Insurance & Commerce- House
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Bills discussed (36)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1826
Act 866
· 4 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…ION, AND STATE-OWNED PROPERTY; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HB1826 Bentley TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR DELIVERY OF A NEWBORN IN A…”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR DELIVERY OF A NEWBORN IN A LICENSED BIRTHING CENTER. | Bentley | Notification that HB1826 is now Act 866 |
|
HB1859
Act 561
· 4 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HB1859 Rose TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MASTECTOMIES.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MASTECTOMIES. | Rose | Notification that HB1859 is now Act 561 |
|
HB1009
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1009 A. Collins TO ALLOW PREGNANCY TO BE A QUALIFYING EVENT FOR…”
|
TO ALLOW PREGNANCY TO BE A QUALIFYING EVENT FOR ENROLLMENT IN CERTAIN HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1014
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1014 A. Collins TO REQUIRE COVERAGE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION UN…”
|
TO REQUIRE COVERAGE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION UNDER THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1055
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM. HB1055 J. Mayberry TO ESTABLISH COVERAGE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT T…”
|
TO ESTABLISH COVERAGE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT TO SLOW THE PROGRESSION OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR OTHER … | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1150
Act 624
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM. HB1150 J. Moore TO PROHIBIT A PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER FROM OBTAI…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER FROM OBTAINING CERTAIN PHARMACY PERMITS. | J. Moore | Notification that HB1150 is now Act 624 |
|
HB1271
Act 479
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1271 Warren TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MECHANICS' AND MATERIALM…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MECHANICS' AND MATERIALMEN'S LIENS; AND TO CLARIFY THE PRIORITY OF … | Warren | Notification that HB1271 is now Act 479 |
|
HB1295
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1295 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE HEALTHCARE COST-SHARING COLLECTION…”
|
TO CREATE THE HEALTHCARE COST-SHARING COLLECTIONS TRANSPARENCY ACT. | L. Johnson | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1354
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1354 Lundstrum TO REGULATE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; TO AMEND…”
|
TO REGULATE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL … | Lundstrum | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1409
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 3/27/2025 @ 11:30 AM) Moved HB1409 to Regular Agenda House Committee on Insurance and Commerce…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ENERGY; AND TO CREATE THE ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ACT. | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1426
Act 569
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1426 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE HEALTHCARE CONTRACTING SIMPLIFICATI…”
|
TO AMEND THE HEALTHCARE CONTRACTING SIMPLIFICATION ACT. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1426 is now Act 569 |
|
HB1443
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1443 Pilkington TO CREATE THE SECOND AMENDMENT FINANCIAL PRIVACY…”
|
TO CREATE THE SECOND AMENDMENT FINANCIAL PRIVACY ACT; TO PROHIBIT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PAYMENT NETWORKS … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1659
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGULATION OF CAPTIVE INSURERS. HB1659 S. Meeks TO AMEND THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE; AND TO CLARI…”
|
TO AMEND THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE; AND TO CLARIFY THE PRIORITY AMONG SECURITY INTERESTS AND … | S. Meeks | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1811
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…; AND TO CREATE THE STRENGTHEN ARKANSAS HOMES PROGRAM FUND. HB1811 Steimel TO AMEND PROPERTY AND CASUALTY LAW; AND TO REQUIRE…”
|
TO AMEND PROPERTY AND CASUALTY LAW; AND TO REQUIRE REASONABLE PROOF OF PAYMENT OF A … | Steimel | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1813
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…P RECOVERABLE DEPRECIATION UNDER PROPERTY AND CASUALTY LAW. HB1813 Gramlich TO ADOPT THE FAIR AND EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION COMPA…”
|
TO ADOPT THE FAIR AND EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION COMPACT. | Gramlich | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1820
Act 652
· 2 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “Colleagues, HB 1820 is a consumer protection bill it's called a click to cancel…”
|
TO REGULATE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL AND CONTINUOUS SERVICE OFFERS. | M. Brown | Notification that HB1820 is now Act 652 |
|
HB1821
Act 560
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…O REGULATE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL AND CONTINUOUS SERVICE OFFERS. HB1821 Wardlaw TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE SYSTEM OF PROPERTY INS…”
|
TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE SYSTEM OF PROPERTY INSURANCE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER … | Wardlaw | Notification that HB1821 is now Act 560 |
|
HB1850
Act 867
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…GE FOR DELIVERY OF A NEWBORN IN A LICENSED BIRTHING CENTER. HB1850 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING GROUND AMBULANCE SER…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING GROUND AMBULANCE SERVICES; TO CLARIFY THE MINIMUM ALLOWABLE REIMBURSEMENT FOR … | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1850 is now Act 867 |
|
HB1853
Act 835
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…FOR GROUND AMBULANCE SERVICES; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HB1853 J. Moore TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING AGENCY RELATIONSHIP AN…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING AGENCY RELATIONSHIP AND DUTIES RELATED TO REAL ESTATE LICENSES; AND … | J. Moore | Notification that HB1853 is now Act 835 |
|
HB1863
Act 836
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…HE USES OF THE CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE REVOLVING LOAN FUND. HB1863 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT MANAGER ACT;…”
|
TO AMEND THE TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT MANAGER ACT; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1863 is now Act 836 |
|
HB1868
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…PORTATION BENEFIT MANAGER ACT; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HB1868 L. Johnson TO REQUIRE AN INSURER TO PAY A FAIR AND REASONAB…”
|
TO REQUIRE AN INSURER TO PAY A FAIR AND REASONABLE SERVICE FEE DIRECTLY TO A … | L. Johnson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB103
Act 425
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ENCY. HB1859 Rose TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MASTECTOMIES. SB103 C. Penzo TO CREATE THE PHARMACY NONDISCRIMINATION ACT; TO R…”
|
TO CREATE THE PHARMACY NONDISCRIMINATION ACT; TO REQUIRE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS TO ACCEPT ANY PHARMACY … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB103 is now Act 425 |
|
SB237
Act 554
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…D TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CERTAIN HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS. SB237 J. Boyd TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGUL…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGULATION OF CAPTIVE INSURERS. | J. Boyd | Notification that SB237 is now Act 554 |
|
SB323
Act 516
· 2 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB323 J. Bryant TO AMEND THE HORIZONTAL PROPERTY ACT.”
|
TO AMEND THE HORIZONTAL PROPERTY ACT. | J. Bryant | Notification that SB323 is now Act 516 |
|
SB405
Act 555
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…HTS AND ACCESS TO MEDICATIONS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB405 J. Dismang TO AMEND THE ONLINE MARKETPLACE CONSUMER INFORM…”
|
TO AMEND THE ONLINE MARKETPLACE CONSUMER INFORM ACT. | J. Dismang | Notification that SB405 is now Act 555 |
|
SB420
Act 736
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ONABLE TERMS OF PARTICIPATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB420 Hester TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR WATER DEVELOPMENT STATE PR…”
|
TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR WATER DEVELOPMENT STATE PROGRAMS; TO AMEND THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT; AND … | Hester | Notification that SB420 is now Act 736 |
|
SB83
Act 424
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…FIREFIGHTING SERVICES BASED ON TIME ON SCENE. Page 2 of 3 SB83 J. Bryant TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SUR…”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SURGERIES; TO REQUIRE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SURGERIES; … | J. Bryant | Notification that SB83 is now Act 424 |
|
HB1159
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RIC RELIABILITY ACT. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1159 J. Richardson TO CREATE THE RETAIL CONVENIENCE STORE SECURI…”
|
TO CREATE THE RETAIL CONVENIENCE STORE SECURITY ACT; AND TO REGULATE SECURITY MEASURES AT RETAIL … | J. Richardson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1177
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…TO REGULATE SECURITY MEASURES AT RETAIL CONVENIENCE STORES. HB1177 M. Brown TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FRANCHISE PRACTICES ACT; AND…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FRANCHISE PRACTICES ACT; AND TO CLARIFY THE APPLICABILITY OF THE ARKANSAS … | M. Brown | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1297
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1297 L. Johnson CONCERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ALGORITHMS,…”
|
CONCERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ALGORITHMS, AND OTHER AUTOMATED TECHNOLOGIES; AND TO REGULATE CERTAIN PRACTICES OF HEALTHCARE … | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1308
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1308 Steimel CONCERNING UNFAIR PRACTICES RELATED TO RESIDENTIAL…”
|
CONCERNING UNFAIR PRACTICES RELATED TO RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE REPAIR CONTRACTS; AND TO REGULATE SOLICITING RESIDENTIAL … | Steimel | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1625
Act 974
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…NG A FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT OR A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT. HB1625 Barnett TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSED HOME INSPECTORS. | Barnett | Notification that HB1625 is now Act 974 |
|
HB1735
Act 813
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1735 Eaves TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS UNDERGROUND FACILITIES DAMAGE P…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS UNDERGROUND FACILITIES DAMAGE PREVENTION ACT; AND TO REVISE MEMBERSHIP IN THE … | Eaves | Notification that HB1735 is now Act 813 |
|
SB104
Act 514
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB104 C. Penzo TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LI…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LICENSURE ACT; TO PROTECT PATIENTS' RIGHTS AND ACCESS … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB104 is now Act 514 |
|
SB229
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ERNING INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSED HOME INSPECTORS. SB229 J. Boyd TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES WITH…”
|
TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. | J. Boyd | Sine Die adjournment |
|
SB366
Act 427
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB366 J. Boyd TO CREATE THE STRENGTHEN ARKANSAS HOMES ACT; AND TO…”
|
TO CREATE THE STRENGTHEN ARKANSAS HOMES ACT; AND TO CREATE THE STRENGTHEN ARKANSAS HOMES PROGRAM … | J. Boyd | Notification that SB366 is now Act 427 |
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Representative Les Warren
Unverified
0:12
Committee, this is a bill that we've already run through the House, uh, when it got to the Senate end, they wanted to uh make a slight amendment. So let me just basically give you a quick synopsis. Currently a construction loan mortgage has to be recorded of record before any work has started on a construction site to perfect the correct timing of priority of the lien. If any construction at all has begun, then the mortgage is inferior to
every contractor or supplier regardless of when the work was done or material dropped off. Uh, the bill allows the construction loan mortgage to have its correct place in line in front of those that have not yet performed any work or provided materials while still preserving the superiority ahead of the mortgage for those that have already performed work or provided materials. This bill will allow consumers to obtain a construction loan, even if they have started construction.
This amendment now adds title companies and lenders to the list of parties that can confirm that construction has not started on a residential transaction, and that's residential 1 to 40 units. So that's basically all this is doing is changing who can confirm that construction has not started on the residential units on the commercial units. It has to be a surveyor, there's 3 parties that does not change. They will
probably charge to do that, but that part doesn't change. So I would appreciate, uh, I guess I make a motion to approve the amendment. be glad to answer any questions. We
have a motion to, we have a motion of do pass to concur in the Senate amendment. Any discussion on it? Seeing that all in favor, say I. say no. Congratulations, you've passed your concurrence. Members just to let everyone know our plan for today. Um,
we're gonna try to do as many non-controversial bills as we can, um, then we're gonna hear the link to your bills at the end of the session, at the end of the meeting is the plan at least. So we've, I've been told these are noncontroversial, so we'll see how they go. Um, Repson McCollum, I believe you have a bill to run. And when you get to the end of the table, could you identify the bill, please? And members there is an amendment that is being circulated by staff.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:52
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you committees of the Senate bill is Senate Bill 323, and we do have an amendment, so I guess we can
wait a moment to get that passed out, but the amendment's pretty short. Um, page 4 just deletes. Lines 10 and 11 and it has a substitute and that was based off of feedback from a constituent
of uh actually Senator Payton, but maybe close to your neck of the woods, Mr. Vice Chair. OK.
Speaker 54
3:28
Representative McCollum has explained the amendment. We have a motion to pass on the amendment.
All in favor say aye. Representative McCollum, you are recognized to present your bill as amended. Thank you committee. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
3:41
Chair. So in front of you, you have a bill that has Everything to do with horizontal property regime
laws, which was a term that I wasn't really that familiar with, but I spent some time with Representative Whittaker, and he gave me a long history about Buildings and when we build things in certain ways that
We might need different terminology, so the better way to think about it is we're dealing with condominiums. Um, our condominium laws go back to the 1960s and a lot has happened since then. The reason that I agreed to run this bill is My understanding from multiple developers from across the state is they felt Actually, the way they described what they currently do is Putting a square peg in a round
hole when they try to develop some of these mixed use condominiums. I think about uh, oh, the testimony that was given from um One of the developers along with an attorney with the Friday firm who has who has spent as much time as as he he thought necessary visiting with interested parties. He developed, I think it was the Parking lot on Dixon Street and he felt like it turned into somewhat of a nightmare in that
you've got commercial use, residential use, I think a police station, all of the above. And just trying to get Working Really deed while getting the approval to do this had a had begun to be a headache and the more they talked with other individuals who dealt with the same type of development over time, um, they all agreed that There was need for much updating, um, so in the current
statutory scheme, every unit has to be given a value, the value establishes their voting rights in the regime, you know, the example probably would be a good example is the nesting regime. Have a master regime. I think what would be good If um I have a guest here today that probably could give some examples of developers, um, If
Speaker 13
5:55
you'd like to That'd be fine if you would just
um come to the table, introduce yourself and who you're with and
Speaker 14
6:10
proceed with your testimony, please. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mary Robin Castile with Runway Group. Um, and I just
Speaker 16
6:20
kind of Of of what Representative McCollum said the, the benefits of this bill, um, when you do a, a mixed-use property, our current laws talk about defining units, um, as something within a
building. It doesn't it doesn't allow for things that might need to include. Real property or um something that's not necessarily already in a a floor of a building or something like that. Um, so what this is doing is it's taking the definition of apartment or unit and it's really leaning on a statute that already exists and that is when you file a master deed to a condo, you have to attach a document to it that
gives a detailed plan. So this will allow developers to actually be very much more. specific in describing what is comprised by a unit, then they they can under the current law, um. Most of these definitions come from the the uniform condominium code, which some of our neighboring states have adopted Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, um, that's about a 220 page bill, so
rather than bring that, these are things that are from the uniform condominium code that would just be um a great assistance to some developers that are Entering into these mixed-use projects, um, to better describe what they're building, what's going to be conveyed and also what their responsibilities are as the project moves forward because it's not necessarily a turnkey project where they build it and turn it over, um, with residential, with commercial, the developer has to stay
Speaker 17
8:07
involved for a number of years sometimes to get it all developed, and
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
8:13
I would say I appreciate doing the non 200 page. Yeah, way of, you know, when we think about the uniform Act. An ability to or an opportunity rather, um, to adopt some of that way of thinking, but With paying attention to our current definitions and the way we currently do things based off of the input from a lot of the developers. OK. Thank you for your
presentation. Uh, members, any questions? Representative Mcguru, you're recognized. This was nice. Thank
Speaker 25
8:44
you, Chairman. I have a question and we talked
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
8:48
briefly, but on page 3 at the bottom of the page it says developmental right means a ride or a combination of rights reserved by the clearing in the master D2 without Mississippi of consent by other apartment owners or unit owners too, and then it allows all this stuff. So my understanding that they no longer hacked in this, they no
longer have to. Get agreement. With the other apartment owners and they can change any of this stuff listed here, is that correct? So,
Speaker 14
9:19
thank you, Mr. McGroup Representative McGrew going forward, that would be the case. So I think another
Speaker 16
9:24
thing that's important to note is there's a provision at the end of this bill that says this doesn't impact any existing condominium association unless they vote to amend their master deed to comply with this bill. So
Going forward, if someone bought into a condominium formed under this provision. You're right, they would be on, but they would be on notice that the declarant had reserved these specific rights. So going forward, if they wanted to
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
9:53
change those things out without getting the majority of the others, they could do that. Can you tell me where in the last part of the bill where it says that no existing ones. Can do that.
Speaker 29
10:05
Yes, sir, on page 9, line 30. This this act is applicable to a
Speaker 31
10:11
horizontal property regime organized on or after September 1, 2025. OK, thank you. Representative Lindstrom,
Speaker 33
10:21
you're right for a question. Um, this will
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
10:26
make mixed-use properties more appealing to developers and just easier to do, correct? Correct, yeah, uh, that's the trend, and I know people like to have mixed mixed use where the parking garage and they have restaurants in the bottom and shops. It's
Much more appealing to the customer. I agree. I'm, I'm a
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
10:54
do pass at the proper time. Representative Richardson, you recognized. Thank you. So it's the, the bill is, is tailored to make it easier on
Speaker 29
11:01
the developer. What's the impact to the residents? To the resident, I would say they're going to potentially have more options and have
Speaker 16
11:07
more clarity on what they own. Um, right now they are limited in the descriptors of what they
can own, um, when they convey a unit. This will provide more clarity, um, it also gives more clarity in the
Speaker 14
11:22
common elements that they share, um. So, and, and again, so these are going
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
11:28
to be apartments for ownership and not for lease or rent. It, it
Speaker 14
11:34
could be any combination of, of that. So In the mixed-use sense they may create um condos. They
Speaker 16
11:40
may create a hotel, they may create
restaurants all under the same scheme. It's not just in it and the theory is that they will purchase, residents will purchase condos, um, they could run them out, but that's gonna be something that's handled under other terms of the
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
12:00
master deed. OK. more flexibility within the master deed and the status quo.
Represson Richardson, are you satisfied? OK. Any, any other questions? OK, saying none, um. There's, is there anyone who'd like to speak against this bill? There's no one signed up. OK. Anyone else likes for this bill? OK, grab some lustro you recognized. I recommend DuPass. We have a motion do pass by reps on Lustrom all in favor say aye. And they both say no. Congratulations, you have passed your bill. Thank you, committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Rose. I believe you're here to present HB 1859. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. Just introduce yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony, sir.
Speaker 55
13:21
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you committee. State Representative Ryan Rose,
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
13:26
District 48, Van Buren, Fort Smith presenting HB 1859 to amend the law concerning mastectomies. Today I bring you this bill which amends the Arkansas law concerning mastectomies by ensuring women who undergo these life-altering surgeries have access to the full range of both modern and complete
reconstruction options. Simply put, this bill is about helping women be made whole as much as possible, physically, emotionally, and spiritually after the devastating fight against breast cancer, as most of you know. My wife is a two-time breast cancer survivor, and I've walked through with her the pain, the challenges, the suffering, uh, 6 related surgeries. and the long road to recovery. I've seen firsthand the
challenges that breast cancer comes with and it doesn't just attack the body, but it wounds a woman's identity, her dignity, and does its best to attack every bit of her femininity. So this bill builds on existing law that already requires insurance to to cover breast reconstruction and it's incredible, this is incredibly important what already is in existence, but it is only
partial. It is not complete. Uh, this bill expands that coverage to include two essential and increasingly standard medical procedures. The first of those is mesh reconstruction. This uses a soft, uh, flexible surgical mesh that is either artificial or biologically derived, and it provides structure and support during breast reconstruction. Oftentimes without this support reconstructed tissue or implants
can shift or collapse, leading to pain, disfigurement, and additional surgeries. My, my wife's most recent surgery this fall was the first to include surgical mesh, which is proven to be successful in her case. Also, we were very fortunate that it was covered under our policy, but there are Arkansans who don't have that coverage. The second of these is nerve grafting, which is a technique where surgeons reconnect severed nerves during reconstruction, helping restore
feeling to the breast area. Today, most women, or at least a significant portion of those who undergo mastectomies, lose all or a significant portion of sensation in their breasts. This is something that many women are not aware of when they go into these surgeries. This can affect anything from intimacy to safety, along with emotional well-being, nerve grafting gives women a chance to reclaim not just their appearance, but their feeling, which is a vital
portion of being restored and made whole. This bill ensures that insurance companies do not deny women access to these modern tools simply because they're newer. These procedures are not cosmetic. They are part of restoring a woman's wholeness and their quality of life. This bill only does this when the patient and her doctor decide together that these options are appropriate. We are not mandating what doctors must do
or what patients must choose. We're simply making sure that if a woman in her position decide that this is the best course of action that insurance will cover what is necessary. Also Keeping with accountability, uh, this bill includes a sunset clause, and unless the legislature extends it, the provision will expire in 2031. This doesn't lock the legislature in our state into something in perpetuity. However, if this is proven to be successful and beneficial, the legislature in its infinite
wisdom can't extend it. This gives us time to monitor its impact, evaluate cost, and make any necessary adjustments. Uh, at this time, I open any questions. Thank you for your presentation. Any questions by the
committee? Represent Richardson, did you have a question? OK, thank you. Any, any questions? OK. There's no one signed up, but is there anyone who'd like to speak against this bill. Anyone else likes pick for this bill. OK. Seeing no one represent
Richardson, you're recognized for emotion. We have a motion to pass by Representative Richardson. All in favor say aye. Any
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
18:03
posts say no. Congratulations, you passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you committee. Representative Brown,
could run. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 182,020. Thank you. Go ahead and
introduce yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony. Thank you,
Speaker 59
18:31
Mr. Chair. Matt Brown, District 55. I'm sorry to
interrupt you. There's an amendment being circulated. There is an amendment. I'm sorry, so Represent Brown, go ahead and explain the amendment.
Speaker 59
18:45
Uh, 1820s, the amendment that's being circulated around caught a drafting error in the original bill. It also provided
Speaker 62
18:49
some exceptions to clarify that the intent of this bill is to cover industries which are not regulated. We're not intending to add more regulation to industries already covered by
existing an agency or something of that nature that regulates them and it also clarifies that a violation of this consumer protection law would constitute a violation of the deceptive Trade Practices Act, which actually wasn't clear in our code. Thank you, Representative
Brown has explained the amendment when most to adopt the amendment by Realby all in favor say aye. The MMA past in Brown who recognized to present your bill as amended. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Speaker 59
19:31
Colleagues, HB 1820 is a consumer protection bill it's called a click to cancel bill,
Speaker 62
19:34
which some of you may have heard of. This bill is modeled after a law that Tennessee passed last year and is to be working well there. Um, this law, the Federal Trade Commission recently enacted a rule on click to cancel. This bill would go ahead and codify it at the state level in case something happens to that rule, if it gets overturned by a court or something of that nature. So what does this bill do? This bill provides that if you are a consumer and you sign up for a subscription service. So let's say you sign up for a gym
membership or you sign up for a service online or something, maybe a streaming platform or something that when you get ready to cancel that service, the company has to allow you to cancel it in the same way in which you signed up for it. So in the case of something online, if you sign up online, they have to have an ability that you can cancel it online. They can't play the game of, well, you have to call this 1-800 number. You have to talk to a customer service agent for a half hour. You have to threaten them in order to cancel it. Or like in the days of gym memberships, you go to the front desk of the gym and you sign up for a gym membership. Oh, you
want to cancel? Oh well, and fine print of your contract on page 92, it says to cancel you have to send a certified letter by carrier pigeon to some address and, you know, Alaska in order to cancel. No, you have to be able to cancel at the front desk. So that's really what this bill does. Um, it is a very convolutedly written bill, and I apologize for that, but in order to try to take care of all situations, like if you sign up by telephone, if you sign up by mail, if you sign up in person, we're trying to catch those uh Situations. It also has a provision in here that if you are talking to a company on the phone and you want to cancel, they're perfectly free to say,
hey, before you cancel, would you like to talk about an extra, a new offer to get the same service for 50% off for 6 months. That's perfectly legal, but if you tell them again, no, I would like to cancel, then they have to drop the shtick and let you go ahead and cancel. It's like I said, I think it's just a good consumer protection bill. It's modeled after the law in Tennessee and would cover Arkansans and the effect in the event that the FTC rule for some reason is declared unconstitutional or is changed. I would point out that the FTC rule has specific language in there that provides that any state law to the contrary, if it provides a greater level of protection and that that provision takes control. So essentially the FTC
rule provides a floor. We are willing, we are more than happy to go above it at the state level. Be glad to try to
answer any questions. Thank you for your presentation. Any questions about the committee? Representative A you recognize for a
Speaker 25
21:49
question. Yeah, just, just seeing this amendment, there were A
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
21:53
section that Um, looks like you're excluding, well, I mean, like, for example, a municipal utility and several others just can you give me some reason that your thought process on why we're excluding some of these. That's a great question. I should have covered up in my presentation. I appreciate that.
Speaker 59
22:07
Uh, why we're excluding those, we're trying to exclude Entities out there that are already regulated at some level, like for example, you know,
Speaker 62
22:12
utility has public service commission and insurance company has the insurance commissioner, places where a consumer can go and say, hey, this is what's going on, or entities that are able or agencies are able to put in a rule to address this. We're trying to catch the wild west of people who have no regulations what this bill is trying to catch. Any other questions from the committee? saying
Speaker 63
22:31
none, sure anyone would like to speak against this bill.
Anyone else likes me for this bill. Represent Brown, you recognize the clothes for your bill.
Speaker 59
22:42
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No known opposition and I greatly appreciate a good
vote. We have a motion to pass by resident Eubanks. Motion to pass as amended by Representative Eubanks. All in favor say aye. And they say no. Congratulations, you passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Reps in Bentley, you are recognized to present HB 1826. There's also an amendment that's
Speaker 54
23:07
going to be circulated by staff. While the amendment is
being circulated, you can go ahead and discuss the amendments representative. Thank you, Chairman.
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
23:21
Thank you committee. How26 Representative Mary Bentley, District 54. The amendment was a symbol. I was asked for me to uh remove uh health plans offered by trusts that are including uh health benefits, death benefits, dental benefits removed from this bill. So I was able to do that amendment for them when asked.
So just eliminates entity or trust that had a health benefit plan. And that's what the amendment does. Thank you, Representative. Representative Bentley has explained
the amendment. Where a motion to adopt the amendment, all in favor say aye. The amendment has passed. You are recognized to present your bill as amended. Thank you, Chairman.
Speaker 12
23:56
Thank you committee. House Bill 1826 is another effort of
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
23:59
mine to help to improve the maternal mortality rate in our state and make Arkansas the best state to have a mom for a mom to deliver baby. That's my, my hope is that we will become the best state in
the nation one day. Arkansas currently absolutely no birthing centers, one of the only states that I know that has zero birthing centers, and one of the reasons we have no birthing centers is because they cannot get reimbursed. If you can't get reimbursed for the delivery, then you're not gonna have a birthing center. We had one up in northwest Arkansas. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get reimbursed through insurance and so they closed down. Now we have women in Northwest Arkansas that are traveling to Missouri to get the services they want to get here because it's a great option. Um, I know myself 40 years ago, I would absolutely have loved to have a birthing center here with a certified nurse, midwife and a physician
to be able to do that. Birthing centers, some of you may not know, they're just an option well staffed and with safety protocols in place to want me to go and deliver and even some states these birthing centers are set up in hospitals, so the hospital association is neutral on this bill, and I wanted to remind you that right now. We only have 25 counties in Arkansas that have labor and delivery. 50 counties have absolutely nothing. So again, we're trying to make some more options for women and those women that choose, there's nothing that mandates it. We're just asking for a birthing centers to be allowed in our state as they are in others, and
this allows for them to get the coverage that they need from insurance companies, so very simple bill. I want to improve, uh, mortality rates in our nation like Arkansas, the most friendly birthing state in the nation, so with that, I will tell you that I had my first two children with a certified nurse spread absolutely love. I would have loved to have been in a birthing center, but they're not available in Arkansas and had my other two in the hospital and again much preferred a certified nurse midwife, but we just need more options for women in our state, and I want to make that available. So I'll be happy to take any questions from members of the committee on the bill.
Thank you, Representative Bentley. Any questions about Representative Wooton you
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
25:50
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Bentley, with this, uh, help with the problem that we're facing with uh smaller hospitals doing away with uh birthing. Awards. Yeah, it's high, it's high cost, but it would help but,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
26:03
you know, as I visited with Hospital Association, that's why the neutralness bill will help some states have had a lot smaller hospitals. We'll set up a birthing center because it's less expensive, less regulation,
so they'll do that instead of having maternity wards, so it should very much help. I'm I'm hopeful that will be very helpful and our smart rural counties that no longer have a labor and delivery department. Thank you,
Chair
Unverified
26:22
Mr. Chair. Thank you. Any other questions? OK, saying none. Is there anyone who'd like to speak
against this bill? Anyone else, anyone else who would like to speak for this bill. Represent Bentley, you recognize to close for your bill. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, committee. Again, I just think we're
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
26:38
in Arkansas should have the option to choose a birthing center if they choose, and this is the only way we're going to make it happen if we can get
them some reimbursement. So with that, I'd appreciate a good vote on this bill. Thank you, you
recognized at the proper time. We have a motion do pass as amended. Motion to pass as amended. Any discussion on the motion? OK, we have a motion to pass as amended all in favor say aye. Can you say no. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Representative Bentley. I believe Moore is here to run SB 83. Is that correct?
If you would just introduce yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony, please. Thank you,
Speaker 80
27:32
Mr. Chairman. Kendra Moore, District 23, uh, with your permission, may I have Jennifer Moore and Doctor Taylor join me at the table. Yes, just have
them come and introduce themselves and who they're with and You can proceed with your testimony.
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
27:51
Uh, it's a little different. This is Senate Bill 83. Robert Taylor on behalf
Speaker 85
28:13
of Senate Bill 83. Jennifer Moore, SB 83. I'm in favor of, um, I'm a practice manager for Taylor Plastic and Reconstructive surgery.
Speaker 80
28:22
When uh Senator Bryant approached me about being the house sponsor for this bill. He didn't know my background, but I lost my mother to breast cancer in 1997, so I was excited to have the opportunity to run this and and join with him on this. Patients who need these deep flap breast reconstructions after mastectomies are losing access to the specialized procedure because insurance companies have drastically reduced reimbursement, making it financially unsustainable for surgeons to offer it.
And resulting in patients having to travel out of state for care. As a result, women are being forced to settle for less optimal options or to pay out of pocket for care, they should be entitled to. This bill will restore fair insurance coverage for deep flap surgeries, protect patient choice and ensure that women have access to the best reconstructive care available after breast cancer.
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
29:23
I think um As this is the 2nd bill related to breast reconstruction in front of this committee today, you can see that insurance companies have played games with the reimbursement for Press reconstruction, you know, since the federal law was passed by President Clinton. Uh Whereas the mesh. presented earlier has to do with implant-based reconstruction, this procedure is completely the
patient's own tissue comes from her stomach and allows us to make beautiful breasts. The problem with it is it's a 10 to 14 hour procedure that patients are in the hospital for 3 to 5 days. It's very labor intensive and insurance companies have decided that they'd reimburse this procedure at the same rate that they would for much smaller operations and as a result of this, no, it's not being offered or has not been offered in the state of Arkansas.
Since the operation has been popularized over the last 10 to 15 years. Uh, our practice started doing this procedure about 2 years ago and Um, in order to get reimbursed for the procedure had to go through a very lengthy mediation process oftentimes necessitating suing the insurance companies. And to make a long story short, it, the reimbursement takes over
a year, many times in order to get reimbursed. So, uh, we've offered this bill in order to make Arkansas one of the leading breast reconstruction states in the country and be willing to take any questions if there are any. Represent Wootton, who recognized
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
31:15
for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me state before I Ask my question. I lost my first wife. 17 years ago to breast cancer.
Yeah, and then my current wife is facing a A wedding, a biopsy for the same, breast cancer. My question is, how many, how many other states are facing this problem. How great a problem is it that the insurance companies are denying access to coverage. Well, it's, it's a thank you for the question. It's a nationwide
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
32:02
issue, and this is will be a bell cow state for the entire country if this bill becomes law, um, we've had Florida, um, The American Society of Plastic Surgeons have used this law as a template for other states throughout the country in order to mandate proper reimbursement and alleviating uh roadblocks to access to this operation. And what I did mention earlier is not everyone is a candidate
for an implant-based breast reconstruction. If you've had radiation, radiation and an implant don't mix at all, so oftentimes you don't have any other options. So that's, that's why this operation was started. That's why it has begun, it's become the gold standard in breast reconstruction and um uh I think we'll see over the next 5 years almost unless it becomes a federal The statute that it'll be passed in all the states.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
33:05
Follow up if I may. Did, when it became more prevalent that reconstruction was occurring. Is that when the company started reducing the
coverage or the amount of money that they pay. His representative, that's, that's correct. One more question. And
it is not. A cosmetic surgery. It's, of a need for those who want to
take advantage of it. Uh, listen, this
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
33:39
Press are the outward expression of a woman's femininity. There's study after study that shows that uh outcomes of breast cancer are increased when the you have a better body image and you have breasts. You, you know, it's for a man it's, it's easy to underestimate how important it is for a woman when they wear clothes and to fill out those clothes and how uh absolutely critical it would be if you're in the pool with your
children or your grandchildren and your prosthesis floats away out of your bathing suit. It's just, it, it's a game changer for anyone who's mutilated by this terrible disease. OK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I'll have
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
34:24
a motion that's the appropriate time. Thank you, Arizona Wootton. Any other groups in Baker, you're writing for a question.
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
34:39
women who are high risk for
developing breast cancer and have to preemptively have mastectomies, would this be something that This bill would allow them to be covered for that, uh, prophylactic treatment. Yes, it's included anyone who's appropriate
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
34:55
for a mastectomy. So I follow up, and I would,
Speaker 100
34:58
I would say that um I mean, it's, it's well known that my wife is currently undergoing treatment
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
35:04
as we speak, and I would say that the cost deterrence for The if a patient
Preemptively takes that measure and has the ability to preserve a lot of their body autonomy that
may help them choose that decision, which in the long run actually saves insurance companies money because they're not having to go through the tins of now hundreds of thousands of dollars of treatment that we've gone through just since November. Wouldn't you agree? That is correct. Thank you. Representative Allen, you're right. Thank
Speaker 104
35:41
you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for bringing this bill,
Representative Fred Allen
Unverified
35:46
Representative Moore. You mentioned, uh, during your presentation that it takes insurance companies up to 12 months to reimburse. Will this bill reduced that reimbursement process from 12 months. Or less. I, I'm going to let my
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
36:01
office manager speak to that. She does the paperwork. Yes, it would representative.
Speaker 85
36:06
So right now what it, we have to arbitrate every case that we see in our office, and we are the only office in the whole state
of Arkansas doing this procedure. We have to send to neighboring states like Texas that actually cover the procedure. So what we do is we arbitrate it at the federal level. We use the no surprise act, and we are I use Blue Cross because there are 9 85% of our pear mix, we are beating them 98% of the time. So we shouldn't have to fight 8 to 18
Speaker 110
36:40
to 14 months to be reimbursed. OK, follow up. So, um,
Representative Fred Allen
Unverified
36:50
A female if she choose to do genetic testing if there's the T bracket there, so she can make a decision at that time to have her breast removed. Rather than go through. All the unnecessary testing and procedures in the future. Will this bill? Well, it doesn't, it
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
37:10
doesn't impact whether or not the patient is qualifies for mastectomy. It only covers the reconstruction if her and her doctor decide that in her
Representative Fred Allen
Unverified
37:21
interests it's best to have a mastectomy, OK, but I, I guess my Uh, my opinion is if they catch it early. So that's going to save the insurance company money on the treatment processes, is that? Is that
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
37:39
correct? Every financial feasibility that's ever been done on this on this uh procedure shows that it's it's cost neutral whether we do an implant-based reconstruction or this we call it an autologous tissue or self tissue
Speaker 104
37:52
reconstruction. OK, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Represent. Thank you,
Allen. Any other questions from the committee? saying none. There's no one signed up, but there's anyone who likes to speak against this bill. Anyone else speak for this bill? However more you are recognized to close for your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you committee. I
Speaker 80
38:13
am closed for my bill and appreciate a good vote. Represent Wootton, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
38:24
recommend do pass as amended. This is amended. This was not admitted. Thank you. So we have a motion
do pass. All in favor say aye. Any say no. Congratulations, reps you passed your bill. Thank you committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Wardlaw. I believe you're here on HB. 1821.
You Read rules not in the committee. No, you didn't. You ain't gonna do that without me. If you would, just for the record,
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
39:13
introduce yourself, sir, and proceed with your testimony. Representative Jeff Welaw, House District 94. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. So members, if you remember a few years ago, um, Insurance Department approached us first.
Not long after that, School Board Association approached us as leadership, and they needed a large sum of money to pay premiums for property insurance for these entities. We saw upwards of 160 to 200% increases on some of those premiums that year. Some of that's due to the increase in storms, so much to do to the practices that were taking place by some of the school districts in the way they were using the system.
So with that, um, We started a study group in council. And we started working towards a resolution. A lot of you members came to those executive meetings over the last two years where we hired a consultant, went through, and what we found is taking on more risk. could help us and taking on more risks through a self-funded plan was the resolution. Um The legislative intent, the purpose of creating a new
program is to create a stable, affordable, and self-sustaining program for provision of property insurance to all K through 12 public and charter schools, all public institutions of higher ed and state-owned properties administered under one entity rather than having three variant programs handled this coverage. Right now, that's the way it works is there's 3 different programs out there handling all these entities. It is our intent that the new program will be beneficial to all entities and will not cause
undue burdens to them in a transition to the new program. As such, although DTSS secretary has given broad rulemaking authority in this bill. It is our expressed intent that the rules include provisions for the institutions of higher education to determine the level of insurance coverage and risk that they would be taken on the program. And that the rules will state that any coverage other than full coverage will be agreed upon in writing describing what property is being insured and the institutions understanding
of any risk of that institution retaining to itself. So what that means when we went through the study and we looked at the way we valued these buildings. We find that, we found that the only place in state government that was really grossly undervalued. was our sports. Auditoriums and our football fields, Bud Walton Arena was valued at $49 million on the current product policies. We all know that, uh, remodel of Bud Walton was way more than the
$49 million that it was totally valued at. So in the last few weeks we've been talking to the UFA and other institutions, higher ed, and we learned that they did that on purpose. And they did it on purpose because they couldn't afford the premiums for the full value of those buildings, but the foundation was willing to take some of those risks. So what I just read to you says that for the foundation to be able to do that, they have to submit that in writing to our new captive insurance program. That way we taxpayers in Arkansas are not on the hook for one of those
buildings if it gets blown away or falls from an earthquake or whatever happens to that building. So that statement that we put in the record just now is therefore our protection on those buildings. It is also our intent that the rulemaking will include provisions to address deferred maintenance issues in K through 12 schools and institutions of higher education to ensure regular upkeep of necessary maintenance rather than having those brought to us through coverage items through weather events. So the other thing you're gonna find in this bill. is under the old policy, there
was no deadline for a claim. So the hailstorm to hit my house on Sunday night. I could claim that hailstorm 5 years from now and I got a leak in my bedroom under the claims and under the insurance programs there today. Under the new program, I'd have to make that claim within one year of the event in order to tie it back to that event, which is more like the insurance that you, me, and everybody else in the public world has to buy today. And what we found was, is a lot of these more rural schools, schools that I represent.
We're finding ways to replace their roofs, to replace their air conditioner units and different things over these different storm events, but these claims were way after the storm events. So we're changing the practice here to make it more like the interest that you and I would buy for our homes, for our businesses, and making them live up to the same practices that everybody else has to live up to. So yes, that's going to hit their budget some. Not going to sit here and tell you it's not, because it will. But what it will also do is make sure that our schools
are truly meeting the definition of warm, safe, and dry. The other thing in here to get participation from the K through 12 schools because those buildings are not owned by the state like the other two entities is if they participate in the facilities fund, they have to have bought their insurance through the captive insurance. So that was the mechanism that was put in place. The old mechanism was that you had to have 100% coverage. That's the language you're replacing. The reason we didn't go with that same language going forward is
because we're not covering those entities going forward under the true definition of 100%
coverage. We're covering them just like you, me and everyone else's insurance covers you and none of those
are 100% coverage. So with that, Mr. Chair, I'll be happy to take any questions. Thank you.
Any questions about the committee? Tosh, you recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
45:06
Representative of the schools have the option, is this mandatory that they have to participate in this insurance program. It's only mandatory if they utilize facility funds, so facilities funds is
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
45:16
a is a shared fund over at the department helps them build buildings under the warm, safe, dry initiative. So they use those funds and they take our state money to build those buildings, then yes, they have to participate in this program. And I'm just trying to make sure I understand, follow up.
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
45:38
Currently the schools, they, they provide their own insurance, that's left up to the superintendent, the school board. They go out, they take bids and they secure that bid. Is that not the way it works now? No, sir. The
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
45:49
way it works now is there's two entities that provide K through 12 insurance. One of those is school board Association and the other one is the Arkansas Inter Department. There was 59 schools or 69 schools do not hold me to these two numbers that participate through the insurance department and the remainder of the school districts participate through the school board association,
but there is no bids collected. There was only one school system that got their insurance outside of that program in the whole state of Arkansas. Where's
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
46:19
the uh the school board association, have they taken a position on this? They're neutral. They're, they're merging their program into the captive.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
46:26
They're neutral. They're neutral. Yes, sir. They've been involved in all the discussions for the last 2 years in council. I
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
46:32
understand what you're doing here. I'm just a little concerned that Uh It just looks like we're taking
away local control from our schools and almost mandating that they have to do this and I'm a little concerned about that because it just seems like we're taking that local control away from we're taking it in the last
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
46:54
two years we've given them $14 million in premium assistance. When we start this program, we're gonna be moving $135 million into a fund to buy those premiums upfront. And then price those premiums back to the schools that are priced better than they're paying today.
So we're not taking local control away. It's been taken away for a long time. This program's been in place since the early 2000s. You're making it more affordable. If we leave it the
way it is, it's, it's almost unsustainable if we keep going the way we're going. And you said a while ago and
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
47:28
I just want to follow up on that, that I thought you said this. This would be an increase to our school districts around the state if they when they participate and we mandate this. I'm sorry you heard it that way.
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
47:42
What I meant to say is that deferred maintenance being billed through their insurance department through their insurance plans will no longer be tolerated, so that will be an increase to the schools because they'll have to replace their roofs when they're 30 years old. They'll have to replace their air conditioners when they're 30 years old, instead of being on a claim on insurance. If their insurance, if it is a true insurance claim, they will be able to change. claim it on their insurance, but if it's just a deferred maintenance, they will not be able to do it that way anymore. Reverend Wooton you recognized.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
48:17
In the fact that we In my district has faced this with 200 and 300% increase. That's right. OK. Isn't it a fact that we'll have a better shot at controlling the expense for insurance. The insurance is going to go up regardless if it, if it's a state program or otherwise because the value changes, but in the fact that we're in the mess we're in relative to
covering the buildings is the fact that uh that we've had the the system that we've had in operated in under, and this will correct. A lot of the problems that are occurring out there that To be honest, that some of the districts have found a way around to be able to use the funds for deferred maintenance. Yes, sir, but I'm gonna answer your question,
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
49:11
but you're welcome to interrupt me and change the, the approach I'm gonna take. But one of the problems with the current system
is negotiating. So right now, they send a representative from school board association, representative from the state, they get on a plane, they go to London. They take a broker with them. And what we found through our, through our, through our consultant was is we were paying about 25 to 30% more through that practice for those premiums, then we should have been paying. The other thing you're doing is you're taking about, $60 to $80 million a year and you're paying it in premiums and
someone else is investing that money. And if that money has huge gains for that year, that money stays at the insurance department through a captive insurance program, you're taking that money and we're investing in it ourselves to state is. Therefore, if we have any gangs in that money, that gain is realized by the state of Arkansas. It stays with the state of Arkansas. Um, a couple of weeks ago, you saw the RFPs come in. We went ahead and hired a captive we already hired a broker, uh,
Stevens here in town is our new broker. They're talking to them, uh, there's just a lot of different little ways that by combining all this to 1 from 3, you're able to get a better buying power, you're able to get better negotiating when it comes to London. There's just so many things you gain by bringing this together, that it's kind of a no-brainer at this point. And like I said, this ain't something we dreamed up yesterday. This is something something we studied through counsel for the last 2 years to get to this point. This should have been an ongoing
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
50:53
problem for public schools, and it's getting worse and it's going to continue unless we make some changes. Is that correct? That is
correct. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Baker,
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
51:04
you recognized. Thank you. I'm glad you mentioned the, the bidding process for the captive manager. Who who is the captive manager? I think it's
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
51:12
WT Willis, or so it's WTW I forget the first word of that, but it's WTW. Are they held to any
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
51:19
sort of guarantees or flat fee man like what's the,
what's the stick we have to keep? Them in line I guess did not for this not to
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
51:32
be. Not mismanaged our consultant on staff to watch all that and to to be able to
give us an expert opinion on where we're headed and how we get there. I don't want to misspeak to you on where it is, but there was some convenience. There was some fees in there that get charged if they do a better job versus they do a worse job. So there are some mechanisms in place. OK, thank you.
Chair
Unverified
51:56
Representative Representative Starmer, he recognized for her question. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
52:00
Uh, we first off say, uh, I think this is going to be a good bill and this is a much needed probably for the state of Arkansas, but one of the cause of concern I would have would be, you know, you mentioned the large sports complex is being potentially under undervalued. And since most losses are partial losses in, in, you know, in the insurance industry, uh, we're not going to be collecting premiums for that and will that loss be paid on a depreciated scale.
Almost like an actual cash value policy, uh, so we're not on the hook for replacing a roof on Bud Watman maybe $30 million and we're only collecting premium
Chair
Unverified
52:38
on a $49 million building. I was told there's a way to figure that to where we only
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
52:44
pay out for what we're insuring. So that
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
52:46
probably would be a depreciated schedule, and almost like an extra cash value policy. I was told on a Zoom
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
52:53
Senator Gilmore and I were on about 10 zooms last week from
Monday to Friday, and this was the number one topic last week, and we were told that there was a way to protect state funds in that, in that instance. So I'm The reason I read those statements, the way I read them is the rules have to be stated exactly that way. The only way we can control the way the rules written as if
it's in the record under legislative intent, so that's the reason everything was done the way it was done.
Speaker 22
53:24
Thank you Thank you. Any further questions from the committee, Reverend Perry.
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
53:29
Mr. Chair. Representative Warlocks I got a couple of questions here, so I understand this. So we're transferring 135 million. To the captive, yes, not in this bill, but
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
53:42
there's a bill coming through budget that does a transfer. Yes, sir. How
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
53:45
much will be contributed yearly to the captive. Do we know that that's a great question, and I guess
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
53:50
I should have explained how this thing works. So I don't know how many of you guys remember EBD when we set it up. We set this up very similar to
the way we've set up EBD. We set up a reserve fund. The consultants tell us that we need to keep anywhere from 30 to $60 million in reserve funds. So out of the 135 that'll be transferred 50 million automatically goes to reserve fund. That starts your investments day one. The other 85 million is there to purchase the premiums because the way a captive works, and we have some insurance experts in here, you being one of them. You can't have a captive insurance to sell insurance if you don't have it. So you have to go out
and buy that insurance upfront. So they take that 85 million, they go out and they buy the coverage. I was kind
of dumbed all this or or ignorant, I guess would be the proper word you're
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
54:41
going, there's some other questions that I think you'll piggyback, but so it was the 85 million, what's the total amount? of exposure we have that we're able to buy for 85 million. And then what is your retention limit and your reinsurance cost. Yeah I guess I should have learned all that again today. Um
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
55:06
Roughly 1.5 billion is the amount of insurance you're going to be purchasing. Um The exposure is quite a bit higher than that. But if you look at the weather models, you see how they hit, we're pretty well covered under our exposure from any of the previous weather modeling. And Stein, you've been in all those meetings, you're welcome to chime in at any moment. And so the retention limit, so before
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
55:28
we reach out and hit our reinsurance, what will be our retention. I don't know that off the top of my head, represent
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
55:37
Perry, but I'll get it for you before we go to the floor. OK. But there is a number and we are purchasing reinsurance with a portion of the 85 million, because I mean reinsurance costs of the dollars is for the premiums for the reinsurance. I think it's 42 million for the premiums of that. OK Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Don't hold me to that
number, but I'll get it to you exact. Thank
you, Richard Perry. Any other questions from the committee? Seeing none.
There's no one signed up. Is there anyone like speak against this bill? Anyone else likes it. Anyone else who likes to speak for this bill. Representward law you recognize the clothes for
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
56:18
your bill. Ms. Ja it's a very big bill. It's one of the bigger bills I've ever run in my career outside of EBD. It's taken a long time to get here, um, it's been a privilege of mine to serve as your chair of legislative council to get it to this point, um, It's going to do good things for our institutions of higher ed, our schools, and our state
properties. Um, I think it's going to be very valuable to ensure these buildings at the corrected values, which is in the bill. You read that in the first two pages of the bill. I think it's very important to understand where this where this is going. So we're not leaving this at the insurance department. We're going to move this over to TSS and put it under a division similar to EBD. That way it can actually be truly regulated by the insurance department, which is what the insurance department is there to
do, regulate the state's insurance. Having the insurance plan under the department that regulates the insurance plan was never a good idea. Uh, we had an instance a couple years ago. tornado that wiped the school out up in northeast Arkansas. And one of the problems that was they wouldn't send their policy and they had a problem with their insurer, which was School Board Association, ended up not being a problem. I want to say that on the record, but they wouldn't even send their policy to the Inter department for help in the middle of that look-in because they were sending it to
their competition. This changes all of that and fixes it to where it's a true agency away from the regulatory agency and fixes it to where it's actually run like an everyday company, which is the way it should have been in the beginning. So with that, Mr. Chair, I'd appreciate
a good vote. Thank you. Thank you, Ward La
Rep represent viewbanks, you're recognized. We have a motion do pass by representative Eubanks all in favor say aye. Any post say no. Congratulations to award you've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee and
Representative Perry, I'll have you those numbers tomorrow. Representative Lindstrom, you are recognized. To present two Senate bills that you say are going to be extremely quick. 104. SB 104 is where I'll
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
58:36
start. OK. And I believe that does have an
Speaker 145
58:38
amendment. Is that correct? OK. So there is an amendment being
Speaker 54
58:44
circulated, um, Representative Longstrom, go ahead and explain the amendment, please. This just corrects
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
58:48
and clarifies the bill on a couple of sections. pretty mundane. I have a motion to adopt the amendment. All
in favor say aye. Repent Lustro you recognized to. Proceed with your bill as admitted. This
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
59:04
is basically a common sense bill that closes some of the gaps in regulatory coverage that had been abused by PBMs and serves. It's like that have served against the interests of
Arkansans medical providers, prescribers, hospitals, pharmacies, and pharmacists. This basically cleans up some of that for as long as that will last with PBMs you don't know, um, but this helps ensures that the PBMs don't interfere with the patient's rights. Afforded to them under the health benefits plan. It also prevents some of the ghost networking and but this is the most important part. It prevents steering and forcing a patient into a mail order. Pharmacy.
So it stopped steering, and with that, I have an expert here, but if you have any questions, I'll be glad to bring him up. Thank you, Representativestrom.
Questions from the committee. saying no. Is there anyone who would like to speak against this bill? Anyone else you'd like to speak for this bill? OK, you recognize the clothes for your billre Lustrom.
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:00:09
I am closed, and I recommend DuP pass. We have
a motion do pass as amended. All in favor say aye. And they say no.
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:00:15
You've passed your bill. Thank you, colleagues. Senate Bill 103 basically modernizes and strengthens the any willing provider law. This prohibits the PBMs from. From randomly excluding any willing pharmacist in Arkansas. It currently the PBMs love to steer their business and force providers into certain areas or completely squeeze out a pharmacy that's willing to compete for a customer's business. We want more
competition in Arkansas. We don't want PBMs taking away that competition. With that, I'll answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions from the committee?
I think no. Do anyone like to speak against this bill. Anyone like to speak for the spill. You right close. I'm closed, and I recommend you pass. I have a motion do pass by Reid Lundstrom. All in favor, say I. And they both say no. Congratulations, you passed your bills. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you for your time. That was very, very fast. came to please.
Speaker 25
1:01:23
Representative Eaves, see if you can do the same. 1735, is that? Yes OK. Just go ahead and introduce yourself and you may proceed when
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
1:01:42
you're ready. Representative Les District 58. Uh, this is, uh, a bill, so we have a a um an 811 call center right now that we passed previous legislation that required operators to join that 811 call center. The reason is
so we can have a pretty clear and in-depth understanding and database of what we have underground, so when, uh, others go to dig around, they know what's down there. So what we found, and this comes to me from the Attorney General's office. What we found is that there were some operators who, even though it's mandated by law, we're not joining the 811 call center. So what this bill does is put a little bit of teeth into that, um, first thing will happen if you're not a member or you haven't joined, you would get a written warning after 30 days, there would be a $1000 fine for
not joining and every 30 days you would get another $500 fine for not joining the 11 call center. Most of the operators have already joined, so there's just a handful, I think, that are still out there for some reason or other. resisting joining the 811 call center. Um, it's important to note that in order to have a complete and full database of what is underground, we need to have these operators joining the 811 call center. So that's what the bill does. I'd be happy to take any questions. Thank you, Representatives. Questions from the committee.
saying no if anyone would like to speak against this bill. Representative Aves you right now is to close for your bill. I'm closed to make a motion to pass. A motion to pass by the eves, all in favor say aye. And they both say no. Congratulations, you passed your bill. Yes, sir. Reps Johnson, I believe you'd like to run 2 bills. I have an amendment to 1426, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:03:46
amendment, Mr. Chairman. Representative Lee Johnson, District 47 members, just to mimic cleans up some language that was negotiated on between health providers and health insurers. This is all agreed upon language to the original bill, and I'd be happy to answer any questions on the amendment. Any questions, members? Motion to
adopt the amendment, much we adopt the amendment. All in favor say aye. You are recognized to proceed with your bill as amended. Members' last
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:04:14
session, we created a law around leasing of health care networks. So if the health insurance company has a network, they can sometimes lease that network of providers to other health insurance companies. We set up some ground rules about around how that could be done last session. When we did that, we carved out dental, which is something we typically do in these things, and we inadvertently called that carved out some other insurers in the process. This language that we're putting in just inserts those commercial payers back into the law where we intended them to be in the first place and also clarify some definitions around what a
health care insurer is. I'd be happy to answer any questions on the bill. Any
questions from the committee? OK. Seeing none. Does anyone like speaking against this bill? Anyone else who likes to speak for this bill. You're right now is to close. I'm close to be able
Speaker 157
1:05:02
to make a motion we do pass as amended. I have a motion
do pass as amended. All in favor say aye. And they both say no. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Representative Lee Johnson, District 47. This is Senate Bill 366.
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:05:17
comes up from Senator Boyd. This is known as the Strength in Arkansas Homes Act. Uh, what this bill does is it does two things. One, it creates a fund. There's no funding mechanism for this fund, but it does create an account within the Arkansas Insur department to receive money if money becomes available, and then it creates a program called the Strength in Arkansas Homes program to administer grants from funds if and when they become available. It sets up the eligibility requirement around those grants sets up the eligibility requirements for contractors and evaluators for those grants.
What it's trying to do is it's trying to create a system where we can mitigate some of the damage that occurs in our houses with wind and hail damage through better structural fortifications. This is something that has been done in other states and in doing so there's people have seen a reduction in premiums over time by strengthening their homes. This is something that can be done in a retrofitted way for homes that have been damaged or something that can be done prospectively with qualified
contractors and with the help of qualified evaluators looking at the eligibility for the homes. I'd be happy to answer any questions on this. The other thing it does is it does create insurance premium discounts and endorsements for people that have gone through the process of becoming a fortified home. Happy to answer any questions on the bill. Thank you for your testimony. Any
Speaker 54
1:06:36
questions, committee? Saying no, so anyone like speak against this
bill? Anyone else like to speak for this bill? He recognized the clothes from a
bill making a motion to pass. I a motion do pass. All in favor say aye. You say no. Congratulations, you've passed your bill, Representative. OK, members, we have run through, uh, numerous bills and we're going to now turn to represent Pilkington, HB 1443. Um, I appreciate your patience on this, Representative. Um, we tried to do someones that might go fairly quickly. So if you would just introduce yourself for the record, and you may proceed with your testimony. Thank you, and I don't mind
Speaker 145
1:07:18
waiting. I understand we have a lot of bills, so. I apologize. Apparently we have an amendment. You have
Speaker 161
1:07:26
an amendment? OK. Would you like me to explain it as it's getting passed out. Uh, this is simply an amendment that came from some insurance companies that uh due to the language in the bill, they were worried they might be caught up
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:07:34
in it and so we're just taking this language out so that they don't get caught up in caught up in it. So that's all it is. So I appreciate a motion to adopt the amendment. Thank you. So we Representative Pilkington has explained the
Speaker 54
1:07:49
amendment. We have a motion to adopt the amendment. Represent Perry has made a motion to adopt the amendment, all in favor say aye. Represent Pilkington you recognize two proceed with your bill as amended.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:08:06
Thank you. Thank you committee. I was going to have the NRA here with me today. Unfortunately, their flight was canceled, so they weren't able here to present with me, um, but I think From having discussions and speaking on the previous House Bill 1509, I think you all
understand where they're stance on this, so, um, in the essence of time, I'll be really quick and just, as you all know, we have been dealing with the With this new phenomenon of having financial institutions try to discriminate against the Second Amendment. And so what 18 other states have done is pass. Similar legislation to this to protect the Second Amendment and to rein these financial decisions in. A few weeks ago, we passed House Bill 1509, uh, which was a good
bill but had some issues and so this bill though is an expansion of, of what they were trying to do in that bill, with a few key distinctions. One of those things is on this bill on HB 1443, it defines payment cards broadly to include credit charge, debit, and other cards issues for purchasing goods and services. The other one doesn't. Uh, I also include in my bill payment networks include debit slash credit networks, electronic funds transfer. works and associate issues financial transaction devices without exclusion.
Um, also, uh, HB 1443 explicitly outlines disciplinary practices, higher fees, declined business, while the other one only focuses on those MCC. And then, of course, disclosure, uh, my bill adds prohibitions on disclosing protected financial information, whereas the previous bill passed was did not. And then of course on the enforcement is uh I've got a uh quicker amount of time violations must cease within 30 days as opposed to, I believe, the 60 days and the other one granted mine can be extended by
30 days, and then of course if violations persist post notice of injunction, the Attorney General can seek penalties up to $15,000 per transaction, which is a higher fee for um failure to comply. So those are kind of the key differences on my bill versus the other one, and I just think this is a better policy and strengthens it. Um, I know oftentimes you'll hear this, uh, this comparison to the Kentucky legislation, uh, but Kentucky has a split government. You had a liberal
governor who said they would veto the legislation unless those exemptions were not put into the bill, and so they, they complied with it. But uh my understanding is when he is no longer in office because he's term limited and they have a Republican governor, they will close that loophole. And so then if we continue on the path we're currently on, we'll be the only state with this glaring loophole within our system. Uh, so I think we should join the 18 other states and passed this bill, which is a stronger bill, and with that I am, I'm close.
my opening statement. Thank you for your presentation. Questions from the committee. Where's the roster? Um, how does this protect our
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:11:04
local small banks that don't have maybe the credit processing that some of the larger banks do. So you're saying on the credit processing, yes, OK. Um, well, it doesn't have the protections for the community banks like the other bill does
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:11:26
this, but if they're not putting on these MCC codes, which they should not be if they're a small community bank that's not at this processing, then they, then they wouldn't have to worry about this issue, but if they do choose a third party that is putting those codes on, then they would need to find a new vendor or face potential violations. OK, um, I'm a
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:11:44
little bit concerned that this is gonna hurt them if they can't. Um, does this, does your bill go back and, and go after those vendors that the bank does not have control over. Yes, if they're operating within Arkansas. Yes, ma'am.
Hm, OK, I'm gonna hop back out and then
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:12:07
get back in with another question. Representative Wooton recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Pinkerton, um, Would you, uh, elaborate. That's a pretty serious indictment of financial institutions in this state. Would you, would you elaborate on the prohibit financial institutions and payment networks from using certain discriminatory practices. What practices are
they using that you say violate or you're prohibited. Well, it's practices are they doing it? Sure.
Speaker 168
1:12:35
So right now in Arkansas, no bank is currently
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:12:39
doing this. This. is, this is, we are trying to be preventative. However, states like New York, California, and I believe Colorado is the 3rd have started requiring banks to use these codes and to be discriminatory against it. So the idea is they're creating registries of what they're calling suspicious activity when you're purchasing a firearm. And so, uh, we obviously realized
that this is a backdoor way to create a gun registry, and we're wanting to prevent that by not allowing them to put these codes on these purchases. And so I would say right now. Now I think if this bill passes, my bill passes. Not a single Arkansas bank should be concerned. They will not. It's only if they suddenly suddenly decide to start putting in these codes in place and using vendors who would require them to use these codes to be a vendor for them.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:13:28
So the father, so you're saying that none of
our banks currently do this, but yet you're putting it in the law to prohibit something that doesn't exist.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:13:41
Yes, so, uh, Representative Wooton, I don't know if, if you're familiar or not, but around, and I believe it was 2022, you had, and I can pull it up real quick. In September 2022, the International Organization for Standardization, or iOS, approved the merchant catro specifically for firearms retailers. This seemingly technical change to standards
18245 of 2003 I lost payment processors and banks to categorize, monitor, and collect data on transactions at these retailers. So this was an international push within the banking industry to put these new codes on there. And now luckily there's been a pushback against that in the United States, but you have large banks like Bank of America. others who have, who have, who out of New York have said, no, we want to, we actually do want to do this because we want to use this as a way to raise our ESG scores or things like that, and that's kind of how all this discussion happened a few years
ago, and that's why you've seen other states acted. So right now, no Arkansas bank is doing this, but there is a push, and we are pushing back saying, you know, we're going to have laws that make it illegal to do that here in the state, and that's why 18 other states have passed
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:14:51
similar legislation to this. So our bill that we passed 1509 doesn't accomplish that. It accomplishes some of the goal,
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:14:58
but not the entirety goal. It leaves a loophole for community banks, and my concern is we leave the loophole, that
loophole will be exploited and um and that's what I don't want to
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:15:11
see happen, so. One more follow up. The last part of your um titles states set to provide for enforcement of the violation. What kind of cost is involved in what we're trying to enforce when it doesn't exist. So what expense is the state going to have? I assume it would be
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:15:30
the same expense that was in House Bill 1509. It's going to be through the AG's office, and, but I
don't, I don't have a specific number on you, but, uh, investigating it and um And, and prosecuting it would be the exact same that we currently pass when we pass out 1509. There's no difference in that cost. Thank you.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:15:51
Thank you, Representative. Thank you, Represent Baker Rena. Thanks. Um, Pilkington, you mentioned, um, Some
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:15:58
of the effect of The vendor being responsible for complying and that's some of these smaller banks would obviously have to look towards a
vendor that would be in compliance. Do you, do you know, and maybe this would be a question for someone in the industry do small banks have the ability to put in their contract with their vendor that they have to apply, so I mean instead of limiting the vendors that would voluntarily comply. Do they have the ability to say assumption is they would be able to
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:16:25
comply with state law, like I said, the 18 other states have done this, so those community banks are able to figure out ways. To make this work. I see no reason why ours could not as well. So
Chair
Unverified
1:16:38
Then there's a maker. Any other questions? Representative Richardson, you recognized him. Thank
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
1:16:43
you, just thought about this. So what other 18 states have passed this? To that
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:16:59
up. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota.
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
1:17:09
That answer your question. Representative Dalby, he recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. In in that list that you read off, can you tell us, did they also have the same law that we just passed uh a month or so ago that was, it's backed by our bankers here in the state and by the banking association, do they have that companion law because it seems like to me that's the law that fits Arkansas the best. Can you address, do those states have the same law that we have currently. Uh
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:17:43
No, they, they are not the only one, which I didn't mention because I don't include in the list is Kentucky. 1509 matches the Kentucky law that's in place. My law is closer to those laws in those other states. But they don't have the law that
Speaker 181
1:17:57
we passed earlier in this session, correct? That you know of that I know
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:18:02
of. I mean, you don't know it's one of those deals where I think about it this way, 1509 gets us 80% there. My law gets us 100% there and so I think when it comes to protecting the Second
Amendment, I want to be 100%, not 80%, leaving the loophole. So it's not necessarily that 1509 is a bad bill. It's just this is a better bill that does more to protect our 2nd Amendment rights and holds our financial institutions accountable, than the other. That one is a weaker bill that, you know, they would be happy to pass in states where you have split governments but not in a state like Arkansas. Any further questions from the committee?
Speaker 99
1:18:46
OK, saying no. Thank you. I appreciate the question I'm sorry. Will you take one more question? Oh
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:18:51
yeah, of course. Sorry, this is more for the chair. If we pass this one and 1509, what ends up with 1509, does it supersede? The last pill.
Speaker 185
1:19:00
I think it'll be the last pill that's signed.
OK. All right. Thank you. Thank you Any other questions, no, no other inquiries from the chair, for the chair, but any, any other. Questions. OK. Thank you, Representative Pilkington. We do have some
We do have some people signed up, the first person to speak against is Laurie Trogden. Just come to the table, introduce yourself, and Who you are with and If you want to bring people up now, however you prefer to do it, um, however you would like to do it. I'll just go ahead and I've got
Speaker 186
1:19:39
the technical experts here, so there's something that might be more efficient, frankly,
Speaker 99
1:19:43
there's something the committee has a question
Speaker 187
1:19:45
on, they can. They can answer the really
technical stuff since they do this every day. But I'm Laurie Togden, president and CEO of the Arkansas Bankers Association. Um, I don't want to belabor this point. You all have spent a lot of time on this, um, 2 weeks ago when you passed this bill, as well as on the House floor, but I do want to point out that the bill that you all passed, um, has made it through the Senate. It is on its way to the governor's desk now for signature, so there really is no need to pass another bill. This bill is going to go into law. Um, our, the 1509 did prohibit the release of private
information just to clear that up. I think that was a question, um. I, uh, representative Pilkington talked about 18 bills have passed well in the last two years or so over 40 bills failed, um, on this very subject. So it's not like those those random past the 19 or the 18 that have passed were all different. Um, I think that question was asked is who all passed this? Well, not a single one of those bills are the same. And so Kentucky did pass this bill last year.
And now there was, um, talk about the, the governor's democratic and the legislature is Republican, but the Kentucky governor issued 29 vetoes this session in all 29 were overridden by the Kentucky legislature. They are not afraid of their governor. Um, I would also, um, state that there's been questions about the community bank loophole. The bank does not control the vendors, um, that choose the MCC codes. The bank does not control the payment networks that choose the MCC codes as far as
community banks here, um, are concerned, the bank though is the one, our community banks are the ones that get stuck in the middle if this law passes and one of those two other layers or 3 layers deep. decides they they're going to use that code our banks are then caught in the middle of that with no control. Um, they often have very long contracts with these vendors, and so they can't just quit them the next day. Um, they, they have them for 5 to 7 years and the customer has a say
so in that as well, so um you know, they The loophole is to protect your community banks who are in your communities spending millions of dollars on your communities, your softball fields, your public gymnasiums, um. They are there with you and for you every day, giving you your business loans and home loans and so I'll vote no for this bill would be to support your community banks. I'll take any questions or we have two technical experts here as well if you have any
questions for them. Thank you for your testimony. Um, Ms. Taron, so I believe they are already questions for you. We could do this if you would like.
Speaker 54
1:22:32
I think if, if your witnesses would like to go ahead and testify now. Um, we could, if they would like to, we could let them testify and then maybe we could take questions for all three of you. If if they would like to, they certainly do not have to. It's up to you all. Sure, OK. So if they're going to, please introduce
yourself and who you're with and just give your testimony, please.
Speaker 87
1:22:54
Thank you, Chairman and committee. We appreciate you being willing to hear us today. I am Kathy Owen. I am executive chair of Eagle Bank and Trust. I small community bank 106 years old, 490 million in assets. Our home office is here in Little Rock and we have 12 other locations, um, North Central in our state, uh, as well as some mortgage loan originating offices around the state.
I have a concealed carry permit, which I've renewed multiple times. I also in the proud owner of an Arkansas hunting and fishing license, a lifetime license. I am proud to say that I have grown up hunting and fishing in this state as well as our children and our grandchildren now. It's often 4 generations together hunting and fishing, especially during duck season in Arkansas. I do believe in the right to
legally own guns as well as ammunition. I also believe in protecting my rights and protecting the privacy of that. We we're in disagreement is the means and methodology to get there. My bank has no control over how Visa Mastercard, Discover, any of these credit card agencies set up their codes. We can't even get through to them with a phone call, emails, letters, or
anything else. And they contract with vendors that then we contract with, which was mentioned, most of our contracts we do are 5 to 7 years in length because it takes so long to negotiate vendor contracts, but a lot of the things are written in that we're a little bank and the spectrum of these big vendors that there are lots of things we do. not have the ability to contract on. We also have no ability to
control the merchant codes, why wouldn't a merchant want to keep track of these things because it allows them to then market to those people again, if they know they bought this kind of rifle or this kind of handgun, then when they get in a new shipment or supply, they're going to want a market to them. It's how marketing is done today. I have no control over that are those. codes that are set up with the merchant or Like I said, the credit card companies, the debit card
companies were so far down that pecking list. That I would be in violation on day one that this goes into effect and I don't have the ability to cancel my contracts without having to pay penalties which could be millions of dollars because you have to buy out the whole term of those, what they call EFTs, but electronic fund earnings through the long, the term of those so I'm in a no-win situation if
this bill passes, and I'm not the only bank that would be subject to potential liability. When I have no control as well as the penalties that were mentioned here. Thank you for your testimony, ma'am, if
Speaker 36
1:26:17
you'd like, introduce yourself and you may proceed. Yes, I'm Catherine Mitchell and I represent
Speaker 194
1:26:24
Reliance Bank in Whitehall, Arkansas. I have over 25 years of community banking experience and one of my primary
responsibilities is to oversee the bank's payment processing operations. Reliance Bank is a community bank with approximately 1.5 billion in assets in 21 locations across Arkansas. On a personal note, I greatly value my 2nd Amendment rights. I enjoy sports shooting. I hold my concealed carry license and my husband and I own many guns ourselves, ranging from a 9 millimeter that I keep in my car to an AR-15. I also enjoy hunting. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I celebrated my 20th anniversary,
um, when I eloped with my husband and we went on a hunting trip in Forest, Mississippi, um, for our honeymoon. So at Reliance Bank we also respect our customers' rights to privacy and their 2nd Amendment freedoms. Our board secretary is David Ferrell, who owns Hunter's Refuge, which is a large firearms dealer in South Arkansas. Additionally, our other director, Tommy Murchison runs Big Buck Classic for nearly 3. Decades in Arkansas and with all this being said, I'm in full support of ensuring the privacy
rights of Arkansas gun owners, but as a community banker and a certified payments professional, I cannot support this bill as it grossly misrepresents the role that community banks play in the assignment and merchant category codes. In failing to establish this critical unnecessary exemption for community banks, vicarious liability will be passed to our community banks as we play no role in the setting of merchant category codes. Arkansas Community Banks provide merchant services to our local businesses by providing hardware and software through third-party vendors to facilitate payment
processing. The assignment of merchant category codes is done so by the card processor and unlike the nation's largest banks who may act as their own card processor, community banks are not card processors. And we should not be held financially liable for settling transactions that are presented to us with firearms code when we as the community bank are not involved in, nor do we have any control over assigning that code. In my experience, Visa and Mastercard require reporting on overall transaction volumes to ensure contractual obligations
are met. However, to date, no codes related to firearms require specific reporting. In summary, failure to exempt community banks could potentially automatically render banks across the state out of compliance. Our community and our customers are important to us, and I assure you that if community banks willingly and purposefully tracked gun purchases through the use of the firearms code, it would directly conflict with my personal core values and the core values held by the majority of our customers. I appreciate your time and again, I strongly and respectfully urge you to support your Arkansas banks and vote no
on this bill. Thank you. Thank you for
your testimony, members questions for any of the three. Uh, sacre, I think you were first in the queue. Thank you,
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:29:21
and I just feel free to chime in here. I, I promise you'll find no one more sympathetic to adhesion contracts than myself, so I guess my question is, um, you mentioned that. If your vendor did track these codes that would go against.
Your own personal values. So if you found out that they were. What mechanisms in place do you have to raise that concern or request
Speaker 194
1:29:47
that those not be tracked. In our personal bank situation, it's not even our vendor, it's our vendor's vendor, um, so in those essentially are assigned by Mastercard and Visa, but for us we use a company called Harpeth, and so kind of like an insurance company where you may choose to go to State Farm and they only offer State Farm or you can choose one that's local like
Campbell and Company that writes for many different insurance companies. Ours rights for many, and so they work with our merchant to decide which company best works for them, and outside of the initial application process, that's, that's our only involvement. So, I mean, other than lodging a complaint with our vendor to lodge a complaint with their vendor. It's kind of out of our control. Laura, are you aware of any efforts that
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:30:31
any community banks have made to convey to their vendors that they don't want this to happen or how can the
association provide direction? And if representative Tokin's bill doesn't pass in 1509 is available and this loophole does happen. And there are community banks who don't want that loophole. What resources can there be to direct them on how to actually advocate to their vendor on how to stop that. Well, this, so
Speaker 187
1:31:00
1509 doesn't leave a loophole for the vendor. So if the vendor did it and um there was a complaint that the
vendor was doing that any of the vendors, there was a complaint that they were doing that, the AG could actually look into that and penalize them for that. So it's not really up to the bank. Now I'm sure they could lodge that complaint. um, I think it's outlaid in the bill that a um a customer can log the lodge the complaint or a retailer. What about the bank
Speaker 201
1:31:30
themselves? Could they, can they lob a complaint to the AG that their vendor is, I mean, I'm
Speaker 186
1:31:35
not the AG, but I don't know as, you know, part of the process. I don't know why they couldn't.
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:31:40
OK, thank you. Ur McGurk, you recognize him? Thank you. Uh, you said you would automatically be in trouble if this bill passed, so do you know that your bank is
Speaker 87
1:32:01
violating this now. No, I do not, and we have banked businesses that sell arms. We have no tracking out to me, we don't
even have the ability to be able to track. I just know them from being good customers of ours. I
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:32:17
understand, but it's the way you stated it, you would automatically be, so you don't know whether you would automatically be or not. You don't know whether you're in violation now
Speaker 87
1:32:26
or not. Right? We at the bank are not tracking or receiving anything to track any of those codes, but should I I don't even know that we would know if these are Mastercard were tracking those codes.
But if there were a complaint, if, if these are Mastercard were to track those. We would be in violation and there wouldn't be anything I could do but probably spend years trying to get me visa or Mastercard to respond to us. Because they just don't respond on anything. And like was mentioned by Catherine, they're a vendor of our vendor.
Speaker 27
1:33:13
There's so many layers about something that may or
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:33:16
could happen but not knowingly has happened yet. The next question was the other states, some of these other states, maybe not all of them, but laws is very similar to this, so how community banks operating in that atmosphere. I have not. I will
Speaker 199
1:33:31
admit I have not looked at those states to see if anything has happened yet. I
Speaker 187
1:33:37
think we pass bills all the time on things that might happen and might not happen as evidenced by Representative
Pilkington's statement today, um, so I can't say that it won't happen in another state. I just know that it This has never happened here. We're addressing a problem that doesn't exist here, although we, and you all have already addressed that in 1509, um, but what will happen in other states, I can't tell you, it's, I would say similar to cannabis banking, it is federally illegal, and banks get their charter, um, pulled if they bank it. However, some have chosen to do that, uh, because no one has
been prosecuted yet. Um, most of us don't want to be the test case for that in Arkansas and so you won't find very many. Um, Arkansas banks doing that. And this may
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:34:27
be more for you picking as you close, so if Uh, Visa or MasterCar and one did something that to them. What would be the ultimate process that it would go through. Is the AG really going to go after that bank, or are they going to go after the credit card company where they give the bank the opportunity to stop the
credit card company or what would be the process? Well, there
Speaker 187
1:34:48
is a process laid out in both bills for the AG to investigate it in our bill, it gives time for the bank to respond to the AG and I don't believe that's in this other bill, the AG just goes directly into their investigation and makes a decision whether or not to take it to the court and then the, well, I, I, I take that back. They don't get the opportunity to decide in this bill. They are mandated to take that directly to the court and the court is mandated to do certain things under that, um,
in the bill 1509, it actually gives a little bit of due process and the bank is allowed to respond to that, but what the AG does from there is
Speaker 186
1:35:25
up to the AG. I wouldn't speak on behalf of the AG. OK,
Speaker 33
1:35:29
OK, thank you. Thank you, McGre. Any other questions? There's a maker. Thank you.
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:35:37
I want to speak back to um Some of the comments you made about not knowing if the vendor of your vendors doing this and I know Laura that you probably have. Members of your association that
are much larger than community banks. Is there any way to get a commitment from the association to Help develop a way for them to make a request from these vendors to show that these people aren't doing that because again, if, if your vendor of your vendor is going against. The moral ethics of your Business right that you don't want your customer base to be caught off guard when you get caught off guard. I mean, and if a complaint can be lodged, but we don't know if we can file a complaint because we can't even see if they're doing it.
How do we close that? How do we create a resource and you leverage the size and scope of your larger members to say, here's a Here's a template for how we request from the vendor of these vendors. Of this report that we're looking for
to see if that does happen. We can't control whether it does or doesn't, but we need to see if it is and then file
Speaker 212
1:36:39
a complaint. Sure, um, I have government relations contacts, uh, with Isa and Mastercard and all of the other networks and big banks,
Speaker 187
1:36:45
and so usually what I do is if I have a question or an issue, I
go to the government relations contact and then they put me in in contact with the proper person. I do that a lot when um legislators call because you have a constituency issue. I, I, if it's with one of those bigger banks, I can
Speaker 212
1:37:01
go through that government relations and we've actually resolved several issues based on that. And again, to that point
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:37:08
though. If there's not a standardized process for which some of your smaller banks could call you and say, Lord, I would like, how do I create a compliance monitoring program just for our in-house so that we're not misrepresenting
something that our customers, I mean, if you don't know that they're being tracked, right, and you don't want your customers to find that out. How
can you proactively have a resource from the size of the bankers' association.
Speaker 187
1:37:37
Does that, does it make sense what I'm asking? does. Now, 1509 would would outlaw that from happening. So if that was if if Visa, Mastercard, um, one of the vendors, vendors, vendors was using this code um to track
purchases, and that would be illegal in this state. And
Speaker 132
1:37:57
so How does, how does the large players, how do the smaller
Speaker 187
1:38:02
players. Find that information out and currently, I'm just saying representative Pilkington can correct me if I'm wrong, but in 150 the both bills set up a process with the AG's office for a complaint either from the customer or now the bank proactively going out. I can, I can
Speaker 212
1:38:17
have Catherine answer that, but I mean as short of them
contacting every single uh payment processor that that's out there which there are thousands, um,
Speaker 186
1:38:27
I don't know that there's a way for them to pro proactively go out. are you doing and are you doing and are you doing it,
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:38:34
but Catherine my hand just to follow not trying to be duplicative, but filing the complaint requires you to know that you can file it because you know that it's been violated. How do they
Speaker 194
1:38:44
know that it's been violated? So for our institution, we're a principal member of Mastercard, which means we have a direct relationship. Many smaller banks are an affiliate membership,
which means they go through their core provider. So for an MCC code, I actually have access to all of those. I did search. In advance of coming here and we did not have any, but should someone decide to code something tomorrow, we have no control over whether that code comes through and with this bill, we would be liable for that, um, so if your question is if we saw that and we have an avenue to record it, would we? I would, I would like to think so. And
Speaker 213
1:39:17
you do under 1509 is the understanding that you could see
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:39:24
that and you could file a complaint under this bill, you would be worried that If you saw that, that you would be.
Speaker 218
1:39:31
Under this bill if that if that MCC code came through, we would be responsible for it, so, so that process that
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:39:37
she just described, is that something that She says only is available to. Platinum members
and not we're a principal member principal members are not affiliate. Sorry, Mr. Chair, I appreciate the latitude, just trying to get clarity on it, if, I mean, if
these, if these things are happening, I'd like to know that
there's a process for them to file a complaint other than just saying that a complaint process exists. You can, you can keep going. We've got all mine. Thanks, buddy. So, and again, and so I guess from my point from the association perspective, how can you Help provide resources like she's describing, like the benefit to being a principal member would be your ability to have autonomous reporting capabilities to file complaints should something like that happen at Eagle Bank. Are you a principal member with? No, we're
Speaker 223
1:40:25
not. They're 3 times the size of us,
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:40:29
so, but there's a entry to
Speaker 87
1:40:32
being a principal member? Well, it has to do, there's cost involved with it and the number of transactions you're able to to process. to be able to have the earnings to be able to pay to be a higher member level. Got it. And
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:40:50
there's, and there's for the association's perspective, no mechanism for you to use any sort of group
purchasing power or advocacy to say, you know, in the state of Arkansas, we value the ability to report this. We would like this to be made available to our affiliate
Speaker 186
1:41:08
members. Um, we do not have that ability to put together that sort of purchasing power. We, um, this, we're talking. hundreds of millions of billions of dollars that flow through all of this now, we can
Speaker 187
1:41:19
be educators and educate our members that if something comes up and you have a problem, usually they're going to call us and say this is happening, what do I do? And I
can outline what the process is to help them make those complaints and do whatever they need to do, but it would be, um, there wouldn't be anything in this bill that would make that any different than what it is now I guess I didn't necessarily mean
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:41:41
group purchasing as in you go out and secure the deal. I'm just saying you have members. of substantial size and you have current members of the table that have the ability to monitor this, but you also have members who don't have the ability to monitor this. And so how can we Provide some sort of avenue for
Eagle Bank to have the ability to pull those reports. I,
Speaker 180
1:42:03
I would have to put, um, my, my, um, group together and say, how can we
Speaker 187
1:42:08
do this? I, I don't have the technical expertise to answer that, um, but I can tell you my role at the association is to try and say yes to anything my members need. So if we had the pulled the collective brainpower together and could figure that out, I'd be more than willing to do it, but I can't promise you sitting here right now that we would be able to accomplish that, but, um, I work very hard every day to give them what they
Speaker 87
1:42:30
need. I think it would involve contracts with lots of different vendors because the smaller banks are probably not. using the same vendors, there's lots of vendors out there that offer these services, so whether or not that could be negotiated in those vendors then in turn negotiate. And then how they're able to provide it to
Speaker 205
1:42:50
us, and I'm sure there would be additional cost. for that. A mother.
OK. Thank you. Thank you, yes, um. And members, I was obviously kidding, we don't have all night. I perceived some bad looks for that. Any further questions for, for any, anyone who's testifying. OK. Thank you for your testimony. We do have one other person signed up, Derek Smith. Derek is not going to speak. Um, we don't have anyone else signed up, but is there anyone else who'd like to speak for the bill? Is there anyone else who would
Speaker 160
1:43:32
like to speak against the bill? Where's the pill you recognize? Thank you, and I probably should have told Derek that
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:43:42
that amendment was for him. That's why, so, um, but, uh, yeah, I appreciate the time. I know we've been here a long while, so I won't labor it too much longer. I just want to leave you a few more thoughts. I mean, they, they even mentioned their testimony, there's thousands of these vendors. We just want to make sure that they're using vendors that actually follow Arkansas law. Uh, we talked about the Kentucky loophole. That's one state, like I said, we have other states, yes, the bills are different
with their little variations here and there every every bill in states, you know, vary a little differently, but they all, for the most part, except for Kentucky, do not provide this loophole for community banks. Um, the reality is this, I ran as a 2nd Amendment defender of the Second Amendment who is going to protect 2nd Amendment rights and the the newest threat on the Second Amendment is coming from banking institutions that are worried about their ESG scores and not worried about the individual. There's a reason why you didn't see a gun store owner down here
testified against this bill. Because they're the ones who were targeted by this. There's a reason why you don't, why the NRA is actively pushing these legislations in other states because they want to defend the Second Amendment rights. Um, you know, I, I said it last time when I spoke against 1509, 1509 is a banker's bill for bankers. That's all it is. It's an industry bill. That's fine. I run industry bills all the time. I love industry bills, um, but it's not a 2nd Amendment protection bill. This is the 2nd Amendment protection bill. And so with that, I asked for a good vote. Thank you. Thank you for
the time today. Thank you, Representative Representative Pilgrin has closed for his bill. What is the will of the committee? We have a Representative McCollum, you're recognized. Motion to pass by Res McCollum as a proper motion. Is there any discussion on the motion? Saying none, we have a motion do pass. All in favor say aye. All the post say no.
Unknown speaker
1:45:34
The nose have it. The bill has failed. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Pilkington. Members saying no further business, we are adjourned.
Agenda
CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1271 Warren TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MECHANICS' AND MATERIALMEN'S LIENS; AND TO CLARIFY THE PRIORITY OF LIENS IN MORTGAGE CONSTRUCTIONLOANS.
REGULAR AGENDA
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1009 A. Collins TO ALLOW PREGNANCY TO BE A QUALIFYING EVENT FOR ENROLLMENT IN CERTAIN HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS.
HB1014 A. Collins TO REQUIRE COVERAGE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION UNDER THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM.
HB1055 J. Mayberry TO ESTABLISH COVERAGE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT TO SLOW THEPROGRESSION OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR OTHER DEMENTIA-RELATED DISEASE UNDER THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM.
HB1150 J. Moore TO PROHIBIT A PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER FROM OBTAINING CERTAIN PHARMACY PERMITS.
HB1354 Lundstrum TO REGULATE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; TO AMEND THE LAWCONCERNING THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CERTAIN HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS.
SB237 J. Boyd TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGULATION OF CAPTIVE INSURERS.
HB1659 S. Meeks TO AMEND THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE; AND TO CLARIFY THE
PRIORITY AMONG SECURITY INTERESTS AND ENTITLEMENT HOLDERS UNDER THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE.
HB1443 Pilkington TO CREATE THE SECOND AMENDMENT FINANCIAL PRIVACY ACT; TO PROHIBIT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PAYMENT NETWORKS FROM USING CERTAIN DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES; AND TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT OF VIOLATIONS.
HB1295 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE HEALTHCARE COST-SHARING COLLECTIONS ACT.
HB1297 L. Johnson CONCERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ALGORITHMS, AND OTHERAUTOMATED TECHNOLOGIES; AND TO REGULATE CERTAIN PRACTICES OF HEALTHCARE INSURERS.
HB1426 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE HEALTHCARE CONTRACTING SIMPLIFICATION ACT.
HB1735 Eaves TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS UNDERGROUND FACILITIES DAMAGE PREVENTION ACT; AND TO REVISE MEMBERSHIP IN THE ONE CALL CENTER UNDER THE ARKANSAS UNDERGROUND FACILITIES DAMAGE PREVENTION ACT.
HB1308 Steimel CONCERNING UNFAIR PRACTICES RELATED TO RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE REPAIR CONTRACTS; AND TO REGULATE SOLICITING RESIDENTIAL CONTRACTORS AND TREE CONTRACTORS.
SB323 J. Bryant TO AMEND THE HORIZONTAL PROPERTY ACT.
SB366 J. Boyd TO CREATE THE STRENGTHEN ARKANSAS HOMES ACT; AND TO CREATE THE STRENGTHEN ARKANSAS HOMES PROGRAM FUND.
HB1811 Steimel TO AMEND PROPERTY AND CASUALTY LAW; AND TO REQUIRE REASONABLE PROOF OF PAYMENT OF A DEDUCTIBLE TO RECOUP RECOVERABLE DEPRECIATION UNDER PROPERTY AND CASUALTY LAW.
HB1813 Gramlich TO ADOPT THE FAIR AND EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION COMPACT.
SB104 C. Penzo TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LICENSURE ACT; TO PROTECT PATIENTS' RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO MEDICATIONS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB405 J. Dismang TO AMEND THE ONLINE MARKETPLACE CONSUMER INFORM ACT.
HB1820 M. Brown TO REGULATE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL AND CONTINUOUS SERVICE OFFERS.
HB1821 Wardlaw TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE SYSTEM OF PROPERTY INSURANCE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, AND STATE-OWNED PROPERTY; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1826 Bentley TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR DELIVERY OF A NEWBORN IN A LICENSED BIRTHING CENTER.
HB1850 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING GROUND AMBULANCE SERVICES; TO CLARIFY THE MINIMUM ALLOWABLE REIMBURSEMENT FOR GROUND AMBULANCE SERVICES; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1853 J. Moore TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING AGENCY RELATIONSHIP AND DUTIES RELATED TO REAL ESTATE LICENSES; AND TO CLARIFY THE OBLIGATIONS OF DUAL AGENCY.
HB1859 Rose TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MASTECTOMIES.
SB103 C. Penzo TO CREATE THE PHARMACY NONDISCRIMINATION ACT; TO REQUIRE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS TO ACCEPT ANY PHARMACY OR PHARMACIST WILLING TO ACCEPT RELEVANT AND REASONABLE TERMS OF PARTICIPATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB420 Hester TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR WATER DEVELOPMENT STATE PROGRAMS; TO AMEND THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT; AND TO AMEND THE USES OF THE CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE REVOLVING LOAN FUND.
HB1863 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT MANAGER ACT; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1868 L. Johnson TO REQUIRE AN INSURER TO PAY A FAIR AND REASONABLE SERVICE FEE
DIRECTLY TO A FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR FIREFIGHTING SERVICES BASED ON TIME ON SCENE.
SB83 J. Bryant TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SURGERIES; TO REQUIRE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SURGERIES; AND TO ESTABLISH A MINIMUM REIMBURSEMENT RATE FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SURGERIES.
HB1409 Long TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ENERGY; AND TO CREATE THE ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ACT.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE, Mar 31, 2025 | Agenda | 3 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
Representative John Maddox Chair
Unverified
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
Speaker 54
Speaker 13
Speaker 14
Speaker 16
Speaker 17
Speaker 25
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
Speaker 29
Speaker 31
Speaker 33
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 55
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
Speaker 59
Speaker 62
Speaker 63
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
Speaker 12
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 80
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
Speaker 85
Speaker 100
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
Speaker 104
Representative Fred Allen
Unverified
Speaker 110
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
Speaker 22
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
Speaker 145
Speaker 61
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
Speaker 157
Speaker 161
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
Speaker 168
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
Speaker 181
Speaker 99
Speaker 185
Speaker 186
Speaker 187
Speaker 87
Speaker 36
Speaker 194
Speaker 201
Speaker 27
Speaker 199
Speaker 212
Speaker 132
Speaker 213
Speaker 218
Speaker 223
Speaker 180
Speaker 205
Speaker 160