take my child there. We've got a great library there. So this is a concern that I know in my local library hasn't been properly addressed, and actually, unfortunately, doubled down on. So now I'm gonna get to my question here. - Yes. - The hope of the bill is to, by putting under the Department of Education,
the Department of Education has literally billions of dollars of more resources available than the State Library Board. There's more experts, there's more dollars potentially there. So I know you shared some of your concerns. Do you see any potential benefits that would come by putting this under the Department of Education and what benefits might they be? - I
Speaker 88
46:06
can't speak to what benefits there might be
Speaker 85
46:11
from the Department of Education. I can say with regard to your specific book challenge, when you filed that challenge, we had had no staff who had done a book challenge at that point, so we took an opportunity to stop retrain all of our staff in what it was actually we were going to do and that created unnecessary delays and I do apologize for that. The challenge that we're currently dealing with was filed the last
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
46:35
week of January and that letter is ready to go out roughly eight weeks later. All right and I understand that and appreciate you did all that training but the point is that those books are
Speaker 88
46:47
still out there on the shelves I'm assuming. They are sex ed books in their appropriate
sections. All right, I have a question, and I would like Representative Meek
possibly at the appropriate time to clarify exactly the nature of these books that you referenced that you made a challenge about when you took your kids into the library because that's what this is all about. And Mr. McGraw, my question is did the State Library Board reach out to you about these
books that they believed was inappropriate? I've never
Speaker 85
47:20
had any communication with the State Library about the contents of our collection. We are appraised based on the survey that we do, the 1200 data point survey that I do. That qualifies me for state aid. And then that is reviewed quarterly. Under this proposal, it looks like I would be reviewed annually, so it would seem that I would have less accountability under this than the quarterly reviews that I'm currently getting under the State Library. But it's never about the content of our collections or anything like that.
That is done at the county level. That is done, yes, by our county boards. Okay. So I
just want to make clear, it's your testimony here today that the
State Library Board did not ask you about book titles last year. I don't know that that is something that is on their radar. Okay.
Speaker 88
48:06
But no, I've never been contacted by the State Library about the contents of our collection. Okay. So you've never refused to respond to
their requests? I don't recall that ever happening. you're saying you were never contacted by them I don't recall them asking about
the contents of our collection all right well I've gotten I've got some information to
the contrary maybe with some point we can try to figure out you know exactly where the truth lies there but representative Meeks do you have any follow-up okay do you know I guess I suppose I can ask you mr. McGraw do you
Speaker 88
48:43
recall the books that representative Meeks pointed out that
Speaker 85
48:47
he believed were inappropriate? One was called It's Perfectly Normal, and it's frequently challenged. It's a
frequently challenged book. It is in our juvenile nonfiction collection with the other health books about other aspects of the body. Okay, and what's the... The other one was in the teen section.
I don't recall the title. Okay, I mean, so what is challenged about those books? You said they're commonly challenged. What specifically is challenged? Well, I
Speaker 85
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mean, a sex-aid book is going to be challenged when the audience is younger. I mean, that's just a
Speaker 88
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fact. So who was that book available to? What age group was that book available to?
Speaker 85
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Juvenile Collection is roughly middle school and up. So what ages would that be? That might be 12 and up or so. It varies from kid to kid. I mean, not
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everybody's reading at the same level at the same age. Yeah. All right. And then what was the other book? I don't recall, but I remember it was a teen book that was aimed at an older audience, but I don't
recall the title. All right. Maybe Representative Meeks can recall the title at some point,
but I think, you know, the point is, I mean, you would agree with me that we don't
allow children to go into PG-13 movies. They have ratings on movies, right? Movies do have ratings, yes. rated R movies that children are not allowed to go into? I believe that's, yes, there are rated R movies that children are not allowed. And that's based on the content of what's contained in those movies?
Speaker 88
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Is that fair? That would be fair at a movie theater. I don't know about a streaming situation. I'm sure a child at home could watch an R-rated movie if they had a TV set. All right,
but we do a lot of, we don't allow children to do a lot of things without, in some cases, Even parental consent can't cure it. So, for example, up to a certain point, we don't allow children to get a tattoo. We don't allow children to, obviously, have a driver's license until they're 16. We don't allow them to enter into contracts. We don't allow them to take out a loan or do a number of things because we believe that they're not sufficiently advanced to do that.
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Is that fair? That is fair. That's why we have an unattended child policy. we ask that patrons parent their children when they're in the library.
Representative Stephen Meeks
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51:12
- Okay, all right, Representative Meeks. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I do have the two books, I took photos of the covers and I'm happy to pass them around. I think it is a red flag if they keep getting challenged over and over again. The first one is Perfectly Normal, Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health. The other one is Sex, A Book for Teens,
uncensored guide to your body. Both of these have extremely graphic images in them that I think any one of us would be embarrassed to read in public, but I'll pass these around if the committee is interested and they can actually see what the covers of these books look like. And to clarify, I've not had multiple
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challenges on either of these books. I'm just saying that it's perfectly normal Normal as a title is
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a frequently challenged book in public libraries.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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52:03
All right, Representative Rose, you're recognized. Question, Mr. Chair. You're recognized. How many other individuals do we have signed up
to speak for or against this bill? It's a number. It's I'd
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
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52:22
say probably at least 10. And the time is 5.56, and we go back in at what time? Seven. Thank you. All right. Representative Rose, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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52:37
So I've recently just communicated with a State Library Board member who said your library in particular, one of them at least, but I think both, refused to submit the survey that was sent last year with regards to books from the Arkansas State Library
Board. True or false? True or false, sir? I did not submit a response to that, no. So when we
asked you a little bit ago about this very thing, you were very flippant and active.
Representative Andrew Collins
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53:08
Point of order? I think this questioning is getting into the rating here. Wait, wait. What's your point of order? I think the line of questioning is getting into berating the witness who's coming before
the committee. Okay, well, it's the chair's ruling that I've not heard anything from Representative Rose that would be berating. I think he's asking relevant questions at this point. Representative Rose, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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53:35
Chair. So, is your testimony earlier that you support the Arkansas Library Board,
and yet you fail to comply with the request of their survey? Yes.
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Can you explain that? I frequently do not respond to their surveys if I am pressed for time or if I have nothing substantial to offer. The request was made in the springtime when I am working on that 1,200 data point thing. My staff will tell you I am doing very little beyond that survey for about two months. And also, the request was, "Do you have these titles?" That is literally a question you can answer by looking at my catalog.
The State Library has produced a union catalog called Mockingbird that has the collection of every library in Arkansas. You could do a quick search on that and get every
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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library. My question, again, was if you supported the board, if you'd had these surveys, you originally said no, now it's yes. Point of order. This is not on
Representative Nicole Clowney
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54:27
the bill. Let's hear your point of order. This is not on the
bill. Can we please speak to the bill? So your point of order is that Representative Rose's questions are not related to
Representative Nicole Clowney
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54:38
the bill? He is not asking questions on the bill. He's asking questions about the witness's personal background.
Yes, my point of order is that Representative Rose is not asking questions on
the bill. So my ruling as chair
is, I think, as attenuated as it may be, I think relevance is a very broad topic. And so I'm going to
allow Representative Rose to continue. Representative Rose. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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55:07
Chair. So as we continue on this conversation, you're here as a representative of your libraries testifying against this bill. And so I think the point that I'm trying to make, and I believe I am making, along with the bill sponsors on this, is that what's currently going on is not working.
And when Representative Meeks brought up the books that are of concern and I guess haven't actually been addressed, you weren't able to name them. This is obviously something that's regularly occurring and concerning. When it was mentioned earlier about, you know, we don't let kids into R-rated movies, your response was, hey, you know, they can watch an R-rated movie at home. And I think it just lends more credence to why this is needed.
Because we do need to be able to hold libraries accountable when they're not doing it. And so I guess I would like for you to respond to that, because a lot of what I asked the first time around, you didn't really respond to or you denied, and in fact,
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that is the case. I did not respond to a request during the annual survey. That is correct. I frequently miss a lot of questions during the annual survey, and that was one, especially when I considered that you
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could actually look up any of that information through multiple sources. It wasn't privileged information that I alone had.
We do not have frequent reconsideration requests at our
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library either that that that's not the case. Okay. Yeah, they're
very rare Thank you, Mr. Chair Representative Collins He's not here representative Clowney. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize for my colleagues I think that we
Representative Nicole Clowney
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56:44
need to get back to the importance of this bill particularly or unimportance of this bill particularly at this late hour So I just want to have a board Mr. Chair Let's hear
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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56:55
your point of order. I respect Representative Clowney. We disagree, but I do not need her to apologize on my behalf.
Speaker 136
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My questions were related to the bill, and I'm
not sorry. I understand Representative Clowney is free to make whatever statement she believes is necessary at this point. Representative Clowney, you're recognized. Are there current
Representative Nicole Clowney
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57:13
bills that have been passed this legislative session that would solve the exact problems that we've heard over and over and over again over the last few minutes, particularly the appearance of certain materials? It's my recollection. I may be wrong on this. I'm trying to look it up, but it's my recollection that we just passed through this house at least a few weeks ago, a bill that would make all of these materials be behind a locked, in a locked portion of the library or behind a locked case.
Speaker 139
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Do you know that that's true or not? No, I think there was something about school libraries
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to that regard. But that doesn't extend to public libraries. And that would be a difficult thing for public libraries to do. And that came up during the Act 372 discussions. Most libraries in Arkansas are single rooms. I don't know how you would put adult material
Representative Nicole Clowney
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in a lockbox. Okay, that's fine. I was
just asking if that applied to y'all. Thank you. Representative Beatty is not here. Seeing no further questions, thank you, Mr. McGraw, for being here.
Thank you. We appreciate your remarks. Next, we have signed up to speak for the bill, Tony Rose. Ms. Rose, if you would identify yourself for the record, state the name of any organization you may
Tony Rose
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58:26
be here representing and you're recognized to present your remarks. Yes, thank you. My name is Tony Rose. I'm with the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, and I will skip everything else but talk about my personal experience with the Arkansas State Library Board and its culture.
For months, the board ignored or denied their ability or responsibility to make policies to encourage libraries to remove sexually explicit material from children at our public libraries. And during the August 2024 meeting, in trying to get the board to understand their level of authority to act on a motion, former Senator Raypert read to them from their own documents the Arkansas Library Board's authority, specifically Article 2, Section 1, which states, quote,
the board shall act as the policymaking and responsible body for the Arkansas State Library and its functions. Rather than take it under advisement, he was chastised that as a former legislator he should understand the documents better. Another one cried, we don't ban books. It suggests to me, and the point of this is it suggests to me an unwillingness to consider taking any responsibility beyond what they have carved out for themselves, An arrogance that someone who had read, sponsored, and passed more bills other than this body will ever read might deserve consideration.
And at least one of them had not read or understood the purpose of the bills. It's not to ban the books, to move them. That's all that's ever been asked is to move the books away from the children. I presented the board with graphic pictures and language from It's Perfectly Normal, which shows very graphic sex positions, same-sex, heterosexual sex, frontal nudity, bent-over, backwards nudity.
I mean, and there was a complete disinterest in that at all, as there was disinterest in the other five people that presented that day. It may serve to remind or inform the committee that when a state survey of inappropriate titles was done that you have been referencing by the State Library Board, it was reported that Arkansas Public Libraries carried over 350 of those inappropriate titles.
And that does include the libraries, that does not include the libraries that refuse to respond like Mr. McGraw's. Three months later in November, because they only meet four times a year, Sarah DeBusk from the Attorney General's Office confirmed the board did have the authority to make rules as they see fit to disperse funds as long as it goes through the promulgation process. I and five others testified that the books containing pornographic images were still in some of the library's children's sections.
What had been done in Conway schools to fix the issue and pointed out that now that they knew they had the authority to do something about it, to please do so. It became apparent from at least the last four meetings, now representing a year, because we only meet quarterly, that quarterly meetings of this group do not best serve the interests of Arkansans, the refusal to acknowledge inappropriate material in our libraries after seeing it, hearing it, and personal testimony to the
fact their allegiance to the American Library Association's values which state that there should be no age restrictions to any material, and they just do not match up with the Arkansans So the will of this legislature and the will of Governor Sarah Huckabee is that children not be exposed to inappropriate sexual material. This is not doomsday for the libraries as they have whipped into believing.
Under the Department of Education, you have a staff of professionals responsive daily that are already dealing with not only a state library budget, but a wide range of issues related to implementation and understanding of the laws of our legislators who represent the people. So, in closing, many of you have seen or used the testimony of Secretary Oliva or his staff, and I believe the Department of Education would add a level of expertise, professionalism,
and responsiveness in the best interest of Arkansans as represented by their state legislator. It just makes sense. It creates deficiency, removes those who refuse to be accountable, and ensures the legislature has full oversight and authority. Thanks for your time. Thank you, Mrs. Rose. Before you leave, are there any
questions by the committee? Seeing no questions by the committee, thank you for those remarks. Next, we have signed up to speak against the bill.
Adam Webb
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1:03:39
Robin Campbell. Ms. Campbell, if you would identify yourself for the record, state the name of any organization you may be here
Robin Campbell
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1:03:55
representing, and you'll be recognized to present your remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Robin Campbell, and I live in Representative Mayberry's District 92. I'm here today representing myself and to express concerns about SB 536. The bill's sponsor has said he introduced it because the Arkansas State Library Board
declined to disaffiliate from the American Library Association or create non-binding guidance to protect children from sexually explicit material. What hasn't been mentioned is that at that same March 13th meeting, Lupe Pina de Martinez of Mabelville made a motion asking the board to create non-binding policies that would protect children while honoring First Amendment freedoms and library selection policies. That motion passed four to three. As Mr. McGraw said, the Department of
Education already has a two-year backlog in reviewing local library funding. Can it truly absorb this agency without sacrificing services or oversight? The The bill's consequences are wide reaching and unclear. For example, SB 536 is silent on the future of the Arkansas Patent and Trademark Resource Center, which is the only one of its kind in the state. This center provides support to Arkansas entrepreneurs, inventors, and small businesses.
Its trained librarians collaborate with U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices, the Small Business Administration, and the State Department of Commerce to help inventors and startups protect their intellectual property and bring ideas to market. If it's not explicitly preserved, we risk losing it, and with it, opportunities for innovation and economic growth. The bill also eliminates the federal documents collection at the Arkansas State Library, which currently supports 13 smaller depository libraries,
including the Arkansas Supreme Court Library. Without a regional hub, those libraries, I'm sorry, they're not libraries, they're depositories, Those depositories will face increased federal compliance burdens or may have to give up their designations altogether. This bill transfers the state documents collection to the Arkansas State Archives without a clear plan for funding, staffing, or infrastructure, and deletes the legal definition of state and local publications. Without that definition, how will agencies know what records must be preserved?
This opens the door to loss of vital public documents, which undermines transparency. I respectfully ask this committee to slow the bill down, request that it be sent to Legislative Fiscal Services Review for study, and send it to County and Local Affairs for further review. Thank
you. Thank you, Ms. Campbell. Are there any questions
by the committee? Representative Meeks? No. has a motion. Seeing no questions by the committee, thank you, Ms. Campbell, for
Representative Stephen Meeks
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1:06:59
being here and thank you for those remarks.
Representative Meeks, you're recognized for a motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So at this point, we've heard two fours and two against and with the hour being late and I know we still have several people on the list and we want to make sure to give as many people an opportunity to speak before we go back into session. So I'd like to make a motion that we limit testimony to three minutes per person, not including any questions
from the committee. All right, Representative Meeks has made a motion to
limit public comment. That's a proper motion and it's non-debatable. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, the ayes have it. So public debate will
person, not including questions by committee. All right, next we have signed up
to speak for the bill Keith Kellum.
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1:08:15
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm Keith Kellum. I'm a Justice of the Peace of Selene County, but I'm here on my own behalf. And first off, I want to commend Senator Sullivan and Representative Long for bringing this forth. To me, this has been a long time coming. As far as the ALA, the American Library Association, in my personal opinion they're a terrible organization or they have become because
they just are if you read their website they're more in a political organization it wants to promote these this literature that to me is this indoctrination for kids because I've read them and you're seeing them go around the table and as far as uh the library board in our county and I'm speaking as a citizen they've been asked to move them they're not doing anything it's like they don't care
and I don't know what the the fascination is to not move these books but that's all that's been asked from the beginning, which was two or three years ago, and they just said, no, we're not doing it. And I don't know if it's because they want children to see these, but it's not a book banning. It's not a defunding. It's just do the right thing. I mean, it's common sense if you read these books. They're not appropriate for children. You know, I mean, realistically, parents want
their children have these books, you can buy them online, but, you know, children can't, adult books they can't buy, so why can they go in the library? This is not a, these are not private, they talk like they're private libraries. Taxpayers pay these, and I've knocked on doors before, and three-quarters of the people don't want this, so, but, you know, the tune of wokeness and DEI and all that, which they change around the DIA it's the same thing. They're just they just don't want to cooperate so I think
it's time for drastic measures so I support this bill and I hope all of you support it because it didn't have to come to this but I think it has so thank you. Thank
you Mr. Callum are there any questions by the committee? Seeing no questions by the committee thank you for being here and thank you for those remarks next we have signed up to speak against the bill bobby guerrera
i'm sorry mrs guerrera guerra i apologize if you would state your name and any organization
Adam Webb
Unverified
1:11:11
you may be here representing you're
Bobby Garrett
Unverified
1:11:13
ranking as present your remarks my name is bobby guerra I'm here representing myself. I am a constituent from Lowell, Arkansas. Drove three hours to be here today. My husband and I will be homeschooling our son. Technically, we're currently teaching preschool. My issues with this bill are as follows. The ill-defined term access, the subjective case
of age-appropriate material, the use of the word may in place of shall, and the likely impact on taxpayers. Many parents choose to homeschool so they may educate their children as they see fit. Though the library is currently under the Department of Education, it operates independently. Placing the DOE in direct control of public libraries would put homeschooling parents who utilize libraries as an educational resource at the mercy of the DOE and what the DOE deems age-appropriate. As a constituent, I did not ask for this. The definition of access is incredibly
vague and several what-if scenarios immediately come to mind, which should not be the case for something that is to be law. What if something deemed unsuitable was taken by an adult accidentally left in the children's section? Does that deem access or was that an accident by a patron? This bill states numerous times that the DOE may do things in support of the libraries, but not that they shall. See page 14, section 13-2, 1103, lines 20-36, and page 15, lines 1-27, as the term may applies to each line in this section.
This occurs multiple times throughout the bill. This should not be open to interpretation. The DOE shall or it shall not. Finally, as a taxpayer, I must ask why we are considering becoming the only state in the U.S. with no state library, and why we're considering transferring the clearinghouse to the archives, which would be a Herculean effort, and doing so is unnecessary and costly. For those of you who use your libraries, you know how valuable the resources they provide can be. My family lives in a town that has no library, nor do we have free access to a library, so
voluntarily pay to become patrons and access several libraries and their resources and catalogs. This also means that I have read a number of agreements from libraries when getting a card, including that I, the parent, am responsible for the materials that my child either checks out or uses on premises. My child is not the library or a librarian's responsibility. Libraries offer many resources our family has benefited from, like bicycle clinics, author readings, and seed libraries where we find new food to grow in our backyard garden.
I know the care that librarians put into organizing content for children. For example, the book Dog Heaven, which is a book written for children ages three to five that discusses the death of a beloved pet, is often shelved with parenting books because librarians know that death is a sensitive subject and that should be discussed in a safe place between a parent or guardian and their child. Librarians are not here to take the place of a parent. Libraries are a safe place for gathering, independent learning, and our community hubs. As a student growing up
in Arkansas, far under the poverty line, I owe much of my educational success to the access and use of libraries. In closing, we have procedures in place to protect the children. The library is not your enemy, and if you do not have a library card, I highly suggest that you get one, and I will
Chair
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1:14:49
take questions. Thank you, Ms. Garrett. Any questions by the committee? Representative Clowney, you're
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Not a question. I just want to say thank
Representative Nicole Clowney
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1:14:57
you for driving all this way and for staying around and letting us hear your testimony. Appreciate it. Well done.
Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for those remarks, Ms. Garrett. Thank you for being here. Next, we have signed up to speak for the bill, Stephanie Nichols. Ms. Nichols, if you'd
state your name in any organization you're here representing, you'll be recognized to
Speaker 161
1:15:30
present your remarks. Stephanie Nichols, I am staff attorney
Speaker 162
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for family council, but I am also here as in my capacity as a mother.
You're recognized. Until 2024, I lived in a county where my family and I were not able to take our kids to the library because of extremely graphic and explicit materials. A lot of parents, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of library board meetings and requests for policies to keep sexually explicit materials out of sections of the library for kids 12 and under were completely unheated.
I now have the joy of living in a county where my kids can go to the library again and freely explore books in the children's library section. We don't have to have sexually explicit materials in sections of the library for kids 12 and under. We can do better than that. However, in the library system that we moved from, when we requested to keep graphic sexual materials out of sections for kids,
instead the library doubled down on the right to, this social media post uses the word pornography. It says, hey, it's a parent's duty to keep their kids away from pornography. We have the right to shelve whatever we want, wherever we want to shelve it. And we tried to fight back against that. We were unsuccessful. So many parents have the same story where we have gone to the local library board. We have submitted the silly material reconsideration forms over and over and over.
For 20-something books, for years, no action, it is time for the legislature to act and restore access to libraries for kids and families who want to use them and to protect the innocence of our kids. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Nichols. Are there any questions by the
committee? Seeing no questions by the committee, thank you for being here and thank you for those remarks. Next, we have signed up to speak against the bill. Crystal Gates.
Ms. Gates, if you would identify yourself for the record and state the name of any organization you're here representing and you'll be
Brittany Stockton
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1:18:10
recognized to make your remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Crystal Gates, I'm a resident of Austin in Lownope County, representing myself. Today is National Education Day. It's also National Library Week, so how appropriate that I have the honor and privilege of speaking to you today. I'm a lifelong library visitor and would tell anyone that libraries have changed my life. They made it possible for me to explore the world and become a first-generation
college graduate, plus read for fun. I discovered that I could learn about the world through reading books. My curiosity grew based on Nancy Drew and Hardy Boyce books. I also know that small rural libraries like mine depend on the state library for funding, for expertise, for training, for traveler, and more. My concerns about this bill are numerous, but I'm just going to focus on a couple. This bill places new restrictive hour requirements on libraries across the state without additional resources. Basically, it's an unfunded mandate. Our rural and underfunded
libraries struggle with limited staff and budgets, making it difficult to meet the bill's strict hours requirement without additional resources, which could be compounded by the potential loss of state aid. In low note, Cabot's library may meet the hours requirement because the city contributes to the library in addition to the county funds. The other small branches do not have that option. This mandate could force libraries to prioritize extended hours over quality services and programs, ultimately reducing their effectiveness, or they may be simply forced to close completely. So my question would be, does the hours requirement
apply to every branch in a system, or would one branch do? Regarding the federal funding, according to the state senior program officer at the federal level, an entity cannot simply declare themselves the state library administrative agency. They would need to have their own five-year plan, see page 17 of the MSLA, and demonstrate that the state library administrative agency is set up in a way that is able to carry out the plan and administer the funds. This representative have also shared that they would have to consult with chief legal counsel if
Arkansas continues on this path because no state has attempted to completely dismantle a state library. Moving forward on this path impacts our federal funds. We should not be willing to just give up those funds. We should be utilizing those funds for the best for Arkansans. We depend on those funds for Traveler, which saves us over 40 million dollars. If Traveler funds are reduced or removed, our local library simply cannot afford to purchase those resources locally. I personally used those medical databases to research my cancer diagnosis last year.
I wasn't looking for WebMD or Google. I wanted doctors and researchers to share information. My final point is this: the current library board, state library board, is split four to three on issues. Governor Sanders will have an appointment to this board in October, which is only a few months away. So can we please not dismantle the entire system and instead give us a chance to change what's going to happen? Can we just slow down and refer this so that more research can be done?
Thank you. All right. Thank you, Ms. Gates. We appreciate those remarks. Are there any questions by the committee? Seeing no questions by
the committee, thank you for being here. Thank you. Next we have, and I believe that completes those that we have signed up to speak for the bill. So,
to speak against the bill, Debbie Hall. Good evening.
Debbie Hall
Unverified
1:21:50
My name is Debbie Hall, and for
full transparency, I am an employee of the Arkansas State Library. I am not here as a representative of the library, I am here on my own time. I believe that my 39 years of employment gives me the insight and knowledge to address this bill. Senator Sullivan said this bill would not have been filed if the State Library Board had passed two motions he supported. The motions that he supported were both voted no.
But there was an extra motion, as already previously stated, that was passed that would address the protection of children. And so there was a motion passed to do a policy to protect children. The second motion that did not pass was a very long motion, but in essence it was for any public library that accepts state aid funds to be a member of ALA uses library funding for ALA memberships, conferences, resources, seminars, materials.
In my opinion, a simple fix for this would be to put it in the rules for state aid, stating that no state aid funds shall be used for ALA membership, conferences, training, or resources. It seems overreaching to include any public library funding. Arkansas librarians are intelligent, savvy, and with critical analysis know how to use ALA for their benefit and the benefit of their libraries and communities. AOA has much to offer, including grants. Thirteen Arkansas libraries have received libraries transforming community grants.
These grants are given to small and rural libraries to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities. In July 2023, the Arkansas State Library submitted draft rules for state aid to public libraries to the Department of Education. In August 2023, this was reported to the State Library Board with an explanation on the promulgation process by an ADE attorney. These are waiting for the next steps.
ASL wants to distribute state aid in a way that elevates the level of library services statewide, but without making eligibility so difficult that the communities that need it the most won't qualify. This bill goes a long way to actively regulate local library services, while the state's relationship with public libraries was never regulatory. We do not regulate libraries the same way ADE regulates schools. We provide the libraries with support, professional development, consultation, and access to many
statewide resources. Arkansas Code enshrines the rights and obligations of local government to make these types of decisions. This bill conflicts and undermines those rights and obligations while simultaneously increasing unfunded mandates. Yes, there should be requirements on qualifying for state aid. But if they are codified into state law, they become much less able to respond to emerging technologies. I'm sorry. Finish
Debbie Hall
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1:25:01
economy and to events in local communities.
It is better to have rules than codified. All right,
Representative Rick Beck
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1:25:10
thank you. Seeing, are there any questions? Seeing no questions, thanks me for your testimony. Next up, we have Debbie Hall.
That was just me. Oh, I'm sorry. Julie Calhoun. To speak
against the bill. Please identify yourself for the committee and who you're here to represent, if any company.
Judy Calhoun
Unverified
1:25:37
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee. My name is Judy Calhoun. I'm
Speaker 181
1:25:41
here representing myself. I am the recently retired director of the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library System, which serves Bradley, Chico, DeShay, Drew, and Lincoln Counties, and has nine libraries. I have dedicated over 32 years of my career to library profession. I'm here to express my opposition to this bill. It introduces new and restrictive requirements for libraries across Arkansas, but it fails to provide the necessary funding or resources to support these changes.
And this presents significant challenges, especially for rural and smaller libraries, that will result in closures in communities where library services are already scarce and highly needed. A recent poll was done of libraries in Arkansas, and almost a third of our libraries will be unable to meet the proposed service hours requirements And it's outlined in this bill, a third. The question arises, who will bear the cost of these additional hours?
Will it fall to the already overburdened counties with limited resources and high tax rates? Additionally, the bill mandates that libraries provide interlibrary loan services, but does not allocate funding for this program. Several years ago, our region decided we did not have the money to send out interlibrary loans and no longer do it. And now this bill will mandate that we spend funds to mail material across the state to libraries who want to borrow material from us.
We have no choice but to allocate our material to other people. And who is going to fund that? This bill also proposes the elimination of the Arkansas State Library, a crucial agency that facilitates access to shared resources and provides vital support to libraries statewide. It is difficult to understand why such an effective and well-functioning agency will be dismantled, as this decision would have far-reaching negative consequences for the
libraries and the communities that rely on them. I have to say in the last 12 years, I have attended almost every board meeting that's been at the Arkansas State Library. I think I've missed two in 12 years. And until the recent, until a year, it has been a well-functioning board. They are very attentive. Usually there is an average of 10 to 15 library directors that are always at these meetings. If they have questions, they will ask us sometimes to clarify things. It is just a shame
to see this agency be undermined. Thank you
Judy Calhoun
Unverified
1:28:15
for your time and consideration. I have one question, just
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
1:28:22
to ask you to elaborate on something for me. You said it was a very functioning board, and I'm not saying it's not. No, I said it was a very functioning agency. Yeah, and the board itself, the board meetings as you
Speaker 181
1:28:37
were... The board until a year has been a very functioning board, yes. And I know earlier Mr. Sullivan asked the board if you'd just go back and look at the last meeting.
I would say you need to go back and look at the last year of
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
1:28:53
meetings. And I think a lot would be explained. And so, and I'm not being critical. I'm really trying to get a good understanding of this. When you say that it's very functioning, can you elaborate just a little bit? What type of things are they
Speaker 181
1:29:10
doing? What's going on with the board? The board itself? Like I said, until a year ago, like I said, whatever they do, any presentation, they do the scholarships, any grants.
If they have questions on stuff, a lot of times they will ask library directors for feedback, for clarification. So they're very diligent in what their responsibilities are, and they ask a lot of questions. Well, thank you. We do have one other question.
Speaker 183
1:29:39
Representative Rose. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Calhoun,
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:29:42
thank you for your testimony. I've spoken to some of your colleagues. I
think I knew you by name, but I didn't know you in person. But your colleagues regard you very highly.
And I think your years of service lend to your knowledge and wisdom in this arena. And I think it's germane to the topic.
I just want to know if you could opine, share your opinion, so it gives you some latitude. why do you think in local libraries we continue to have the same or similar problems with explicit material in children's sections? Like, I remember my librarian as a child, Mrs. Arnold,
and I would go and I would get, you know, Jurassic Park books or whatever it was. And librarians I looked up to, you know, it's like a grandmother figure or an aunt or something like that. Or we had a gentleman who was our librarian when I was a teenager. They love kids, and I'm sure you and your librarians feel the same way. I just don't understand why this problem persists. Could you share a little insight?
Speaker 181
1:30:52
I don't think it's a new problem. I think there's always been books that somebody is going to find objectionable, and they should.
I mean, we still have a lot of people that refuse to read Harry Potter, and there's not a bad word in Harry Potter or any sex, but they refuse to let children because they have objections to it. and that's fine. That is what every parent should be doing. I think it's what a lot of people don't understand, too, in libraries, we're very diligent about making sure things are in appropriate section. We have unattended children laws and our policies, and we definitely keep an eye on where
children are and what sections they're in, and just as we don't want children maybe running around by their self in the adult section, we're going to be just as diligent on seeing a male run around in the children's section by his self, and we might actually ask him to go into the adult section if he doesn't have a child with him. So we want to protect children. It's very important to us that we do that. However, what one person finds objectionable, somebody else may not.
That is why we do have the challenge book policies. And we really want people, if you have an objection, you should do that. I know some of the people that actually testified at the state library board meetings, they were asked if they did challenges in their library, and most of them said no. We actually had, I think it was a senator or representative said that she found some stuff objectionable with her grandchildren, but yet she did not object to it to the library personnel.
So if you don't speak, we don't know. And we do have a policy and a procedure to follow. And it's usually not by one person making that decision. A lot of times it's a
Judy Calhoun
Unverified
1:32:53
committee. It could be the quorum court or it could be a committee of people who make that decision.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:32:59
It's not up to one person. Well, and I appreciate kind of the broad experience that you're drawing from. I guess, and I'll try one more time, and I'll kind of let you rest, and I appreciate you testifying this evening.
I want to go back to, instead of just explicit, but sexually explicit. Yes. Ms. Rose, no relation, who I know. Representative Meeks. I have in my library, and many people brought it to me before I ever saw anything. This is what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about Harry Potter, ideological differences. I'm talking about where it's, you know, sexually explicit images in literature for children. I'm not even talking about human development in a teenage section.
We had somebody up here earlier who was talking about, well, the age range is subjective. Well, you know, I think you and I know what children are, and I think you and I would agree some things are not appropriate for children, yet they keep ending up in children's sections, and I'll leave you with this. Can you elaborate for why
Speaker 181
1:34:05
that happens continuously? Most of the time we're going by what the industry says that's where it should be placed. However, if you object to that, that is definitely each person needs to be going to their library boards and taking care
of it locally. Have a voice, and it's just like anything else. You have a voice, and that's where needs to be done on the local level go to your go to the director or then go to the board but make your voice heard and and if nothing else say I really I don't really want this book withdrawn but can we move it to a higher section I personally have done that myself many years ago we did not have a young adult section it went from juvenile to a straight to adult and we got material that
that was classified as juvenile, but we really knew it was not going to be appropriate in an area for our community. So we can make decisions to bump it to a different section. And most librarians are open to listening to that if people will meet with them. Well, I'm
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:35:05
grateful for your testimony. And my wish, and I'm sure yours as well, is that what you
just described is what was happening. But based on testimony and personal accounts and accounts that have been brought to us, Just like with Representative Meeks, that just doesn't seem to be happening.
I think that's why we're at this crossroads. I thank you
Judy Calhoun
Unverified
1:35:24
for your testimony. Thank you. The biggest thing on this bill is going to be the cost that it's going
to cost libraries. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Calhoun. Seeing no other questions by the committee. Thank you for those remarks. Next, we have signed up to speak against the bill, Carlton M. Sonny Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes, if you would
Adam Webb
Unverified
1:35:51
state your name for the record and the name of any organization
you may be here representing, you'll be
Sonny Rhodes
Unverified
1:35:58
recognized to make your remarks. Yes, sir. Thank you. Yes, my name is Sonny Rhodes. I'm a lifelong Arkansan. I'm representing myself. I live in North Little Rock, and I've worked for newspapers for 25 years. I've been taught on the college level for 21 years, and I'm also a historian. Currently, I'm working on a book about a Civil War newspaper editor and politician.
I'm concerned about this bill in a number of ways, ranging from how it could affect journalists' ability to gather information, and historians' ability to gather information, educators' ability to do research, and the public's right to stay better informed make better decisions about their lives. Earlier today we heard a lot of discussion about the Freedom of Information Act and that really resonated me with me because that relates to this issue as well I think. A couple of my
chief concerns are the negative impact this could have on academic research and the negative impact on journalistic integrity and public accountability. The State Library's Traveler databases, which include vast collections of public records and information, are invaluable for researchers in a variety of fields. And just this weekend, I used Traveler to look up information in a journal article that
I was very old and I couldn't have found it any other way than through Traveler. And as I understand it, you know, if Traveler goes away, that's gonna be a huge, huge impact on local libraries. These databases offer, often serve as basic resources for understanding trends, compiling data for analysis verifying facts. If SB 536 results in the loss or restricted access to such
databases, it could hinder research efforts, making it harder to produce informed and accurate academic research. Getting back somewhat now to the Freedom of Information Act, I see transparency and trust issues. Democracy cannot operate in the dark. The press plays a a vital role in shedding light on government actions and thus upholding democratic values by providing transparency. SB 536 restrictions could foster a sense of distrust in public institutions by limiting
access to essential records that citizens have the right to, not just journalists but citizens, anybody. If the public perceives that information is being withheld or restricted, it could erode the confidence in government and media institutions alike. I'm sorry. No, Mr. Rhodes, I appreciate your remarks. I really hate that
we've had to limit the time, but the time is up. Yeah, thank you very much. Before you go, though, were there any questions by the committee?
Seeing no questions by the committee, thank
you for being here, and thank you for those remarks. Next, we have signed up to speak against the bill, Carol Egan. Carol Egan. Carol Egan does not appear to be here. Next, we have signed up to
speak against the bill Adam Webb. Adam Webb. There he is. Couldn't see you back there.
Yeah. Mr. Webb, if you would identify yourself for the record, state the
Adam Webb
Unverified
1:39:56
name of any organization you may be here representing and you'll be recognized to present your
Speaker 197
1:40:02
remarks. thank you my name is adam webb i'm the president-elect of the arkansas library association all the testimony i've heard today so far has talked about regulating sexually explicit materials the recent court case that just happened in crawford county talked about sexually explicit materials and definitions i want you all to guess how many times sexually explicit materials
are addressed in this bill zero it uses the same flawed and fatal language that was in the act 372 lawsuit about age appropriateness without defining it in a way that aligns with arkansas's harmful to minors law which was just amended out of this bill or arkansas's obscenity laws our truck with this bill is not that we don't want to protect kids i'm a mandated reporter i've been involved in some really difficult cases with kids in my library whose parents smoke meth around them
and I protect those kids and so this rhetoric that we don't protect kids is not true. But our problem is once again we've stumbled at the goal line. This bill does not address sexually explicit material. It doesn't mention it once in the whole bill. It doesn't mention obscenity or any of the other legal barriers that we know there are for speech. It uses the same vague terminology that got us into a two-year lawsuit over act 372 which the library associations
and the librarians prevailed i beg the board please when judges tell you here's the type of speech that you can regulate sexually explicit here are the definitions use it don't reinvent the wheel but here we are again two years later with the same vague language that's not defined in arkansas law that's not propped up by the courts trying to apply it to state aid so i'm going to respect your time i'll close there but if you have any questions i'm here to answer
all right thank you mr webb are there any questions about the committee representative
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:42:07
long you're recognized thank you mr chairman um what was your new position you were
Speaker 197
1:42:12
just elected to sir i'm the president-elect of the state library association we're a non-profit trade group not the state library i'm not affiliated with them we are a association of librarians and library supporters
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:42:23
and you're the ones that brought the suit against was it over in fort smith
Speaker 197
1:42:27
area of act 372 and it was specifically on the vague language in act 372 which judge brooks
in the western district of arkansas overturned last year and a fairly scathing ruling about the vagueness of the language
Speaker 199
1:42:40
and what about what about that bill prompted y'all
Speaker 197
1:42:46
to take it to court? It was because we were being asked or being mandated to curtail First Amendment rights of the people of Arkansas. So children? No, it applied to everybody. The Act 372 lawsuit applied to adults, teens, children, everyone. It
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:43:04
said that they couldn't be exposed to sexually
Speaker 197
1:43:07
explicit materials? It didn't mention sexually explicit once again. Those words are only here in the air with us. They're not on the page. And if that's the sponsor's intent, then it needs to be on the page. I'm not a mind reader. I don't know if I want to be a mind reader, but we've got to go by what's on this page. And sexually explicit content is not here. It's not defined in the way that the courts have said
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:43:33
it needs to be defined. So I guess you've been with your association for quite some time since you've been elected president, I guess.
Do y'all have any recommendations on how we can get the local libraries to protect children with these materials? Because we've heard, I've got numerous contacts
over it. We've heard a lot of people tonight talk about, you know, they challenged these books and they still come back. I think the gentleman from Faulkner County mentioned that they ended up deciding that those books were okay. I think maybe people are getting maybe a little just worn out asking,
and maybe a lot of them have just quit going to the library at all, which is not, you know, helpful because I've always loved libraries myself. But, you know, I could understand if I still had small kids, I sure wouldn't take them in there if these things are on
Speaker 197
1:44:31
that level. So what do you all recommend that we do? I appreciate that, Representative Long. And just to be clear, if this bill passes, it still exempts sex ed materials, Which the two books that have been discussed today frequently, It's Perfectly Normal, and Teen Guide to Sex, they're both exempted in this bill.
So we still wouldn't be able to do much with them. I mean, it says on page 13, age-appropriate materials does not include sex ed materials, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, it's right there. So we're
Speaker 202
1:45:05
arguing about two different things here. I
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:45:08
appreciate your responses. Thank you. Representative Rose, you're recognized. Thank you,
Mr. Chair. Your commentary on the bill is from your position as a library director and the association president, is that correct?
I'm just here as the association president. Okay, but you're not a lawyer, is that correct? I'm not a lawyer. Okay, I just
Speaker 197
1:45:26
kind of felt like you're making some legal determinations. They were your opinions, correct? I am a plaintiff in the case on Act 372, both a named plaintiff and as a member of the association. Just talking about this bill? Yes, sir. Okay, thank you. Any other questions by
the committee? Seeing no other questions by the committee, thank you, Mr. Webb, for those remarks. Thank you. Next, we have signed up to speak against the bill, Deborah Weger.
Chair
Unverified
1:45:55
I'm sure I probably didn't pronounce that
correctly. You have to turn your
Speaker 204
1:46:10
mic on. Oh. There we go. Okay, thank you. Deborah Meyer with the Van Buren County Library. I'm going to keep it short and sweet. I have an appreciation for the Arkansas State Library and the board.
I've attended about, for the last 10 years, I've gone to their meetings. And they have been very helpful in help providing guidance, training, and support whenever we have questions. My concern is there are better ways to do this without doing a new bill. Maybe you guys need to write a different law or something. I am 67 years old, and I remember when I was in high school, there was a book called Our Bodies, Ourselves, which was, I thought at the time, fairly explicit.
But the bottom line on this, when you have a patron has a complaint about a book, they can go either to, of course, the director or any of the staff. They can take it up with the board, but the next step is if you're not getting satisfaction with the board, the quorum court. I have not heard anybody say they've discussed this issue or taken it up with the quorum court. There are over 200 libraries in Arkansas, I believe.
And what I'm wondering, if there is this problem, how many, I keep hearing a lot of complaints, but what libraries or where is this happening? Because I haven't had too many of them. I've had one parent come to me and make a mention of a book that she didn't think was appropriate, and we looked at it, and we took issue with it. I've also talked with parents when they were looking for a particular book that their child wanted to read, and I say, well, that's probably not age-appropriate for that child.
We took many of our books and moved them over into the adult section. And if we see there's a book that's inappropriate. So the libraries, I believe most librarians are doing the best they can. We are not fully, I believe, in protecting freedom of speech and protecting people's rights. We are here open to the public. And it's not just the children. I have a patron who wanted me to move the Christian books out of the other books because she felt offended.
You know, so you're not going to please everybody. I'm asking you, let's not knee-jerk this. Take some time and think about what you're going to sign because it could have some ramifications for quite some time and it may not address issues that maybe become issues that were not thought out. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. And if you have any questions. All right.
Are there any questions by the committee? Seeing no questions by the committee, thank you, Ms. Meyer, for being here, and thank you for those remarks. That concludes all of the witnesses that we have signed up to speak for and against the bill. Senator Sullivan, Representative Long,
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
1:49:32
you're recognized to close for the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'll be really quick. Just want to address a few things. First of all, folks, in the bill, all means all. so when they testify that they're afraid this will close, if you look in section one, everything stays the same.
Nothing gets moved to a new building, it stays the same. The group you heard them talk about they need to be independent, well they're not independent. You heard folks say we need to change, but yet no one went to the library board, no one went to the director of the library associate, of the library state library, No one goes to them and says it's time to change. You heard the director of the president of the association wanted to litigate Act 372 again.
Folks, that's not what we're doing. We're just talking about what it's going to take to get state money. And what does it take? Have a policy to protect children. It has nothing to do with the ALA right now. It's just have policies to protect children. That's all we're asking. Had plenty of time to make those changes.
Speaker 17
1:50:37
They have not. With that, I'm closed. Representative? And I'm closed also. Make a
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:50:42
motion do pass as amended. Would appreciate a good vote. All right. Representative
Long is closed for his bill. He's made a motion do pass as amended.
Is there any discussion on the motion?
Speaker 208
1:50:58
Representative Berry, you're recognized. Thank you. Mr. Sullivan, you have said
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
1:51:03
very little that I disagree with. For the last four or five years, this has been an issue that I felt like not been corrected. The last thing that I would like to see this bill do is go with the Department of Ed.
I have little faith that it would be corrected in any way. So that's one thing that I don't like about the bill. I think there's other ways, like the lady said, to make this thing right, to satisfy the needs in it. But giving it to the Department of Ed, I'm sorry. That might offend somebody, but I just don't think it's the way to fix it.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:52:05
Thank you. Any other discussion on the motion? Representative Meeks, you're recognized. I'll be quick because we're almost out of time. So this is more than just about fixing the problem.
This is also about the opportunities that the future holds. The Department of Health has the professionals to be able to handle grants. They have all these resources. And I'd love to see those opportunities come down to our local libraries. I think that's a very important part of it that we maybe didn't discuss as much on this. and looking forward to vote for it.
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
1:52:36
- Representative Beatty, you're recognized. - I've listened to a lot of the testimony today. I just want to go on the record and say officially the confidence that I have in my libraries and librarians and my library boards in South Arkansas and the job that they do for the public and they take care of people. And it's a shame that we get to this point and we have to deal with legislation like this. And all the phone calls and the messages and all that we all receive from librarians and everyone else
that's spun up on this, and we've asked witnesses, and I've asked everyone I've spoken to if they contacted that state library board. And everyone said no, no. Well, there's two sides to every fight. Two sides to every fight. And both sides are going to lose in this deal today. So shame on y'all. And that's where I am on that. I think this could have been resolved very easily.
Folks dug their heels in and decided they weren't going to negotiate and weren't going to work. So whatever outcome comes out of this committee or comes off that
floor of the House today, you're going to have to live with it. Representative Woodridge,
we have like one minute before we're going to have to go into session. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be brief. I think that
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:53:59
I agree with my colleague, Stan Berry. There are a lot of things that have been said here today that I agree with, a lot of things that the senator has pointed out that I agree with. No one wants to protect children more than me.
I've got two little boys at home. There are parts of this bill that I think that are great, and there are parts of this bill that I think make it hard for me to vote for, one of those being the education requirement on some of these rural librarians. I've spoken with every one of them in my district. Every one of them will have to be replaced for that reason. I can't vote for
it. All right. The motion before the committee is a motion due pass as amended. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. No.
The ayes have it. Vote
Speaker 215
1:54:49
on. I see two hands. Call the roll. Representative Meeks. Aye. Representative Meeks, yes. Representative Wardlaw. Representative Wardlaw, no. Representative Berry. No. Representative Berry. No. Representative Mayberry. Representative Mayberry. Representative Crawford. Yes. Representative Crawford. Yes. Representative Clowney. No. Representative Clowney. No. Representative Collins. No. Representative Collins. No. Representative Evans. Representative Evans. Representative Evans. Representative Innitt. No. Representative Innitt. No. Representative Innitt. No.
Representative McElroy no representative McElroy no representative Ray Representative Ray yes Representative Beatty Representative Beatty Representative Beatty no Representative Carr yes Representative Carr yes Representative Underwood yes Representative Underwood yes Representative Long Representative Long yes Representative Hawk
Representative Hawke? Representative Rose? Yes. Representative Rose? Yes. Representative Wardridge? No. Representative Wardridge? No. Representative Beck? Representative Beck? I'm sorry, Senator Sullivan. The
bill's failed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee.
Thank you. With that, we are recessed.
Agenda
CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1614 Lundstrum TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DESIGNATIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN CRIMINAL JUSTICE GRANT PROGRAMS.
HB1352 Beaty Jr. TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS CONCERNING ACTIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN FOREIGN ENTITIES.
HB1604 McAlindon TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PROHIBITED CONTRACTS BY STATE AGENCIES; AND TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY STATE AGENCIES TO PURCHASE PROMOTIONAL ITEMS MADE IN CHINA.
HB1694 Hawk TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ALTERNATIVES TO ELECTRONIC FILING FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS.
REGULAR AGENDA
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1041 R. Scott Richardson TO PROHIBIT DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT DEEPFAKES IN ELECTION COMMUNICATIONS.
HB1849 Gramlich TO ALLOW FOR THE CROSS DEPUTIZATION OF MUNICIPAL, COUNTY, STATE, AND TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ON FEDERALLY-RECOGNIZED TRIBAL LAND WITHIN THE STATE.
HB1878 McGruder TO ENSURE EARLY VOTING ACCESS FOR ARKANSANS RESIDING IN POPULATION CENTERS; AND TO REQUIRE A COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS TO CONDUCT EARLY VOTING IN A CITY IN CERTAIN INSTANCES.
HB1883 Long TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS FOURTH AMENDMENT PROTECTION ACT; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE COLLECTION OF ELECTRONIC DATA AND METADATA.
HB1884 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE MARKING AND COUNTING OF PAPER BALLOTS.
HB1973 B. McKenzie TO PROVIDE THAT A GOVERNMENTAL BODY SHALL NOT USE STATE OR LOCAL FUNDS TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH A LOBBYIST FOR THE PURPOSE OF LOBBYING ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY.
SENATE BILLS
Number Sponsor Subtitle
SB12 B. King TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING REDISTRICTING BY THE BOARD OF APPORTIONMENT.
SB376 A. Clark TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC MEETINGS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967.
SB471 A. Clark TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANDIDATES FOR NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS; AND TO ALLOW CERTAIN CANDIDATES FOR NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS TO USE THE TITLE OF THE NONPARTISAN JUDICIAL OFFICE ON THE BALLOT.
SB491 K. Hammer TO REQUIRE A VENDOR THAT CONTRACTS WITH THE OFFICE OF STATE PROCUREMENT FOR SERVICES FOR THE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS DIVISION TO SUBMIT DATA FOR VERIFICATION BY AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB486 B. Johnson CONCERNING SAFETY AND PRIVACY IN CERTAIN ENTITIES; AND CONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF MULTI-OCCUPANCY RESTROOMS, CHANGING ROOMS, AND SLEEPING QUARTERS IN CERTAIN ENTITIES BASED ON AN INDIVIDUAL'S SEX.
SB489 G. Leding TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF A MONUMENT ON THE STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS IN RECOGNITION OF THE DESEGREGATION OF THE CHARLESTON AND FAYETTEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 1954.
SB536 D. Sullivan TO ABOLISH AND TRANSFER THE ARKANSAS STATE LIBRARY AND THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB570 J. Dotson TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE.
SB565 Flippo TO ALLOW PROCUREMENT CERTIFICATIONS TO BE COMBINED; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE REPRESENTATION IN STATE CONTRACTS REGARDING CONTINGENT FEES; AND TO AMEND THE COOPERATIVE PURCHASING REPORTING DEADLINE.
SB613 C. Penzo TO CREATE AN ELECTION PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE FLUORIDATION OF A PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.
DEFERRED BILLS
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1024 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC EMPLOYEES; AND TO REPEAL THE LAW PROHIBITING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.
HB1028 A. Collins TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE LAW CONCERNING OBSCENITY AND THE PROCESS FOR CHALLENGING MATERIALS INCLUDED IN A LIBRARY; AND TO REQUIRE A LIBRARY TO HAVE A POLICY PROHIBITING BOOK BANNING IN ORDER TO RECEIVE STATE FUNDING.
HB1043 A. Collins TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING OF NONCANDIDATE EXPENDITURES PERTAINING TO APPELLATE JUDICIAL ELECTIONS; AND TO ADOPT NEW LAWS CONCERNING APPELLATE JUDICIAL CAMPAIGNS.
HB1162 Duffield TO ESTABLISH GOOD FRIDAY AS AN OFFICIAL STATE HOLIDAY.
HB1058 Unger TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; AND TO PROHIBIT PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FROM GIVING ADVANCE NOTICE TO ENTITIES OF REQUIRED INSPECTIONS.
HB1059 Unger TO PROVIDE THE OPTION FOR A FREE LIFETIME HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSE TO A COMMERCIAL TRUCK DRIVER WHO IS A RESIDENT AND PROVIDES CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATED TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
HB1078 Long TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING RUNOFF ELECTIONS; AND TO PROVIDE FOR A RUNOFF ELECTION FOR CANDIDATES FOR THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
HB1281 McAlindon TO AMEND REPORTING FOR A CANDIDATE FOR CERTAIN MUNICIPAL OFFICES AND FOR COUNTY OFFICE; AND TO AMEND PORTIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE THAT RESULTED FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 1996.
HB1415 L. Johnson TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO RESPOND TO A REQUEST FOR A FIRE INQUIRY.
HB1494 Hawk TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS GUIDANCE OUT OF THE DARKNESS ACT; AND TO REQUIRE STATE AGENCIES TO PUBLISH FEDERAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ONLINE.
HB1459 L. Johnson CONCERNING RECURRING REPORTS SUBMITTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
HB1461 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE EVALUATION OF NECESSITY OF VARIOUS COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS.
SB184 D. Sullivan TO TRANSFER THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ARKANSAS EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION COMMISSION AND THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
HB1667 Bentley TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC MEETINGS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967.
HB1769 Barnett CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER STANDARDS; AND TO REQUIRE A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OR ASSESSMENT TO BECOME OR BE EMPLOYED AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.
HB1621 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; AND TO EXEMPT PERSONAL INFORMATION OF ELECTED CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS, JUDICIAL OFFICIALS, ELECTED COUNTY OFFICIALS, ELECTED MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS, AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILY.
HB1631 Wardlaw TO ADDRESS THE ISSUANCE OF HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES TO FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS.
HB1069 S. Meeks TO OBSERVE STANDARD TIME YEAR ROUND IN ARKANSAS; AND TO ELIMINATE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IN ARKANSAS.
HB1720 Vaught TO CREATE THE BABIES AT WORK ACT; TO ALLOW STATE AGENCIES TO PERMIT PUBLIC EMPLOYEES WHO ARE PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS TO BRING THEIR INFANTS SIX MONTHS OR YOUNGER TO WORK.
HB1753 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION; TO OPT-OUT OF THE NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993; AND TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51, § 5.
HB1773 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR BALLOT QUESTION COMMITTEES AND LEGISLATIVE QUESTION COMMITTEES.
HB1037 A. Collins AN ACT TO CREATE THE PREREGISTRATION TO VOTE ACT; AND TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51, UNDER THE AUTHORITY GRANTED BY ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51, § 19.
HB1035 A. Collins TO CREATE THE ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 2025; TO ALLOW ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION; TO AMEND ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51; AND TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
HB1036 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION; TO ALLOW VOTER REGISTRATION DURING EARLY VOTING AND ON ELECTION DAY; AND TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51.
HB1038 A. Collins TO CREATE THE NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING ACT OF 2025; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING; AND TO REPEAL VOTER QUALIFICATIONS FOR ABSENTEE VOTING.
HB1039 A. Collins TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE BALLOTS; AND TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING ELECTIONS.
HB1040 A. Collins TO CREATE THE WATER IN LINE ACT OF 2025; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES RELATED TO VOTING.
HB1042 A. Collins TO CREATE THE DIRECT DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2025; TO REPEAL THE ENSURING ACCESS FOR ALL ARKANSANS AND VOTER PROTECTION ACT OF 2023; AND TO AMEND THE PROCEDURE FOR THE FILING OF A BALLOT INITIATIVE PETITION AND REFERENDUM PETITION.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE, Apr 9, 2025 | Agenda | 4 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Jimmy Gazaway Chair
Unverified
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
Speaker 14
Representative Nicole Clowney
Unverified
Representative David Ray
Unverified
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
Speaker 33
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
Representative Cindy Crawford
Unverified
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 69
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Adam Webb
Unverified
June Matheny
Unverified
Speaker 80
Speaker 84
Speaker 85
Speaker 86
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
Speaker 97
Speaker 88
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
Speaker 136
Speaker 139
Tony Rose
Unverified
Robin Campbell
Unverified
Speaker 152
Speaker 155
Bobby Garrett
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 161
Speaker 162
Brittany Stockton
Unverified
Debbie Hall
Unverified
Speaker 176
Judy Calhoun
Unverified
Speaker 181
Speaker 183
Sonny Rhodes
Unverified
Speaker 197
Speaker 199
Speaker 202
Speaker 204
Speaker 17
Speaker 208
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
Speaker 215