State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs- House
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Bills discussed (53)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1884
· 8 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “HB1884 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE MARKING AND COUNTING O…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE MARKING AND COUNTING OF PAPER BALLOTS. | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1883
· 5 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
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. |
|
HB1041
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…TICE GRANT PROGRAMS. REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1041 R. Scott TO PROHIBIT DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT DEEPFAKES IN…”
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TO PROHIBIT DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT DEEPFAKES IN ELECTION COMMUNICATIONS. | R. Scott Richardson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1849
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…FRAUDULENT DEEPFAKES IN ELECTION Richardson COMMUNICATIONS. 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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HB1614
· 3 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HB1614 Lundstrum TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DESIGNATIONS RELATED…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DESIGNATIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN CRIMINAL JUSTICE GRANT PROGRAMS. | Lundstrum | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1024
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EFERENDUM PETITIONS. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle 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. |
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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…”
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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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MENT 51; AND TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. HB1036 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING VOTER REGISTRATION;…”
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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: “…ISSION FOR FREE OR DISCOUNTED HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES. 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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…. AMEND PROVISIONS OF ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENT 51. 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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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. |
|
HB1058
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ield TO ESTABLISH GOOD FRIDAY AS AN OFFICIAL STATE HOLIDAY. 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 chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1059 Unger TO PROVIDE THE OPTION FOR A FREE LIFETIME HUNTING AND…”
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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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES TO FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS. HB1069 S. Meeks TO OBSERVE STANDARD TIME YEAR ROUND IN ARKANSAS; A…”
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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. |
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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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TO ADOPT NEW LAWS CONCERNING APPELLATE JUDICIAL CAMPAIGNS. HB1162 Duffield TO ESTABLISH GOOD FRIDAY AS AN OFFICIAL STATE HOLI…”
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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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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…”
|
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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TATE AGENCIES TO PUBLISH FEDERAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ONLINE. 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: “…ING REPORTS SUBMITTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. Page 3 of 4 HB1461 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE EVALUATION OF NE…”
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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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HB1621
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MENT TO BECOME OR BE EMPLOYED AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. HB1621 Wardlaw 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 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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HB1632
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…E LAW CONCERNING THE MARKING AND COUNTING OF PAPER BALLOTS. HB1632 Wardlaw TO REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS STATE GAME…”
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TO REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS STATE GAME AND FISH COMMISSION FOR FREE OR DISCOUNTED … | Wardlaw | Died in Senate 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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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. |
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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…”
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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. |
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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. |
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HB1773
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1773 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR BA…”
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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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HB1878
Act 978
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EMENT ON FEDERALLY-RECOGNIZED TRIBAL LAND WITHIN THE STATE. HB1878 McGruder TO ENSURE EARLY VOTING ACCESS FOR ARKANSANS RESIDI…”
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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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HB1951
Act 929
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…NG OF A BALLOT INITIATIVE PETITION AND REFERENDUM PETITION. HB1951 A. Collins TO SET FORTH AUTHORIZED DOMAIN EXTENSIONS FOR HI…”
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TO SET FORTH AUTHORIZED DOMAIN EXTENSIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT WEBSITES. | A. Collins | Notification that HB1951 is now Act 929 |
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HB1952
Act 947
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1952 Hawk TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE ATHLETIC COM…”
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TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION; TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO THE STATE … | Hawk | Notification that HB1952 is now Act 947 |
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HB1973
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MOTE A ROBUST, HEALTHY, AND SAFE COMBATIVE SPORTS INDUSTRY. HB1973 B. McKenzie TO PROVIDE THAT A GOVERNMENTAL BODY SHALL NOT U…”
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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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HB1974
Act 948
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1974 Long TO PROHIBIT STATE ENTITIES FROM EMPLOYING UNAUTHORIZED…”
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TO PROHIBIT STATE ENTITIES FROM EMPLOYING UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS; TO ESTABLISH THE E-VERIFY REQUIREMENT ACT; AND … | Long | Notification that HB1974 is now Act 948 |
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SB12
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EVALUATION OF NECESSITY OF VARIOUS COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS. 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…”
|
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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SB445
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…BLIC MEETINGS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967. SB445 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSURE OF ELEC…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSURE OF ELECTRICAL INSPECTORS. | K. Hammer | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die adjournment. |
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SB471
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSURE OF ELECTRICAL INSPECTORS. 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 |
|
SB489
Act 950
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB489 G. Leding TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF…”
|
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 agenda, chapter
Matched: “…THE TITLE OF THE NONPARTISAN JUDICIAL OFFICE ON THE BALLOT. 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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SB508
Act 756
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ICATION BY AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB508 Irvin TO AMEND THE FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT OF A STIPEND FOR CE…”
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TO AMEND THE FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT OF A STIPEND FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC … | Irvin | Notification that SB508 is now Act 756 |
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SB521
Act 748
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…F THE CHARLESTON AND FAYETTEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 1954. SB521 B. Davis TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINI…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT; AND TO EXTEND THE TIME PERIOD … | B. Davis | Notification that SB521 is now Act 748 |
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SB536
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…COMPLETION OF TRAINING FOR WHICH REIMBURSEMENT IS REQUIRED. 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. |
|
SB551
Act 764
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB551 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANVASSING FOR A PETI…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANVASSING FOR A PETITION FOR A LOCAL OPTION ELECTION. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB551 is now Act 764 |
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SB570
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “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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SB584
Act 768
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…NING CANVASSING FOR A PETITION FOR A LOCAL OPTION ELECTION. SB584 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LOCAL INITIATIVE AND…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LOCAL INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB584 is now Act 768 |
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HB1867
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 4/4/2025 @ 9:30 AM) Removed HB1867 House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs…”
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TO ESTABLISH THE NO GOVERNMENT TRESPASSING ACT; AND TO PROHIBIT GAME WARDEN TRESPASS ONTO PRIVATE … | B. McKenzie | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
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Representative Lundstrom. I don't see her here. Some may want to text her, um. And
I wanna make sure she knows that she has a bill on the agenda because if the House bills aren't run tonight, they're not going to be run, so. Next we have House Bill 1041 R. Scott Richardson.
R. Scott Richardson. R. Scott Richardson.
All right. Next we have House Bill 1849. Representative Grahali. OK, Representative Collins. Right, so I don't think OK, I think that
one won't be around. All right. Talk with Representative McGruder. I think he told me he had an amendment. On his bill, so we'll pass over
that. House Bill 1883, Representative Long. Representative Long, do you
intend to present that? All right. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:46
uh, Representative Wayne Long, District 39, and I've got an amendment for my bill. Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't you say
you did say 1884, didn't you, sir? 1883 to create
the Arkansas Fourth Amendment Protection Act. And to amend the law concerning the collection of electronic data and metadata. Yes, sir. Thank you. Give me just one second, I grabbed the wrong
paper sorry we do not have an amendment for that bill. Is that right? OK, alright, you're recognized. Thank you, sir.
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
3:03
Thank you, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm sorry for that delay, um, kind of caught me off guard. I thought I was gonna have some more bills presented before mine, um, what I was wanting to do on this one, I've never done it before, but I was wondering, um, what the proper procedure is to ask for your bill to be put into
uh interim study. All right, I think you just simply make a request. Is that, uh, what you would like to do with the House bill. 1883. Yes sir, please send it to interim study. All right, stay
up, is there any particular OK, have to let Miss Martha know. OK, that you'd like this to be referred to interim study, and that shouldn't be a problem. Thank you, sir. All right. Are you prepared on House Bill 1884? Yes, sir. All right, you're recognized present House Bill 1884 and I did have an amendment on this one. We do have an amendment on that. Staff will be passing that out.
All right, this appears to be quite the amendment, Representative Long. Do you want to move to adopt the amendment and then we can just discuss the bill as amended. That would be great, sir. All right, you make a motion. Motion to pass the amendment motion to adopt the amendment. Any discussion on the motion saying none all those in favor say aye. All those opposed, we must have been adopted Representative Long, you recognized to present House Bill 1884 as amended. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh,
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
5:09
like the chairman said, it's quite an amendment. It's, it's a 5-page amendment or a 2-page bill, but um I basically I went
to work, uh, talking to some folks in the election commission and uh basically try to come up with some ways to um Um, eliminate some of the objections that was brought up the other day when we first started started hearing this bill. And um, basically what I come up with was there was some concern about um shutting down the counting process. So what I, what I did was um basically put into the bill that um county would not take place from 10
p.m. till 6:00 a.m. And that uh uh when uh during this time period, uh, the, uh, the doors would be locked and we would place either a certified law enforcement officer or a licensed um. Um You know, security guard to guard the door of the room or the building, whichever the case is. And um that they also would add seals to the doors similar to what the police use when they have a crime scene and want to steal it, make sure no one's, uh
entering and exiting. And uh Uh, also, um, because of the stopping and starting, because the issue if you recall was um in my, my bill that I passed two years ago. Uh, I had set up that once the counting started, I had to continue until finished, um, Cercy County during the general election this past November, uh counted for 18 hours straight.
And um I got concerned that um during that longer time period, uh, errors which may start to happen. Fortunately with them, it did not. They made 100% on their. The audit, but um, um, that was, you know, a small county, um, it could have went much longer if it's been a bigger county, more balanced to count. So, um We, um Basically tried to come up with, you know, everything that we
needed to try to secure those, those situations, so I also put in here that will require um to um at least 2 of the election commissioners to be present at all times that would one of the the commissioners could go. Uh, get something to eat or go to the restroom, that type of thing without counting have to come to a stop as it is considered, uh, required now and um One other thing was, oh, and you
require at least 22 representatives to Election commissioners to be present to break the seal to enter the room or building, uh, the starting of the next day. And also two of those folks to break the seals on the, um, Uh, ballot boxes. And I think that's about it as far as the things that I Uh, added, um, I'd be happy to
try to answer any questions. All right,
Representative Long has explained House Bill 1884. Are there any questions by the committee? Representative right, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr.
Representative David Ray
Unverified
8:34
Chairman. So in my understanding this correctly, Representative Long, that they're gonna stop counting at 10 p.m. that would be
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
8:42
the latest that they could count that given basically, um, 16 hours per day. Oh, that's one thing I forgot to mention, uh, once, once I do start counting, which in their
Seri County's case they opted to, you know, not start that night after you know having worked all day you know during the the election, so he started the next day. So whenever they do start that there would be no stopping as far as daily operations. So, um. Uh, they, um, you would be taken off for the, for the weekend or anything if that was necessary.
I'd keep counting until, until all the ballots are counted, but they would only do it up to a maximum of 16 hours a day, um,
I did, you know, put in this
amendment to require them to uh post the time and hours, excuse me, the hours, the location of where the uh counting center is going to be ahead of time and so that I think that's 30 days before the elections when they generally post that. I, I guess I'm
Representative David Ray
Unverified
9:39
just confused. It's been a long day, um, so. The polls close at 7 p.m.
7:30 or 7:30, sorry. OK, so the polls close at 7:30. They count until 10 and then they stop. No,
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
9:53
that's um on election night. Um, they're, they're just running the,
the, uh Uh, balance through the tabulator, uh, that has to be done within 24 hours, which they knock that out in like 3 hours or so. That's to get your unofficial total that's uh sent to the Secretary of State and he distributes it out to, to the public and to the media, uh, so you get your unofficial count. Then the counties that do paper ballots, I have the opportunity not to start counting the paper ballots that night because
they've already worked, you know, like 18 hours so it wouldn't be a good idea. So they opted to start the next day and I think they started like uh 9 a.m. and ended up working until 3 a.m. the following morning. That that's where we mentioned earlier the 18 hours straight. And um with um President Trump, um, been fined a paper ballots. I think we're maybe one executive order away from um. From maybe uh you know, all 75
counties being required to have paper ballot elections if that's the case, we don't want 75 counties with sleepy people trying to count pallets.
All right, any other questions by the committee? Uh, I have a couple
of Representative Long. Yes sir, so when we refer to. Paper
ballots. So the machines that uh I used to cast my vote issue a paper ballot.
Which I'm able to review before I go put it in the box. That ultimately is scanned and tabulated. Is that what you're defining as and and. Considering
Representative Wayne Long
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11:38
a paper ballot, and I should have made it more clear. I'm sorry, uh, this, this law here, uh, uh concerns counties that elect to do handmarked hand-counted paper marked hand counted. Yes, sir. Do
you see a significant distinction between hand marked
and hand counted as opposed to the machine mark and machine can I suppose the point is like When I vote, it prints out a sheet of paper. And I review the sheet
of paper. Is this the whole issue about the barcode. Uh, no, I don't can't read barcode. I
Representative Wayne Long
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12:17
don't, I don't address the barcode, but basically this bill is just trying to make things a little more secure and uh maybe more accurate for counties that do elect to do uh paper ballot
elections which we now have 2 so I was just basically, you
know, working on that for those companies so this only applies to the counties that have chosen to do and. hand marked, hand-counted paper ballots, and which counties are those? Cercy County and one of my Counties, Independence County. They have to stop counting at 10, is that right? Yes sir. And then when
can they be resume counting that they would be able to at 6 a.m. if they chose to
Representative Wayne Long
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12:53
how, how do you expect with the number of votes in those two
counties that it might delay the ultimate uh Determination of an election. Well, since we've been through the uh
Representative Wayne Long
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13:06
counting with Cercy County. It took them 18 hours the first time, so I suppose that would be, you know, kind of a pretty close average for the next election, maybe a little faster because general elections during presidential year, you know, you have a greater turnout. So, um, you know, if we said 18 hours, um, basically they could, you know, knock out 16 hours the first day and come back the next day and 2 more hours and they're finished.
Alright, but you know, I mean that's nothing to stop them from saying 8 hours today, 8 hours tomorrow, that that
would be up to them to decide and who makes the decision as to whether or not a county adopts um hand marked, hand-counted paper ballots. The the
Representative Wayne Long
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13:46
court can decide or the the people um can circulate petition, get it on
the ballot, like that's what they did in Independence County. I got it on the ballot in 63% of the people voted to go to
Hammark Han County in Independence County, Arkansas law allows that.
and in Cercy County they did it through the corn Court, the court majority
voted to do it. All right, and then all this language about Double locking hard shell ballot boxes and being stored and Guarded by a certified law enforcement officer, licensed security. Where did you get all of this? Did you work with someone on, on that, yes, I, I worked with some
Representative Wayne Long
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14:24
of the election commissioners of the counties that have been doing it
and also spoke, I spoke to Mr. Madison from the state Board of Election commissioners
basically bouncing ideas off of him also because uh like I mentioned the other day, um, if this hadn't been done in a generation, so we're basically have to start from scratch on trying to come up with um security measures and procedures. Mr. Madison here. I
don't think so, sir. Well, it'll be a fine time to be in state agencies. All right, Representative Wooldridge, you recognized. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker 43
14:56
Chair and um thank you Representative, uh, I had read the bill originally, but the
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
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15:01
amendment I'm trying to kind of get caught up on that.
So we passed a series of bills during the last session that were election integrity bills and, and as part of those bills, we put the requirements on for any community that wanted to to do hand count ballots, right, or paper ballots. That was actually my bill, yes, sir. I thought that it was so how, how does this work in, in contradictory to that bill because that originally we had said that if you wanted to do that they had. be seal marked and there had to be a continuous time that they were counted and those kind of things, correct? I wrote that bill, like I said, you know, that we basically just
Representative Wayne Long
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15:37
starting from scratch on trying to come up with a procedure and security measures and at that time I just talked to different election commissioners and election coordinators throughout the state, just basically to get an idea, you know, how, how should this work is so far it's been small to medium sized counties that done it, but I needed to try to be prepared in case of larger county did it. OK,
so, um, um, that, um, that was me but they put the thing in there about the coil count till you finished,
and that was because of what I'd witnessed during the 2020 election, it seemed like when, when people stop counting in the middle of the night and they came back that's where a lot of questions came up, so I thought it would be best if you know we um uh you you had, had basically required them to continually count while having seen people trying to do this in the real world, I decided. That's probably not a good idea. I, I think with the uh procedures we have in place as far as uh keeping up with the ballots that, you know, they, they keep up with which ballots
have been used, which ones were unused and I thought I forgot to mention a moment ago, we also put in here that um wants the ballot is counted. It
has to be stamped with a red stamp that says counted so that way there's no confusion when they come back and restart possibly counting uh the same ballot twice, which you know we've seen that happening in some instances in other states, one follow up, Mr. Chair, and I
Speaker 46
16:58
don't want to blame the point because I know we have a lot of things to do and I sure don't want to um.
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
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17:09
To, to say anything that I, I don't mean this to sound in any way other than I thought that when we did that to have them count continuously while, you know, I, I think that the Secretary of State's office has done a good job showing us that the machines are tabulated correctly. They've audited those, all of the kind of things, but if a county wants to do hand count ballots, that's fine. But I thought the whole premise behind that was that it would not delay the process for everyone else in the state. So what I'm hearing from you, I guess, and, and I'm not trying to put words in your mouth. This is just what I hear that
you're telling me that you created a system during the last session for counties to be able to use paper ballots, hand count those. They had to count them continuously, but you're seeing that that maybe is not working like you originally thought that it would. It's time, um, I guess it's a burden from time standpoint and some other things. So when we roll this out to bigger County and I think that I brought this point up. I can't, I wouldn't swear to it verbatim, but I think last session when we talked about this, my concern was That would this work in Pulaski
County or Washington County or Craigate County or some of these other counties. It sounds to me like you don't believe that it will from a continuous counting standpoint, so we're needing to create a break to where they can count an 8 hour windows and have armed security guards to maintain the ballots, and I guess my question would be to that is what are we trying to accomplish if we continue to change the process for this system. I, I, at what point do we just decide that this is too burdensome. for our clerks, for our commissioners, for all of those
involved, and I guess, would you agree and with that, uh, I appreciate it, Mr. Chair, uh,
Representative Wayne Long
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18:47
actually I wouldn't, wouldn't agree, um, the, um, it's worse delays of the the tabulation still occurs immediately, um, just like it did your original law, um. In, in like in in most of the laws we do, uh, sometimes you have to come back and tweak things because you see it in the real world, and it didn't work out just quite the way we had imagined. And um and that that's kind of what happened in this case. I
saw that uh my desire to make sure nobody stopped counting because of possible fraud, um. You know, really that now to me is outweighed by the possibility of errors being made by people that are not used to working, uh, third shift or whatever, you know, up trying to count ballots for the official total, which is, you know, in the hand hand marked counties that that's the official totals based on the, uh, that, uh, that total rather than the tabulation unless they don't like I mentioned the other day, unless they don't make it
or not finished before the 24 hours before the deadline, so they basically have 9. days in a primary and 14 days, I believe in a um maybe 13 days in a general election to get it done. If for some reason they're unable to get to the hand count done at that point then the official total becomes the um tabulated um unofficial title. Representative Clowney, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um. a long, I
Representative Nicole Clowney
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20:13
remember when this ran last time counties were
concerned about the potential that the box would be left with or that the balances would be left with one and only one election commissioner. I see that a lot of the language in the amendment talks about two election commissioners, but can you explain to me how the language on page 3. squares with that. So I know there aren't line numbers, but I would say 2/3 of the way down page 3, We're talking about Uh You know
circumstances under which poll workers can be exempt from counting. Um, and one of the conditions that must be met is that the ballots are stored in a locked room or building that is guarded by a certified law enforcement officer or a licensed security guard unless a member of the county Board of Election commissioners is present. So it does sound to me like even with this amendment, there is a scenario where the the ballots can be left with one and only one commissioners. Am I reading that correctly? I'm just trying to understand how it squares
Representative Wayne Long
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with the rest of the new language. I'll
catch you up. And it was No, I, I see on page 3, B, yes stored in a locked room or building that is about certified law enforcement or licensed security guard. Unless a member of the county board. Oh, I see what you mean. should have said, I guess, members. Because I think everywhere else.
I try to indicate that two or more is required. OK. Thank you. Representative
Collins, you're recognized. Representative McIlroy, you're recognized Do the county clerks support this bill. I doubt it. They, they've not
Representative Wayne Long
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22:13
supported it up until now they fought against it with tooth and nail, uh, two years ago, um, but election commissioner the people that run the run the elections, uh,
pretty much the extent of the county clerk uh once I get the tabulated vote, um, they had to like on a little thumb drive. they give that to the county clerk and the county clerk transmits that too. The Secretary
of State's office. Thank you. If we took that out, um, they wouldn't have anything to do with it at all. Representative Ray, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This
Representative David Ray
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is not really a policy point, but just something I noticed, Representative Long, I know you just amended the bill. I don't
think, I don't think there's a Senate sponsor on there. I know the last time I took a bill down to the Senate side without a Senate sponsor. They would not let me run it until we amended it. Do you,
do you have a plan to pass this bill on the Senate side if you were to get it through the House, who's going to run it? I can't say yet, but I
Representative Wayne Long
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23:16
I think I got somebody. find out there, you know how they, they tell us it's like if you can get it through the house and get back with me kind of deal, and that's one of those deals. OK.
All right, um, Representative Long, I have a couple of questions about similar to Representative Wooldridge's questions. We all want secure elections. It's uh. vital part of having a functioning democracy to have secure elections. But Um We also need to be able to get returns in a.
You know, relatively uh reasonable amount of time if some of these bigger counties were to as Representative Wooldridge asked, adopt. Uh, hand marked, hand-counted ballots. Do you, I mean, given the time restrictions that you put in here, do you
think they would be able to complete the work in a in a reasonable amount of time? Yes, yes,
Representative Wayne Long
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24:25
sir, Mr. Chairman, of course, uh the initial um unofficial totals, uh, they're required within 24 hours currently under current law, um,
what I foresee is knowing how many hours that you have available and having a pretty good idea of how many people it takes, you know, per hour to count, you know, 1000 votes. they'll step up to the point where they're uh they're ready to go, I would suppose that the county would, you know, decide if they want to get into that before they make the decision, you know, on the court level to Uh, to go this route. But um you know I mentioned
earlier, um, I, I don't know if the big counties will ever do it on their own. The small counties do seem like they're very interested in doing it. I think 9 counties attempted to do it last time, but um I ran into
technical difficulties on their petition drive. Representative Ray, you're recognized. OK, Mr. Chair, I, I hate
Representative David Ray
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25:24
to drag this out any longer because I know there's a lot of other bills, um, but if there if there's somebody here from the
association of counties that could offer their opinion, I'd be interested in hearing it.
Lindsay Bailey
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25:37
I believe there is. Thank you, Lindsay French Association of Arkansas Counties, um, and I apologize, I would have signed up for this, but we didn't have the amendment. Is it OK
Representative David Ray
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26:04
if I just phrase this in the form of a question.
You guys are the ones that are gonna have to implement whatever is passed here, so I would just like to hear your opinion on the bill if it's workable, what you, you know. If you could comment on that. sure, so. I will say last session we did work with Representative Long and
Lindsay Bailey
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26:24
get an agreed to bill. So I know it was said that we fought that, but we actually got a bill that was agreed to and we were good with this one we have not seen this until now, we still have a lot of issues with this and I've also been told that the state board has not taken a
position on this bill. If you would like me to go through some
of those issues, I can do it very quickly. They. So you have some specific
Lindsay Bailey
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26:58
objections to Representative Long's bill. I just think this has been thrown together kind of last minute. It's a very important process. Representative Clowney has already pointed out one discrepancy in the bill where one County Board of Election commissioners can actually be with the bill, um, but even if you have two election
commissioners and one sheriff who is of the same party and not of high ethical standards. I still just see a lot of room for organized fraud, um, not that our, our sheriffs over there are not, uh, get up standing sheriff. but Um, we still have issues with that. The solution here that already exists is to just have enough people to count, have enough people to work in shifts, and if you do that, there's no reason to stop. Um, I'm also not sure what would happen if
something did happen to these ballots and someone did get into the box and you have your tabulated count but you never got to that amount with the hand count, um. What, what would the solution be then? Um, also the cost of paying for security guards to sit 8 hours overnight would be a cost that I'm guessing they'd want the county to cover and we would be opposed to that as well. I do like the very last page, um, Part B that says the State Board of Election commissioners shall promulgate rules to assist
election commissioners with compliance, um, I think, uh, all counties who want to do paper ballots would probably re um welcome some assistance and guidance from the state, but it's going to take some time to come up with a a good process. Any other questions by the committee?
Seeing no further questions by the committee, we have no one
signed up to speak for or against the bill. I will point out staff has notified me that we previously adopted amendment
and and amendment to this bill. Now we've adopted another amendment to this bill. So before we vote, we will need to expunge the vote by which the
First Amendment passed and was adopted, so do I see a motion. Yes. You would have a jumbled up bill, I suppose. All right. Representative Collins moves to expunge the vote by which Amendment number one to House Bill 1884 passed.
Is there any discussion on the motion, Representative Rose, uh, parliamentary inquiry, I guess you're recognized. Is the language from the amendment and the
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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29:26
and and this could be ignorant speaking here. It's the language that's in the First Amendment that we adopted being struck. Or is that language intended to remain and that may be a question more for the bill sponsor. I just wasn't sure if this was a complimentary amendment or if it was a replacement amendment.
OK, so So the ordinary prices. Alright, uh, that's a good question, and I appreciate you asking that. What I'm told by staff actually so I was wrong in my response to Representative Beatty that we would have a jumbled up bill. That's not correct. The old amendment that we passed has been incorporated that language has been incorporated into his new
amendment, but I guess procedures sake, we don't need to have the First Amendment and the 2nd Amendment, although it is duplicate language, but the Second Amendment added additional language in addition to the language that was a part of Amendment number one. So I guess for procedure's sake, the way I understand it, the proper thing to do would be to be to only have the one amendment, which would be Amendment number 2, which means we need to take the motion that Representative Collins has made, which is to expunge the vote by which
Amendment number one passed. Is there any more? discussion on that motion. Seeing no further discussion on that motion, all those in favor say aye. All those opposed, yeah, habit the. Amendment number 1 The vote by which it passed has been expunged. Representative Long, you're recognized to close for your bill as amended, well, I appreciate y'all you know taking the
Representative Wayne Long
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31:14
time to to listen uh to um to my amendment, um, like
I mentioned earlier, um, one of the things that really prompted me to to uh try to. Meet y'all's objections that you brought up the other day was, you know, really thought, you know, maybe if we, if we can make, uh, you feel a little bit better about the um security measures which I added everything that I could think of that you'd be OK with it because I really feel like uh the potential for errors, uh, does outweigh the potential for fraud and with President Trump basically pushing for piper ballots. I'd like for the state to be prepared, uh, if, if we do
go to Allstate being uh paper ballot counts. And that
I'd make um be closed and make a motion to pass. Representative Long has closed for
his bill. He's made a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? As amended, do you make a motion to pass as amended. Yes sir, I'm sorry. I made a motion do pass as amended. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion on the motion. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed. The nose habit. I'm sorry,
Representative Long, the bill's failed. Thank you. I appreciate your attention. Next we have House Bill 1632 Representative Wardlaw, Representative Wardlaw. Representative Wardlaw, next we have House Bill 1037 Representative Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chair, with uh the chair's permission, could I
Representative Andrew Collins
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32:51
have someone come up and join me
to present this bill. Candace Edwards. You may. Thank you. And um I guess you may need to introduce yourself to
Speaker 90
33:02
Edwards, if you would just state your name and any organization
you're here representing and you'll be recognized to help present with Representative Collins. My name is Candice Edwards and I'm Assistant Chief Deputy for the Plasky
Speaker 93
33:16
County and Circuit Clerk. Um, thank you. And to be clear, this is not the clerk's bill,
Representative Andrew Collins
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33:26
but I invited her just to answer any questions that may come up about details of implementation that I can't answer. So, um, this bill, which is, and I have a few today, but this is 10:35. This would allow online voter registration. So, uh, slowly but surely we are modernizing for a digital world here in Arkansas, as we all know, we'll soon offer a digital driver's license. Our most sensitive transactions like banking and paying taxes are done online, and many services are only offered online.
Uh, I wish that this actually were a cutting edge idea to make Arkansas a leader in modernization and customer service, but actually it just catches us out to where we should have been 20 years ago. Online voter registration is old news. Uh, it was first done in Arizona in 2002 and is now adopted in 42 states as well as the District of Columbia and even Guam. Uh, no state that has offered online registration has gone back on it, and it now at this point is a fully vetted, fully integrated, easy. to implement service.
So it's actually and I didn't fully realize this until I looked into it, but it's actually already available as part of the existing software that the state has a contract with, which is available in all 75 counties. It's just not activated in Arkansas because it's not been authorized in law. So for a long time since 2005, Arkansas has had a vendor that provides a suite of applications that manages our statewide voter database. One of those applications you may be familiar with is voter view, um, and that is where currently it's used as
a public facing portal, people can check their registration, see if they're registered, see sample ballot and other things like
that. Voter view is actually how people would register to vote online. It would need to be activated. The functionality is there and it's actually available at no additional cost. We would just have to turn
on the functionality if it were legal here in Arkansas configured the online form to match our voter registration requirements and everything that a
voter provides in their current paper application would also be
required in the online application. Briefly, and then I will move along, answer questions, and we're both available to answer questions if any deal with issues of implementation, but I do want to talk about the benefits to both the state and the public, um, the benefits to the state, I believe there's really 3 principal benefits. Number 1, it solves a problem of incomplete applications. Currently, clerks get some applications where not every field is filled in, and that's about the the DMV and that's
through the paper applications. This would eliminate that issue because the way the form works, you don't get to advance to the next screen unless you input into every field that you have to input in, so that will avoid the time of the clerk's office trying to rectify the issue of incomplete applications or just someone not getting to register. Number 2, when a clerk gets an online registration, that data that's going to go into the voter file is already in the form. It needs to be the
electronic form, so that will remove. The need for a lot of manual data entry that's currently down in the system, uh, in Maricopa County, Arizona, there was a case study that found that processing a paper registration form costs 83 cents compared to 3 cents for electronic registration. So over time, online registration absolutely will save the state money. And finally, the bill requires the Secretary of State to develop additional integrity measures in rule on online
registration only beyond what is required for paper applications to reduce the chance of registration fraud. And to be clear, registration fraud is rare. The Heritage Foundation found only 182 cases over a 22 year period nationwide, but that's not 0, so we should take it seriously, which is why again we have a higher threshold for online registration, um, that the Secretary of State will be tasked to develop, as with every voter when someone registers online and then comes in to
vote, they have to produce a photo ID, their name, likeness, and address will need to be matched. But even more importantly than the than the benefits to the state or the benefits to the
public. Government is in the business of customer service, and when at all possible, it is simply good customer service to offer a service in the way people want to access
it. This offers the choice of an online option which many people find more convenient, and that alone is a good reason to do it. Number 2, it's good for people
with disabilities. So last session when I presented this bill, advocates for the disabled community spoke in favor of it, in particular the benefits for people who are blind or have low vision and can use their own integrated accessibility tools like speech to text to complete online forms much more easily than paper forms. And finally, it's been shown to increase rates of registration and voter turnout. The effect is particularly noted among young voters who might not even own a printer or mail
letters customarily. Arkansas is 2nd worst among states in registration and third worst in turnout, so we have a long way to go in this area. Why not try something that we know will work and will help increase that, um, and also just wanna say why, you know, because some of these bills do deal with voter turnout, and I think the question comes up, why do we care if people vote? It's critical to the health of our democracy. Number one, voting translates popular will into public policy as more
citizens vote, the composition, orientation and goals of government were more closely matched the will of the people and carrying out the will of the people is the fundamental task of representative democracy. 2, voting keeps elected officials accountable, and number 3, it makes citizens feel invested in their government, which leads to further engagement and productive citizenship and less
alienation and frustration. With that I'm happy to take any questions. Representative Collins has explained the bill. Are there any questions by the committee,
Representative Hawk, you're recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, Representative Collins, I've
Representative RJ Hawk
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39:39
worked a lot with the SOS on um digitizing things. Where, where do they stand on this, uh, as far as implementation. Have you, do they even need an input on this? I'm just asking just as far as the voter registration goes. Yeah, I haven't heard from them on this. I know
Representative Andrew Collins
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39:54
that the clerks have not taken a position and I know our clerk here supports it, so it's really out of You know, it is handled by the clerks for the most part, and I
Representative RJ Hawk
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40:06
think it's a public policy issue that really is up to us. So I guess follow up, or I guess
leeway, um. My, my question is, so if we go online, is every county clerk gonna have to have an online database or is, does the state have an overall
system that they would have to buy into. What's that look like? So the
Representative Andrew Collins
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40:27
state already has an overall system, and it's through this vendor and every clerk's office has access to it, and that's already there right now. This application is
by the same vendor Voter View, and it would all be integrated in. So when they get a paper
application right now, they're typing. into what is called ESNS power profile. So the type those in manually with this, it will come in from
voter view and be automatically integrated into. Power profile. Those applications work together. OK, thank you. Any other questions by the
committee, Representative Rose, you're recognized. Thank you. So, are you saying there's no
Representative Andrew Collins
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41:07
cost? No, I'm not. The initial set up cost was estimated at $70,000 for the Secretary of State, and then there was no ongoing costs, so they, they do have to get, you know, configured with the the initial form and everything like that, uh, they have to amend their contract with the S&S to do that, but on an ongoing basis now we got a fiscal impact on this last session, and they said no ongoing costs. OK. Um, so there are, there are associated costs 70,000 rough
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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41:38
estimate from previous run of this, yeah,
Representative Andrew Collins
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41:40
70,000 initial set up costs from the Secretary of State and then ongoing, no cost, but like I said, because of the efficiencies and less data input, um, it's expected
to save the state money over the long term. Um Mr. Chair, would it be all right to
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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41:55
have SOS somebody from their office support that. Absolutely. Is there anyone here from the Secretary
of State's office that can shed some light upon Representative Rose's question. If you would just state your
name, who you're here representing and you'll be
Representative Ryan A. Rose
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42:14
recognized. Just to reiterate my question, just to confirm or, or Add to Whether there are associated costs
and what that looks like. Josh Bridges, assistant
Speaker 119
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director of elections for the Secretary
Speaker 120
42:27
of State, we have not for this iteration of the bill, we have not received a fiscal impact from our vendor at this time, um, I know Representative Collins said that the $70,000
figure was from the last time that this was ran, I believe in the last session, uh, but we have not received a current fiscal impact on this. And we do not know if this will in the long run save the state money. We have not done any kind of analysis on that at all. All right, thank you, thank
you, Mr. Chair. Representative Hawk, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just, you know, I know whenever I was, and
Representative RJ Hawk
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43:04
I keep going back to this when we work together on the digitizing of the election report, right? That was the first thing I asked the
Secretary of State was, what was this gonna cost the state? And we knew that on the front end, right? And so my I agree with the premise, Representative Collins, but I I wouldn't you agree that We should hold off on this until we know the exact cost from SOS because whenever I did mine, um, they said they had the money already in their budget to be able to do that. With this, we don't even know if they've got the, the budgeted money as it sits today to be able to to implement the $70,000 correct?
Is that a question for me for for Representative Collins, yeah, you know,
Representative Andrew Collins
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43:46
with the, with the information that we got that it was $70,000 I suppose that's a decision for this committee to make, whether or not we feel like it's something that's important if um if we do, we can move forward and find a way, and if not, then we won't, but I just, I just hate
Representative RJ Hawk
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44:03
to pull the, the fiscal impact card on you with, we having a one week left, you know, in, in the session, but I, I also know that just my time working on digitizing the election reports that
That was a big conversation piece was how much it was gonna cost to upgrade the system, and I, I just think it's hard for this commit or for at least for me to say a yes vote without knowing
definitely what that's gonna cost Secretary of State. I if they've got the money in their budget, yeah, and I think if we
Representative Andrew Collins
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44:29
hadn't gotten that fiscal impact from the Secretary of State, you know, recently, 2 years ago, I would agree with you, but I think that on that basis,
I feel pretty confident that it's not going to have changed significantly from that $70,000 estimate.
But maybe, you know, they feel otherwise, I don't know. Thank
you. Representative Collins, is there an emergency clause on this bill? No, and
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
44:53
in fact, I believe it's scheduled to start
uh only after January 1st, 2026 to give a little extra run up time. OK, so you'd have time to in a
fiscal session, get an appropriation bill. And uh go through that process if need be, is that what you're saying if need be if
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
45:11
$70,000 is needed in an appropriation. What
is the primary objection or the primary objections to doing voter registration this way. That's my question number one. And question number 2, how many other states do registration this way, you know, I think that if I
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
45:29
think about the, the questions people have about it, it's always cost implementation and
fraud, right? Those are the three things people talk about with any election procedure. I've tried to address all
three of those. I actually think it's again long term savings,
implementation is very straightforward and I think it's a more secure way of doing things. We've moved so many things to electronic overpay. precisely for that reason. Paper is very susceptible to fraud, and this is a, you know, tried and true thing. It's done in many states with very, I've not heard of any incidents, and I think that's been testified to in the past as well, um. As far as other states, 42 other states do it. So this is the vast majority of states are already doing it, have been
doing it in most cases for many years. So we're
we're really, we're behind on this one. OK, we're talking about online voter registration. That's right, not voting, just registration. OK, and, and so
I mean from a fraud standpoint, there's not anything that would keep me from going online to say my, for example, my Secretary of State's office website or the county clerk's website and entering someone else's name and saying, hey, I got you registered to vote. No, they're
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
46:45
actually a number of things you would have to um provide a signature for one, you'd have to electronic capture of a signature, you would have to provide the last four of your social. Security number or your driver's license number, you'd have to provide a large number of other, you know, information, uh, as well that you that you would have to have personal information. Again, all these things are also where you'd have to have, if you're doing a mailed in paper uh registration and then of course when you go in to vote, they're going to
match that ID to your information, your name, your likeness, and your address that you've already provided in the past. Fair enough,
Representative. Barry, yeah, all right, Representative Beatty, you're recognized. All right. Any other questions by the committee? Seeing no other questions
by the committee, do we have anyone sign up to speak for or
against the bill? We have no one signed up to speak for or against the bill, Representative Collins recognized a close for the bill.
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
47:47
Uh, thank you. I'm closed for the bill. I'll move
to pass. Representative Collins has closed for his bill. He's made a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on that motion? Representative Beatty, you're recognized. Well, I really
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
47:58
didn't want to um to ask for a fiscal impact, but for that reason that we just haven't anticipated uh cost on this bill, uh, I will be voting no. Without the exact dollar. All right, any other discussion on the motion, Representative Hawk, you're recognized. I like
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
48:17
the bill. I mean, I told other people I like to build, but the cost is, is a major thing for me. Uh, whenever I did mine, that was the first thing that I, I talked to SOS about and, and made sure I had that when I brought it to this committee and so uh with that being said, I'll be voting now.
Any other discussion on the motion? Seeing no other discussion on the motion, we do have a motion to pass all those in favor say aye. I, all those opposed?
The nose habits representative Collins, the bill's failed. Next
we have House Bill 1035. So Representative
Speaker 140
49:02
Collins, we just ran 1037, correct? Uh, that's uh 10:30, um we just ran 10:35. What about 10:37, um, I don't see 10:37 up there. I have
Bill 1037 an act to create the pre-registration to Vote Act 1035 was to create the online voter registration Act. We
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
49:25
ran that last week. I'll pass over 10:37. OK, very good. So then we
have the house built. So I was like 10:35. Correct.
So next we have House Bill 1036 to amend the law regarding or concerning voter registration to allow voter registration during early voting
and on election day. I'll pass over that
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
49:44
one too if that's all right. OK.
Then we have House Bill 1038. To create the no excuse absentee voting Act of 2025. be prepared on that. Yes. All
right, Representative Collins, you're recognized. OK, this is just what it says. This would allow anyone
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
50:05
to vote absentee without needing a reason. Currently you can only vote absentee if you'll be unavoidably absent from the polls on the date of the election, have an illness or disability or for religious reasons. Voting, as we mentioned, is important for our democracy and
something people want to do. If someone has a mobility issue, busy work schedules, taking care of a sick parent or just finds it more convenient to vote absentee. Why not let them do that? We already allowed this form of voting, and this would just be extending the opportunity to more Arkansas citizens. 36 states already offer no excuse absentee voting. So this is again well trodden territory and over 60% of Americans support it. Here there would be no cost, and in fact costs again should be reduced because of the
simplification of the absentee ballot form. If we can get that back to one page, um, that would save on printing and mailing costs, it's, it had been one page and it was recently extended to 2, not to mention is easier for the
public. And uh with that, I'm happy to take any questions. Representative Collins has explained this bill. Are there any questions by the
committee? Seeing no questions by the committee. Is there anyone signed up to
speak for or against the bill, seeing no one sign up to speak for or against
the bill. Representative Collins are recognized a close for your bill. I'm closed. Move to pass. Representative Collins has closed for his bill. He's made
a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? So this
is uh my understanding. is no excuse. Absentee voting. And I guess just my comments are, uh, Absentee ballots have been a source of fraud. Uh, over the years and if
there's no excuse needed to get an absentee ballot. I may have some concern that that could increase fraud and so those are uh my discussion, uh, my
discussion points on the motion is there any other discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those seeing no further discussion on the
motion, we do have a motion to pass. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed. No. I know habit. Sorry, the bill's failed.
Next we have House Bill 1039 to amend Arkansas law concerning absentee ballots.
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
52:56
Representative Collins, thank you. OK,
so 10:39 um is very
simple. It would just go back to how we handled the absentee ballots prior to 2021. So at that time there was a bill by Senator Hammer, and it moved the deadline for hand-delivered absentee ballots from Monday before election day to the Friday before election day. So it attracted a little bit of controversy and actually the Benton County election coordinator in Washington County Director of elections, both spoke against it. It's a relatively close vote in the House and it passed into law as Act 973 without the
governor's signature. The governor at that time said it unnecessarily limits the opportunities for voters to cast their ballots prior to the election. It does limit voting as Governor Hutchinson said, and creates the possibility that someone won't get to vote at all and does not serve the public interest. So before that bill passed between 20 and 30% of voters who hand returned an absentee ballot, did so in that 3 day window that the bill eliminated and if that's when a third of
the voters want to return their ballot, we shouldn't arbitrarily deny them that period. The other point, and this was actually raised by that Benton County coordinator is that the deadline to request an absentee ballot is 7 days before the election, and so that creates a pretty good possibility that if they mail that out, they won't get that before the Friday of the election, um, but Friday before the election and so that creates this impossible situation where you can request validly request an absentee
ballot but not get it in time to hand return it. Um, if it were moved back to Monday, those extra 2 male days would really make a big difference in terms of time. There's also really no rational justification for the Friday deadline, so part of the rationale that Senator Hammer gave at the time was that he had a companion bill that would have gotten rid of early voting on Monday so that this bill would lend consistency, but that companion bill never passed, so we have inconsistency. Um, and accepting hand delivered absentee ballots on Monday
really does not create a significant administrative burden on counties either. Either way, people are gonna come in and try to hand deliver those ballots. It's just gonna be whether or not the clerk tells them, you know, you have to go drop those in the mailbox or they can accept them and process them and either way they cannot start opening ballots until election day in any event. Um, So I think basically that's it. This would go back to the way the law was. The law worked, and the law made it easier to vote. It better serve the public
interest, and I'm happy to take any questions and if you'd like to add anything, you're welcome to. So in in Pulaski
Speaker 93
55:42
County, that's the only county I can speak for it, it would not change our workflow at all because like he said, we have We have a large amount of people who come in on that day, um, on that Monday and we have to send them to the post office, so it just delays the amount that we have to work them the next day when they come to us through the the post office on election day, but it doesn't change the amount of absentee ballots that we have to work. They come in. Either way.
Representative Nicole Clowney
Unverified
56:09
Happily take any questions. Collins has explained the bill. Uh, are there any questions from
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
56:17
the committee, Representative Rose, you recognize. Thank you. I was looking at um Just
kind of the The changes are the amending of the language here. Can you walk me through the rationale behind adding the designated bearer and administrator on the delivery of the ballot. And the removal of physical office.
Um, instead of just authorized agent and why physical office of the county clerk is
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
56:47
removed in that. Sure, so the physical office, and again this is just a reversal of what was done in that act, but that was one of the additional things, so in, I guess 2020, 2020, it was right before this bill was proposed and passed that we would be repealing, uh, COVID made the need for some drop off. tents outside the clerk's office
and, and those um were, I guess what was being targeted here, I think that the testimony at the time from Washington County, um, and I believe it probably
would be shared, although Pulasi County could speak for themselves, is that just in case of something like that happening, those tents were helpful to have, and so allowing that other drop off point to the clerk, not necessarily at the physical office was something that we, if we restore that it's just a
useful possible thing for them to have. Did you have anything to add on that?
Speaker 93
57:45
So going back to 2020, um, the way that it affected Flasky County is that our um county judge closed our courthouse, which meant that the public was not allowed into the courthouse to drop off their ballots. And so the way that their solution to that is that they created tents outside. Nothing changed. You had to show your ID, you had to sign everything, um, but they were all manned boxes. What we did is we moved the employees outside, um, in the office became just right outside our door. Um, and so. Like I said, nothing changed all the all the processes were still
handled. It's just that we were able to step outside, whereas had we not had that ability, we would not have been able to accept some votes because uh. Common Um, elect the voters were not allowed inside the building and so we had to come up with some way to be able to meet them outside and my understanding is that we were not the only county that did that. Were you able
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
58:41
to comment on the designated bearer and administrator and why those are being added.
Speaker 93
58:48
So, um, the designated bureau and administrator added to the authorized agent. So first of all, the authorized agent is able to drop off their absentee ballot until noon on election day. And so, um, the authorized agent or the designated bearer and the administrator um allow the nursing homes to to be able to come in on the day before as opposed to having to come in on that Friday and then designated a bearer, we have a lot of voters out there that are disabled, and they have a design.
Bear try to bring in their um ballot to us because they may not request it until that deadline and the mail they don't always get their ballot, and so they know that if they stick it in the mail, we're not going to receive it by election day. And so they will designate a bearer to bring that in and so that allows them to have that extended time. When they receive it and they don't have time to mail it. Does that make sense? I'm following what you're saying. So currently this is not allowed. They have to bring it in by Friday.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
59:41
Representative Collins, I think you spoke to, and I apologize if it was a previous
bill, but I think you spoke to on this one as well that this, this will not expand fraud. Is that your belief? Or it's not a cause for
concern. There's not an additional risk. Uh, well, I don't think
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:00:01
I've commented on it with respect to this bill, but, but I can rephrase it.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:00:05
Do you think that it that it could, uh,
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:00:08
no, so I mean again we currently allow designated bear administrator or authorized agent to deliver absentee ballots.
Right now the deadline's Friday. This would make the deadline Tuesday. It
it, I don't know, I don't think it would increase fraud because it's not changing who can deliver the absentee ballot. Um, Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, Representative Beck, would it be all
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:00:29
right to ask somebody from the Secretary of State's office to come to the table on this. Yes, go ahead. I'm
just curious, their perspective on that just with these changes, things that are currently maybe not allowed or the timeline or the individuals, um, just kind of get their perspective. I know we've heard some uh testimony from County uh clerk, but what the SOS has to say.
Speaker 119
1:00:53
Josh Bridges, assistant director of elections for Secretary of State, uh, Representative Rose, I want to rephrase your
Speaker 120
1:00:59
question to make sure I understand your concern is, well, changing these deadlines uh opened the door for fraud, is that correct?
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:01:07
Yes, changing the deadline, just removing, I guess what was already instituted in the previous. What's in the law
and what was the previous bill that Representative Collins referenced.
Speaker 120
1:01:17
Uh, so as Representative Collins, uh, stated, uh, these deadlines were changed back in 2023, uh, by, by
legislation, so, uh, Representative Collins' bill would revert back the deadlines to what they were prior to 2023. So in terms of the sample size from, you know, the 2024 election cycle, I don't know that this would necessarily open up the door for more fraud simply because we just, we don't have a good sample size of that data. OK, thank you. Mr. I think that's how we have Representative Ray. Representative Rose asked my
question. All right, seeing no other questions from the committee, is there anyone here to speak for or against the bill. Bye. with. Seeing none, Representative Collins you recognize the clause for your bill. I'll move to pass. OK, we have a motion to passes there any discussion on the motion?
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:02:25
Saying none, all those in favor say aye. All those opposed?
No. I'm sorry Representative Col bill to fail. Thank you. So
Speaker 175
1:02:43
you're prepared to present. HB 1040. Yes, yes, thank you,
yourself for the committee and uh you're good to go. OK, Andrew
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:02:55
Collins, um, so this one, would repeal the criminal prohibition on a person entering or remaining within 100 ft of the entrance to a polling place. And y'all might actually like this one, just throwing it out there. Um, so this, this would reverse the change enacted by Act 728 of 2021, uh, also by Senator Hammer, and so When he presented the bill, he talked about loitering, blocking access, and harassment as things we wanted to stop with the bill
he presented. So those are already all illegal under other laws. Also, electioneering, which is the display of audible dissemination of information that advocates for or against any candidate issue or measure on the ballot is also already illegal within 100 ft of the entrance to a polling place under another law. So what Acts 7:28 does is criminalize a volunteer bringing water to voters waiting in line on a hot day, as well as numerous other innocent and even positive and productive activities. So if you go shake
your friend's hand, who's waiting in line within 100 ft of the entrance, you've committed a criminal offense, saying if you offer an arm of support to your mother or grandmother while she attempts to stand in a long line. Same is if you just
walk by on the sidewalk with 100 ft of the entrance, even if there's no line at all and you're mining your own business. It's
not just a violation, it's a class A misdemeanor, the most serious category of misdemeanor, which is punishable by a year in jail and a $2500 fine. And I realized people might say, oh, that
wouldn't be charged, but I would say two things in response to that. First of all, elections
are very charged. They're very, you know, hot sometimes and people may be watching very closely for any small slip up, cell phone camera, and it's not unimaginable for an overzealous prosecutor to actually pro. execute someone for a de minimis violation here. And second, if that is the only reason that we think it's OK, I just don't understand. Since when do we pass criminal laws and just hope they won't get charged. I don't think that's a responsible way to make laws.
But beyond all that, beyond the Oroscope and the criminalization of innocent acts. I think that the more insidious aspect of Act 728, which I hope that you all will agree with me on is
that it discourages people from voting at all. If lines are long and you need someone with you and you can't have that person because they'd be breaking the law, or if you're in the sun, you start to feel faint, but you can't get that water because no one can bring it to you because they'd be breaking the law. In those situations you might just not vote at all. And it's a particular problem in
minority communities because minority voters on average wait nearly 30% longer to vote than their white counterparts. That's been studied. So making it more difficult to vote with a disproportionate impacts on our minority communities is bad for Arkansans and bad for democracy, and that's why this bill would reverse that situation and again go back to where we were in 2021, where electioneering is illegal, loitering's illegal, uh, harassment and blocking access are all illegal.
And this would just, I think, remediate a problem in the law.
Happy to take any questions. Uh, right, you're recognized for a
question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Collins,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:06:09
the study that you just alluded to, um, can you, can you tell me what that study is and was
it based on Arkansas. Um, it was, it was testified to in court by an expert
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:06:21
witness, a professor of political science, and I don't know if it was a published study,
but it was, it was information presented. I'm not sure if it was based on
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:06:34
Arkansas, but it was sworn under oath. Representative Hall. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and, and once again, Representatives, I like the, the intent of the bill. I think it's great. But you know, one thing that I've been, in fact, my county clerk was in the room. He yells at a lot of people in Saline County. If somebody walks up and has a button even on their shirt and they forget to take it off, right? There's nothing in the bill though that says if you go up to, to take that, you know, water to somebody and that you got to remove all unless that's part of the electioneering
portion of that. I'm just trying to read between the lines, I guess, and I, I would just hate for we. us to pass something like this and the unintended consequences, there's a gray area for somebody to go, well, this will give me an opportunity to
take my favorite candidate's button and just go up to the line and tell everybody, hey, here's your water also vote
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:07:22
for this guy. No, I appreciate that and, and that's the thing and I didn't actually fully realize that when this bill came before us the first time, but we have a full electioneering statute and it, it clearly states in a different section, but within the same,
well I say different subpart within the same section. Electioneering includes handing out any literature, soliciting signatures, displaying a candidate's name likeness or logo. All that stuff disseminating buttons, hats, pencils, pens, shirts, signs, stickers, all that's
in law already so they could still put their sign up to where you don't have your button, but you can just pass
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:07:53
out water. You have to have nothing on you, you know, if you're gonna
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:07:58
go pass out water, nothing having to do with any candidate at all if you're going to be doing that. OK, thank you, yeah.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:08:07
Representative Rose. Thank you. Representative Collins, I'm sure you're more well studied on this section than I am. Do you know why and when? Uh, part 24 of that Arkansas code 71103 was, was added. Since that's what we're, I think that's the totality of the bills we're removing that,
correct? Um, sir, just let me pull that up. Oh yeah, that was in 2021. Do you know what, do you know
Speaker 184
1:08:39
the why behind why it was added. Yeah,
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:08:42
um, people. Well, I think that, again, the main reasons that were given in committee were loitering, blocking access, and harassment. I think people were saying that there were volunteers uh. You know, getting within 100 ft of a line and um some people were probably breaking existing laws, and some people were probably doing things
that were perfectly innocuous and shouldn't have been actionable because they were giving out water or food or whatever the
case may be. So, uh, I think that's the why, that's where it generated from that was off in
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:09:16
the 2020 election, and I know this isn't. Um I'm not asking you to quote testimony from 5 years ago. You said loitering, blocking and harassment, harassment. Um And so that was what was 24. Part 24, was that kind of like the totality of what was added or was it a whole section of lines that was the whole bill, OK. So it was
added for that reason, I'm guessing past this committee
and then the House. OK, all right, thank you, thank you,
Mr. Chair. I have a question, um. In this something I experienced actually campaigning where
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:09:54
there was, there was a group that were right outside of the 100. You know, they, they do that line with the rope, uh, and they were just right outside of that and they had a big banner on the front of their, their table and it was advocating not to vote for um
In certain or to vote for certain individuals should say, and they were handing out water. Now that the people would have to walk over there and get the water and walk back, but with this you would say that they could actually bring that water and I, I guess my concern would be, wouldn't that with our, or, or maybe, maybe the, the, uh, the, the campaigning, the other law would catch that, but you can see where it definitely be where I'm, I'm saying who's giving me the water, uh, just
the person just walked a few feet over here to me type of deal so we kind of interfere with that. Um because where they go and pick it up, which would be in clear sight of the individual, they'd be able to see who was giving him a glass or a bottle of water. Well, and I guess
I'd say if you're 101 ft outside of the entrance right now, you can offer somebody a water
and they can take it, you know, under current law because that, you know, you just can't cross that threshold where you could have
as many buttons and pins and everything on it as you want. You can election nearer to your heart's content if you're outside of that range. And so, I mean, is it really solving uh anything by preventing someone who's has nothing to do with electioneering from coming within that 100 ft. I mean, I would say probably not, but. I guess my concern, my concern there would be, you
know, that's a little bit of a fuzzy line, right? Could I, you know, you're right, maybe I, if I just had some water over there and I could just carry it in there,
that would certainly be a right, but, but now I'm getting the water from an obvious, uh, Location where I'm advocating a vote for someone that kind, you know, it's kind of creates a little bit of a blurry line wouldn't you agree? Well, I guess I wouldn't in that right
now under all the laws that we have passed, some voter who's coming to vote can walk over to their tent or kiosk or whatever it is
if it's outside the 100 ft, get the water and they know it's from the candidate or group
or whoever it is, so I think to the extent that's a problem that's an existing problem that would neither be added to nor extracted from under this. In my opinion, but I understand the question. Representative Ray. Thank you,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:12:30
Mr. Chair. Um, Representative Collins, this what, what year did you say this law was passed 2021? OK, I remember that because that was my first term and I think, I think if I'm remembering correctly, one of the rationales for this was that people were
sort of blurring the lines between, you know, simply handing out water and electioneering. They were giving out water with candidates' names on it and things of that nature if I'm remembering correctly, has this law been challenged. And if
so, what was the disposition of that case. Um, I believe that this law Um, I'm not, I don't wanna say for sure. I kind of
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:13:09
think that this one was challenged, and I think that it was enjoined and then appealed and then it was
allowed to be constitutional, um, but doesn't mean necessarily that that should be the end of the conversation. If our Supreme Court allows it on constitutional grounds, that's one thing, but is it the policy that we want? That's another thing, um, and I do recall that some people were talking about that. I think there's a lot of confusion back during that debate. What you're talking came out with a bottle of water with the candidate's face on it or name on it, that's electioneering, and that wouldn't have been allowed in any case, with or without this
section 24 and um and so I think to be real clear, electioneering is and should be and would remain under this illegal within 100 ft of the entrance to a polling place. Saying
no other questions, uh, there's no one signed up to speak for or against the bill. Is there anyone in the group that would like the audience would like to speak either for or against the bill. Saying none, Representative Collins should recognize the clause for your bill. I'm closed. I'll move to pass.
OK, we have a motion to pass, is there any discussion on the motion? Saying none. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed. Sorry, Representative Collinger bill has failed. Uh, it looks like we're continuing the Representative Colin show with
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:14:40
uh 10:42 trying to make it at least
uh swift here. So this is
the last one of these, uh, on, on the the theme here. This one
is um HB 1042, um, calling it the direct democracy Act, and this would be another change course. This would repeal Act 236 of 2023 by our good friend Representative Underwood, um, This was in many ways the canary in the coal mine for the assault on direct democracy that we've seen this session. It took the constitutional requirement to get signatures from the constitutional requirement of half the electors in 15 counties to half the electors in 50
counties, and that is, uh, again in direct conflict with the Constitution. Clearly it was designed to chill direct democracy by making it more difficult and expensive for citizens to get a popular constitutional amendment or initiation. act on the ballot, and uh it has
succeeded. So, um, it'll come as a surprise to no one that I think are direct democracy process is or was one of the best features of our law. And made our government
responsive to the people, gave the people a check over government overreach and if we
weren't listening to what the people wanted, it could, uh, the people could go out and put it into the Constitution or the law themselves. So uh I think it's valuable and necessary. But I think Act 236 wasn't just a mistake because it hurt direct democracy. It also is just genuinely one of the most blatantly unconstitutional acts, I think we've ever passed in my time in the legislature, and I don't usually like to opine on these things, but uh I just
wanna drive home how clear the um the conflict is between the Constitution and this law. So Article 5, section 1 of the Constitution says upon all initiative or referendum petitions provided for in any of the sections of this article, it shall be necessary to file from at least 15 of the counties of the state petitions bearing the signature of not less than 1/2 of the designated percentage of the electors of such county. Act 236 says it'll be necessary to get signatures from half in 50 counties, not 15.
Additionally, Article 5, Section 1 says that the threshold for a cure period is 75% of the lawful voters from 15 counties, while Act 236 says that it is 50% of the electorates from 50 counties. So this part actually is unconstitutional in 3 ways. It's, uh, the percentage going from 75 actually down to 50, the number of counties going up from 15 to 50 and using electors rather than lawful voters. The latter of which refers to the
people who voted for governor in the last election, uh, we simply can't rewrite the constitution. That's what this bill does. This one is
in litigation, which is still pending, um, but I think beyond being unconstitutional, it's Just not good policy and we should repeal it, so I'm happy to take any questions. Are there any questions from the committee saying none. Do I have anyone
to speak. We have no one to speak for or
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:18:00
against the bill. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak for or against the bill. Saying no, Merchant
Collins, you're closed for your bill. I'm closed. I'll move to pass. We have a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion, all those in favor say aye. I suppose? No. Sorry, Representative college of bills. That's OK. Thank you.
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:18:34
Are you going to present a 1951, 1951 on a totally different note. So just forget
all that. Alright, please recognize yourself for the committee
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:18:46
and uh you're good to go. OK, thank you. So 1951, um, sets forth the authorized domain extensions for higher education and government websites. This is a cybersecurity bill, very different from the other bills, um, this basically would say that our government websites,
state, city, higher education would need to use a .gov.tmil MI or.edu. Authorized domain extension uh only, and there's a, there's a run up period under the bill up to the effective date is June 1st, 2026, except for cities and towns with less than 10,000 people who would need to comply by January 1st, 2027. So the reason for this primarily
is that uh dotgov is a secure and uh restricted domain extension, as is .edu and do mill. You can't just apply and get that. So, um, because of the, the issues with any other domain extension is that people can sign up for a website that sounds similar to a government website but is not engaged in fishing. Um, fraud, scams take advantage of the public and so um it it's
widely established that having one of these secure domain extensions is important for cybersecurity, um, it's also free.gov is uh free. You do have to apply to the federal government and you can get that in most cases, um. are State websites have been a.gov for a while. Uh, many of our municipalities and others have
moved there, higher education for the most part is already on .edu. Everybody who is impacted by
this bill, I believe is good with it or supportive,
actively supportive, um, that's the state, we have the state uh Chief Information Security Officer here if you have any technical questions I can't answer, um, municipal league is good with this, and uh ASU and and University of. Arkansas, both also are good with this as far as I know, there's no opposition to this. This would just make sure that we are as secure as we can be when it comes to our government websites. Happy to answer any questions. Representative Collins has
explained the bill. Are there any questions by the committee? Representative Rose, you're recognized.
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:21:15
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, so for about 15 years, I've built and administered websites, um. So something he said, which is great, is that the domains have no cost, but domain administration and site. Administration and moving, I don't even know if they're able to use the same name servers if government ones are hosted in a
different way. Have you done any investigation into the cost of the transfer from a dot AR side or a dot state government site to a dotgov or .mill uh that are I don't know, federally regulated or federally firewalled or any
of that. Yeah, you absolutely and I appreciate the question. You can absolutely direct so you can have it
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:21:59
hosted elsewhere, you just have your domain as a .gov and so whatever your hosting costs are is what your hosting costs are, um, that you know, currently if you have a website,
you have to pay that already and so you can continue to pay that with whoever, um, if you wanna email migrate your email over, um, that varies, but you know, it could
be, I've seen estimates of like $50 per inbox or something like that. The thing is with this bill, you don't actually have to migrate your email. You can redirect it to that .gov site, use the alias and, and
so under this that would be totally fine, um, I recognize, you know, that there will be some costs if you do do that migration, um, I think
that, you know, pretty much everyone I've talked to about this feels like that's a cost that they're prepared to take that they need to take for cybersecurity, municipal League. Again, they're supportive of this because they're willing to help their cities. They recognize the cities need to get there and uh that's just one of the things we're gonna have to do over the coming years. You said, um,
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:23:00
those you've talked to, do you mind, I know
you mentioned municipal League, but are there others that have kind of jumped
agent or the agencies, organizations, I mean, I haven't talked to every agency. I
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:23:09
talked to the governor's office, talk to the state says so, um, talked to the
municipal league and then um yeah, Arkansas State and University of Arkansas, all of, all of those are for this, for neutral, yeah, one or the other, right, right, thank you, thank you,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:23:24
Mr. Chair. Representative Ray, you're recognized. Well, once again, Representative Rose beat me to my question, so I'll just add, have you consulted our house technology chair, you know, I very important question I
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:23:35
did consult our house technology chair, and I believe I have his full support, which I appreciate.
All right, any other questions by the committee? Seeing no further questions by the committee, we have no one signed up to speak for or against the bill. Representative Collins are recognized a close for your bill. Um, I'm closed for the bill. I'll move to pass. Representative Collins is closed for his bill. He's made a motion to pass. Is there any discussion by the committee representative Meeks
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:24:05
you recognize. Thank you. Just, just be real brief. I appreciate, uh, Representative Collins bringing
the bill. This is something we should have done many years ago and so has my full support. Appreciate it. Thank you. Any other discussion by the
committee, seeing no further discussion, we do have a motion to pass. All those in favor say aye. All those
opposed. Congratulations, Representative Collins, you passed your bill. Got one out of here. Thank you. It's tough committee All
right. Next we have House Bill 1952, Representative Hawk.
Speaker 210
1:24:48
Mr. Chair, if I could have a guest join me at the table. You may. Uh
Sir, if you would just if you would identify yourself for the record, state your name, any organization you're here representing, and then you'll be recognized along with Representative Hawk. Bob Edmonds, Arkansas State Athletic Commission. Representative Hawk, you're recognized. RJ
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:25:13
Hawk District 81. Colleagues, um, so this is a
bill that is going to assist in the the funding of the state Athletic Commission. um, one thing that we have, we
have looked at over the course of the last couple of years is that um when you have Events like the MMA or WWE or these national companies that come in, uh, they're not gonna come to Arkansas anymore unless there is an athletic um commission that can send out inspectors that can um verify that they've done everything right. Every state has an athletic commission that uh
sanctions these events and so, uh, after looking at
the athletic commission, uh, one thing that um I was talking with them about was funding and we know how funding it is right now and so we're than doing an appropriation uh through general funds. We wanted to
find ways within the system that could uh get them funding and, and really what that comes down to is right now whenever they send out an inspector, it's a flat fee of $125 right? And that doesn't, uh, that could be one inspector, that could be 4
inspectors. That's just the way things have been in the past. Well, with the cost right now of uh mileage, lodging, wherever that might be. The commission is losing money at a dramatic rate right now. And so all we're asking in the bill. Is that the the event itself is going to have to reimburse the athletic commission for the number of inspectors that, that come out, uh, that mileage and the lodging. There's no new fees. All it is is just saying, look, you guys, we have to
sanction this. We're going to recoup the money that it's going to cost us to be able to do that. Also, uh, every athletic commission in the state or in the country, uh, takes a percentage of the gate, right, of gross receipts and uh that number's a We looked is about 5% across the state. So that's what we're adding into the bill to help make the commission a whole. Now one thing you'll see in the bill, um, we added back professional wrestling and if you remember, Representative Gazaway and others that were here, um, representative Posh a
few years ago, he eliminated wrestling altogether from the athletic commission. Well, when that, when we did, when we did that, it dramatically cut their budget because of the amount of wrestling that goes on with. it'd be a mom and pop shop or, or whatever in these small towns. Well, so we're adding it back, but we're putting a caveat in there that it will only be sanctioned by attendees of 1500 people or more, meaning that we're really just doing this for like the WWE. I, I know the, the
looks on some of your faces right now, but that's big business when it comes to Arkansas. They average about 7 to 8000 members that come into Arkansas and the economic impact in our Arkansas's huge when, when those organizations come in and so uh those will still continue to be sanctioned. I will also say that like the WWE for example, uh speaking with their representatives, they say that they will not come back to Arkansas unless there's a sanctioning body that is able to oversee what they do and so we've added that back into the bill. I've talked to
Representative Tosh as well as Representative Duffield, who is a former wrestler and, and they both agree that if uh if we put it that 1500 mark, it protects the, the local. small towns that that do um small people wrestling and things of that nature. So, um, with that, I will take any questions. Representative Ray, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:28:48
Representative Hawke, when you, when you filed this bill and
spoke to me about it, um, it prompted me to just do a little bit of research and digging and you're right, I, I asked BLR to send me a 10 year look back on the revenues and expenditures for the State Athletic commission. So, uh, and this question may, may be for the director, but what, what happens when, like, for example, in 2024, 2025 fiscal year, it's showing 40, roughly $40,000 in
revenues and $85,000 in expenses. Well, Obviously
those expenses have to be paid by somebody. Where, where does that money get backfilled from? Yes or so, um. We got
Speaker 216
1:29:33
some special appropriations of of some rainy day funds from Governor Hutchinson, uh, I believe those are gonna run out in 2026. OK, so the Representative Hawk, your, your goal
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:29:50
in running this bill is to basically help this
agency. Become self-sustainable 100%, yeah, and so we don't have to go back to Governor Huckabee
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:30:00
Sanders and, and ask for her to do another appropriation ultimately what this bill is gonna do is, so we don't have to do any more appropriations, uh, we, this is going to be something where
they can uh they can promulgate rules within the athletic commission and and be able to determine what those fees are and basically be made whole at the
end of the day whenever uh whenever they have
to send out those inspectors. OK, thank you. All right,
Representative Hawk, uh, I have a constituent who is really concerned with these issues. He. is a wrestling promoter, if you will, and he likes to host these kind of smaller community shows and he has emphasized the point to me time and again that wrestling wrestling is not real, OK? And as Representative Tosh made the clear distinction when he presented his bill that took
Uh, this out from underneath the athletic commission. There's a difference between wrestling and wrestling and Wrestling for Representative Tosh is entertainment. It is not real. It's not athletic. There is no reason for it to be by definition under the athletic commission. And so You know, I have some hesitation, number one, because I know that my constituent would be awfully upset if he thought
that we were taking what is entertainment in any form and classifying it as the same thing as football, basketball, baseball, etc. uh, regardless of the size of the event, so uh can you speak to that? Yeah, so I actually had a a conversation with Representative Tosh about
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:31:42
this and to that, by the way, I love hearing you say wrestling. It just, it, I love that. um, but no, I talked to. Representative talks about that and his biggest thing was I wanna, I wanna protect our small mom pops in our small towns that
put this on, right? And, and I said the same thing. I said that's what I want to do, really, um, I asked him, I said, what's your average attendance for something like that. He said anywhere between 500 and 750 people that come to one of those things. I said, well, let's double what you said would be the most that would come out to a local event and put it at 1500 and then that would really just curtail these national. groups that come in, uh, into Arkansas that that really bring a lot of money and so I, I feel like Representative Gassway or
Chairman Gaway that we are protecting your constituent or these, these small people that, that put that promote these wrestling events. No, and
I understand that and I, I do appreciate you making a distinction there, but the bigger point is, is that even the
large events, WWE WWF. It's, it's fake. It's entertainment. It's not an athletic event and it's the equivalent of a concert or a theater production. It is
not an athletic event, so why would we take what is essentially a theater production and put it
under the athletic commission regardless of the size because they are asking for it, they said, so the WWE after
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:33:11
having conversations with the athletic commissioner director. They said they will not come back to Arkansas unless it's a sanctioning body because it gives them a second layer of support because While it is a theater production, uh, they have had members get severely hurt or die even because of some of the acrobatics that go on in that
and so they actually like having the athletic commission there as a second layer of security to make sure the inspectors look at the ring. They, they look at the, the steel cage that they're, they're jumping out of all the things that that might go into a boxing match or things of that nature, uh,
that, that request was done and the director can No, the commissioner can can confirm this that the WWE has asked for that we do
have a sanctioning body, OK, I just find that a little just in response. I
do find that a little interesting. I, I've
never heard of really companies saying regulate me more. I want your regulatory body. I, I don't like all this deregulation. I want more regulation. That seems to be a very uncommon position. I'm surprised that they would take it, so, uh. You're recognized.
Speaker 216
1:34:19
Yes, sir. So, um, The WWE uh Uh, boxing, um.
Uh, they don't want to, to, to. They would not come to the state if there were not a sanctioning body. Um To the uh More directly answer your question on uh uh this being more of a theater or scripted event. I would just say, you know, more due to the uh nature of the entertainment, um, you know, these guys are, are punching, they're, they're kicking, they're headbutting,
uh, doing all these things that uh that We sanction Alright. Representative Ray, you're recognized. Thank
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:35:22
you, Mr. Chairman. So I want to piggyback somewhat on your line of questioning, but I think I disagree with you. So I,
I, when we say that professional wrestling is quote fake. I, I think what people generally mean
is it's choreographed to some extent maybe the outcome might be determined in advance, but It, it, it is a combative sport as I understand it, and people are jumping off
of turnbuckles and they're throwing people around. I mean, it's, it's a lot, I mean, can, can you speak to that? I'm, I obviously never been a professional wrestler, but you know, maybe you can speak to that. And I, I've never, I've never been a professional wrestler either,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:36:12
but I do know in this country, um, the acrobatics that they do, we also call cheerleaders athletes, right? And, and they tumble, they flip, they, they do, and, and by the way, I'm not saying a cheerleader's not an athlete. I'm just saying that um we classify them also as an, as an athlete and so while we say that it's fake, it is, uh, in the outcome, but the athleticism of the participants and the event is very much real.
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:36:43
OK, and you know, I, I, in full disclosure, I don't
watch professional wrestling, but I do watch a lot of UFC, for example, and I noticed that every time there's a UFC fight at the beginning, Bruce Buffer or whoever's doing the announcing, they announced, and this is the same in boxing as well because I do watch some boxing as well. They announced at the beginning of the match that this this fight is sanctioned by the fill in the blank state athletic commission, so. Do they do that also in professional wrestling bouts is
that, is that the reason that I guess you, you sort of explained that. Um It would be difficult for us to land some of these events in our state, you know, without sort of the imprimatur that comes with having a state athletic commission that provides, um, you know, safety, um, you know, ambulatory service. OK, I don't know what all comes
with this cut men, all that kind of thing that they do announce
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:37:45
it at at ringside before every event that today's events being sanctioned by such and such body, uh, you know, every, like the WWE when we talk to them, uh they carry insurance just like anybody else, but it's just always good to have that second set of eyes to, to be able to make sure that everything's safe because nobody wants to get hurt. And at the end of the day, while The Athletic commission, it's a commission that oversees this. It's about safety. There's only been one person that has died under the athletic commission
watch, right, in the history of the Athletic commission, so that, that's a prideful thing for them and that their inspectors are going out and making sure that all events, no matter, no matter whether it's the WWE or a boxing match or, you know, the, the UFC that these events are,
are up to par as far as the rings, even down to the, the fighter's gloves, things like that. making sure that everything is on a fair playing field. That's exactly what the athletic commission's about.
Representative Beck, you recognize. Just a question I. I watch a lot of wrestling
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
1:39:00
had been doing Bailey. So is there some type of And I'm For lack of a better word, liability that comes with us sanctioning event. In other words, if something were to were there if there were to be a problem, you know, maybe the The ring wasn't put together right or or whatever, and someone got hurt as a result of
that by us doing this sanctions is, is that maybe what the, there's gotta be some goal why these people want us to do this. And is, is there, is it to cover them or, or maybe it just makes their insurance cheaper or something. I, I don't, I guess that that may be true. I'm, I'm, I'm not 100% sure of
Speaker 209
1:39:39
that. I would imagine this is the second set of eyes once again, like I talked about, um,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:39:44
I, I know that we, I was a part of a um a MMA fight that we, we put on down at the amphitheater here
in Little Rock and uh the promoter that I talked to at the time, he, he triple checked like he had the athletic commission check, his guys check, and then they went back and checked again to make sure things are good. So I think it's just the, the back, the, the secondary checks to make sure this is right, um, as far as the insurance and stuff like that. I think that's an individual business thing, but I would imagine that if you had enough of those, those checks, it would probably bring down premiums a little bit. Thank you. All right, well, I'm just gonna,
once again, kind of express my concern. We had a bill just a couple of sessions ago this did the exact opposite of this, and everybody voted for it because we realized that this is a production. This is entertainment. This is not athletic in nature. And went to Representative Ray points that there are punches thrown. I mean, I understand UFC because there are real punches thrown that are intended to cause serious injury and they're, they're made with that
specific purpose, but these WWF WWE, Memphis Saturday wrestling, which I used to watch as a kid and loved, um. Lance Owens, uh, who Jerry
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:41:06
Lawler, by the way, social media is just lighting up right now with, with us talking about this Memphis wrestling, he was the best. So anyway, uh, the
point is, is it was a production. And so at some point,
I mean the ballet carries risks also the theater carries risks when you have Peter Pan
floating around on a string, uh, suspended above the stage. I mean, are we going to classify those as athletic events at some point we have to recognize what intended for entertainment value only that this is too much regulation that it be regulated like
any other entertainment, uh. any other uh event that is primary purpose is entertainment and so I just, you know, again, have some objection here, but if, if you want to
respond to that one more time, I'd be happy
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:42:01
to hear it. I'll move on, I'm with you. I'm for deregulating government. Like I, I, but when I hear these organizations come to me and the chairperson saying that we want this. It's hard for me to say, well, OK, well, we're gonna deregulate something that's something that these organizations want, and I agree with you that you I got, you know, if the ballet though comes to the legislature and says, hey, we want to be under the athletic commission, then, you know, we might take it under consideration. I, I just think that
Without losing sight of the bill at the end of the day, what we're trying to do with the bill is get funding without having to appropriate more money out of the general fund to the athletic commission. This is a way for them to be made whole without the governor giving a rainy day fund or the general assembly to have to do an appropriation and that was really the reasoning for the bill. I speak to that. So, we've
Speaker 216
1:42:54
had um. And the last 20 years we've had one death in boxing. We've had
multiple deaths and scripted wrestling. So the safety component that the athletic commission offers uh by sanctioning these events, uh, requiring, uh, a, a ringside physician requiring paramedics and an ambulance, um, there's some, some very, very important safety components, uh, that we bring to the table for
Speaker 218
1:43:22
these events. And when he says we, he wasn't talking about the athletic
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:43:31
commission, he was talking about those organizations and those, those bodies. Thank you. All right, well, I never envisioned that we would
engage in this. In-depth debate about wrestling, but here we are. All right, any other questions by the committee? Seeing none We have no one to speak for or against the bill. Representative Hawke recognized to close free bill. Colleagues, look, at the end of
the day, I don't want to take any more money out of
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:43:55
the general fund. I don't want to have the the governor try to appropriate more money to the
athletic commission. I just want them to be able to um recoup the cost of sending out these inspectors and do it under their own umbrella without us having to give money out of the general fund and so um that's why the bill is here and I would make a motion to pass. All right, we have a motion to
pass. Is there any discussion on the motion, Representative Ray? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, I just
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:44:25
want to say I think this is a good bill,
um. You know, as I mentioned, I asked when I talked to Representative Hawke about this,
I asked BLR to pull a 10 year look back on this agency's revenues and expenditures, and they are losing money pretty much every year and when they have to when they lose money that forces GR to be used to backfill their budgets so they can pay their bills and what they're using this money for is, as I understand it, to provide inspectors and staff for these private events and so you know, these are, these are not government events. These are private events, but if they
can't charge a fee that's commensurate with the cost of the service they're providing. Then what that means is the taxpayers, you and I have to backfill that money and um I, I am a big sports fan and The reality of living in a small state like Arkansas is, we're never gonna have enough population to get a real professional sports team like NFL or MLB or NBA, um, and so. You know, the one thing that we
could attract are things like professional wrestling events, professional boxing events, professional, you know, uh, mixed martial arts events, and so I think that. Putting the, the professional, you know, regardless of how you feel about professional wrestling. I do think putting it back under the purview of the athletic commission would lend the imprimatur of the state so that these events could actually come to our state, which would bring tourism dollars which
would bring sales tax dollars, which would bring entertainment options for our citizens, so I, uh, I love it for all
Chair
Unverified
1:46:19
those reasons. Representative McIlroy, you're recognized my grandpa was up in heaven kicking the dirt off his grave because he knows wrestling's real, so I'm voting yes. All right, if we pass this
bill. Representative Hawke, I'm going to expect WWF or WWE to be here.
I'd like to see the Undertaker brought out of retirement, and I'd like to see the ultimate warrior, although I think he's deceased at this
Speaker 23
1:46:46
point, but I'd love to see you, I'll even get Hulk Hogan over here to say, yeah, brother, even right.
Uh, we have a motion do pass on the bill. All those in favor say aye, aye, all those opposed. No, yeah, I have
Speaker 23
1:46:59
it. Congratulations you pastor. Thank you. Thank you.
All right, next we have House Bill 1973 Representative McKenzie. Britt McKenzie, uh, state
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
1:47:20
representative, District 7, Rogers, Arkansas. Um, committee, I'm here to present today, um, something that's not foreign
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:47:25
to you because I've presented as a Um, possible constitutional amendment to refer to the citizens. It's a prohibition on taxpayer funded lobbying. It's just that simple. It's very it's a very quick read, um, the reason for bringing this is, I think all of us in this room who have a vote have understand the
influence that we get as legislators here, um, you'd probably be surprised to understand what's fueling that influence. Um, it's oftentimes taxpayer money, um, I have, I run a bill somewhere today. I got snuffed out by the Senate, but hopefully we can it back relevant to lobbying. I, I have a great respect for lobbying. It is a protected regulated form of political speech, um, what I do take umbrage with is the use of taxpayer funds against the interests of the citizenry. Um,
oftentimes we're told that if X and X and X occur, this, the world will end, or the sky will fall, or my town will cease to exist or our county will fall into the crust of the earth. None of that has taken place, um, and I'm happy to, I wanna make sure. I know there's gonna be a lot of people signed up to speak against this bill, um, to reserve time for them and then I'd ask for you guys to just take simply like a moment. I'm not gonna encourage you to ask questions, but ask why are taxpayers funding this organization. If it's such a great need, the individuals who
are professionals, elected officials, most often, but partly not elected officials. Why are these individuals using taxpayer funds to exercise their need in that elected seat. Um And I hope you guys can derive your own answer from that, but I'm concerned because these organizations act as professional associations, um, if the interests of a mayor or the interests of a county judge or the interests of an assessor or the interests of a clerk are that significant that they have to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for a membership to
an association or tens of thousands of dollars to a contract lobbyist that walks these halls, don't you think that those interests would be, you know, uh, primarily served by that individual talking to you or in their capacity like we have I made an analogy to someone who's a a bar card carrying member of our legislator who pays for your bar card. That organization exists to advance the interests of attorneys at law. Um, I would say the same is true for those elected officials and those members in our communities. So I'm happy to
take any questions. Representative Ray, you're
Representative David Ray
Unverified
1:49:52
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative McKenzie, you, you, there was a phrase at the beginning of your testimony
that I missed and I'm gonna try to, you said there. What um, what you find objectionable is the use of taxpayer funds to come in and lobby on on on an issue where the stance that's being taken may be at odds with the taxpayers. Is that correct?
Basically what you were saying. Do you, do you draw any, um, Parallels between that practice and the practice of Say Public sector unions. It's a great question. I mean, there's parallels, yes, I mean,
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:50:33
um. A public sector union, we only have a few here they're more prominent and non right to work states, um. The only difference being that most of those are, uh, they're working on behalf of the group
of individuals for collective bargaining, so for the advancement of their of their contracts. This has, you know, most of the time the associations and organizations in the state of Arkansas that are lobbying us, they're not collectively bargaining for their pay. They're collectively bargaining for the advancement of a millage or a carve out or a sweetheart deal on a tax abatement or something to that extent. So there's parallels, but they're they're slightly different now, OK, you. Representative Meeks, who recognized.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:51:12
Thank you, Mr. Given how one or two of my bills
went on the floor today. I sometimes wish I had a lobbyist, uh, but, um, maybe that'll help me with some future bills. Anyways, uh, so, so just for clarification, so they can still hire someone to be a lobbyist within their organization. So the municipal league or whoever the assessors, they can still have a lobbyist come down here, but it's gonna be somebody within their own organization and not a third party lobbyist. Someone that feels like a government affairs. government
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:51:41
relations role, you should be familiar with those two because the universities at our uh within our state.
a similar tactic, um, in, in when you're a, a staffed um paychecks Wute employee of municipality and institution and organization. I'd like to think that you form a function higher than that of a lobbyist. Your, your, the job is to work with government relations, so in all levels of government, local, state, federal, whatever the case may be, um, but they would have to be because they drive a monetary benefit registered for lobbyists, that's anyone that makes over $400 by the way, folks, anyone that Takes $400 400 dollars or more would have to register as a
lobbyist for an entity or organization. Thank you. Thank you. Representative Hawke, you're recognized. Thank
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:52:29
you, Mr. Chair. Representative McKenzie, I'm just trying to get my head around this and um so I'm gonna use exam
real world examples. So my mayor and the city of Bryant, they are part of the municipal League. So under this bill, if it were to pass, they could no longer be a
part of the municipal league, is that correct? False. I'm just asking like I'm just asking questions. No, no, they, they could
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:52:49
still find a way to pay for their membership outside of local or
state dollars, so that mayor could, you know, take a part of his paycheck because it Ostensibly a municipal league represents the interests of those who hold positions in municipal governments, so it could be turned into a professional organization, um, the other caveat and we have again two examples of this working uh to state institutions, the Arkansas Game and Fish, as well as the AETN, Arkansas PBS. They have parallel foundations set up where monies are raised either directly from philanthropy or from other entities in the form of like corporate grants or federal
grants that can go to serve their functions. Both game and fish and Arkansas PBS have contract lobbyists that would not be in conflict with the way this bill is written, because I just look at this and, and I,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:53:36
I think about cities and counties that when they get elected, their job is to run those cities and counties, right? And and they don't need to be up here hanging out with us on those situations. And so that's the only reason I, I looked, looked at like the association of counties and the municipal League, things like that, uh, because, you know, like I, I'm a part of an
association, right, as a realtor. And I don't always agree with what they agree on, right? What, what they put out there, but it's just, it's part of it sometimes. And so that, that I guess that was just my pushback. I just want to ask, ask that question, and
Speaker 247
1:54:06
I think it's a great question because I think those associations do have quite a bit of worth.
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:54:11
They have a good amount of merit, you know, I may not agree with them on subject matters that, you know, we're running bills on or that come up in front of us as a body. I think they do serve the function of them. I'm just asking that we not use taxpayer funds and conscript those funds to pay for their memberships.
Representative Wooldridge you recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative McKenzie for bringing this bill. So what is the uh annual dues for the municipal league or the Association of Counties. Do you have any idea offhand? I saw an email that
got forwarded around I think municipal league is $40. I don't know Arkansas counties though. So my point to that
being, I mean, do you feel like a little bit this may be stepping over dollars to pick up dimes. We're, we're gonna cause every city in Arkansas to create a foundation to raise $40 to pay dues.
Instead of utilizing something that's beneficial for their community through collective voice. I wouldn't. I think that every every tax
dollar is created equal. So for every dollar that we painstakingly spend 90 days to try to save to our taxpayers. The same the same expectation should be on our local officials, but to that end, and I don't want to use this specific instances, any association that has dues but then also offers ancillary services. What really is, what are really are we asking of those local governments? Is it the membership of the dues or the
of those ancillary services, so um I understand and respect that and the dollar amount can seem menial, but I think every dollar that is taken through tax through millage, through a sales tax through property taxes, whatever, um deserves our utmost respect. Follow up. You recognized. Thank
you, Mr. Chair, and I, I understand that and I appreciate your stance on that for sure, um. I think it was Representative Meeks that made the point, so would this not encourage more government relations jobs that are going to come as a W-2 with
a benefit package and all of those kind of things. I mean, don't we typically find or I think I have found typically that it's cheaper to outsource a service than it is to bring that internally and make that a W-2 position. I have the benefit
of representing an area of Northwest Arkansas and I've seen some of our towns and counties commit existing personnel to it, so, um, the same could be shared and applied across. other municipalities of the same or similar standing or even maybe in the we're doing quartiles upper or lower, um, maybe not the same for rural
communities. There could be a cooperative similar to how we have needs in our, you know, education space and our utility space and local uh rural communities managed to, you know, pull together resources in order to do that. Um, so I would say there's a chance, but there's also a chance that it could be a existing function within state government or local and state government. Yeah, I understand that
and I appreciate again, I appreciate you bringing this. I respectfully dis Agree. I think that it creates a burden to your point, kind of for rural Arkansas, uh, but I definitely understand why you brought the bill. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Any other questions about the committee? Saying no further questions by the committee. We do have individuals signed up to speak for and against the bill. First to
speak for the bill, J Robertson Opportunity, Arkansas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Jay Robertson. I represent Opportunity, Arkansas.
Jay Robertson
Unverified
1:57:34
For those of you who don't know us, we're a state-based nonprofit that advocates for simplifying government and solving generational problems. I'm here today because I'm a registered lobbyist that actually is speaking and supported this bill because we advocate for taxpayers. And Arkansans work hard for their money, and when they pay their taxes, they expect those tax dollars to go to fund things that improve their quality of life, like public education, public safety, infrastructure.
What they don't expect is for those tax dollars to get funneled behind the scenes to hire contract lobbyists. That can often advocate for agendas that might run counter to their own policy preferences. This bill respects the right of government agencies. To communicate with the legislature to offer their ideas and perspectives to employ staff to advocate for those interests. And that's an important distinction because someone who's directly employed by a governmental entity is directly
accountable to that entity and to the voters and to the taxpayers and to this body. Whereas contract lobbyists are not. This bill to end the practice of outsourcing influence to third-party lobbyists that don't have that same line of accountability. These organizations, I understand, can sometimes provide helpful information to you all and as Representative McKenzie mentioned, nothing in the bill would prevent governmental entities from using private dollars. Or fundraise dollars to support those organizations.
This bill says that if you're going to speak for the government when lobbying this body, you should be a part of the government. Not someone paid to lobby using tax dollars. I also want to highlight that Arkansas voters clearly agree. We conducted a poll of Arkansas voters on this very issue. 73% of all voters across party lines support ending taxpayer funded lobbying in Arkansas. We support this bill because we believe it's a common sense policy solution that restores integrity to the way government works.
And it makes a strong statement that public funds should always serve the public good. Thank you for your time and I'd be happy to answer any
questions. All right, any questions by the committee, Representative Hawk, you recognized. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Robertson, you said this was done behind the scenes.
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:59:57
That is a trigger word to try to get something that you want passed because you know darn well that taxpayer dollars at local governments is not behind the scenes. It's done in
every we just passed the or we're, we're just talked about a bill on the House floor, talking about every city council member meeting has to be recorded and posted online. So would you not agree that was a trigger word to try to get this committee to say that this was done behind the scenes.
Jay Robertson
Unverified
2:00:27
Represented respectfully, no, um. And the reason I say that is because I think most voters are not aware that their tax dollars are even being used to hire contract lobbyists and
As I said, I think they expect their tax dollars to support public functions and. Taxpayers deserve. To know exactly who's speaking on behalf of the government that they fund to support and to be able to hold those people accountable. You, you referenced some poll you guys did. How
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
2:00:57
many people were polled in the, in the poll. We pulled a total sample of 357
Jay Robertson
Unverified
2:01:11
registered voters within the state of Arkansas. Comprising Republican, Democratic, and independent voters. The total support I mentioned was 73% of all voters, um. 69% of Republican voters, 71%
of Democrats, 78% independent. Cool. Thank you. Yes, sir. of Collins are recognized.
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
2:01:44
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I so if your concern is that tax dollars are being used for lobbying. This bill would allow tax dollars to be used for lobbying, right? So I don't really understand if that's your concern this bill is still allows that thing that is happening that you don't want to have happen. Thank you
Jay Robertson
Unverified
2:02:01
for the question and I think the the key difference is that this bill would allow for public employees to still speak with you, um, to still advocate, lobby the legislature. It would not allow for the hiring of an independent contract lobbyist.
What's the difference from the taxpayers' standpoint. Because a
Jay Robertson
Unverified
2:02:19
public employee is directly accountable to a public agency and the taxpayers into this body, whereas A contrary lobbyist could not be held accountable in the same way that a public employee could. It's a little hard for me to see
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:02:31
the difference, but I understand what you're saying. Representative Meeks
should recognize. Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman. Uh based on kind of the way you described that poll, um, I think
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:02:45
if you ask most people, yes, you're gonna, you're gonna get that answer, but I don't know that they fully understand the entire depth of what we're talking about here. If we're talking about in, you know, the case of what my colleague said, you know, the city of Bryant, no, I don't think they should be going out and buying third party lobbyists to lobby, you know, on behalf. My, my concern is, is that when you start um with the membership like of the um municipal league in Arkansas counties, they do so much more than just lobby. I mean, they do insurance, they
provide training, uh, they provide legal counsel and all that, and so, so it's way more than lobbying, um. And so, you know, if you, if you have a city and you know, the bigger cities they've got resources, but I'm talking about the small towns, and I've been on the audit committee enough to know what kind of trouble those small towns get into because they need help with stuff, um, I, I'm just concerned that when, when you say 73%, yeah, that's not getting the full scope here
of what we're talking about. And I think my concern is, is I, I, I support what the representative is doing. It's just this This is where I'm getting the heartburn at. Is, is that one aspect of it. Uh, and so I'm wondering if you have any, any thoughts on that. Yeah, so I
Jay Robertson
Unverified
2:04:03
obviously can't speak for all these organizations, but to the degree these organizations provide valuable services to governmental entities, um, they can offer those as professional organizations that don't conduct that don't engage in lobbying or to the degree they do engage in
lobbying, and that's an essential part of it. They Entities can still raise funds to do that, um, this bill just says that taxpayers shouldn't be forced to fund lobbying when, when lobbyists can come up here and advocate for positions that undermine the taxpayer's own possessions. Any other questions about the committee? Seeing no further questions
by the committee, thank you, Mr. Robertson Next we have signed up to speak
Unknown speaker
2:04:47
against the bill, Lindsey French.
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:05:22
Am I good? Miss French you recognized. Lindsay French Association of Arkansas Counties, um. I would like to start out by saying we agree with um I think the basic gist behind this bill of Representative McKenzie's, um, he talked about a rural counties and rural municipalities and how, you know, he recognizes that they're different than than some of his area where they could have the resources and money to hire lobbyists and the vast majority
of the state does not, and that is why organizations such as the Arkansas Association of Counties exists. Because the small rural counties in addition to the larger counties have pulled their resources together and, and that's why we're here. Um We believe that one was a system was developed 60 years ago, um, longer ago, I believe, for the municipal League and for the sheriff's Association that allows county and district elected officials to lobby on
behalf of their office, um, we represent About 1500 county and district officials who are also elected by the same people who elect you all and uh their their bidding is what we do. We, we don't go and tell them how they, how they should feel and what they should lobby for. They very much give us our marching orders. The idea of eliminating
the sheriff's association, municipal League and association of
counties' ability to advocate on our members' behalf would unwind smooth communication between your local officials and you, resulting in dozens of county officials alone having to attend committee meetings instead of remaining home and doing the work for your mutual constituents. As we deal with disasters across the state, some of which we're dealing with now. Can you imagine county sheriffs and county judges having to drop these critical responses to be here to testify on even the most insignificant bills that impact their offices.
I'll session this committee has asked for county clerk opinions on bills. sometimes into the late evening and they're not going to be able to be here doing that because they're at home doing the work that their people elected them to do. At the Association of Counties where subject matter experts who trained county officials and answer questions daily. We assist state agencies and constitutional offices with research both in and out of session all year long. Under this bill, lobbyists could be employed on staff with cities and counties.
We all agree that the only areas that would be able to do this are large urban areas, leaving rural towns and counties largely without a voice at the Capitol. And those lobbyists that they would hire most certainly would not have the decade's worth of subject matter expertise in the many areas of law that the AAC does. I would like to quote um an attorney General's opinion. 2007-189, uh, that says both the municipal league and the AAC are
recognized by the IRS as instrumentalities of government units for tax purposes under 26 USC Section 115. As the Municipal League and AAC are classified as instrumentalities of government, lobbying activity undertaken by them is analyzed as government speech. We're not a nonprofit. We're not a private organization. We are a 26 USC Section 115, which is under IRS code and
instrumentality of government. So when we are here, we are acting on behalf of the government. In addition, the US Supreme Court has ruled Government officials are expected as a part. Of the democratic process to represent and to espouse the views of the majority of their constituents. When we are um advocating for the will of our members. They're also advocating on behalf of the people who elected them. With countless advocates outside of the government seeking to
influence its policy. This was the US Supreme Court. It would be ironic if those charged with making governmental decisions, we're not free to speak for themselves in the process. Um I think I've, I've talked a lot. I know you all are about to go back, so I guess I'll, I'll pause there. Thank you, Mr. French Representative Meek,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:09:52
you recognized. Thank you. Just a real quick question, uh, based on your position, you are considered a lobbyist and not a
government affairs. Uh, can you kind of maybe go over that distinction between those two. So we do have
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:10:08
a governmental affairs director, um, who is also registered as a lobbyist, um, we tend to think of ourselves more of subject matter experts and um bringing you information, but we do register as lobbyists out of an abundance of caution. OK, so, uh, I guess
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:10:22
maybe I'm trying to split hairs here. Would you necessarily have to register as a lobbyist as,
you know, if you were just a government relations liaison
between the Association of Counties and us, would that still be required because I
don't think y'all are given donations and stuff to us, so for political campaigns. I I'm not an expert on the ethics
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:10:43
rules behind that, but I, I think I would agree with where you're going. OK. Representative Ray, you're
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:10:53
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, um, Miss. French, I guess um Is it the the model that you
guys use, is that, is that Uniform across all the states. That have these types of, I mean, or are there different models? I guess I'm wondering, is there, do other states utilize a foundation model like we have with Gam and fish and Arkansas PBS and that kind of thing for local government,
sure, um, I know, I, I can't speak
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:11:25
for all, but I believe all states have an association of counties. Um, I know they're all
organized differently. We're a voluntary association. There is no county that has to pay us dues or. choose to be a member and because of the services that we provide and how cost effective it is. We are 100% membership. Um, but that is different in other associations, so other state associations may operate differently than we do. We do not have any lobbying expenses that are funded out of taxpayer dollars. OK, so, and what, what
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:12:00
is the right, so you, you said that
there's no lobbying expenses that are, that are out of taxpayer dollars. How do you Can, can you walk me through how you get to that
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:12:15
point. I'm, I'm not an accountant and I'm not a tax attorney, but
um I have been assured by our um Our leadership team that none of what we do here is funded out of the nominal amount of taxpayer dollars that we receive in voluntary membership dues. OK, um,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:12:35
Can you, do you mind just explaining
to me on like a surface level, how, how is your organization, how, how is it funded? I mean, you, I know you've got
several different um offices and sort of satellite groups that make up your organization, sheriffs, assessors,
clerks, judges, so on and so forth, um, there's all of them have. Different um dues that they pay
or help me understand. I'm sorry, it is,
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:13:09
it is one membership due for the entire county. OK, and counties
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:13:13
pay that with. With, I assume taxpayer money from their, from their coffers. Uh, yes, I, I believe that would be accurate. So what's, I mean, what, what's the total amount of money that we're talking about here for us, I'm told that it is about $200,000
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:13:27
a year statewide. So the rest of the, the rest of the funds like the funds that
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:13:37
you guys would um use for lobbying purposes. Where, where do they come from? We
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:13:42
have a, and again I'm, I'm getting way above my pay grade here, so
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:13:46
bear with me I don't want to sound like I'm grilling you. I'm just trying
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
2:13:51
to understand where we have a self pulled um insurance program, um, that also generates some revenue for the operation of our association. OK, so you're saying that The,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
2:14:02
the taxpayer money that you guys receive in the form of
dues. is segregated in some sort of account to ensure that it's not used
for lobbying. Absolutely. OK. All right. And with that, I hate
to interrupt a great debate, but we have to be back on the floor at 8 o'clock and
staff says that we must gavel out, uh, before we leave, however, I am open to coming back to hear the this bill
and I think Representative Long has a bill and
Representative McGruder has a bill after we gavel out. Um, from the floor, if that's the wishes of the committee. Mr. Chair, may I ask if that's contingent on quorum though, because
Speaker 119
2:14:48
I'd hate for us to all come back and hear all the testimony if there's not 11 people, we're going to have to have
a quorum, otherwise I'm not going to have a meeting. The alternative here's the, I
guess suppose the issue is if we don't come back, my intention was to hear only Senate bills on Wednesday. We
would have a couple of house bills to pick this
up on Wednesday and with all the Senate bills we have, we'll probably have to end up meeting. Because we'll only have a limited number of hours Wednesday morning I have to come back Wednesday afternoon also. And I just, here's the issue with the House bills if we don't get them out
now, if they're going to get out, if we don't get them out now, then. If you wait until Wednesday to get one out and you think you're gonna get that through the Senate, good luck. I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but
So that'd be up to the will of the committee to come back after adjournment. Representative Rose,
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
2:15:47
yes, sir, just support your recommendation for us to come back if there's time this evening. Alright. Well, that'll be
the plan 15 minutes after adjournment of the house, we'll be back in session. This committee will stay in
recess until 15 minutes of the adjournment of the house.
Agenda
CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1614 Lundstrum TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DESIGNATIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN CRIMINAL JUSTICE GRANT PROGRAMS.
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.
HB1632 Wardlaw TO REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS STATE GAME AND FISH COMMISSION FOR FREE OR DISCOUNTED HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES.
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.C
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.
HB1951 A. Collins TO SET FORTH AUTHORIZED DOMAIN EXTENSIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT WEBSITES.
HB1952 Hawk TO ASSIST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION; TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION TO CONTINUE ITS MISSION TO PROMOTE A ROBUST, HEALTHY, AND SAFE COMBATIVE SPORTS INDUSTRY.
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.
HB1974 Long TO PROHIBIT STATE ENTITIES FROM EMPLOYING UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS; TO ESTABLISH THE E-VERIFY REQUIREMENT ACT; AND TO REQUIRE STATE ENTITIES TO USE E-VERIFY TO CONFIRM EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY.
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.
SB445 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSURE OF ELECTRICAL INSPECTORS.
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.
SB508 Irvin TO AMEND THE FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT OF A STIPEND FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFIT ADVISORY COMMISSION AND THE STATE EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFIT ADVISORY COMMISSION.
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.
SB521 B. Davis TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT; AND TO EXTEND THE TIME PERIOD AFTER COMPLETION OF TRAINING FOR WHICH REIMBURSEMENT IS REQUIRED.
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.
SB551 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANVASSING FOR A PETITION FOR A LOCAL OPTION ELECTION.
SB584 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LOCAL INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS.
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.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE, Apr 7, 2025 | Agenda | 4 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Jimmy Gazaway Chair
Unverified
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
Representative David Ray
Unverified
Speaker 43
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
Speaker 46
Representative Nicole Clowney
Unverified
Lindsay Bailey
Unverified
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
Representative Andrew Collins
Unverified
Speaker 90
Speaker 93
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
Speaker 119
Speaker 120
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
Speaker 140
Representative Rick Beck Chair
Unverified
Speaker 175
Speaker 184
Speaker 210
Speaker 216
Speaker 209
Speaker 218
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 23
Speaker 247
Jay Robertson
Unverified