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Bills discussed (9)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1860
· 4 mentions in transcript, chapter, agenda
Matched: “…iss representative duffield you rep you're ready to take up hb 1860”
|
TO MODIFY THE PERIOD THAT A VISITING QUALIFYING PATIENT REGISTRY IDENTIFICATION CARD IS VALID; AND … | Duffield | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
SB564
Act 596
· 3 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…EQUIREMENT THAT A PRIVATE CLUB BE A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. SB564 Flippo TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "BEER" TO CHANGE THE ALLO…”
|
TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "BEER" TO CHANGE THE ALLOWABLE ALCOHOLIC CONTENT AND TO INCLUDE … | Flippo | Notification that SB564 is now Act 596 |
|
HB1192
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1192 Pilkington TO PROHIBIT THE POSSESSION OF TOBACCO, TOBACCO P…”
|
TO PROHIBIT THE POSSESSION OF TOBACCO, TOBACCO PRODUCTS, AND E-CIGARETTES BY STUDENTS; AND TO REQUIRE … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1573
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…NEWAL OF A QUALIFYING PATIENT REGISTRY IDENTIFICATION CARD. HB1573 Ladyman TO REORGANIZE THE STANDING COMMITTEES AND THE SUBJE…”
|
TO REORGANIZE THE STANDING COMMITTEES AND THE SUBJECT MATTER INTERIM COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE OF … | Ladyman | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1578
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1578 Pilkington TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS HEMP BEVERAGE ACT.”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS HEMP BEVERAGE ACT. | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1626
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1626 Duffield TO PROHIBIT THE SALE OF DISPOSAL VAPOR PRODUCTS FR…”
|
TO PROHIBIT THE SALE OF DISPOSAL VAPOR PRODUCTS FROM A PROHIBITED FOREIGN PARTY. | Duffield | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1722
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1722 J. Moore TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF HEMP-DERIVED PROD…”
|
TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF HEMP-DERIVED PRODUCTS BY THE ARKANSAS TOBACCO CONTROL BOARD; TO … | J. Moore | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB523
Act 762
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “…ations your bill's passed All right members we're moving to SB 523 Representative Dalby and Senator Irvin”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; AND TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PRIVATE … | Irvin | Notification that SB523 is now Act 762 |
|
HB1143
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…LUDE MALT BEVERAGES. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1143 Wooten TO AMEND THE CHARITABLE BINGO AND RAFFLES ENABLING A…”
|
TO AMEND THE CHARITABLE BINGO AND RAFFLES ENABLING ACT; AND TO PROHIBIT RAFFLES TO PROVIDE … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
0:00
Order. Chair sees a quorum. Members, without objection, we're going to take a couple of bills out of order. We will get to hear everything that's on the agenda today, but it may be after session. First up is going to be SB 564. Representative Brown, are you ready to present your bill? Yes, Mr. Chair. If you
go to the table and identify yourself, you'll be recognized to present your bill.
Speaker 4
0:30
thank you mr chair matt brown district 55 uh members this is y'all may recall this bill earlier in the session which we filed the oh senator
Speaker 7
0:44
flippo mr chair with your permission senator scott flippo district 17
Speaker 4
0:50
colleagues you may remember earlier in the session that i brought a bill to y'all that concerned the legal definition of
Speaker 9
0:56
beer that original bill had a 14 percent abv level in
our abw level in the bill as you know that bill did not make it off the house floor senator flippo has filed a corresponding bill over on the senate side same provisions in the bill except it's dropping the abw level to 10 i'll be glad to take any questions representative wardlaw you recognize for a question thank you mr.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:31
chair he's old and it's a computer i wouldn't ask you this but
you got that guy with that slick hair set beside you so what does that four percent mean or who does
Speaker 6
1:48
that affect i hope it means it'll pass uh now that was a that was a compromise i know some people were a little uncomfortable with it
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:55
being that 14 percent what items are affected by that four percent reduction
Speaker 9
1:59
there may be there's very few craft beers that are above 10 percent so honestly I don't think it affects that many the majority of craft beers are at this 10 percent level or
under and so we're trying to catch essentially as many as we can by not having the alcohol level too high I would point out to the committee that under current law wine is is at 21 percent which is able to be sold in
Speaker 6
2:20
a grocery store this bill will just let us be able to sell craft beers in
Speaker 18
2:27
grocery store at 10% capped. Okay, thank you.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
2:33
Members, any other questions? All right, well, we have a couple people signed up, one to speak for, one to speak against. We'll go with against first, Bill Paschel. If you'll come to the table,
identify yourself and who you're with and you recognize.
Speaker 21
2:55
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm Bill Paschal. I'm here representing the United Beverage Retailers of Arkansas, which is comprised of about 70 liquor stores across the state. And I'm not going to belabor you guys heard our opposition to the previous bill. The same points still hold. This will take away or whittle down an exclusive product that we rely on
to get foot traffic into our liquor stores. And it'll put our higher alcohol content product closer to kids and C-stores and grocery stores. And to Representative Brown's point about C-stores and grocery stores already selling 21% wine, that is absolutely correct. And I can tell you when that bill passed in 2017, it had a big financial impact on my independent retailers. Some of them lost as much as 10% of their business in wine sales.
So I'm not going to belabor it. I'm here to wave the flag and say the independent liquor stores across the state ask you to vote now. Thanks. Will you
take questions? Yes, sir. Representative Falk, you're recognized for a question. Thank
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
4:14
you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Paschal, this seems almost like a little bit of a compromise.
What is that number? Because they went from 14 to 10. There's got to be a number for them to get to for you guys to be comfortable with, or is there not? I mean, I understand where you're coming from, but it seems like it's good faith on Representative Brown to try to bring that number down a little bit more.
Speaker 25
4:43
Is there a number? You know, when the bill was – the
Speaker 21
4:48
14% bill was out in front of you, we offered a compromise at 9-6, but we asked them to help us do a few things in exchange for our support, and they rejected us.
So it's close to it, but, you know, we tried to compromise earlier, and that was rejected, but they've come back at 10. So you guys were at 9-6, and they're at
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
5:09
10, so we're .4 off. at this point so i mean we're we're there i mean we didn't get any help on some of the
Speaker 25
5:16
other things we were asking for but um it will hurt our our business some i mean i'm not going to say it's closing down
Speaker 21
5:24
our businesses but it is a product that brings foot traffic into stores and i remind you that we don't get to sell groceries or gas or any of those other things to get people to come
in the stores the only thing that we can sell with our license are uh spirits wine and beer so So we respectfully ask you to think that through. It will hurt my 70 small independent liquor stores. Representative Wardlaw, you recognize
Chair
Unverified
5:49
for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just wondering
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
6:00
what those other things you asked for were.
You bring it up, so now it's admissible,
Speaker 21
6:08
so what is it? Well, there were some bills out there we were hoping we could get some help and folks helping
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
6:14
us stop. So because they didn't agree to that, but they came within four-tenths of the point, you're still going to sit here and be against it, right? Yes, sir.
Thank you. Seeing no other questions, thank you, sir. You're excused. Thank you, committee. All right, speaking for the bill is Robbie Vogel.
If you'll come to the table and identify yourself and who you're with, You're recognized to speak for
Robbie Vogel
Unverified
6:54
the bill Good afternoon, thank you chair. My name is Robbie Vogel. I'm with Golden Eagle of Arkansas a licensed wholesaler in the state Testified a few times before this committee this session and just want to thank you all for the compromise that y'all
worked on for this bill and appreciate a good vote thank you happy to take any questions seeing no
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
7:16
questions you're excused thank you seeing nobody else
that signed up to speak for against the bill represent Brown you're recognized to close
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
7:28
for your bill thank you mr. chair committees
Speaker 4
7:32
we talked about last time craft brewers are people who are brewing beer right here
Speaker 6
7:36
in Arkansas saw it represents only about one or two percent at most of sales it's a very small industry which
has really grown the last few years and
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
7:48
this is really going to help them out i'm closed i'd appreciate a good vote what's the
will of the committee have a motion do pass any discussion on the motion seeing none all in favor say aye opposed
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
8:10
nay congratulations your bill's passed All right members we're moving to SB 523 Representative Dalby and Senator Irvin
If you'll identify yourselves for the record You're recognized
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
8:26
to present the bill Thank you Senator Missy Irvin District 24 Representative Carol Dalby, District 100. You recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. Earlier this session, we ran a bill that benefited a large restaurant chain that brought this to our attention, which was to eliminate basically a meaningless regulation that is in the way of really them growing
and having a presence more so in the state of Arkansas. So during the process, we passed that bill. Thank you very much for passing that bill. And we, during that process, there was discussion from the members in both the Senate and the House and said, well, we're doing this for the large chain restaurants. Why shouldn't we go ahead and do it for the small business owner? We should do that for them as well. And so that's what the bill does. It was just good collaboration from the members of the General Assembly. and I followed through and this bill is now before you as a result.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
9:30
All right. Seeing no questions, there's no one signed up to speak for or against this bill. You've recognized a close for
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
9:39
your bill. I thank you again for working with me and creating a good second bill. I'm closed. We
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
9:47
want to be closed. We were told that there was an amendment. Oh, that's right. The ABC just had some language, minor language, but Sherry tells me the amendment didn't get here.
They're calling. I mean, it doesn't change the substance of the bill. We just need to get the amendment here. It suddenly dawned on me we didn't
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
10:13
have it. Yeah, I think the ABC wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to clean up some language, and I think that's what the amendment is. But none of it was substantive.
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
10:32
real quick for them to bring the amendment over and then bring it right back up?
Yes. Because it's ready to roll. Yes. Okay. If we can do that, and then as soon as they get it over, we'll bring it right back up, and
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
11:00
I apologize. Okay. Thank you. Apologies. all right members what okay we're going to go ahead and take up the next bill uh miss representative duffield you rep you're ready to take up hb 1860
yes sir if you'll go to the table and identify yourself
Representative Matt Duffield
Unverified
11:36
you'll be recognized yes sir Thank you, Mr. Chair. Matt Duffield, Representative, District 53.
Speaker 62
11:52
Jennings. Could you repeat that? I'm Erica G.
Representative Matt Duffield
Unverified
11:59
from Wright-Lindsey and Jennings. Okay. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee, I bring you House Bill 1860 today. This is, as I see it, it eliminates some red tape for the medical marijuana users in the state of Arkansas. And I'll give just a little synopsis about medical marijuana for the committee,
a few data points here. Chronic pain is the most common condition cited by patients for medical cannabis use. For instance, a study reported that 94% of Colorado medical marijuana ID card holders indicated severe pain as a medical condition. Additionally, medical cannabis use has been associated with a 64% reduction in opioid use among pain patients, suggesting it may serve as an alternative to conventional pain medication medications excuse me states with medical
cannabis laws have observed a reduction in opioid overdose mortality rates a study analyzing data from 1999 to 2010 found that on average states allowing medical use of marijuana had a 24.8 percent lower opioid overdose mortality rate compared to states without such laws as of march 29th of this year arkansas had 109 257 active medical marijuana id card cards issued to patients
sales and economic impact in the first half of 2024 medical marijuana sales in arkansas totaled 135.5 million a slight decrease from 141 million during the same period in 2023 since the inception of the medical marijuana program in 2019 cumulative sales have reached approximately 500 million dollars contributing significantly to states initiatives such as public schools and addressing our food insecurity program in 2024 the two state taxes on medical marijuana generated 28.5 million
bringing the total tax revenue since the program's launch to nearly 150 million dollars and with that background what this bill would essentially do is it would cut a lot of the red tape for the processes of those who hold a medical marijuana card in the state of Arkansas and out of that 109,257 that are currently active I myself have one of those cards and I found that the use of medical marijuana has helped my pain in my shoulder my neck it's a chronic issue as with
Most people hold these cards. It's to treat chronic pain. And the renewal process is a step that each year I've had to do it. It's quite a pain, no pun intended. So what this bill will do to address that and some other things, and I'll allow her to go through the three-step phases of this
Speaker 67
14:55
bill. Thank you. Thank you very much. This bill will do three things related to the different types of registry identification cards that are issued by the department of health first it would allow
patient cards qualifying patient cards for residents to allow those patients to renew their card for a second year upon request to the department of health without getting an additional physician certification for that second year and then for the third year it would go back to require a physician certification so and the way the way that that works in the bill is that it would be at the request of the patient and the department of health has the authority
to determine exactly what that would look like in terms of logistics how it would happen when it would happen and then it also creates a universal registry identification card and those are for employees and consultants who work in the industry, not for patients. And the way that the law is now, each employee or consultant who works for one of the licensed facilities has to have a registry identification card or a RIC card for each facility. It's tied
to each facility. And there are a number of people, including frankly myself, who work with different licensed facilities, and you have to have a RIC card for each one. So this would remove, as the representative said, remove some of the red tape and the administrative burden, frankly, on ABC for maintaining all of these different cards. Because once you're qualified to work in the industry, then you would just have a card that could be used at each facility,
and you'd be required to let ABC know which facilities you're working for. And then for visiting qualifying patients who get a card in Arkansas because they qualify at their home state and they also qualify under Arkansas requirements, it would extend the period that that
Speaker 68
17:00
card is valid from 90 days to one year.
Representative Hawk, you're recognized for a question.
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
17:13
I apologize. I forget to hit my button. Somebody already asked my question, so
I apologize. Representative McElhann, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
17:24
Thank you, Chairman. Thank you. So I'm not well educated in this area. Help me understand, if they're coming from outer state, do you know offhand what those qualifications are for them to be
Speaker 67
17:34
able to get a card here? They would have to qualify under Arkansas law as well, But it allows them to take the card and provide that to the Department of Health,
and there's a whole process of the Department of Health to qualify them as a visiting
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
17:47
patient. Okay, and the current card is only good for 90 days, so every 90 days they
Speaker 67
17:53
have to go back to their physician to get it? Every 90 days they would have to
Speaker 70
17:58
resubmit application to the Arkansas Department of Health. Okay,
and this extends it to one year? Yes, ma'am.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
18:07
Okay, thank you. I have a question. I'm on certain medications. I'm required to go back to my doctor periodically in order to get a prescription refilled,
and now you're wanting to extend this from one year to two years before they would have to return to a physician to see if they still need this product. Yes, sir. I have a problem with that personally because I'm required to do things with certain medications that I'm on. and the other question is with regard to the visitor if they're going to be here if it's going if we're expanding it from 90 days to a year
how are they not almost becoming residents of the state representative
Representative Matt Duffield
Unverified
18:52
ebanks if i may address your first part of your of your question so for example now as a medical marijuana card holder that's for one year and then you have to go online and fill out all these forms and everything to get it again well what this does is it's not just you don't just go online fill it out as it is and it's good for two years without having to do anything the way this bill is written is for
example after the first 12 months i would have to submit a written request to the department of health detailing why i would i would like to go ahead and get that for the next year so it's it's not necessarily just i apply now i get it for two years
so it's not necessarily automatic they could make a decision that no you need to go see a physician
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
19:36
correct yes sir that would be after the department
of health all right seeing no other question what representative wardlaw you recognized for
a question thank you mr chair so let's go to page two line five so the department
it shall not require an additional certification from a certifying physician for renewal. So what you're telling me is the only thing that they can require is that letter from the client itself or the patient. Yes, sir,
Speaker 66
20:09
that would be correct. They could do that.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
20:16
so my i too have some same concerns representative eubanks had that
you know today take my simple
cholesterol medicine i have to go have my liver checked or my blood checked to check my livering functions before i can get that back and i think i have to go every 90 days for that but we're saying we're just going to go off of the client's written testimony we're not going take the doctor's word at
Representative Matt Duffield
Unverified
20:46
all are not going to require that correct that is correct if if I may interject a thought in regards to medical marijuana versus cholesterol medicine because I'm on I'm on both I'm on cholesterol medicine as well when it comes to medical marijuana
it's primarily used for chronic pain that is here and it's not going to go away so it's it's a medication like for example with with the cholesterol medicine that you referenced I'm in the process of trying to get my cholesterol numbers down so I can I can stop having to take that statin drug hopefully when it comes to medical marijuana that that is something that those who have chronic pain which in my experience most medical marijuana cardholders have in the
physician that they spoke with in their assessment agree that that's what they have they're going to need medical marijuana to help treat their chronic pain for the rest of their life essentially so glad you
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
21:44
brought that up so your your lawyer friend besides you may want to answer this one for you but um when you look at controlled substances and you look at an opioid and you look at a marijuana where how do those lay and mr chair this question sets up the next one so
So are opioids scaled or scheduled higher or lower than miracle marijuana on that scale? They're scaled lower. I can answer that. And because of that, we already have laws in place that regulate how many opioid pills a person can get in a 90 days, 30 days, and even five-day supply if you're out of an ER. are so again i go back and i use cholesterol so i could use something very minimum but it's very
important to have that physician involved to make sure the client's using what they're being prescribed the client's using it for the purpose that they're being prescribed for and they need it to continue that use do you agree or do you
disagree if you want your bill fast i guess you'd have to disagree but you do
Speaker 67
22:59
see what i'm saying by your silence representative wardlaw may i respond to your question okay um there there's a couple of ways in which medical marijuana as the way that it's
structured in arkansas is different um than the prescription drugs that you're talking about And so it's a different medical scenario. First of all, under our structure, the certifying physician who agrees that a patient qualifies for the use of medical marijuana can determine whether the patient has a condition that requires a long-term use or if it's something that would be shorter. And that is up to the certifying physician now, and this bill does not change that.
So if there is some kind of condition where the physician feels that the patient either doesn't need it for a very long time or they need to see them again and discuss the use of it again, that's something that's up to the physician. And the other thing is that, as Representative Duffield pointed out, the qualifying conditions in Arkansas to be permitted to use medical marijuana are long-term conditions, and they are not long-term conditions that require medical testing or laboratory testing to make sure that you are within the therapeutic parameters like you might be looking at for a cholesterol pill or another type of medication.
They are long-term conditions that will not be cured and they will not go away. And the way that our structure is put together, once you are determined to be qualifying, then there is no additional physician treatment that is required. Seeing no other questions, there's no one signed up to speak
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
24:53
for or against this bill. Representative Duffield, would you like to close for your bill?
Representative Matt Duffield
Unverified
25:01
Yes, sir, Mr. Chair. I'll close. I'll just address the opioid and marijuana. From my standpoint in my 41 years in this world, I don't know anyone personally whose life has been wrecked and ravaged by marijuana. Opioids I do. I know dozens upon dozens of people throughout my life I've known that have done that. And I will say that in those instances with opioids, people who use those are not directly from a prescription they're getting them off the streets
they're trading them amongst themselves through various doctors who who aren't the best folks and as as my understanding the state of Arkansas is currently number one in opioid abuse from my understanding we have some some really foul doctors uh doing those things but with that I'll just say that uh from my standpoint uh there's not those negative effects with medical marijuana that opioids have i think that uh medical marijuana uh the biggest enemy of that would be taco bell's food supply perhaps you know so but with that i'm closing i'd appreciate a due pass
thank you what's the will of the committee have a motion any
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
26:20
discussion on the motion representative wardlaw you recognize mr chair this pains me because i really think the world representative dovefield but the problem i've got with this bill is it seems like we're we're slowly going to recreational marijuana and going to a patient letter versus a doctor's prescription or going to a recertification at the end of the year is basically going to
a professional permanent prescription on a single time and the fact that we're doing a visitor from 90 days to one year means that we've got people walking across the state line to get their marijuana in Arkansas. And I just have a real problem with that. So, therefore, I'll be voting no. Seeing no
other discussion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. No.
Sorry, your bill's failed. Representative Dalby, you have your amendment. I
Speaker 88
27:16
do. If you could get it passed out, we'll go back to Senate Bill 523. Representative Dalby,
if you'll identify yourselves again for the record, then you'll be recognized to explain your amendment.
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
27:50
Thank you. Representative Carol Dalby, District 100. Senator Missy Irvin, District 24. Members, as we previously stated, thank you for your indulgence
while we got the amendment over here. All this is is some cleanup language that ABC wanted to get in this bill since when they had the chance, it doesn't change things substantively. And so with that, we'd be happy to answer any questions on the amendment. and seeing no questions i make a motion to adopt the amendment we have a motion to adopt the
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
28:25
amendment any discussion on the motion seeing none all in favor say aye opposed nay amendment has been adopted now
you recognize the close for your bill
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
28:38
is amended appreciate a good vote with that i make a motion to motion do pass as amended all right we
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
28:45
have Motion do pass as amended. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. Congratulations. Your bill is passed. Thank you. Thank
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
28:55
you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members of the committee.
Speaker 88
29:03
Okay. Representative Ladyman, are you prepared to present
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
29:09
your bill? And I believe you have an amendment.
If you identify yourself for the record, you'll be recognized to
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
29:26
explain your amendment. Representative Jack, Ladyman, District 32. I have an amendment and also a handout that
I'll talk about here in a few minutes.
All right, you're recognized to explain your amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members, the amendment does a couple things. One thing on line 36 on page 2 and mine through line 1 on page 3, it changes, before that was the Veterans and Military Affairs Standing Committee. It removes that because we now have a joint Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
and it replaces it with the Committee on Department of Human Services. so DHS and then on page 2 lines 15 through 20 it replaces that with the committee on public health so it splits those two committees because of the load those committees have now so that's the amendment gabby take any questions represent board law you recognize for
a question well I don't want
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
30:43
to be out of order, but is the handout tied into the amendment, or is
the amendment pretty much the bill at this point?
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
30:51
No, the handout is not tied to the amendment. I'll address that later.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
30:55
I'll hold my question for after presentation, Mr. Chair. All
right. Seeing no other questions, what's the will of the committee? Have a motion to adopt the amendment. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. amendment is adopted
all right representative lady men you recognize explain the bill as amended
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
31:19
okay members uh as i as i said before when i represented when i presented this
bill uh what it does is it uh realigns our standing committees with the executive branch and that's what it does now i have about a page and a half to talk about the specific committees i did that before i'm willing to do that if y'all want to take the time but i'll skip over that for right now and uh talk about a couple other things uh but if you want that information i'll go back and cover that
so as i said when i was here before uh this i believe this would make uh the departments more efficient by aligning uh the uh secretaries with one committee so all 14 departments executive departments would be assigned to individual committee to work with. Now, because there's 14 and we have 10 standing committees, there would be duplications in a few of the committees. But this would allow the executive branch and the legislative committee to work on one subject
matter, and I believe that would make us much more efficient. The second thing that it would do, and I did not mention this before, the bills would be more balanced, and that has to do with handout that you have and you can look at that and this only addresses the 10 standing committees not all of the committees on that list but well this didn't show okay this only shows 2023 but what this handout does i asked blr to research how many bills are going to each
standing committee for the 2023 session and also for this session the handout only has 2023 but I have the numbers for 2025 as well but if you look at that the lowest number of bills ran by a committee which was aging children and youth in 2023 was 28 bills that same term 2023 the highest number of bills for a committee which was judiciary was 169 so the span there is 28 to 169
to date in 2025 aging children and youth still has the lowest bill number of bills at 15 this is a week ago public health has the highest number at 171 so the span there is 15 to 171 um and i've got to thank uh blr especially matthew miller who's worked on this for two years worked very extensively if you'll look the bill's 68 pages uh so matthew has been working on this
tirelessly uh and i had this bill last session did not file it because i knew there was some work to do and people told me it was not the time to run the bill so I did not run it I put it in interim study during that time I talked extensively with all the departments talked with many legislators talked with the governor's office worked with BLR asked for feedback on this didn't get a lot of feedback a lot of input everybody thought it was a good idea I didn't get any actual suggestions that I could work on to improve the bill
so we could why when is the right time I guess is my question because we could pass this now and work on the implementation during the interim and implement it two years from now we could also work during that time on the senate to try to realign I think another thing that would help us if our committee is aligned with the senate right now the senate does not have Aging Children and Youth Committee. They've also talked about putting their energy bills into
a standing committee instead of sending it to the Joint Energy Committee. So that's an issue that we really have to address. So we could work with the Senate to do that. So if y'all looked at those numbers, you can see that we've got basically three committee, three A committees and two B committees that run 50 percent of the bills and the other committees we have a transportation committee we don't even have a department of transportation and I think I told you this the
other day but in public health when I go as a chair when I would go meet with other chairs of other states they're aging children and youth they don't have a committee like that they're either in public health or they're in public safety the the police for the children so anyway that's that's basically the bill and again I'd be happy to talk about details of each committee if you want me to but I'd be happy to take questions
representative Wardlaw you recognize for a question
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
36:23
i mean and representing lateman you and i've talked about this you know how i feel but i
still want to be clear during committee selection when members are here picking their committees because since we've only had one session where members didn't pick their own committees do you think those members have any knowledge
of the bill load or the workload when they pick those committees i don't know how
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
36:50
to answer i don't think they do i know a lot of
people don't okay but you know i'll yield mr chair well uh representative wardlaw thank you for asking that question because i believe another advantage of doing this and our committees have not been changed since 1973 which was done after uh the governor realigned his executive branches but what I think this would do would be help our freshmen. If you come in as a freshman and you pick your committees based on seniority, some
of the freshmen are going to get on these two committees that don't run any bills. So they're not going to get the ability, the training, the opportunity to run a lot of bills and hear a lot of bills in their first session. I think this would help them be more involved in the process from the get-go, and it would help freshmen and even some second term people to be more involved in the process by balancing the committees seeing no other questions
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
37:52
there's no one uh signed up to speak for or against this bill represent bladyman would
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
37:56
you like to close for your bill yeah thank you mr chairman um again this is an efficiency bill and it helps our members and i want to just say you know it somewhat the people back home want us to be more efficient look at what doge is doing nationally by cutting waste and making federal government more efficient we should be doing the same thing if we can improve our efficiency we should be doing that if we don't do that then we're not doing what the voters sent us
here to do so with that i'd be closed
all right what's the will of the committee we have a motion do pass any discussion on the motion
Chair
Unverified
38:45
uh mr chairman can i say one more thing please nope nope sorry i forgot something representative
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
38:50
board law you recognize for discussion thank you mr chair members these committees have been working for over 40 40 almost 50 years and they they work the way they do and they're set up the way they are
and they do match the senate at the moment and we can't
sit down here in the house and change committees and expect the senate to change them because that's it's not the way
it works the way it works is you'd have to get the senate in a room form a bill that collaboratively bring it forth and move it
forward that's not what we're doing here what we're doing here is changing the house completely and then hoping the senate sees a light in the tunnel and joins us
so therefore I'm gonna know all right seeing no other discussion on the motion we have a
motion to do pass as amended all in favor say aye opposed nay sorry representative lady men your bills failed thank you committee members we don't have any other bills to take up so we are adjourned as a as a point of information I believe this is our last rules meeting for the session
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA
HB1722 J. Moore TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF HEMP-DERIVED PRODUCTS BY THE ARKANSAS TOBACCO CONTROL BOARD; TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS LAW TO ALLOW THE REGULATION AND PURCHASE OF HEMP-DERIVED PRODUCTS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1192 Pilkington TO PROHIBIT THE POSSESSION OF TOBACCO, TOBACCO PRODUCTS, AND E- CIGARETTES BY STUDENTS; AND TO REQUIRE THE PARENT OF A STUDENT WHO USES, POSSESSES, OR SMOKES TOBACCO, TOBACCO PRODUCTS, OR E-CIGARETTES TO PAY A FINE.
HB1626 Duffield TO PROHIBIT THE SALE OF DISPOSAL VAPOR PRODUCTS FROM A PROHIBITED FOREIGN PARTY.
HB1860 Duffield TO MODIFY THE PERIOD THAT A VISITING QUALIFYING PATIENT REGISTRY IDENTIFICATION CARD IS VALID; AND TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS FOR RENEWAL OF A QUALIFYING PATIENT REGISTRY IDENTIFICATION CARD.
HB1573 Ladyman TO REORGANIZE THE STANDING COMMITTEES AND THE SUBJECT MATTER INTERIM COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
HB1578 Pilkington TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS HEMP BEVERAGE ACT.
SB523 Irvin TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; AND TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PRIVATE CLUB BE A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.
SB564 Flippo TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "BEER" TO CHANGE THE ALLOWABLE ALCOHOLIC CONTENT AND TO INCLUDE MALT BEVERAGES.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — HOUSE RULES, Apr 3, 2025 | Agenda | 1 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
Representative Jon S. Eubanks Chair
Unverified
Speaker 4
Speaker 7
Speaker 9
Speaker 6
Speaker 18
Speaker 21
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
Speaker 25
Chair
Unverified
Robbie Vogel
Unverified
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
Speaker 51
Representative Matt Duffield
Unverified
Speaker 59
Speaker 62
Speaker 67
Speaker 68
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
Speaker 70
Speaker 66
Speaker 88
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Speaker 113