City, County & Local Affairs Committee - Senate
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Bills discussed (14)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB406
Act 752
· 4 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB406 A. Clark TO REQUIRE A COUNTY RECORDER TO VERIFY CERTAIN INF…”
|
TO REQUIRE A COUNTY RECORDER TO VERIFY CERTAIN INFORMATION BEFORE RECORDING A DEED TO REAL … | A. Clark | Notification that SB406 is now Act 752 |
|
SB69
· 4 mentions in transcript, agenda
Matched: “…here this morning, brought me the original bill, which was SB 69. There always has to be a driving force, somebody will be a…”
|
CONCERNING THE RECORDATION AND FILING OF A DEED OR OTHER INSTRUMENT THAT CONVEYS REAL PROPERTY … | A. Clark | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB580
Act 767
· 3 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…CIPAL BOUNDARY FOR MUNICIPAL SERVICES IN CERTAIN INSTANCES. SB580 K. Hammer TO EXTEND FINANCING FOR PURCHASES OF VEHICLES AND…”
|
TO EXTEND FINANCING FOR PURCHASES OF VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT FOR A RURAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT. | K. Hammer | Notification that SB580 is now Act 767 |
|
HB1476
Act 675
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 4/2/25 @ 7:00PM) Added HB1476 and Removed SB520 Senate Committee on City, County, and Loc…”
|
TO AMEND THE DIRECT SHIPMENT OF VINOUS LIQUOR ACT; AND TO ESTABLISH A WINE DIRECT … | B. McKenzie | Notification that HB1476 is now Act 675 |
|
HB1701
Act 925
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1701 Gonzales TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SEWER COLLECTION AND S…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SEWER COLLECTION AND SEWER TREATMENT PROVIDERS AND RELATED SERVICES. | Gonzales | Notification that HB1701 is now Act 925 |
|
HB1808
Act 686
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…LECTION AND SEWER TREATMENT PROVIDERS AND RELATED SERVICES. HB1808 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL FIRE DEPAR…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS; AND TO CREATE THE BILL OF RIGHTS … | A. Collins | Notification that HB1808 is now Act 686 |
|
SB399
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…DEED TO REAL ESTATE. REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle SB399 G. TO CREATE THE ANTI-ATF COMMANDEERING ACT; AND TO PROHIBI…”
|
TO CREATE THE ANTI-ATF COMMANDEERING ACT; AND TO PROHIBIT THE PROVISION OF MATERIAL AID AND … | G. Stubblefield | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB518
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…L AID AND SUPPORT FOR ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LAWS. SB518 Hester TO PROHIBIT A LOCAL GOVERNMENT FROM ENACTING REGULAT…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A LOCAL GOVERNMENT FROM ENACTING REGULATIONS IN A FLOOD-PRONE AREA THAT ARE MORE … | Hester | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB531
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB531 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL PLANNING; A…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL PLANNING; AND TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO CONTRACT WITH … | K. Hammer | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB588
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EHICLES AND EQUIPMENT FOR A RURAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT. SB588 C. Penzo TO ESTABLISH A WINERY PRIVATE CLUB PERMIT. HB1701…”
|
TO ESTABLISH A WINERY PRIVATE CLUB PERMIT. | C. Penzo | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1686
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…CTRIC GRID BY BLOCKCHAIN NETWORKS AND DIGITAL ASSET MINING. HB1686 Childress TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CON…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. | Childress | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB10
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RADIUS OF A MILITARY FACILITY; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB10 B. King TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS DATA CENTERS ACT OF 2023; AND…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS DATA CENTERS ACT OF 2023; AND TO REGULATE THE IMPACT ON … | B. King | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB520
Act 747
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 4/2/25 @ 7:00PM) Added HB1476 and Removed SB520 Senate Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs Thursda…”
|
TO PROHIBIT DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION OFFICES, OFFICERS, POLICIES, OR PRACTICES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT. | D. Sullivan | Notification that SB520 is now Act 747 |
|
SB60
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…s designating areas as 'Members and Staff Only'. PROPERTY. SB60 Hill TO PROHIBIT A DIGITAL ASSET MINING BUSINESS FROM BEING…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A DIGITAL ASSET MINING BUSINESS FROM BEING LOCATED WITHIN A THIRTY-MILE RADIUS OF … | Hill | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
Machine transcript
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Speaker 2
0:12
SB 406. That spell 17406. No, Senate Bill 406406. And we have an amendment. Yes. I'm going to, I've got a whole host of
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
0:24
people actually to help me present, but we have one tier here, so I'm gonna ask uh Macabono,
uh Sla County Circuit clerk to come up if it's OK with you, Chair. Yeah, that'd be fine. If, well, I've
got 2 circuit clerks and 2 title people if we
Speaker 9
0:43
can pull up chairs. Ms, if you identify yourself just for the record and tell us who you're with. Uh, you'll be
Speaker 10
0:56
recognized. I'm actually Macabono sample and I'm the Saline County Circuit clerk's office and I'm also here representing
Speaker 14
1:01
the Celine County or the circuit Clerk Association. It's all right. Everybody's used to. Anyone
Speaker 18
1:11
chair the legislative committee for the
Arkansas Land Title Association. OK. West Lianne,
Speaker 19
1:17
I'm a member of the Arkansas Land Title Association and its legislative committee. All
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
1:24
right, Senator Clark, you recognized, I'm gonna ask, uh, to explain the amendment. For all of them to explain the amendment. So after uh
this this bill came through this committee last time and was presented on the Senate
Speaker 19
1:45
floor. There were some questions with respect to what would happen if uh the Grand Tour, for instance, was a trust or an LLC and whose identification will be presented with respect to that. Um, and frankly, that was something that we had not contemplated initially when we were drafting the bill. And so, uh, one of the provisions of the amendment would would indicate that it would be, uh, the person who is
listed as the Grand Tour or person signing on behalf of the Grand Tour, and that would encompass trustees of a trust, a member of an LLC, a president of a corporation or an attorney in fact pursuant to a power of attorney. So that was, that's one of the amendments that you see here, um, one of the other issues that was a matter of concern to some senators was recording the driver's license of the Grand
Tour, um, and after discussions with the clerk uh what uh what the amendment would do is take out recording the driver's license and redaction of portions of that driver's license. Now the driver's license would be maintained by the circuit clerk under seal, uh, and so it would not be part of the part of the deed. recording, uh, if you will, and so you won't see a photo, you won't see a name or anything like that of a driver's license of the Grand Tour uh when that
instrument is recorded. What was the other? Oh, and the other amendments were to Uh, add the commissioner of State lands as far as the exempted parties who have to show an identification, the commissioner of state lands, an individual representing the state or a political subdivision of the state, the various state agencies that may deal in real property from time to time, uh, and then finally the state and municipality within the state, a
county within the state, or a political subdivision of the state, and that was meant to encompass cities and counties, as you know, your quorum courts deal with real property issues, uh, municipalities deal with real property issues as well, so that would exempt those from, uh, those persons representing them from having to present their identification when recorded.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:20
I get, yeah, it's, it's just kind of this whole thing in response to people going off and stealing somebody else's
Speaker 30
4:26
mortgage and all that, ma'am. All right. Within
Speaker 29
4:29
our industry is what we call seller impersonation fraud, but it's where somebody poses as the owner of the
Speaker 19
4:36
property and forges a deed, in an effort to get payment for transferring that property. And if I may follow up. And, yes, go ahead. OK.
Speaker 14
4:54
This is actually a beginning to actually help our citizens um from the property fraud, um, this is just We know it's not perfect right now, but it is to deter, we really want to deter the bad actors that are trying to come in and and fraudulently record deeds that belong to other our citizens. Or any
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
5:24
from the committee on the amendment. All right, we have a motion to adopt the amendment, and second, in discussion, all those
Paul Hayes
Unverified
5:38
in favor say it. All those. This is just for
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
5:43
the amendment. Yeah, all those, all those in favor say ah. All oppose the amendment's been adopted, uh, Senator Clark, you go
Speaker 2
5:49
ahead and explain the bill. was Center English, uh.
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
5:57
And, uh, Marker brought out this is about Uh tidal security and helping prevent titles from being uh stolen. Uh, it is a problem normally when you have TV commercials on something, uh, there is actually something going on where, where people For a fee we'll try to protect you. The, but it's been related to me that, uh, people have spent as much as $30,000 getting their titles back and $30,000 they
didn't have to spare and uh Paul Hayes, who is here this morning, brought me the original bill, which was SB 69. There always has to be a driving force, somebody will be a legislator or be a constituent. Uh, that sees the need. And when we presented, I didn't present it in committee, but when SB 69 became public, it was actually the first bill I filed, the uh The circuit clerks didn't like it. The title people didn't like
it. The realtors didn't like it, and they didn't just not like it just a little bit, but, uh, but they said that this is something we've all thought of that needed to be done and so we're glad you presented it, and they have worked and worked and worked, uh, on trying to get this right. In fact, we had it to the amended it a number of times, had it to the floor, and Senator Hickey and Senator Dismay, and Senator Tucker had some problems and so they've worked. and worked and worked on this amendment.
To get it right. And uh what I hate about it is that Mr. Hayes will be testifying against it, um, because he doesn't like this version and I understand that he hasn't been through this process, uh, uh. Of doing what you can and uh uh behind this, uh, The circuit clerks also, and correct me if I'm wrong, uh, have some I don't want to say experimental. Um, I forget what we used to call it. We used to call it beta, uh, that would have some
circuit clerks trying out software that will help, something that may be that may be rolled out across the state later. Uh this will be a continual war because there's too much value here for people not to try to steal, uh, and so this will probably be a session after session thing because the, the people who are doing it will keep trying to find a new way to do it, and we'll have to keep went back to combat it because this especially happens to the elderly, and this is just too,
not sad, tragic that somebody would live their whole life and then get their house stolen, uh, uh especially uh have it done electronically, which is a good, you know, we all need to use these tools, uh, but we also have to have the security there that we need, uh, so. The you've passed it out before. It's better now I, uh, be happy to take any other questions. All
Paul Hayes
Unverified
8:59
right. Central Park, the AG, the AG's
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
9:03
office have a division that works specifically on this type of, I call them cybercrimes, but
Speaker 14
9:13
do they have anybody that works on this? No, sir, they don't, um, I actually have been working with a couple of senators and representatives in the past because I'm as a passionate about this property fraud as Mr. Hayes and um I've had conference calls with a representative who was actually a representative Mayberry and the attorney
general's office along with some of these fellows and, you know, was hoping that um they did have someone because. like Senator Clark mentioned when this happens it it it cleans out people's savings accounts to try to get their property back and right now across the state, there are several circuit clerks that actually has a property fraud alert on their on their system that our citizens can sign up for. We understand it's just an
alert, it doesn't stop it, but with this bill, maybe we can, we can, we can stop some of those and we can the bad actors that are trying to do this and also like Senator Clark mentioned, um, the circuit clerks are working on getting programs set up to um alertists at the at the very beginning if something is being fraudulently recorded. We're working even to notice if there's a fraudulent
notary, you know, we're seeing across other states where people are using false not stamps. So we're working on that also and hopefully next legislation, um, I can get a senator to help uh present a bill to help the citizens afterwards if this does happen to help a citizen where it doesn't cost them their savings accounts to get their property back. So it is going to be an ongoing issue, but this is the beginning to to help our
Speaker 43
11:08
citizens. All right, thank you for that. Any other
Speaker 44
11:11
any other committee members have questions? Just a second, Ms. Trace and
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
11:20
uh Senator Is a question. I want to hear what he's got to say. Sure, as, as
Speaker 19
11:26
a testified the first time that 406 came through and just to remind everyone, um, you all have probably heard of the uniform Law Commission, you've passed uniform laws before the uniform commercial
code, uh, uniform, limited liability Company Act, etc. etc. The uniform Law Commission has formed a defraud study group, uh, that I'm. Participating in. That will, that is looking at this nationwide, uh, and hopefully the results of that study group recommendations that it can make to its drafting committee, will yield to a uniform law that
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
12:11
Arkansas and other states may be able to adopt. So, uh, this isn't just an issue here in Arkansas. It's an issue across the country.
Speaker 56
12:42
Now Sylvia. You can Signed up to speak against or for, for the bill. Mr. Sir, if you go ahead and state your name and who you're with. For the record Sure. Right again. Thank you.
Speaker 57
13:14
Good morning. I'm Kyle Sylvester. I'm in the Washington County Circuit Clerk. I'm also the legislative chair for the Arkansas Circuit Clerks Association and really there's not a whole lot more to say about this particular bill that hasn't been said already, um, you know, this, this again is just the first step of many that's going to be coming over the next few years in trying to deter property fraud, um. 9 times out of 10, the horse is already out of the barn when things like this happen and
we're trying to play catch up this particular bill will give us a head start on trying to identify those bad actors with requiring the identification that we'll keep on file of the person that out this particular deed if it is fraudulent in itself, um, so it gives us a starting place on, you know, where to start looking of uh, you know, who's who's at, who's at fault here. So Again, like there's, there's not a whole lot more I could say
that that hasn't been said already, but definitely as a representative of the Circuit Clerks Association, we're, we're for this, this legislation. Thank you. I see no one else
Speaker 61
14:27
has signed up, uh, we have another one.
Paul Hayes
Unverified
14:32
Mr. Hayes our boat. Is there another Hayes, Mr. Hayes? If you want to come to the, on the table. You're,
Speaker 63
14:48
you're here to speak for Going back to the original
Speaker 65
14:52
version was submitted this. Please. If you, if you go ahead and state your full
Paul Hayes
Unverified
14:59
name and who you OK, and who you're
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
15:04
with and You're, you're. My name is Paul Hayes. I'm one of those citizens that you all sit up
Speaker 69
15:11
here and talk about doing everything for Uh, I'm not with any
organization. Last fall I had a I did that I thought
Speaker 71
15:24
would not only Affect property theft. It would completely prevent it. My idea was this. The structure be created
Speaker 69
15:35
for someone like myself when my house is paid for. could go into the clerk's office, pay a fee, and sign a paper that says, I will only
sign a transfer for my piece of property in your presence in your office. If someone brings in something with my address on it. Go in the back room and call the sheriff. My idea was that could pay a fee of $100 for that if you're disabled or over 65, make that 50. It's for a piece of property that you don't reside in, make it $250. That way,
When someone brings it the, the prevention is this, if the people can creating property theft, fraudulent documents. No, there's a chance they may take a document into a clerk's office. And they don't know who's froze their property and hasn't, and they hand in something that's for a property that's been frozen. They know there's a good likelihood that someone's going to be calling the sheriff while they're standing there at the counter. And that prevents it, that makes
those people go to other states. Frankly, I thought this is one of those things that our governor could stand up at a press conference and say once again Arkansas's leading the nation with Tittle theft. With all due respect, Anybody who can forge title documents can forge driver's licenses. And making a copy of a drive driver's license and stick it in the file. May give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but it doesn't prevent diddly squat. And
In terms of the interests of the other people, this is something that residents do long after they're through dealing with realtors and lenders and title companies takes people a long time to pay off their house. Most of them are elderly. There's going to be Elderly widows and widowers. who have their house stolen. that are going to Create expenses for the state because they're probably going to need some assistance when they get thrown out of their house.
There are Widows and widowers that are counting on at some point being able to sell their house when God forbid, they have to go into nursing care. And As a taxpayer, I feel like the state is much better served. If They can sell their house and maybe pay for the 1st 8 months of their nursing home before we have to pick up the cost under Medicaid. Uh
This is something that's good for everyone, uh, the gentlewoman from Saline County explained that the state has a requirement that title transfers have to be processed immediately. I wasn't aware of that. This might need an adjustment to that that if someone has a freeze form on file that uh there's a longer time period. But You know No, nothing in the current form of this does anything for the
person who owns the house is worried about someone stealing it. And when you pay $30 a month to the title lock people that advertise on TV. They don't prevent anything. They just say if you're house is stolen, they'll help you get it back. Well, when you're in your late 70s or early 80s and at the speed the legal system moves, this could be a whole lot of people who lose their house, they'd end up with the clock running out on them. Assuming room temperature before
they get their house back. And You know, this is a chance to do what's right. And yes, everyone said, well, we can do this or we could do it incrementally, but What you need to tell yourself is if that's what you're going to pass, you're just kicking the can down the road. Because nothing in the current form of this bill does anything to inhibit or prevent title theft.
The original bill did And Granted I mean, the lenders have their interests, the title companies have their interests. The clerks have their interests. No one ever comes up here and sits and talks about what the interests are of the people that we're all hopefully trying to do good things for. So I'm that aberrant person that happened to come up here and talk about that.
But I mean, please do the right thing. Think about if it was your mother or your parents. You've all Reached the steam positions in life and he probably did that because you were raised with good values. good ethics and a good sense of right and wrong. And I ask you to ask yourself, If your mom and dad saw the original bill, and they saw what this last revision is.
And they saw that you were going to pass this and everything that had been emasculated from The original one, would they be proud of you? I don't need to answer to that, but you need to answer that for yourself. Please go back to the original bill. At a clause about having to transfer immediately if there's a form on file and pass something that'll actually do the work. That's the long and short of it.
Speaker 43
21:30
Thank you, Mr. Hay. Any questions from committee?
Speaker 44
21:35
A censoring English. Senator, you have a question. I had a short
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
21:41
answer to the gentleman because I, I, I know you're sincere and I know and I, I don't doubt what you're saying. Uh, but I can tell you. that most of us do come down here to serve the people that elected us. We're not just here to serve an entity. So, uh,
I could be making a lot more money staying at home in my business than I am here. I understand but I hope we can get to where you're going to go, but this is one of those deals, and, and I haven't been integral in this. But I know Senator Clark has, has worked extensively on things. And it's either you're going to get a bill that you say doesn't do anything. I think it does move the bar some. Or you don't get anything. Well, and, and when you, when you make that first step, maybe next time
we can get the big bite. It were at the time and session that I hate. There's too many bills running. We don't have time to see them all. You don't have time to start it and get it, so I, I, you did very well in your presentation. I know you're absolutely sincere, uh, I just don't see it happening other than
Speaker 69
22:56
the way it is. Well, and if it can't happen, then fine, pass what you've got, but don't tell
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
23:03
yourself you're doing anything to help prevent title theft by doing that. You, you have elevated our, our thoughts so tight you. My thoughts on title. I appreciate that. Thank
Speaker 78
23:14
you. Committee, any other questions from Mr. Chas? Just English you recognize.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
23:22
Well, so I guess I, I could be the example here. Of exactly what you're talking about this whole thing because I think I worry all the time that somebody might do that. We've
paid off our house and that somebody might steal our house and everything that we've worked for. And I have wondered many times what is the solution? I don't know if this is it or if it's a partial solution, but anything is better because there are a lot of people out there who are losing their homes and all their life savings and don't have anything to fall back on. I
Speaker 69
23:58
agree. This became an issue for me when my wife and I moved to Arkansas
when we retired here a year and a half ago. We moved from a place where housing was far more expensive and we're blessed with the opportunity to buy a smaller house and pay cash. And prior to that, I never worried about this because the mortgage company was going to watch out for it. When there's no mortgage, you've got to watch out for it yourself. And uh You know I see this being something that if Arkansas were to pass something more akin to what
The original Legislation was, frankly, it could help draw more retirees to Arkansas, which would be good for our economy. It could be something state puts out a very fine book about relocate to Arkansas for your retirement. I know because I read it before we decided to select Arkansas. And Something like this were in place and they could emphasize to people all over the country,
hey, if you come here, your house is going to be safe. We're the first state in the country to do this. Maybe someone will copy us, go ahead and come now so you can be protected. There's a lot of good things like saving the Medicaid costs if someone can't sell their house like help me draw more people here for our economy. It's good for the state. It's not just good for the homeowner. Thank you so much for your time, and I know I probably stand a little insistent and I do appreciate the, the
Concern of the people who spoke before me. But This isn't something that happens as part of your closing. This is something the homeowner has to take the initiative and the responsibility to do for themselves and to create that fear in the the title thieves that I may walk in with a fraudulent document for a house that's frozen and someone's going to go in the back room and call the sheriff. Let them go to Kentucky. Let him go to Tennessee. Let them go to
Louisiana. But this is a way to drive them out
Speaker 78
26:18
of Arkansas. All right, any other, any other questions from committee members. Thank
Speaker 69
26:23
you for your time and your indulgence. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
26:27
All right, Senator Clark, saying no one else signed up to speak. You're recognized close. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
26:37
committee. I appreciate your time. Uh, I appreciate Mr. Hayes. Without Mr. Hayes, we
would not be having this conversation. And the first time I ran this bill in here there were more than one who had a question, is this really a problem? And I think now that you've heard from Mr. Hayes and you've heard from the uh Tatle people and the clerks that we, we realize it's a problem and something that we're going to have to continue to work on. The SB 69 is on the deferred list, and if y'all wanted to take it off the deferred list, we could run it, uh, and all the people who testified for this bill will be here to testify against it, plus somebody will
text the realtors and they'll be down here too. Uh, and it's, I love the bit. Uh, and you all know what it's like to start out with something and what you end up with is something that seems to be completely different because of the process, uh, and but we've learned to move the ball forward, uh, and to do the best that we can do now and come back later and I think what we have is a very good bill, perhaps is not nearly as good as
what Mr. Hayes would like, uh, but it's a start, and I would appreciate a good vote. I'm closed.
Paul Hayes
Unverified
27:52
All right, entertain a motion. We have a motion
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
27:56
to pass and we have a 2nd in discussion on the motion. As amended, as amended, as amended. A discussion on the motion as amended. All those in favor say ah, all opposed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members of the committee.
Speaker 87
28:25
We have both the table in Senate bills. Senator Petty If you want to come, I've got a couple.
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
28:56
These. Mr. Chair, you know the drill. Introduce yourself for the camera and you may proceed, you're stuck with Senate
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
29:12
Districts 26, uh, most of you heard the other day when uh Senator Hammer was telling us about a police officer that son had cancer and he passed away and that's, he's there today
doing that funeral, so he asked me if I would do this, this simple bill really is simple, and I told him I would, so all this bill does. It really extends the financing, uh uh just forestry vehicles. It lets them go from 3 to 5 years where they can finance that out. Are you a used vehicle from 3
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
29:47
to 5 years. I'm sorry, what bill was this Senate
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
30:04
I'd be glad to take any questions. All right, sorry, we were trying to confirm something here. Uh. Are there any questions by the
committee? If not, is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak for or against the bill. All
right, Senator, would you like to close for your bill? Yes, I'm
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
30:55
close, close. All right. Yeah, motion to pass. We have a motion in a second. Any discussion?
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
31:05
All those in favor, let it be known by I. Any
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
31:11
opposed? Congratulations, your bill passed. Thank you. The second bill I have deals with uh wastewater,
this bill, as far as I know. Didn't have any
Speaker 32
31:22
opposition. I have a gentleman up here you
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
31:25
want to identify yourself. Yes, sir. SB 17 over uh HB 1701. OK, thank you. Yes sir, I'm, I'm Heath Ward
Speaker 107
31:33
executive director of Springdale Water Utilities and the
legislative chair for the Arkansas Water and Wastewater Managers Association, and we,
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
32:24
All right. Would you like to uh present your amendment? Uh, yes, the amendment does is just clean up from the Department of Energy.
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
32:32
plant language from the Department of Energy. That's all it does. Any questions of the committee? Have a motion to adopt here a second. All those in favor, any discussion. All those in favor, let it be known by eye. Any opposed?
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
32:55
Amendment passes. You house for 17 and 1 as amended it creates the wastewater version of the water bill, uh, that this committee and the legislature overwhelmingly passed in 2021, uh, and we amended it in 2023. Uh, I have Mr. Ward here. If there's any questions you'd like to ask, this is really a pretty simple bill. Uh, there was no opposition, none in the house, it requires.
Really requires wastewater providers to just perform a rate analysis every 5 years and to implement that rate at whatever it needs to be, uh, wastewater
providers are supposed to be independent of the state. They're not private. This does not deal with private so these wastewater providers are supposed to be independent of the state, not state funded. They're supposed to fund themselves, so it requires them to do a right study. And implement that support their own wastewater systems so they're not running to the state
whenever they have a major breakdown. And don't have enough money to fix it, and that's basically what this does requires a right
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
34:10
to study, uh, right. analysis done. All right.
Speaker 106
34:15
Any questions by the committee. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill in the audience. Just briefly, I want to thank Senator Stubblefield
Speaker 107
34:27
and Representative Gonzalez for for running this bill. This is a system build retail Water Act, which is popularly known as Act 605 that was championed by Fred Love and Senator Alan Clark a few years ago and it was amended recently by Senator or Representative Maddox. It simply is going to accomplish for wastewater providers with the water bill in the industry. really likes the water bill, because it does involve mandatory rate studies. We
Speaker 106
34:52
have to do every 5 years, putting back 5% of our revenue for failures in a special account
and also uh requires some training for board members. Excuse me. Um Last thing I'll say is this has been a very good law for water providers in the state and I hope it gets a good vote. Thank you. All right, thank you. Senator
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
35:17
Rice. I was ready to vote. You, you mentioned something that that made me think sometimes you just need to be quiet and go.
Tell me, because I remember I've got, I served the The the district that represented Maddox is in, you said there was a change. When he had that, and I remember getting Uh, I think some negative feedback. Uh, from somewhere in the district. What was the change then?
Speaker 31
35:52
you know? I do not recall, but I do know that the one of the concerns was
Speaker 106
36:03
it had to do with the uh some of the training requirements. That's what it was and anyway, well, in that particular case, uh, board members that have been or commission members that have been on for 10 years or more. Most of those folks didn't have to do the required training, but the feedback I got is the ones who did it, thought it was very useful. That was it, and it was out of our shared that was, that was out here. that out of anything to do with this. No, sir, I've heard positive feedback from it and, and uh that's I just want to be able to respond. Yes, sir.
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
36:38
All right. Anyone else have a question? Is there anyone else in the audience that would like to speak for or against the bill. If not,
what's the will of the committee, but we Do we have a motion? Do you have a motion. We have a 2nd. All right. Any discussion?
If not, all those in favor, let it be known by I. Any opposed. Congratulations, your bill passes. Thank you.
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
37:30
Yes, Senator Tucker. We cancel one. name. Senator Tucker gave up. Yes, yes, sir. House Bill 1808. House Bill 1808. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members Clark Tucker, Senator District 14, 22 things. First, with your permission, I'd like
to ask Matthew Stallings for the firefighters to join me at the end of the table.
OK. Thank you. Second thing is I have an amendment only to add representative Wade Andrews as a co-sponsor. I'd appreciate a
good vote on the amendment. Any questions on the amendment committee. We have, we have a motion to adopt the amendment. Have 2. All those in favor any discussion. Those factor say ah the
polls. Amendment's been adopted. Thank you, members. I thought there was going to be some discussion on the amendment
for a moment there, so I appreciate your indulgence. Uh, what this bill does is it establishes
a firefighter's bill of rights in a way that It currently exists for police and it's permissive on municipalities and, you know, Mr. Stallings has been the one to work on this, and I'm going to invite him to to give an overview of the bill, but it's, it's it's a good thing for us to do for our firefighters. So with that I'll I'll defer to you, Mr. Stallings. Thank you and thank you for having me. My name is Matthew Stelling. I'm with the Arkansas
Speaker 130
39:04
Professional Firefighters, uh, and like Senator Tucker said, it is permissive, so cities can choose to adopt it or not, but even if they don't adopt it, it's still there as a framework, um to provide sort of guidance on disciplinary proceedings and investigations. If you can imagine a larger department take a little they're probably going to observe most of these things they they have their own internal affairs bureau, but a small department may need a little bit more guidance and basically This does is it just gives guidance and discipline and investigations that are
internal, not, not external, not things like Uh, you know, arson or anything like that. It is, it is investigations that take place within the municipal fire
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
39:44
department. There's a couple of other things in there, but when you're not on your own time, you know, you retain your First Amendment rights, um, you know, those sorts of things, um, it just, again, it's entirely permissive on municipalities. It's a framework for basic fundamental rights as Americans for for firefighters and their employment and there's no known opposition that I'm aware of and
Speaker 48
40:04
happy to answer any questions. to me. no to speak for against
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
40:19
the bill. Saying none, Senator Tucker, you break your clothes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members, I'm closed. I'd appreciate a good vote. All right.
Uh We have a motion to pass. I second.
In discussion, all those fighters say
Speaker 132
40:37
ah all opposed. Congratulations to Pastor Bill. Thank
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
40:41
you very much. Thank you, Mr. Unrelated to this when, uh, the previous bill, 1701, I wanted to make sure for the record that that what we voted on was your bill as amended, correct? OK. Just wanted to make sure that was
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
41:00
clear. Senator Hester, you have a bill?
Paul Hayes
Unverified
41:07
76 after you know Senator Petty says, you know, the drill. I know the State Senator Bart
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
41:39
Hester, District 33, uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, members, this is a bill that's been a um something that routinely
comes up from constituents in my district, you know, I'm, um, if, uh, we've dealt with a lot of different alcohol issues, uh, this one, things that I support is when it's just complicated, try to make it a little bit less complicated or some people can do it and the others can't. That's what this does. You can already get wine mailed to your home, um, under a lot of
different circumstances, uh, one particularly individuals you're allowed to get uh right now you're allowed to have wine mailed to your home if it's basically made in Arkansas or you drive to the facility maybe Napa Valley, uh, you go through an extensive process there, then it can be mailed to your home. Uh, all this does is it, it, it allows you to Just be a member of a one of the month club or whatever it is, have it mailed to your house. These are usually very unique, um. Uh,
wines and it goes to the normal process of its smell to your house, it has to be signed off. They have to check an ID, um, that, and so all it is is it's, it's, it's making it consistent. Uh, some can do it, others can't. This is allowing an individual to do that. Happy to answer any questions. After this was just
Speaker 9
43:01
put on the agenda last time. Uh, it must have passed the
Speaker 141
43:06
House yesterday. Yeah. Well, you know, you know, my district, I represent a district
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
43:15
that has a lot of small wineries and they are totally against this bill. This, in fact, they have stated to me this will. Put some about business. And, and, and these are wineries that's been there over 100 years. Uh Is there any,
Speaker 41
43:36
any uh questions from the committee. You know, it wouldn't be bad if
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
43:46
it didn't repeal this ball form winery, uh. The bill that we amended, you know, to not repeal that. But when it does, it's going to kill the
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
44:01
small wires. I mean, I, I understand that concern, and I guess the question is this is a consumer bill and when given an option, why, why, why does a consumer not want the other option. It's because the product is inferior to the consumer, right? It may
not be to some consumers, but I think to vast majority of consumers, the local product is an inferior product that they just choose not to have. This is a
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
44:27
consumer choice driven bill. Well, the one problem I have is, this bill was put on the agenda last night and none of my people that raise they have wineries in Franklin, Logan, they weren't notified. They didn't know this was coming, so they couldn't even
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
44:43
be here, especially with the weather, considering the
weather, uh, I don't suppose you could hold this till I
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
44:52
have a chance to. Uh, if, if, if that's what the chairman wants, look, I'll tell you, I can count. I, I've got 4
votes in here. My 5th vote's presenting in another committee, so I was just going to kind of see how it went. So I suspected I would end up, uh, I suspected you would have that concern.
I suspected I would end up not voting today, depending if my 5th vote shows up.
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
45:11
Well, I would certainly like for the people that I represent to be here and give their side of the, the
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
45:18
story. I thought I did verify they were able to do that in the House committee. I certainly know you'd probably want to do it in your committee as well, but
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
45:29
they did come testified against it in the House committee, OK. Senator Davis. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just looking at the bill history and it shows that this bill was put on the agenda on 41, so that was two days ago. Um, so I think people had noticed, especially if this bill was that important to them to be here for it, um, and in regards to the bill itself, I was just
going to say I'm disappointed that it does not include dry counties. It's a fantastic bill and I have people asking me about it all the time. Um, so thank you for that and would you
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
46:00
agree? a bummer, it doesn't extend to dry counties. Well, I think we certainly support individual counties, girl, that was something
that was amended in after uh lots of debate and weeks of adjustments adjustments with local liquor stores, adjustments with constituents and counties. I know that they made, they made many amendments
Paul Hayes
Unverified
46:20
to this bill to make it work as best possible. Are you, are you through, Senator
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
46:27
Davis? What I was gonna ask you is, did they work together to try to make sure these two, this could coexist with the existing
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
46:36
wires. Well, ultimately the way to do that is to say there's no competition, right? I mean, because given, given a choice, the consumer does not pick the local wineries in Arkansas. They just don't, um, which is why we've had to continue to add protections for them because the consumer just doesn't want that option.
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
46:52
Well, you know, they've been through a lot in the last 14 years. I've been here that long and, and I know that every year there's something that comes up that tries to put these
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
47:02
small winners out of business. It's something every, every session that we've dealt with the free market, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 36
47:08
It is a free market, uh. But I, I just feel like they need a voice at the table. I, I agree
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
47:16
and uh Senator Stofield, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm happy to now that I've presented, I was hoping my 5th vote would show
back up. He's not. I'm happy to uh, um, I'm happy to if there's anybody here to speak for or against it, do that, uh, but I, I'll I I will, I will not vote today and bring it back up, uh, you know, does this committee meet Tuesday, I
guess Tuesday I plan to run it Tuesday if you want to give your people plenty of notice to come to you first. Yeah, perfect. I'm willing to
Speaker 152
47:45
do that. OK. Well, thank you, Senator. Thanks. Any other
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
47:54
Any other any other bills to be run?
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
48:02
I see no one. Any other further bills, we are adjourned.
Agenda
CALL TO ORDER
SB406 A. Clark TO REQUIRE A COUNTY RECORDER TO VERIFY CERTAIN INFORMATION BEFORE RECORDING A DEED TO REAL ESTATE.
REGULAR AGENDA
SB399 G. Stubblefield TO CREATE THE ANTI-ATF COMMANDEERING ACT; AND TO PROHIBIT THE PROVISION OF MATERIAL AID AND SUPPORT FOR ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LAWS.
SB518 Hester TO PROHIBIT A LOCAL GOVERNMENT FROM ENACTING REGULATIONS IN A FLOOD-PRONE AREA THAT ARE MORE RESTRICTIVE THAN THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM IN CERTAIN INSTANCES.
SB531 K. Hammer TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL PLANNING; AND TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO CONTRACT WITH A PROPERTY OWNER OUTSIDE THE MUNICIPAL BOUNDARY FOR MUNICIPAL SERVICES IN CERTAIN INSTANCES.
SB580 K. Hammer TO EXTEND FINANCING FOR PURCHASES OF VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT FOR A RURAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT.
SB588 C. Penzo TO ESTABLISH A WINERY PRIVATE CLUB PERMIT.
HB1701 Gonzales TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SEWER COLLECTION AND SEWER TREATMENT PROVIDERS AND RELATED SERVICES.
HB1808 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS; AND TO CREATE THE BILL OF RIGHTS FOR FIREFIGHTERS.
HB1476 B. McKenzie TO AMEND THE DIRECT SHIPMENT OF VINOUS LIQUOR ACT; AND TO ESTABLISH A WINE DIRECT SHIPPER LICENSE.
ADJOURNED
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - SENATE AND HOUSE, Apr 3, 2025 | Agenda | 2 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Speaker 2
Senator Alan Clark
Unverified
Speaker 9
Speaker 10
Speaker 14
Speaker 15
Speaker 18
Speaker 19
Senator Jane English
Unverified
Speaker 30
Speaker 29
Speaker 33
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
Paul Hayes
Unverified
Speaker 43
Speaker 44
Senator Jim Petty
Unverified
Speaker 56
Speaker 57
Speaker 61
Speaker 63
Speaker 65
Senator Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
Speaker 69
Speaker 71
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
Speaker 78
Speaker 87
Speaker 41
Speaker 32
Speaker 107
Speaker 106
Speaker 31
Speaker 130
Speaker 48
Speaker 132
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
Speaker 141
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Speaker 36
Speaker 152