Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development- House
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Bills discussed (20)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1680
Act 811
· 4 mentions in transcript, chapter, agenda
Matched: “House Bill 1680. Correct, sir? Yes. OK, I'm just making sure since I have s…”
|
TO PREVENT A FOREIGN-PARTY-CONTROLLED BUSINESS FROM LEASING LAND; AND TO PROHIBIT A PROHIBITED FOREIGN PARTY … | Vaught | Notification that HB1680 is now Act 811 |
|
SB327
Act 443
· 4 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “number. This is bill number. SB 327. Representative Lane Jean District 99.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PAYMENTS TO LOCALITIES. | Crowell | Notification that SB327 is now Act 443 |
|
HB1525
Act 923
· 3 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “…we're gonna cover I guess 1525. Is that correct, Mr. Chair? House Bill 1525 and what this is, this is an agricultural remediation bill,…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING REAL PROPERTY; AND TO ADDRESS AGRICULTURAL IMPACT REMEDIATION AGREEMENTS. | Steimel | Notification that HB1525 is now Act 923 |
|
SB218
Act 440
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB218 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEA…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM. | Irvin | Notification that SB218 is now Act 440 |
|
SB378
Act 446
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB378 Crowell TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE ARKANSAS ECONOMI…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE ARKANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SUBMIT A QUARTERLY REPORT CONCERNING … | Crowell | Notification that SB378 is now Act 446 |
|
SB388
Act 447
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB388 Crowell TO REPEAL THE ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT RELATED…”
|
TO REPEAL THE ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT RELATED TO THE PROGRESS OF FOREIGN OFFICES OF THE … | Crowell | Notification that SB388 is now Act 447 |
|
HB1562
Act 941
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1562 Gazaway CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF AN ORAL LEASE OF FARM…”
|
CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF AN ORAL LEASE OF FARMLANDS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING … | Gazaway | Notification that HB1562 is now Act 941 |
|
HB1675
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1675 Womack TO AMEND THE INSPECTION FEES UNDER THE ARKANSAS GRAD…”
|
TO AMEND THE INSPECTION FEES UNDER THE ARKANSAS GRADE "A" MILK PROGRAM ACT OF 1981. | Womack | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1681
Act 812
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EAL PROPERTY OR AGRICULTURAL LAND IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. HB1681 Vaught TO ESTABLISH THE WATER AND SEWER TREATMENT FACILITIE…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE WATER AND SEWER TREATMENT FACILITIES GRANT PROGRAM; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. | Vaught | Notification that HB1681 is now Act 812 |
|
HB1741
Act 526
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1741 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS AGRICULTURAL LIMING MATERI…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS AGRICULTURAL LIMING MATERIALS ACT. | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1741 is now Act 526 |
|
HB1743
Act 586
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1743 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FEED LAW OF 1997.”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FEED LAW OF 1997. | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1743 is now Act 586 |
|
HB1744
Act 530
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1744 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO FERTILIZER.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO FERTILIZER. | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1744 is now Act 530 |
|
HB1772
Act 529
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1772 Vaught CONCERNING VEGETABLE GARDEN PROTECTION.”
|
CONCERNING VEGETABLE GARDEN PROTECTION. | Vaught | Notification that HB1772 is now Act 529 |
|
SB275
Act 441
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…M THE SECURITIES RESERVE FUND; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB275 Irvin TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF LIQUEFI…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASES. | Irvin | Notification that SB275 is now Act 441 |
|
SB280
Act 442
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…LAW CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASES. SB280 Irvin TO DESIGNATE THE OIL AND GAS COMMISSION AS THE CUSTOD…”
|
TO DESIGNATE THE OIL AND GAS COMMISSION AS THE CUSTODIAN OF ALL PROPERTY AND THE … | Irvin | Notification that SB280 is now Act 442 |
|
SB361
Act 576
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB361 Dees TO CREATE THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES EXPAN…”
|
TO CREATE THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES EXPANSION ACT; AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CREATION OF … | Dees | Notification that SB361 is now Act 576 |
|
SB368
Act 445
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “AGENDA (REVISED 03/17/2025 @ 7:30 PM) Added SB368 and SB407 to Regular Agenda House Committee on Agriculture,…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MINERAL, TIMBER, AND OTHER RESOURCES ON STATE LANDS; TO REDUCE … | Irvin | Notification that SB368 is now Act 445 |
|
SB407
Act 577
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB407 Gilmore TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CATFISH PROCESSOR FAIR PRACT…”
|
TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CATFISH PROCESSOR FAIR PRACTICES ACT OF 1987. | Gilmore | Notification that SB407 is now Act 577 |
|
HB1045
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…GN OFFICES OF THE ARKANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION. HB1045 Cavenaugh TO PLACE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL PL…”
|
TO PLACE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL PLANNING A CROP RESIDUE BURN; AND TO ADDRESS … | Cavenaugh | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1742
Act 527
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1742 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO SEED CERTIFICATION.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO SEED CERTIFICATION. | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1742 is now Act 527 |
Machine transcript
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All right. All right, Representative Jean, you're recognized. Present your bill. If you would introduce yourself to the committee. what bill
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
0:18
number. This is bill number. SB 327. Representative Lane Jean District 99.
You're recognized. Thank you, sir. Uh, members today I bring you Senate Bill 327, this is, this is a practice we've been doing for over 30 years. This sets the amount of money that we pay the state fair, it's 800 and roughly $88,887,000 a year, uh, the state fair is owned. And all the buildings is owned by the state of Arkansas. They have a $1 a year lease to
the Fair association and for the last 30 something years we have been putting money in there to help them maintain the buildings and they pay probably a little over $200,000 to premiums for our kids to show cattle, hogs, chickens, rabbits, and stuff like that. But anyway, this is nothing new. We just set the pavement, uh, for the next 6 or 8 years and I'll entertain any questions. All right, committee, any questions?
Say no, anyone in the audience wish to speak for or against the bill. And I Representative Jane, you're. Clothes
Speaker 10
1:39
for your bill if you like. I'm, uh, I'm closed my bill. I appreciate
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
1:45
a good vote and I make a motion do pass. All right, we have a motion to
pass. All those in favor say aye. opposed Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, members of the committee.
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
2:07
Introduce yourself for the committee, please. Thank you, Mr. Steel, Representative, uh, District 2. So what I have here, uh, first off, uh, we're gonna cover I guess 1525. Is that correct, Mr. Chair? House Bill 1525 and what this is, this is an agricultural remediation bill, and this is going to be a good bill that will, will help as uh interest in wind and solar farms increase across the state of Arkansas. This will require You know, folks in uh the commercial renewable energy that
put these facilities in or require them to have a plan in place once the renewable energy facility is no longer usable. I mean, to me it's common sense legislation when we have only so much, uh, land in the state of Arkansas, and God isn't make me any more in Arkansas for us. So I feel this is a great piece of legislation that will put some stopgaps in place and allow um our farmland to return. To, uh, usable farmland against once that renewable energy field is, is, is out.
So with that, I'll take any questions, any questions? C9 represented to your Oh, hang on a minute. We have a salmon Marham here. Yeah, you would come to the table.
Simon Mayhan
Unverified
3:50
Good morning, uh, Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Simon Mayhan. I'm with the Southern Renewable Energy Association. We're a trade association of large scale wind, solar batteries and transmission developers, uh, I have some written testimony here, uh, that I'm gonna pass off to our, our representative here, uh, we are in support of this legislation and just want to let you all know that this is some common sense rules that that many of our developers already follow with our landowners, uh, having Plans in place of what to do
when the, the facilities are at the end of their life, so we're here to support the legislation. There is a couple of, of, uh, issues around potential uh double bonding uh for uh when you retire these facilities, but otherwise we are in support of this legislation. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right, any
Speaker 27
4:39
questions? Representative Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, sir, for your support of this legislation. I
Representative Kendra Moore
Unverified
4:45
just have a question regarding soil quality and potential herbicides that may be applied over several
consecutive decades with this remediation include returning that soil quality back to a productive status. Uh,
Simon Mayhan
Unverified
5:04
not, I'm not sure, uh, my understanding is most agricultural land uses already use herbicides and pesticides. And so I, to my knowledge, I don't think we use anything too different than what is already used on some of the other in some of the current agricultural use. I
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
5:25
Uh, to answer your question, to my understanding, yeah, that will be part of the plan is to make sure that that soil is usable as it was before it, uh, the solar field came in or the wind field
came in. All right, Committee, any other questions? All right. Anyone in the audience wish to be bar
or against the bill? No safety, you're ready to close for your bill? I am and I
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
5:49
appreciate, uh, the ability to close here what we have, uh, in front of us is some common sense
legislation that will help Arkansas farm owners, and I would also like to add that we uh placed an amendment in here and probably one of the most uh important amendments is that if it is a private, um farm owner that is putting in a solar field to power their facility, their personal facility. They do not have to enter in this agreement. I'm a big believer of the government shouldn't tell me what I can and can't do with my property. And with that, that amendment was put in there, so there would be no remediation
required if it was a private farm owner putting in a solar field to run his grain bins or any other uh facility on his personal property. So with that, I will, uh, you know, ask for a good vote. All right. See a motion due past.
We have a motion do pass. All those in favor say aye, posed. Congratulations, Representative,
your bill is passed. I believe you have one more.
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
6:57
I do, uh, there again, thank you, Mr. Chair. So I have SB 218. What this bill does, this is a bill that amends the Arkansas Small Business Innovation Research, uh, matching grant program, commonly known as the SBIR. And what this bill does, it lifts the lifetime cap of 3 awards under the state program. The Federal program has no caps and our limit penalizes the most innovative companies in Arkansas and discourages companies from potentially applying knowing
that they're limited to only 3 of these, uh, these grants. So currently the AEDC, you know, administers this program and they're OK with, uh, the lift of this, this, you know, limit of 3 to my understanding, and, um, you know, with that, you know, I'll take any questions. Committee. Any questions? So not anyone in
the audience wished to speak for or against the bill. Representative, you're ready to
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
7:58
close for your bill? Yes, I would appreciate a good vote on this and with that,
you know, I'm closed The emotion to pass. All those in favor say aye. Congratulations. Thank you,
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
8:14
Mr. Chair. Thank the committee. Uh, Francis OK. To
introduce yourself to this committee, we hardly ever see you.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
8:30
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Appreciate it. Uh, Frank Cavanaugh, state representative of District 30. Um, the first one is gonna be SB 378, and this is just a simple repeal of a bill that's known of a report that's no longer needed because it's already in another report that we get. And so this is just a, uh, repeal of unneeded statute and with that I take questions. All right, any questions? With
anyone in the audience wish to speak for or against the bill.
See that. We have a question, motion. Alright You ready to close for your bill? I'm ready to
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
9:10
close my bill. I appreciate a good
vote members have a motion. All those in favor say aye. Po. Congratulations, you have one
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
9:20
more. Yes, sir. Thank you. Um, this is gonna be SB 388. It's very similar. This is a repeal of another report that was established in 1989 and the last
time it was used was 1991. We're just asking to get it
off of the. The law books and with that I appreciate a good
vote? See, no one in the audience was to pick for or against the bill. Representative Rick close for your bill. I closed my
bill. I appreciate a good vote. All right, we have a motion to pass. All those in favor say aye. Pod Congratulations. Thank you, members. Appreciate it.
is Representative Gazaway here. He is not here. You go. You
Representative Kendra Moore
Unverified
10:26
Represent to introduce yourself. Jeremiah Moore, House District 61. Today I'm presenting Senate
Bill 275. This is another agency bill coming from the oil and gas commission. What this does, it has to do with the liquefied petroleum gas board or LG LPGB and it enables the LPGB to adopt the rule the requirements of a nationally recognized safety standards of national, national fire protection pamphlet 58 regarding the storage handling, transportation and use of liquefied petroleum. There is no known opposition. this board or to this bill, and with that, I would appreciate a good vote. All right, any questions committee?
Say not anyone in the audience will speak for or against the bill. Representative,
Speaker 27
11:10
I'm closed for my bill and I motion to pass. All right, we have a motion to pass.it, what's the will? I way in
favor say aye. That was a post. Thank you. Congratulations. All right, Mr. Gasaway's
not here. Representative Volt. Would you like to present your bill?
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
11:44
Alright Representative DMa District 87. All right, you're recognized
to present your bill, and it is
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
11:55
House Bill 1680. Correct, sir? Yes. OK, I'm just making sure since I have several on there today. Um, today, uh, I bring you a house bill 1680. I want to give you a little bit of back information before we talk about the bill itself. According to the most recent USDA Department
of Agriculture, uh, report on foreign holdings of the of the US agricultural land throughout December the 31st of 2023, foreign entities owned 1,597,000 acres. Of agriculture land in Arkansas. Arkansas is ranked the 3rd ranked 3rd in the country for the largest increase in foreign held agricultural acres in 2023 with 187,000 acres increase. From 2022.
Um At the total foreign ownership 1,143. 1,984 acres are, uh, in the forest land and 368. 167 acres are in crop land. The increasing amount of foreign owned. State Farmland raises many concerns. I was gonna point out just a couple of them today, but
foreign ownership could lead to the transfer of valuable agriculture technology and intellectual property to other countries, potentially undermining the competitiveness of US agriculture. In addition, the increased demand from the foreign buyers may drive up land prices, making it more difficult for our local farmers and residents to own land. The presence of foreign owned land, particularly by entities linked to China.
Uh, Communist Party has raised concerns about potential foreign influence and control over critical resources. Furthermore, ownership of land near critical infrastructure sites such as military bases and electric, um, substations raises national security concerns. There's a risk that such ownership could be used to espionage. Or other activities to threaten the United States' security. The presence of foreign owner owned farms can alter the dynamics of
local farming in our communities, potentially leading to changes in land use and agricultural practices. Also land prices and competitiveness from foreign investors can lead to the displacement of our local farmers who may struggle to compete financially. Recognizing the concerns associated with foreign ownership of the American farmland, the US Congress passed the Agriculture, Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978.
This law requires foreign entities to report purchases, sales, and interest in US agricultural land to USDA. Through the farmer agencies. It defines foreign entities broadly including individuals, companies, and even foreign governments. So I want to talk about a few things that we've already done in our state. In recent years, Arkansas has taken significant legislative steps. To address concerns over foreign ownership of agricultural land,
particularly focusing on entities linked to China Communist Party. Other countries that are adversarial to the United States also are included in that. These efforts aim to protect the state's economy and security interests by limiting foreign influence and ownership in critical resources of our critical resources. So in 2021, we had Act 10:46, which required 4 foreign owners
of Arkansas land to submit a copy of their AFIDA to the farmer, um, agency. Uh, the form that they have to turn in is called 153. Um, and they have to turn it into our Arkansas Department of Agriculture, non-compliance can result in fines up to 25% of the land market value. In 2023 we had Acts 6:36, which prohibits foreign party controlled businesses from owning public or private land in Arkansas.
It prohibit entities under this act include entities subject to the Federal International traffic in arms regulation, which is known as the ITAR which targets uh countries like China, North Korea, Iran, and the Russian Federation. The act has led to the following actions by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. On October 17th, 2023, the Department of Agriculture sent a letter to the Attorney general
requesting an investigation into yenta, a Chinese state-owned chemical company. And their ownership of 160 acres of farmland in Craig County. The company agreed to divest the property and pay a $280,000 fine for not filing the appropriate foreign ownership paperwork with the state. On December 11th of 2023, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture sent a letter to the Attorney general requesting an
investigation of Razer, Razer or reserve, I'm not sure which way it's pronounced. Machinery LLC due to their Chinese ownership, ultimately the attorney general found that there was not a violation of the current Arkansas law due to Chinese ownership's long term lease agreement. On December 11th, 2023, the, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting an investigation of Jones digital
LLC, the Chinese, uh, owners of these digital assets or crypto mining operations are currently contesting the Arkansas statute in federal court. On July 23rd of 2024, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture sent a letter to the Attorney general requesting an investigation of Zero Street LLC in Fort Smith. Ultimately, the Attorney General found that there was no violation of the current law, uh, here in Arkansas. So now let's talk a little bit
about House Bill 1680 and what it would do. It would amend Act 633 from the 2023 session. It, uh, This, it will be a banning CCP linked companies from Uh, from holdings of any interest in agricultural land within a 10 mile radius of critical infrastructure. And you can find the the definition for critical infrastructure on page 2 of the bill lines 5 through 22.
That will include military installations and facilities, emergency services, power generation or transmission, uh, locations, utilities, bridges, tunnels, railways, dams, security, cybersecurity or classified information storage systems and communication of information technology nods or facilities. It will also be expanding the scope of restrictions by barring a prohibited foreign party
control business from leasing any interest in the uh land in the state. You'll find this on page 2, line 32. We're also going to be shortening the divest period of prohibited foreign party control businesses from 2 years to 1 year, and you can find that on page 6. Expanding the definition of agricultural land to include land within the corporation uh corporate limits of a municipality. Um, that's pretty much what the bill will do, I think, um, if we have questions, I can ask the
secretary to come up here, um. To help me answer questions if need be, any questions? Seeing man.
You got one. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Representative Vau, I don't know if you
Speaker 70
20:22
can answer this or the Department of I can answer it, but just kind of something came to my mind and, and you mentioned that and I understand the prohibitive foreign parties
Speaker 68
20:31
and all, but we have still have a large amount of foreign ownership. Is there any
particular, or do you have any information on where these foreign ownerships are coming from.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
20:45
Where are they from? Yes sir. I can give you some of where they've come from. Just a second, um, we have some from Canada, some from the Netherlands, some from Germany, um, and there's, uh, A lot in the other section, it doesn't list them all out for me, but it's like 508,000 acres of land that's just in
Speaker 68
21:03
the other section is there any particular country where there's a larger
percentage or is it just kind of balance out? I mean, do we have more Canadians down here buying land or do we have more people from Argentina? I know
Speaker 70
21:14
a lot of crop ro crop land, people from Argentina have been buying. Right, um, the secretary Mike
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
21:20
can come answer that for me because I'm not sure that I'll give the correct answer. and I don't want to be wrong. Hopefully I wasn't wrong by what
Speaker 77
21:32
I just said. I went, would you introduce yourself? Yes, sir. Westward, Arkansas Department of Agriculture and Representative Vau uh was, was absolutely correct. So, uh, tho those
Speaker 79
21:39
categories through that through the USDA report that we get, uh, we get, uh, completed every year. We get copies of those FSA forms and those filings, but, uh, the largest, the largest ownership is Canada and the Netherlands are the two biggest. Germany is 3rd and then uh just a a broad variety of countries make up the other
Speaker 80
21:57
508,000 acres. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Alright. Commit, any other questions? All right, we
have someone signed up to speak against the bill. Russell Thomas.
Mr. Thomas, if you would introduce yourself for the committee. And you're recognized to
Russell Thomas
Unverified
22:28
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Russell Thomas. I'm from Hot Springs, Arkansas, um, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak, uh, before you regarding the proposed amendment to the law restricting property ownership of citizens of certain foreign countries. I'm not only here as an almost
lifelong Arkansan, but also as someone whose family is directly and unjustly impacted by this legislation. I was born here in the United States. And I've lived in Arkansas for 50 years. My wife was born in Soviet Union. She immigrated here legally 30 years ago. She took up American citizenship 15 years ago. Our daughter is 23 years old. She was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and has lived in the same house her entire life.
Um, under the laws of both nations, my wife and my daughter are dual citizens of the US They have US citizenship. They have Russian citizenship, um. As the law currently stands, it prohibits citizens from a list of countries, including China, Russia, and about 20 others from owning real property through legal entities such as trusts, corporations, partnerships, etc. Additionally, individuals from these countries are restricted from owning agricultural land. The penalties for violating
these laws are very severe foreclosure. Fans of up to $15,000 in imprisonment for two years. That probably is per Incident potentially per piece of property or entity or something. Um, while the law does provide exemptions for permanent residents, green card holders, for example. It fails to Protect those who've taken the ultimate step of embracing American values by becoming US
citizens. Incredibly, the very act of naturalization strips. These people Of their rights. To own property, the protections that they had when they were here on the green card are lost once they become a US citizen. This means that My family, along with tens of thousands of others and
including, I believe the Jones digital case you referred to that gentleman is a US citizen. He was naturalized. Um, and, and it was not his was not farmland. His was a crypto or Um, a farm, I mean a crypto industry. Um It means my family along with tens of thousands of others could face foreclosure on their properties, we rightfully own and invested in our entire life savings into even though we have no mortgages.
It means we could be fined and imprisoned, not for any wrongdoing but for the fact that my wife and daughter have dual citizenship. As for myself, I could be charged simply for acting as a fiduciary or agent in managing the, the properties for them. Furthermore, the definite, I mean, um. The law must be amended to correct this injustice, in my opinion. US citizens, including dual
citizens should not be punished for embracing the American dream. I urge the committee to add some exemptions and affirmative defenses for US citizens. That currently exists for resident aliens who are people who are simply Citizens of these other countries that are here on a visa. They have more rights than American citizens do under this law. Furthermore, the definition of
prohibited foreign party should explicitly exempt US citizens, including dual citizens from these restrictions. The law as it stands goes against the very values our nation holds. It casts suspicion on loyal Americans based solely on their heritage. I implore you To ensure that Arkansas remains a place where immigrants who follow the law work hard and become US citizens are not treated as second-class citizens. Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope the
committee will take some necessary steps to protect families like mine from unjust penalties and uphold principles of fairness and equity under the law. All right, Mr.
Thomas, are you willing to take questions? Yes,
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
27:19
absolutely. Committee, any questions, Marcus? Thank you for your testimony for coming here today. So, This particular as it's written right now both naturalized citizens. As well as dual citizens.
could actually fall under. The uh the potential Fines and property and all that other stuff. Yes, they did. OK. Follow up Yes Representative Bont, would you comment on that, please? I would Uh I would, I
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
27:52
would disagree because it doesn't matter if you're a US citizen, you're a US citizen. It doesn't matter how many citizenships you have, you're still a United States citizen. So this does not
negatively infect, uh, affect in any way. I mean I can have the secretary come to the table and answer the question also, but it does not negatively affect anyone that is a US citizen, no matter how many citizenships they have. Mr.
Speaker 101
28:18
Chair, could we have the secretary come? Yes. Yes, sir. Westport Department of
Speaker 79
28:34
Agriculture. Did you hear my question? I, I did, yes, sir, and so I, I, I would agree with Representative Vaugh, you know, I, I do think that, uh, just like the US Constitution does not specifically state that US citizens are entitled to own property. There are other provisions of the US Constitution, uh, as well as what we believe the Arkansas Constitution that that provide those protections for US citizens, so we, we do not understand that this bill would impact a US citizen's ability to own, uh, or, or do anything with, with personal uh property.
rights. Follow up, sir. Again, I I'm sorry, but this is an important
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
29:10
matter, sir. I'm sorry, sir, I've forgotten your name. Russell Thomas. Mr. Thomas, we're in the bill specifically, do you know or can you point out
in the bill what causes you the most concerned about this issue, OK, so in in 1680. If
Russell Thomas
Unverified
29:27
we go to Um Line 25 of page 2.
We have a prohibited foreign party. And it's defined as being the same as in 18. 11802. In 1811, 802. of foreign A prohibited foreign party means a citizen or a resident. Of a country subject subject to the uh international traffic and arms regulations. It has a CFR citation to it. So,
If you're a dual citizen, you're a citizen of both countries. And I repeat, the definition of a prohibited foreign party is a citizen. Of a country subject to this regulation to the IFAR. Would anybody else like to read this?
Speaker 88
30:21
I'm sorry, what was that question? OK, alright. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Speaker 92
30:41
When you, when you continue with that definition. The, the
Russell Thomas
Unverified
30:46
real problem comes with the Um Definition of the foreign control business. Yeah, I trust is falls under that. Uh, our family's properties are all in self-directed. IRA accounts, retirement accounts, which are trust. And the definition Of a prohibited business. is a trust that is controlled.
Speaker 113
31:15
By a prohibited foreign party. Representative Steele. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just
Speaker 79
31:27
ask the Secretary to respond to that. Yes, sir. So I, I think, uh, our, our position would, would still be the, would still be the same, yes, sir. So I, I think, you know, portions of that were already, uh, in, in the current law as as it existed and we haven't had anybody try to challenge that particular portion, uh, under a dual US citizenship, uh, and certainly it is not of the the intent of
the department they're not specifically stated, you know, trying to prove a negative, I guess, but, you know, it's uh there there's no intent of the department or or the state to pursue any any. US citizen and their ability to and their property rights in the state work
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
32:03
and so on. Representative Steele, yeah, just follow up and I'm sorry, Mr. Richardson, I did forget your last name. Thomas Thomas, Mr. Thomas, these proceedings, you know these proceedings are are videotaped, so. So if this legislation would cause you any problems in the
future you would have evidence and testimony from the representative and the secretary of the Agriculture Department saying On record that this would not indirectly affect you. I, I hear you,
Speaker 114
32:32
but I, I don't a large number of properties and I'm getting to an older
Speaker 91
32:38
age. And if, if my daughter and my wife inherit these, uh, they would have great
Speaker 88
32:46
difficulty dealing with this. The letter of
Russell Thomas
Unverified
32:49
the law. is what I'm telling you. The, the other interpretations we're getting are, here's how we feel, this is what we think. Point blank, this needs to protect US citizens. It is incredibly offensive that it does not. It protects resident aliens but not US citizens. Shepherd. Mr.
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
33:14
Chairman. It looks like to
me this, this may be an issue that that already is existed in existing
law. Do you agree with that? I agree, but this also expands it. Well, I understand, but, but just to be clear, this is an issue in existing law. It doesn't it, I understand that Representative Vox's bill expands the prohibitions and I recall that I believe when this, when the underlying legislation ran, I think actually it was amended or there was definitely a discussion about about uh allowing resident aliens to continue to have to be able to
own property and I think there's a provision that if you are no longer Alien, you have a certain period of time to divest
Speaker 109
34:01
yourself of that property. That's correct. I agree with that and and the way you, a lot of people are divesting that a resident alien status
Speaker 114
34:08
is by becoming a US citizen. And then they fall into the grasp of this
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
34:14
law. I think I agree with you that this is just, it's, it's a uh I think clearly the intent was to
prohibit citizens of these countries from owning land, there was a carve out to allow resident aliens to own land, but this dual citizenship issue is just something that was, I don't recall it ever being discussed when the previous bill
Speaker 109
34:36
was brought through. That's correct, but in 2023, there was a previous bill, I think it was House Bill 1225. I saw it. And I responded, I sent every sponsor emails try to discuss it with people that that bill was
withdrawn a few weeks later. What became AC 363636. Uh, slipped through without me seeing it, but I've tried for two years,
Russell Thomas
Unverified
35:03
dozens of contacts. With a lot of legislators and, and most of my local delegation, pointing out this issue and uh just asking for one simple thing, exempt US citizens. You exempt resident aliens, so
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
35:23
exempt your citizens. So and, and is that, that's your issue with this bill, is that right? That's
Speaker 114
35:28
what I'm here arguing. I mean, there's other issues, but that, that
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
35:31
one is all I really need to take on this is the one that you think is just. Absolutely. So what I, and I was texting with the AG's office about this, so what I would ask is that, uh, I mean, That I, I guess what I would ask is the sponsor would pull it down, let us have a discussion on putting an amendment on, uh, even though this was not, this is not an issue created by this
bill. It's just highlighting an issue that may have already existed and hopefully we can resolve that. I think we can pretty
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
36:03
easily. I agree. And with the committee's permission, I can pull it down because that's not the
intent. We believe if you're a US citizen, this should
not affect you. And he, and Representative Shepherd is correct. He is speaking to what is already current law, not to this bill.
All right, so represent the boss pulling the bill down for amendment. Good job, Mr. Thomas. Thank you.
I'm sorry, you OK with that speaker? Let him go, didn't I? Then you have one more bill. I have
Speaker 50
36:41
2 more, but yes, 1 more. Yes, sir. 2. Oh, she does, doesn't she? OK, I see. Um Is that
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
36:47
House Bill 1681 next. Alright. So, uh, um, for the last several
years we have discussed, talked about water infrastructure, sewer, uh, treatment plants in the state of Arkansas and how they're lacking, uh, last session, I had a bill that I was hoping would get through, that would help start a new grant program. We didn't really know where the funding would come from, so, uh, we pulled it down to work on it, uh, some more. Uh, I do believe water and sewer are sewer. treatment plants are an economic development for our state. If we don't have adequate water, we
don't have adequate sewer treatment, then we are not going to attract businesses to come here. Um, we've done lowered income tax, we've done all these wonderful things to try to attract businesses to come here, and this is the one issue in which we've not, uh, tackled. Uh, so House Bill 1681, uh, would establish the water sewer treatment plant facilities grant program. Uh, in 2021, the Department of Agriculture survey shows that, uh, we had a.
$5 billion need in the state of Arkansas for water and wastewater, uh, needs. In 2024, that same department, same exact agricultural departments survey shows that it's close to $9 billion that we need here in the state of Arkansas now. Uh, what if we keep on, um, our current trajectory, uh, crumbling water sewer infrastructure and most parts of the state capacity challenging, uh, challenges stifling growth,
uh, and already seeing missed economic development opportunities in our state. The cost of capital in uh construction continues to move out of the reach of so many of these systems. Uh, this program will provide a source of funding to bend the curve or the trajectory that our state is on and get as many projects as we can into, uh, action. This truly is a statewide issue. This is not a red issue, a blue
issue. It's not a Northwest Arkansas issue, a Southwest Arkansas issue, it is truly, uh, an entire state issue that we have, um, This is how we are looking to fund it. Uh, $50 million of interest swept from the security reserve refund after. And I want everybody to truly understand that. That's after all the obligations that already come out of there. So, um, Just because we say 50 million
doesn't mean that there'll be 50 million left over after the four categories above, uh, the this, uh, new grant would be, if those are not filled, then this gets no money. If there's a 100,000 left, then they might get $100,000. We're not going above anybody else that's already taking money from that fun. 80% of the funding to be used for systems and with 1200 plus uh people in their area. The matching funds required,
there'll be matching funds required in projects must be what we call shovel ready. 20% of these funds would be used in systems under 1200. No matching required because these are small rural areas in which they probably do not have money saved up where they can do a match, and they don't have to be shovel-ready. Because a lot of those places also cannot afford to have an engineer come in and help them get ready to be shovel ready.
All projects must also be uh be started within one year of getting the money. Um, no system is eligible to actually apply more than once. Um If the and I'll go back to, if there's less than 50 million retaining, uh, remaining in that account of the security reserves, then, uh, that lowers the opportunity for these grants to be given out. So if there's less than 50 million, that means there's less grants that can be taken out of there, um.
And can only uh utilize what remains unobligated, obligations were important, so we were trying to put it on as many safeguards as we could. We were trying to be as physically responsible as we could, knowing that we have lots of communities that need help. Uh, the rules would be established by the ANRC, uh, and they would be approved by ALC, um. They will, uh, they will also A NRC will manage the grants, um, which will be similar to a
revolving lot program. They already are set up over there, ARNC is to be able to do grants. It was a, we felt like the easiest way to get the grant program started because they already know how to do the process. They already have great connections, uh, with the people who are over the water systems in our areas. There are mayors, county judges, whatever it might be. So we thought that might be the easiest way to do it, uh, this will use no. General revenue ever. And, uh, no use of funds
obligated again, um. No use of funds obligated from other sources, uh, in regular RSA funding, uh, the program is also set to sunset in 10 years, uh, there was several reps that actually helped with drafting this. I want to thank all of them who actually came to several meetings that, uh, we had trying to make sure that we were all on the same page, um. Trying to keep it as narrow as we could as physically
responsible as we could because we know there's grants out there that people can get from the federal government. We want them to go get those first. And then let this be something that can be added on to to help them finish up a project. All right, are you ready
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
43:07
for questions? Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I tell the committee I have worked with, uh, Representative Fal and others on this. How long have we been working on this this is my
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
43:21
working on water issues in my district. I have people who turn on their water, and it's Mud coming out. Uh, you can't bathe a child in mud, you can only boil so much water, um, and it's devastating to see, uh, things such as that. I worry about schools shutting down, I worry about nursing homes, what we're gonna do with nurse, you know, people that are in the nursing home when they don't have adequate water, um, and I worry about, uh, You know, schools is important
too, but also our hospitals. If hospitals don't have good clean water, they can't be open also. So it's, it's an issue that I think is. Has to be at least a step taken forward in us trying to help fix it.
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
44:04
I appreciate all your help with it. Thank you and follow up and uh you and the other members uh representative Will Rich, uh, who was intimately involved as well. Uh, what role did the, the, the speaker play in this and, and how closely have you worked with the governor's office?
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
44:22
the is very much in favor of this.
Uh, he said that everywhere he's gone. Across the state of Arkansas, the number one topic every everybody brings up. You would think that would be Rhodes or it might be this, that or the other, he said, but everywhere he goes, it's always water. Everybody wants to know when and how can we fix the water situation in the state of Arkansas. And the governor's office, we have worked with the governor's office. They've had people from the ag department, uh, in the
meetings, um, they've had some of their people, uh, that work in the agriculture field or the water field in our meetings.
Representatives Representative Cozart. President, I thank you for what you're
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
45:05
doing on this and the, and the people that have worked with it, as you know, Hot Springs has always been a big problem with water now we pretty well cured ours by doing a lot of uh grants and Millages and things like that, and we do have a new water system, but would you say, we
have a lot of rural water around my area, uh, Kemsey Water, we got a couple of board members here from Kinsey Water, I believe, uh, that should help them with some of their infrastructure where they're running two smaller lines need bigger lines and things like that so they could apply for some of this grant money too. All right, thank you. I appreciate it. Representative Moore. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you,
Speaker 143
45:46
Representative Vaut for bringing this. You know, I'm a huge supporter of this bill and what this bill's trying to do. Obviously, water is a huge
Resource for citizens in our state to your point, not only for just the health and well-being, but also for, um, economic growth. My and I know you addressed this somewhat, but I just want to make sure my Concern with the bill is just on page 3, line 26 on the shovel ready. I just wanna make sure and, and again, you did address this to some extent, but I just want to make sure that this does not skew this for larger municipalities that already have the engineering plans ready to
go in order for these smaller Municipalities to have an opportunity at this too, maybe that can be further refined during the ALC process. So what we did was we
Speaker 144
46:39
created two different buckets. For the
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
46:41
grant funding to come through. One of them would be your smaller communities that definitely cannot get there on their own to be shovel ready, but maybe they could use some of their federal funds that they go and try to capture, uh, to help them get there and then hours
would come in behind it and hopefully help them be able to finish it. But the two different buckets was on purpose, one for those larger municipalities, one for those smaller ones who couldn't actually get there. All right. Market. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
47:18
I appreciate you. Taking on this, it's a monumental task to try to address this, and it's been going on for quite a while, as you've stated. I know that in Scott County, the, the primary industry, the largest industry
we have there. Has put a moratorium on Development because of the water situation that we have there. And if that particular it's Tyson's, that particular business goes away, then there's just really because of the way Scott County is made up. It's, it's 84%. Uh, watched National Forest. And so there's not a lot of room for any other kind of development stuff beyond what we have there, just kind of along
the roads and stuff like that. So I don't know how much this is going to help us, but I'm hopeful that this will mitigate some of these issues that we have. I mean, landowners can't even put new chicken houses on their property now. Because there's moratorium. And it all comes down to the, the water supply and the capability of the water. So again, I'm hoping that and maybe you can say this, the question is, do you think it will help? Our kind of situation as well.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
48:32
So the intent is for it to help for things
like. What you're describing also, um, I hate that our small rural communities are missing out on economic development, due to the fact that we can't afford to fix the rural water situation or the or the sewer situations in our districts, um, I've got. Uh Carson has the uh plant that's close to mine, and they have been asking for several years for this community to please do
something with the water. They can't afford to do it. We can't afford to lose Tyson. They've already lost Husqvarna down there, and they can't afford also to lose Tyson from that area, just because we can't supply them the water that they need to be able to manage the plant in which they, that's sitting there now. So, hopefully we can help with that. Does this fix all of our woes? No, this does not, but we're hoping that this will be a step into the right direction. We have to start somewhere. All right, committee, any other questions?
Speaker 147
49:33
You reckon that? I'm, I'm, I'm completely for this. But during your time working on this. Um And I know you have to, you have to ask for what you think you might can achieve, but Uh, the funding is not even gonna be. Close to what we're going to need, so I mean, did you explore any other revenue sources. So, um, Secretary might correct me if
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
50:03
I'm wrong. I think there's like $1.3 million or a billion dollars worth of federal grants that they are low interest. Loans that communities can go after. Am I right, sir? Please tell me if I'm wrong. Do you want to come talk to that? Can, if that's OK with Mr. Chair. Yes, that'd be fine, Secretary
West. Uh, Westport Department of Agriculture and uh appreciate
Speaker 79
50:34
the, the opportunity to, to comment and uh I, I maybe just start while the department's staying neutral on this bill. We, you know, certainly the water is a, is a very big priority for the governor and uh we're just, we're just highlight to to the point about available funding, you know, we, we think that there's about, uh, you know, a large need for sure across the state and right now we've got several, uh several different programs that that exist uh that provide funding so uh overall uh available kind of varies because some of that ties to to federal programs
and availability of those, uh, but, you know, we, we do have, um, like 7 different water programs, different eligibility, different loans, and, and, um, principal forgiveness available through those. So there, there's a broad range of, of, of activities that were, that we're currently doing within the state to address water needs and uh to include the governor's efforts to do the state water plan to help identify and appropriately prioritize those. May I add something
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
51:30
to that before you ask another question if that's OK. So,
I love that this is all out there, but not all communities actually can capture this money. It's gonna depend on what their income rate is. It's gonna depend on the number of people that's there. There's a lot of factors that factor into whether you can actually get these or not, OK? So we were trying to make it where. If you can't capture this, maybe you can capture
this. Trying to do, make it easier for some communities, yeah, and
Speaker 147
52:09
I've, I'm, I'm not gonna put anybody on the spot, but To me this, this should be a priority over possibly some of the other money that we spend as a state, but we, we do need to do this, but it's so widespread, you know, statewide. And I'm just afraid the amount of money that we're talking about, I'm not for sure it's. It's more like a band-aid than a fix. So anyway, I appreciate. I would 100% agree. I've said
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
52:35
in several meetings, this is a band-aid, and at some point we
have to quit putting Band-Aids on because the band-aids keep rupturing. I mean because of that we're where we're at and some of that would be because communities, uh, didn't raise rates for a long time. They didn't take care of, uh, the situation early on. We passed legislation last year. Last year, I believe, or maybe the year before, I can't remember for sure which one, which made them start raising their rates, they have to do a study, they have to raise their rates, uh, those kind of things,
um, which they should have been doing all along, but in your rural areas, a lot of that is elderly people who are on a fixed income, and it was hard for these boards to say they were going to raise the rate when they know
the majority of the people in their area are in a fixed income. Right? Thank you. We have Any other
questions? We have 4 people in the audience that wish to speak part of the bill, uh,
Steve, you wish to speak part of the bill? If you could make it brief.
Speaker 135
53:48
Uh Introduce yourself for the committee, please. Yes,
Speaker 155
53:57
I am. My name is Steve Duras. I am the director of utilities for the city of Iberian Municipal Utilities. I am also a representative of the Arkansas Water and Wastewater Managers Association. I am a I serve on the city of
Van Buren Chambers, Economic development. Committee on the Governmental Affairs Committee, so I said all that to say water is a big deal. This is a huge bill. The waterso the water systems are behind it. It's a great start and uh I'll just tell a brief story up on my wall in my office. I have a A copy of the bill for the first piece of water pipe. Purchase for the city of Ambi and it was purchased in 1892,
installed in 1893, and in my 33 years of working on that system, it's still there. So fortunately through some of the previous legislation that was mentioned, um, Act 6:05 and working toward, um, Laying out a plan for Actual real rate studies that really tell the true story of our water and sewer systems. That was huge. That allowed us, my commission, city council, and cities like us to move forward with setting a plan to take care of our.
Take care of our business, so and through the Department of Agriculture and some of the loans that were mentionedan Buren was just approved for about $14 million in some. Some really good loans, so if we never are eligible for any of this grant funds, you know, our hope is we got a lot of shovel-ready projects, but that's municipalities like us, it's laying the groundwork for a future to really take care of our system and our, I will say our water operators haven't been ignoring this issue for 130
years. I get asked, well, why didn't you fix this before? It's like, well, I've only been there 33 years and we're rates get really political, so I, I, I really appreciate. what the, what this body has done. So, um, thank you, you're ready for questions? Yes sir. Any questions? Thank you, sir. Thank you. plants.
Lance Mcevoy
Unverified
56:20
Would you introduce yourself for the committee, please. Yes, Mr. Chair, my name is Lance McEvoy. I'm the director of water utilities for the city of Fort Smith. As most of you, if not all of you know Fort Smith is under a federal consent decree. Because for decades, the sewer system was not maintained. Um, whether that be to. You know, past boards of directors or whatever, I can only speak to the last. 5 years that I've been in charge. And we have been putting forward a large amount of work.
But we also have water so you can focus on sewer, you can focus on water, but when it comes down to it, what makes Arkansas great is we do have abundant fresh water. That water not only goes to sanitation, so during COVID, hard to believe that we were looking at in 2020 this month, going on lockdown. But if you didn't have clean water, how did you wash your hands not to spread the disease? We have small communities that Fort Smith serves, Chester, Winslow. Concord
They get their water from us but they are a small system. Some of these systems have less than 1000 people. They have water tanks that they need repaired, but it's hard to to bring up the amount of money, even if it's $400,000. To fix a water tank this would help them tremendously. Um, you know, the question was $50 million. Is that enough? And the answer is no. But I also want to point out that with the match.
You're that the larger systems have to put in, you're actually seeing up to a $90 million benefit to the state on infrastructure. This is an infrastructure problem for the entire state. And as a member of the uh Arkansas Water and Wastewater Managers Association. Our organization supports this wholeheartedly and I'll sit for questions. Any any questions? CNN, thank you,
sir. You did a good job. He was great. Daniel
Daniel Dawson
Unverified
58:33
Introduce yourself please for the committee. My name is Daniel Dawson. I'm the general manager for Cersei Water Utilities up in White County. Uh, Cersei, water utility supplies, uh, most of the water needs for all of White County, so our actual uh population served is is over nearly 70,000 people, even though Cersei itself only has 23,000. Um, I'm, I'm just here to, to echo what what Lance and Steve have already said and what, uh what all all the all the others have said as well.
Uh, Cersei is of of the size, so we, we have reserves, we have opportunity to apply for loans and, and, and things from ANRC. We probably won't ever be able to use the utilize this, but there are a lot of rural communities even in White County that could really tap into this. And, and the, and the matching as Lance said, the matching ability, uh, that, that really expands the use of the money. And so I, I'm just, I'm just here just very briefly to say we,
Speaker 161
59:31
we support it and uh we hope that you supported as well.
All right. Thank you, sir. Committee, any questions? Thank you. He that
another OK. Michael. All right, well, good deal. Representative Vaughan. You're ready to close
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
59:54
for your bill? Yes, sir. Thank you to the gentleman that came and spoke, spoke for the bill. I think it was, uh, clarity that this is not just a
rich, poor, uh, red, blue, uh, North, South, whatever. You want to put there, um, Issue this truly is a state issue, um. If nothing else, people deserve to have clean water come through their pipes to be able to cook with, to be able to wash their clothes with, bathe their children, keep our, uh, hospitals open, be able to keep our nursing homes open, be able to keep our schools up and running, um, again, I appreciate everyone that's helped with the
bill. Uh, I do believe it's a good bill and I hope that I'll get a, a good vote and with that, I close
and make a motion to pass. We have a motion to pass. All those in favor say aye. Pod Congratulations. Representative Woolridge. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:01:02
Jeremy Wooldridge State Representative District one. All right, you presenting.
HB 1741. Yes sir, HB 1741, uh, committee, thank you for the opportunity to sit before you and before I get started, thank you for the vote on your, on that last bill. It's definitely important for the state. Thank you, Representative Vont. Uh, HB 1741 is a department bill. All four of these are department bills. They're in essence, technical correction, uh, bills you can see it takes some of the um Some of the kind of clerical work for lack of a better word, off of the, the state plant board puts it on to the Department of Agriculture that
it uses some different word changes um with associated fees to sums and costs and things like that with that, I'll answer any questions. All right, committee, any questions? Ain't no
anyone in the audience here to speak for or against the bill. No, you really clothes for your bill? Yes, sir, and I'd like to remind the committee
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:02:00
I'm the one that turned the air conditioning down, so with that, I'd appreciate a good vote. I see a
motion? We have a motion to pass. All those in favor say aye, opposed.
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:02:13
Congratulations, HB 1742. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you committee Jeremy Wooldridge State Representative District one. This bill is, is identical to the last. I'm happy to answer
any questions, any questions? Say that one of the audience was to speak for or against the bill. Now, Representative clothes for your bill. I'm closed,
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:02:32
and I would ask for a good vote. All
right, I see a motion. a motion to pass all those in favor say aye, opposed. Congratulations. House Bill 1743. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:02:44
Thank you committee. Jeremy Wooldridge, State Representative District one. This bill is just like the last technical corrections. It's a department bill and with that, I'll answer any questions. Any questions, committee, saying no when the all
would speak for or against the bill? No, Representative, you ready clothes for your bill. I'm closed, sir, and asked for a good vote. All right, I see a motion?
Speaker 172
1:03:03
The motion do pass. All those in favor say aye. Proposed. Congratulations. House Bill 1744. Thank you, Mr. Chairman Jeremy Wooldridge State Representative District one,
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
1:03:14
House Bill 1744 is basically a technical correction bill as well as the department bill changes the plant board to the Department of Ag and then substitute some additional language and with that, I'll take any questions. right, committee, any questions? said no when the wish to speak for or
against the bill? No, Representative clothes for your bill. I'm closed for my bill and ask for a good vote.
All right, I see a motion? See a motion. All right, all those in favor say aye, posed. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you committee. All right, that quick enough, Jimmy? All right, you're up.
Representative Jimmy Gazaway
Unverified
1:03:59
You introduce yourself for the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, State Representative Jimmy Gazaway, District 31. You recognize to present your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. House Bill 1562 is a very simple bill. I was contacted by a local attorney, uh, relates about this issue. relates to the termination of oral leases on farmland, and right now it's very interesting. We have a statute that says if
there's an oral lease as to farm land, there's a specific way that there's the only way that you can terminate it is by sending certified mail to the renter or lessee on or before June 30th that the oral rental or lease agreement will be, will not be renewed for the following calendar year. This just and so the the statute's written, the only way you can give that notice is certified mail. How many of you have used the US mail Postal Service lately. It's not the most reliable in
the world, and this attorney was like, why can't I just send a process server over there with the notice that I want, I want to terminate the lease and have them personally served, that would be the easiest way to let this person know that we're not renewing the lease, but I can't do that because the statute says it must be done by certified mail, so strictly comply with the statute requires you to use the US Postal Service, so he asked me to bring this bill to change it to say, uh, you. give written notice by any
method of service permitted under Rule 4 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, which would include by process server would include by certified mail would include, I suppose, by like warning order in a newspaper, although I don't think anybody would choose that method. Um. But anyway, it just makes it easier for People to provide actual notice, that's all it does. Happy to
answer any questions in the audience wish to speak for or against the bill? No, Representative close for your
bill. Clothes for the bill would appreciate a good vote. See a motion do pass or yes, all right, we have a motion to pass all those in favor say aye. Post. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Then I have HB 1772. Are you ready to do that? This has been your meeting, you realize that, don't you? I do apologize Dan District
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:06:29
87, and if you feel like this is deja vu, it is. So,
we passed this bill out of the committee, then I went down to the Senate and the Senate got a hold of the bill and they put two amendments on and then they wanted a 3rd Amendment to go back to the first bill. So instead of doing another amendment and trying to, uh, explain that amendment. We just decided to start with a very clean version of what was the first bill, uh, that we passed out of here, um, and with that I close.
Unless you got questions, any questions? Anyone in the audience was to speak for or against the bill. CNN Representative you
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:07:11
close to your bill. I'm close my bill and make motion to
pass. We have a motion to pass all those in favor say aye. Paused Congratulations, Representative Shepherd.
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
1:07:38
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh, Matthew Shepherd, District 97. I've got uh two bills, uh, the first is Senate Bill 280. These are Senator Ervin's bills, they come from the Department of
Energy and Environment. Uh And On Senate Bill 280. You can see that this, this bill basically just.
Fixes or clarifies a reference that was missed when the. Uh
When the geological survey was abolished and those duties were placed under the office of the state geologist, which is within the oil and gas commission and so this is just to clarify and uh make sure that that everybody's on the same page. You can see it relates to the. custodian of property and the dispersing agent
provides that the director, uh, would be responsible for those two items. Any questions? Seeing that anyone in
the audience wish to speak for or against the bill.
And Representative close your bill. I'm closed for the bill and I'd move to pass. All right, we have a motion to pass all those in favor
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
1:08:53
say aye, opposed? Congratulations. Next. All right, the next
bill, Senate Bill 368. Uh, this is another bill from the Department of Energy and Environment. This Alters the membership of the natural resources Committee. And, uh, you can see that. Essentially the Department of
Energy and Environment is currently represented by 3 positions. On the committee and this bill would modify that, uh. To provide for really for only 7 positions on the commission. But, but it would take the Uh, department's representation from three spots down to 1. with the wine
being the secretary and also provides the secretary can provide a designee to serve.
All right? Committee, do you have any questions? Anyone in the audience wish to speak for or against the bill. Representative Ray,
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
1:09:55
close your bill. I'm closed for the uh for the bill and I would move to pass. All right, we have a motion to
pass. All those in favor say aye. Aye.
heard all we're going to hear this morning.
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA
HB1525 Steimel TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING REAL PROPERTY; AND TO ADDRESS AGRICULTURAL IMPACT REMEDIATION AGREEMENTS.
HB1562 Gazaway CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF AN ORAL LEASE OF FARMLANDS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING NOTICE OF TERMINATION.
SB218 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM.
HB1675 Womack TO AMEND THE INSPECTION FEES UNDER THE ARKANSAS GRADE "A" MILK PROGRAM ACT OF 1981.
HB1680 Vaught TO PREVENT A FOREIGN-PARTY-CONTROLLED BUSINESS FROM LEASING LAND; AND TO PROHIBIT A PROHIBITED FOREIGN PARTY FROM HOLDING AN INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY OR AGRICULTURAL LAND IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
HB1681 Vaught TO ESTABLISH THE WATER AND SEWER TREATMENT FACILITIES GRANT PROGRAM; TO TRANSFER FUNDING FROM THE SECURITIES RESERVE FUND; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB275 Irvin TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASES.
SB280 Irvin TO DESIGNATE THE OIL AND GAS COMMISSION AS THE CUSTODIAN OF ALL PROPERTY AND THE DISBURSING AGENT OF ALL FUNDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST.
SB327 Crowell TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PAYMENTS TO LOCALITIES.
HB1741 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS AGRICULTURAL LIMING MATERIALS ACT.
HB1742 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO SEED CERTIFICATION.
HB1743 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FEED LAW OF 1997.
HB1744 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO FERTILIZER.
HB1772 Vaught CONCERNING VEGETABLE GARDEN PROTECTION.
SB361 Dees TO CREATE THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES EXPANSION ACT; AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CREATION OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES TO SECURE AND DEVELOP INDUSTRY AND FOSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
SB378 Crowell TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE ARKANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SUBMIT A QUARTERLY REPORT CONCERNING THE TRAINING ACTIVITIES OF THE ARKANSAS INDUSTRY TRAINING PROGRAM.
SB388 Crowell TO REPEAL THE ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT RELATED TO THE PROGRESS OF FOREIGN OFFICES OF THE ARKANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.
SB368 Irvin TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MINERAL, TIMBER, AND OTHER RESOURCES ON STATE LANDS; TO REDUCE MEMBERSHIP OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE; AND TO AMEND THE NOTIFICATION RELATED TO LEASES AND PERMITS.
SB407 Gilmore TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CATFISH PROCESSOR FAIR PRACTICES ACT OF 1987.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- HOUSE, Mar 19, 2025 | Agenda | 2 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Roger D. Lynch Chair
Unverified
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
Speaker 10
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
Simon Mayhan
Unverified
Speaker 27
Representative Kendra Moore
Unverified
Speaker 31
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
Speaker 50
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 70
Speaker 68
Speaker 77
Speaker 79
Speaker 80
Speaker 83
Russell Thomas
Unverified
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
Speaker 101
Speaker 88
Speaker 92
Speaker 113
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
Speaker 114
Speaker 91
Speaker 109
Speaker 133
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
Speaker 143
Speaker 144
Speaker 147
Speaker 135
Speaker 155
Lance Mcevoy
Unverified
Daniel Dawson
Unverified
Speaker 161
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
Speaker 172
Representative Jimmy Gazaway
Unverified
Speaker 180