Revenue & Taxation- House
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Bills discussed (41)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1018
· 5 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “…to start with? 1018 All right, committee, we're gonna go to House Bill 1018. By Representative Hudson. Just as a reminder, um, we're mo…”
|
TO CREATE THE STRONG FAMILIES ACT; AND TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS … | Hudson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1386
Act 410
· 5 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “…, um, and with that, I'm gonna run my bill first. It's Bill HB 1386, um, so. Repray if you'll take over.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SUBSTANTIAL … | Cavenaugh | Notification that HB1386 is now Act 410 |
|
HB1129
Act 407
· 4 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “All right. Committee, this is House Bill 1129, Representative Gramlich, if you would introduce yourself w…”
|
TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "HOMESTEAD" FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR … | Gramlich | Notification that HB1129 is now Act 407 |
|
HB1497
Act 411
· 4 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “With House Bill 1497. Representative Painter, I understand you have an amendment…”
|
TO ADD THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MILITARY TO THE LIST OF CLAIMANT AGENCIES FOR PURPOSES … | Painter | Notification that HB1497 is now Act 411 |
|
HB1076
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ROVIDE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES. HB1076 Hudson TO CREATE THE CARING FOR CAREGIVERS ACT; AND TO PROV…”
|
TO CREATE THE CARING FOR CAREGIVERS ACT; AND TO PROVIDE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR … | Hudson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1116
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1116 Ray TO CREATE THE REMOTE AND MOBILE WORK MODERNIZATION AND…”
|
TO CREATE THE REMOTE AND MOBILE WORK MODERNIZATION AND COMPETITIVENESS ACT; AND TO PROVIDE INCOME … | Ray | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1190
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…FOR EXPENSES INCURRED IN CARING FOR CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS. HB1190 Vaught TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX EXEMPTION FOR TEACHERS. HB12…”
|
TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX EXEMPTION FOR TEACHERS. | Vaught | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1203
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…1190 Vaught TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX EXEMPTION FOR TEACHERS. HB1203 Underwood TO PROTECT ARKANSAS TAXPAYERS FROM A TAX TO COLLE…”
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TO PROTECT ARKANSAS TAXPAYERS FROM A TAX TO COLLECT TAXES. | Underwood | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1366
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TO PROTECT ARKANSAS TAXPAYERS FROM A TAX TO COLLECT TAXES. HB1366 Ennett TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED STORM S…”
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TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED STORM SHELTERS. | Ennett | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1388
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE 16, § 5. HB1388 Vaught TO EXEMPT CERTAIN STORAGE SERVICES FROM SALES TAX; A…”
|
TO EXEMPT CERTAIN STORAGE SERVICES FROM SALES TAX; AND TO EXEMPT THE SERVICE OF FURNISHING … | Vaught | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1404
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…URT FROM SALES TAX, AS AFFIRMED BY REFERRED ACT 19 OF 1958. HB1404 C. Cooper TO CREATE A TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO A PRE…”
|
TO CREATE A TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO A PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER. | C. Cooper | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1438
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO A PREGNANCY HELP ORGANIZATION. HB1438 Cavenaugh TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR TAXPAYERS SIXT…”
|
TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR TAXPAYERS SIXTY-FIVE AND OLDER IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL … | Cavenaugh | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1444
Act 548
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…QUAL TO THE TAXPAYER'S PROPERTY TAX PAYMENT ON A HOMESTEAD. HB1444 Pilkington TO AMEND THE SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR DAT…”
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TO AMEND THE SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR DATA CENTERS. | Pilkington | Notification that HB1444 is now Act 548 |
|
HB1464
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1464 Vaught TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR PARTS FO…”
|
TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR PARTS FOR AND REPAIR OF AGRICULTURAL … | Vaught | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1469
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1469 Beaty Jr. TO CREATE THE BROADBAND EXPANSION AND EFFICIENCY…”
|
TO CREATE THE BROADBAND EXPANSION AND EFFICIENCY ACT; AND TO CREATE A SALES AND USE … | Beaty Jr. | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1472
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…IPMENT USED IN PRODUCING BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. HB1472 Beaty Jr. TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR PARTS…”
|
TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR PARTS PURCHASED TO REPAIR AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT … | Beaty Jr. | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1485
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ERY AND PARTS AND SERVICES PURCHASED TO REPAIR A GRAIN BIN. HB1485 K. Brown TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR SALES…”
|
TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR SALES TO CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT … | K. Brown | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1500
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1500 Beaty Jr. TO ENHANCE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS BY REPEALING…”
|
TO ENHANCE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS BY REPEALING THE THROWBACK RULE. | Beaty Jr. | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1501
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…E ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS BY REPEALING THE THROWBACK RULE. HB1501 Beaty Jr. TO ADOPT FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAW REGARDING DEPRECI…”
|
TO ADOPT FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAW REGARDING DEPRECIATION AND THE EXPENSING OF PROPERTY; AND TO … | Beaty Jr. | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1520
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…LE BUSINESS ASSETS TO THE AMOUNT ALLOWED UNDER FEDERAL LAW. HB1520 Cavenaugh TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FIN…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF … | Cavenaugh | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1521
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EQUEST FOR A LEGAL OPINION WITHIN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME. HB1521 Cavenaugh TO REPEAL CERTAIN UNUSED, UNDERUSED, OR UNFUNDED…”
|
TO REPEAL CERTAIN UNUSED, UNDERUSED, OR UNFUNDED TAX INCENTIVES. | Cavenaugh | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1538
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1538 Ray TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE NET OPERATING LOSS INCO…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE NET OPERATING LOSS INCOME TAX DEDUCTION; AND TO INCREASE … | Ray | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1540
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1540 J. Mayberry TO AMEND THE INCOME TAX CREDIT AND THE INCOME T…”
|
TO AMEND THE INCOME TAX CREDIT AND THE INCOME TAX DEDUCTION RELATED TO MAINTAINING, SUPPORTING, … | J. Mayberry | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1594
Act 621
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…SUPPORTING, AND CARING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY. HB1594 Vaught TO CREATE A FARMER SALES TAX IDENTIFICATION CARD; AN…”
|
TO CREATE A FARMER SALES TAX IDENTIFICATION CARD; AND TO RELIEVE A SELLER OF SALES … | Vaught | Notification that HB1594 is now Act 621 |
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HB1599
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…FAITH ACCEPTANCE OF A FARMER SALES TAX IDENTIFICATION CARD. HB1599 Torres TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY TO BE EXEMPT FROM TA…”
|
TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY TO BE EXEMPT FROM TAXATION. | Torres | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1636
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…AT ARE LEASED IN THE EXEMPTION FROM THE GROSS RECEIPTS TAX. HB1636 Ray TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SOFT DRINK TAX ACT, AS AFFIRMED B…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SOFT DRINK TAX ACT, AS AFFIRMED BY REFERRED ACT 1 OF … | Ray | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
SB200
Act 329
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY TO BE EXEMPT FROM TAXATION. SB200 K. Hammer TO INCLUDE TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MATE…”
|
TO INCLUDE TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT ARE LEASED IN THE EXEMPTION FROM THE … | K. Hammer | Notification that SB200 is now Act 329 |
|
SB263
Act 330
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…X BASED ON SALES TAX COLLECTIONS FROM SALES OF SOFT DRINKS. SB263 Crowell TO INCREASE THE HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX CREDIT. SPEC…”
|
TO INCREASE THE HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX CREDIT. | Crowell | Notification that SB263 is now Act 330 |
|
HB1015
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…IDENTS. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle Page 2 of 3 HB1015 D. Garner TO AMEND THE INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX LAWS; AND TO C…”
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TO AMEND THE INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX LAWS; AND TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1016
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…AND TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN. HB1016 Ennett TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR MENSTRUA…”
|
TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE COLLECTION DEVICES; TO CREATE … | Ennett | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1019
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…E TAX EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN ITEMS RELATED TO BREASTFEEDING. HB1019 D. Garner TO CREATE THE AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE ACT OF 2025; T…”
|
TO CREATE THE AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE ACT OF 2025; TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1021
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…COME TAX CREDIT FOR EMPLOYER-OPERATED CHILDCARE FACILITIES. HB1021 D. Garner TO CREATE THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WORKFORCE…”
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TO CREATE THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WORKFORCE QUALITY INCENTIVE ACT; AND TO CREATE AN INCOME … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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HB1026
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…E TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WORKERS. HB1026 A. Collins TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS PROMISE ACT; AND TO CREAT…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS PROMISE ACT; AND TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR TUITION … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1063
Act 875
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…IGIBLE STUDENT AT A PUBLIC INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION. HB1063 J. Mayberry TO AMEND THE ACHIEVING A BETTER LIFE EXPERIENCE…”
|
TO AMEND THE ACHIEVING A BETTER LIFE EXPERIENCE PROGRAM ACT; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITIONS … | J. Mayberry | Notification that HB1063 is now Act 875 |
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HB1065
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…O CHANGE DISABILITY ONSET AGE FROM TWENTY-SIX TO FORTY-SIX. HB1065 Ray TO CREATE THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2025. HB1066 R…”
|
TO CREATE THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2025. | Ray | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1066
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…. HB1065 Ray TO CREATE THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2025. HB1066 Ray TO INCREASE THE STANDARD DEDUCTION. HB1216 Long TO CREA…”
|
TO INCREASE THE STANDARD DEDUCTION. | Ray | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1072
Act 876
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…LICENSED CHILDCARE PROVIDERS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HB1072 C. Cooper TO CLARIFY THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING ELIG…”
|
TO CLARIFY THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR DISABLED VETERANS, … | C. Cooper | Notification that HB1072 is now Act 876 |
|
HB1216
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ACT OF 2025. HB1066 Ray TO INCREASE THE STANDARD DEDUCTION. HB1216 Long TO CREATE THE FREE MARKET ZONES ACT; AND TO EXEMPT A B…”
|
TO CREATE THE FREE MARKET ZONES ACT; AND TO EXEMPT A BUSINESS LOCATED IN AN … | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1250
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…TE FRANCHISE TAX, AND THE ELECTIVE PASS-THROUGH ENTITY TAX. HB1250 Duffield TO CREATE A SALES TAX HOLIDAY FOR DISASTER-PREPARE…”
|
TO CREATE A SALES TAX HOLIDAY FOR DISASTER-PREPAREDNESS SUPPLIES TO ENCOURAGE DISASTER-PREPAREDNESS. | Duffield | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1303
Act 546
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…R-PREPAREDNESS SUPPLIES TO ENCOURAGE DISASTER-PREPAREDNESS. HB1303 Jean TO CREATE THE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL INCENTIVE ACT;…”
|
TO CREATE THE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL INCENTIVE ACT; AND TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT … | Jean | Notification that HB1303 is now Act 546 |
|
HB1435
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ION ON UTILITIES USED TO PRODUCE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL. HB1435 Achor TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INCOME TAX CREDITS FOR CH…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INCOME TAX CREDITS FOR CHILD CARE; TO AMEND THE INCOME … | Achor | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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Thank y'all all for being here, um, on the schedule today, we've got 9 bills we're going to hear, 4 that we're gonna be able to vote on, and 5 we'll just be able to debate, um, and with that, I'm gonna run my bill first. It's Bill HB 1386, um, so. Repray if you'll take over.
All right, committee, as Representative Kavanaugh said, this is House Bill 1386. This is the first of four bills that I believe we'll be able to take a vote on today. We will hear, I think. Either 6 or 7 sorry, 5 or 6 other bills that we will not be voting on the 4 that we would be able to vote on. Our 1386. 11:29. 1444. And 1497.
And we'll start with 1,386 Representative Kavanaugh, if you would just introduce yourself and you'll
be recognized to proceed with your bill. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair, uh, Representative Kavanaugh, District 30. Um, this bill is an attempt to us to have a standardized definition of what substantial improvement is because we have different ones throughout the state, so this sets up what the actual substantial improvement will be. For an assessor, um, for those
that may not understand why that's important is because as our assessments are raised unless there's substantial improvement, they can't raise that amount more than 10% at one time, substantial improvement is what triggers it to go to the full new assessed value. So this bill actually goes in and sets the guidelines for that. It talks about that it would be 25% of an increased value. Um, that a natural disaster doesn't trigger a substantial
improvement unless they use different type of um products when they're rebuilding different components if they're a higher grade component then if that increases it because of the component of 25% it would be and that you cannot use out of state comps in the state of Arkansas unless it's for commercial and there's no like kind in the state and that's what the bill. us and I'd take any questions. All right, committee, you've
heard Representative Kavanaugh explain the bill. Are there any questions by the committee. I see people
Thumbing through papers. Do y'all need
a second to Representative Rye, you're recognized for a question. Do we have
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
3:12
a question, uh, Representative Flann, uh, that 25% that you mentioned there,
ma'am, that actually deals with if, if they actually built on extra footage. Isn't that right? No, it's 25% of
Representative Ry
Unverified
3:25
assessed value if it's more if it improves more than 25% assessed value. If we
went by square footage, it would, it would actually be detrimental to people with smaller homes because they could just build a porch and then they would jump over the substantial amount. So we went with actual value actual value. Thank you, ma'am.
Any other questions by members of the committee? OK. Seeing none, it doesn't look like there's anyone signed up to speak for or against this bill on the sheet, but I'm just gonna ask, is there anyone from the audience that would like to speak either for or against House Bill 1386. OK, seeing nobody in the audience. Um, Representative Kavanaugh, would you like to close for your bill?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I, I think this is a good common sense bill that really sets the standard across the state and with that, I make
a motion to pass. OK. Representative Kavanaugh has made a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? OK, seeing none. All those in favor, please say aye. All those opposed say no. Congratulations, Representative Kavanaugh, your bill's passed.
All right. Next bill on the list is house built. 11:29 Representative Gramlich. Yeah I get down there
All right. Committee, this is House Bill 1129, Representative Gramlich, if you would introduce yourself when you're ready and you can proceed with your presentation.
Zach Gramli
Unverified
5:26
Uh, thank you very much, chair. Uh, my name is Zach Gramli, State Representative for District
Speaker 32
5:32
50, uh, Central Fort Smith. Uh, House Bill 1129 rectifies in a um 1 may argue an injustice we made to our veterans a few couple of years ago, um, we, um, like everyone in this room except for one, voted on this not vote but voted on the bill, and what we're trying to do is define what a homestead was, um, in Arkansas in this part of Arkansas code, and it exempted
um um our veterans from paying sales tax or property tax, excuse me, and uh What happened is inadvertently when we bumped it and set a line of 40 acres, there was never anything it could before we had tons of veterans who started to have to pay significant property taxes. Um, one example was, uh, you know, we had people who had a homestead from the homestead Act of 1863, um, who had not paid property taxes since we first enacted the legislation and then like basically overnight they got hit with a massive property tax bill from
the county. So what we're trying to do is just rectify the situation. It was It's a mistake that we was totally inadvertent, and what we've decided to do is um set the limit to instead of up to 40 acres, set it to 160 acres as defined in the homestead Act of 1860. 3 1862. I'm so sorry, um, but with that I'd take any
questions. All right, committee, you've heard an explanation of the bill. Are there questions for
the sponsor? OK. Representative Berk should recognize. Thank
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
7:05
you, Mr. Chair. Um, a Representative Graham like relating to the 40 acres versus 160 acres. Is
Speaker 38
7:10
this the same definition of homestead that would apply in the event of a bankruptcy when creditors are trying to attach. I mean, I would
Speaker 32
7:18
have to look at the code outside that but as far as I understand, this is just dealing with that sales tax exemption or property tax exemption that we gave these disabled veterans, so
if that code deals with that, then yes, if it doesn't. deal with that. I, I don't foresee how
it would. OK, thank you. Representative Gramli, have you, um, I don't see, uh, I don't see the um county association signed up on the bill, but have you visited with them about the The bill, do they have a position on it? They
Speaker 44
7:52
haven't put, they haven't told me their position on the bill, and I mean it's been out since January, so
Speaker 32
8:01
I, if they had felt the feelings they feel like they would have came to
me by now. OK, so they haven't contacted you about the bill, OK. All right. Are there any other questions
from the committee? All right, say no questions. I do not see anyone signed up to speak for or against the bill on the sign-in sheet, but we'll just ask quickly, is there anyone that would like to speak on 1129? OK, seeing none. Representative Gramlich, would you like
to close for your bill? I'd like to
I'd, I'd move we, uh, to pass. OK, Representative Eaton makes a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? done, all those in favor, please say aye. All those opposed say no. All right, Representative Grahamuck, your bill is passed. Thank you, Chair. Thank you committee. All right. OK. Next on the list, we will move to Representative Pater.
With House Bill 1497. Representative Painter, I understand you have an amendment for your bill, so we'll take a moment for staff to pass that out to the members. Yes, Mr. Chair, and
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
9:16
if it's the chair's permission, I have Captain Richmond from the National Guard here sit with the table with me, of course.
Unknown speaker
9:39
I got one. We'll give everybody just a second to look over the amendment.
you All right, Representative Painter, if you'd like, you can go ahead and explain your amendment. Thank
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
10:25
you, Mr. Chair. Uh, thank you committee. um Stetson Painter, District 3, Baxter County and Fulton Counties. I, I want to say thank you to DFNA uh when we were prepared to present this bill last week, they politely came up to us and told us there was a couple of things that we needed
to fix that would help uh address this, and so, uh, going with the experts and and the revenue area, we went with that and so that's what we did. This amendment deletes. funds and substitute refunds to amend the definition of debt for purposes of the set off against state tax refunds. That also changes the title a little bit and then substitutes the Department of Military, um, and so forth, so, uh, that's what it did. The experts, I think, are fine with that, and I would appreciate take any
question, but I appreciate a good vote on the amendment. Alright committee, you've heard an explanation of the amendment. Are there any questions on the amendment? OK, seeing none, anyone likes to speak for or against the amendment. Saying none. All right, motion from Representative Wing Oh, to adopt him, I'm sorry, motion to, you want to restate your motion. What you do right. Representative Wahing his motion to adopt the amendment. Any discussion on the motion.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed. All right, the amendments adopted Representative Painter, you can go ahead and put
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
11:51
the presentation on your bill. All right, thank you committee. HB 1497 is to add the Department of Military to the list of claimant agencies for
purposes of the set off against state tax refunds. This bill will amend the definition of claimant agency for the purpose of obtaining set off against state tax refunds to add the Department of Military Arkansas Code 26-36-3031A. This bill en able s the Department of Military to collect fines access
through military justice actions that include non-judicial punishment and court martials. Arkansas code 12-64301 covers fines under non-judicial pun punishments like Article 15, um, and then 1264 that's 403404405 covered general special and summary court martial fines. The Arkansas National Guard is attempting to address the situation where individuals are fined and either go absent without leave and are separated prior to the collection of fines
or separate without paying their separated without paying their fine. I'd be glad to take any questions, uh, sir, if
you wanted to address anything or be glad to take
Lanny Richmond
Unverified
12:57
questions. Good morning. My name is Lanny Richmond. I'm a captain with the Arkansas Army National Guard, and I
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
13:02
serve as a judge advocate. Uh, I would say Representative Painter covered this extremely well, uh, but I'd be happy to take any technical questions if you have any. Thank you. Alright,
committee, you've heard a presentation of the bill. Are there any questions?
From the committee Representative Wing, you recognize. Yes, uh, can
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
13:21
you tell me how many other people are in line for this same thing. What, what's the list at presently? The total number who collect through this
mechanism, sir? Uh, I, I don't have that off the top of my head. I, I think it's probably about 15 if you look at the statute, there's a bit of a list from DFNA, but I don't have the exact number, but there, there is one. Is there any kind of prioritized order? Not to my
knowledge when I read the statue, but, but again, it's been a little bit since I looked at that portion of it, but I, I don't believe so, but I, I'd like to if they speak to
it. OK, thank you. All right, are there any other
questions? OK. Seeing no further questions, um, I do not see anyone signed up to speak for or against this bill. Is there anyone from the audience that would like to speak? OK, seeing none, Representative Painter, would you like to close for your bill?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I appreciate it very much. We're just,
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
14:21
like I said, being everybody else, you know, soldier, you, you, you have to do a whole lot of bad to to get this done to you, being in the military myself, if you get an Article 15 or you're going to get court martialed. It's, it's pretty bad, so we just appreciate that the department be part of the other agencies as well and would appreciate a good vote. All right, Committee
Representative Painter is closed for his bill. What are the wishes of the committee? All right, Representative Wang
motions to pass. Is there any as to pass as amended. Thank you, Brandon. Is there any discussion on the motion? Alright, saying none, all those in favor say aye. All those opposed? No. Congratulations, Representative Painter, you passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. All right, um, is Representative Pilkington in the room. I know he had to run to another committee, OK, we'll just skip
over his uh bill 1444 for right now is Representative Hudson in the room. OK. Representative Hudson, I've got you down for 1076 as well as 1018, which of those bills would you like to start with? 1018 All right, committee, we're gonna go to House Bill 1018. By Representative Hudson. Just as a reminder, um, we're moving into the bills that do have a fiscal impact that we
will just be hearing today, hearing testimony on taking questions and discussion on but not um not taking a motion for a vote. So Representative Hudson, when you are ready, please introduce
yourself and you'll be recognized to present House Bill 1018. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
16:12
Chair and thank you committee, uh, Ashley Hudson, District 75, West Little Rock. This is my maiden voyage into Rebent tax, so go easy on me. Um, I'm here today and very pleased to present House Bill
1018, the Strong Families Act, um, I know that many of us over the past several sessions have talked about the benefits of paid family. leave, um, but also we're hesitant to do anything that would mandate employers to provide it, um, given the fact that each employer's needs tends to be different. So what this would do rather than, you know, using a hammer, it would be a carrot, offering employers a tax credit if they provide paid family leave as defined here in this bill, um, the minimum required in order to benefit
from this tax credit is at least 4 weeks of paid family leave for full-time employees or the equivalent of uh That an adjusted amount for part-time employees, um, the tax credit would be equal to 25% of the wages paid to the employee while they take family leave up to $4000 on an annual basis per employee, um, there is a fiscal
impact statement fiscal impact is an $850,000 general revenue deduction, um, and there's some additional information. from DFA there, um, but again, this would be a voluntary program, employers could elect to participate or not, uh, based on whether or not that's uh something and an incentive that might be attractive to them or a
nice benefit for their employees. Happy to answer any questions about it. All right, committee, you've heard an explanation of the bill
from Representative Hudson. Are there questions from the committee? Representative Hudson, I'll, I'll start. Do you, do you have any data or statistics on how many companies in Arkansas offer paid family leave or maybe a percentage or their estimates for any advocacy groups or um industry analysts. I do not, um, and, and as you can imagine,
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
18:22
that type of data is difficult to gauge just because of the fact that each employer has
their own own method of dealing with family leave. They don't all report on on a regular basis and aren't always willing to share with outside groups how they handle family leave. All right, are
there any other questions? I see people reading their green sheets.
Speaker 76
19:03
Appreciate the soundtrack from outside for, for my bill. It's nice.
Representative Langstrom, you're recognized for a question. Nothing
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
19:10
but the best for a reverend tax. We always have our own band following us. I, I really appreciate that. Thank you. Are there already some federal deductions
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
19:20
providing childcare? Uh, yes, there are some federal deductions that are available, but we don't have anything at a state level, so this, this would provide state level deductions, um, specific to the paid family leave, which doesn't necessarily, it's not necessarily limited to
childcare. This would be family leave for things like maternity leave, um, sur surgical procedures and, and long-term needs like that. Forgive me,
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
19:42
I, I don't expect you to know this. or this answer, but do you know um how many companies in Arkansas take advantage of it or what that deduct there's two questions. What does that deduction look like? How much is it? I don't
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
19:54
know how many, I, I didn't come prepared to talk about the federal deduction, so I don't know, um, but I, I don't know how many, how many companies, same thing with Representative Ray's, I mean, companies generally don't
necessarily share that information with outside groups, so we wouldn't have an adequate or an average um that would that would matter really. I, I
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
20:12
totally get that. Do you know how um how much the federal deduction is for a company, the basics, OK, alright. Um, I would just be curious if we're even using all of our federal deductions and what that federal deduction is if it's so huge, maybe they don't need the state of Arkansas deduction. I don't know. Sure, and I do think there is, there
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
20:30
is a distinction between what this does and what they, what
the um childcare deduction on the federal level does, um, because of the fact this doesn't, this isn't so limited to simply childcare, so it does offer employers an additional deduction
at the state level for leaves that's taken by employees for things other than um issues related to childcare or or, you know, illness of their child, it would also include um caregiving for uh an adult parent, for example, um, or a spouse and also, you know, in addition to things like maternity leave and caring for a
child. OK, all right, thank you. Uh, Representative
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
21:15
Eaton, you're recognized for a question. Thank you. uh, Representative Hudson, it, it appears that you're, they're allowed 4000 per employee. And 25% of that wages would be uh qualified there. So do we know what that would actually, what's the tax implications gonna be on that so we're talking about $1000 that would be taxed or they would get a
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
21:36
credit for it would be up to a total of $4000. So if the 25%, for example, was, was higher than $4000 per
employee, they would be capped at 4000 per employee. Yes, and with a
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
21:47
follow up on that, but so they're only going to get a tax credit on the $1000. Yeah,
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
21:53
that's correct. They, they get the tax credits up to 4000, yes. OK. Thanks.
Representative McGregor, you're recognized for a question. Thank
you, Chair. Just a quick question. This is a decision for small business. This is
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
22:10
not mandated that they have to do it. Simply they choose whether they want to take part. That's correct. This is not a mandate.
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
22:16
This is an option. Thank you. Representative Ray, you're recognized.
I I have a question for DFNA if uh I know it's explained in the fiscal impact statement, but could you, could you walk us through just sort of how you arrived at your estimate.
Speaker 102
22:37
I'm always curious to know the methodology. Thank you, Madam Chair, Mr. Chair,
Speaker 103
22:52
members of the committee, Paul Gehring, DFA. So this is a a new tax credit that is proposed in House Bill 1018, the fiscal impact, as you note on the 2nd page, the income tax section utilized some data from the Federal Joint Committee on Taxation on the cost of family and medical leave that
was paid, um. Federal paid FMLA credit of $300 million per year. Income tax scaled down that federal data for purposes of our population, um, the state's economy, um, as well as the difference between the federal tax rates versus Arkansas tax rates to get to arrive at the $850,000 general revenue reduction, but any type of new tax credit, the best method to verify and determine what the
actual expenses to the state is actually after those uh the laws in effect and to see what the impact um, as to returns that are going to be would be filed that claim the credit. There is no cap on the amount of credits in the bill, so, um, the 850,000 would be our most accurate estimate we could provide. So just doing
some rough math, the 850,000 if you divided that by 4000 per employee, which may not be that much. You're saying there's only 212.
I guess 212.5 people. That would avail themselves of that. You would
Speaker 103
24:17
also have to have is a 4000 max per employee, so you would have to have and it's based upon 25% of the employees' wages during that leave time. So the employee would actually have to earn $16,000 in in leaf before the Employer would be entitled to the maximum credit of $4000
Speaker 110
24:35
per employee. OK, that makes sense. All right, thank you. Thank you.
Members, any other questions? Seeing none, um, with that, we're gonna see if we've got anybody speak for or against the bill. Is anyone here to speak against the bill? For the bill Seeing none representative Hudson, as you know, you can close for your bill, but we won't take any vote tonight today. We appreciate you presenting though if you would like to close for your bill. I'm closed for my bill. Thank you committee for hearing the bill,
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
25:13
um, and please let me know if you have questions after, after the meeting before y'all
vote, and I'm closed. Thank you, Representative Hudson. With that members, we're gonna move down to. Representative Hudson also, which is HB 1076. And we happen to have an amendment on that one. So we'll be passing that out.
Representative Hudson, when this amendment is passed out, if you'll go ahead, introduce yourself again for the record and then you can start presenting your amendment. Yeah. Thank you.
Speaker 121
26:41
Representative Hudson, if you'd like to, you can proceed. OK. Thank
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
26:45
you, Madam Chair, Ashley Hudson, District 75, West Little Rock. Colleagues, uh, I present to you an amendment to House Bill 1076. It does a couple of different things. One, it adds Senator Tucker Tucker as the Senate sponsor, um, in addition though, this amendment reflects some of the suggestions from DFNA in the fiscal impact statement, um, that, that I thought were good ideas and incorporated them into the bill. Um, there's a little bit of language clean
up on that, you'll see the reference line 24 on page 3 from maximum to maximum income. We wanted to make sure that we clarified um whether or not two members of the same household could claim the tax credit, and so we cleaned that up in this amendment um at line 30, um, beginning on Section 3A, so it can be claimed it can be claimed a single time as opposed to two different, uh, members of the same household being able to claim it. We wanted to make sure that that was clear.
And then the other part we did on the 2nd page of the amendment, um. And the fiscal impact statement DFNA suggested, um, that rather than have the taxpayers come to the
end of the tax year and not know whether or not they'd be eligible for the payment since there is a cap of $1.5 million annually available, um, that we have a system by which they could apply for an eligibility certificate so that um DFNA could better track whether or not the $1.5 million total has
been exhausted. Thank you, Representative Hudson. Um, members, there are any questions on
the amendment. See no. Do I have a motion to adopt the amendment. Motion 2, all in favor say aye. Paul sayna. OK, thank you. The amendment has been adopted if you would
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
28:33
like to present your bill as amended. Thank you, Madam Chair and thank
you committee. I appreciate the opportunity to present this bill as amended. This is the caring
for Caregivers Act. I first became interested in uh the work that unpaid caregivers do back in 2018 when I worked for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation as the Arkansas fellow. for her, her caregiver foundation. That foundation was based primarily on the unpaid labor that um spouses and family members of veterans do, um, to care for their veterans after they come home and, and have injuries both physical and mental, that need uh care. Now
the VA does maintain a paid caregiver program, but this is broader than that because you have millions of caregivers nationwide that are caring
for They're veterans and other disabled or older family members. So that was just my first exposure to the idea of caregivers and the amount of unpaid labor that they, they
perform on a daily basis for their loved ones. Um, we benefit as a society from this, this unpaid labor that caregivers do because it, it keeps costs down,
keeps family members out of the hospital, um, keeps family members from having to go into an assisted living or nursing facility. Um, and keeps them home longer. So there's really significant benefit to society as a whole, but also to the family, but caregiving can be really exhausting and expensive work. I had uh one state employee actually reached out shortly after I filed this bill to talk about her experience caregiving for her mother for 7 years, and the uh toll that took on her
emotionally but also um financially because of the costs associated with caring for her mother full time. And while she was grateful for the opportunity to do that, um, it, it can be an expensive endeavor. What
this bill does and, and this bill is intentionally uh drafted in a way that is very limited on in an effort to try to get some additional data and see how it works almost as a pilot, um, is it provides tax credits to caregivers who are providing
care for elderly relatives, relatives with dementia and veterans. Um, the tax credit is between $200 and $3000 depending on whether or not the individual is caring for Um, an elderly relative or a relative with dementia or a veteran, um, and as the amendment states they would be required to provide or the A tax certificate throughout the year so that they could keep track of those receipts, um.
This bill came from a similar bill from Oklahoma, uh, that passed last session when I started looking for how other states had had addressed this issue. Oklahoma had recently passed one, that was very similar and um as, as I understand it,
has been going very well and has been well received by the caregiver community. I also heard from another caregiver just uh I guess Monday I've lost track of days, it's that time of session, who said that this would be especially welcome to them given some of the
uncertainty about the VA programs and whether or not those are gonna be available to them in
Speaker 123
31:57
the future. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Uh thank you
representative Hudson. um, and I will just Um, say something really quick as I have been a caregiver to 3 parents. Um, I know what it does to a family. I know what it does to you emotionally, um, we were blessed that I was able to do it, but I know many people who actually do provide this service to loved ones and it is a burden
on them because a lot of them have to give up employment to be able to do so or cut back on their employment. So I do appreciate you bringing this forward, um, if you can walk me through the process of when and how. They determine what they're gonna get, how they're gonna how DFNA is going to determine that they get this. Credit. That might be better suited for DFNA if
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
32:47
if Mr. Garret is willing to come back up, given that it was their suggestion on how to
Get those expenses certified. Mr. Garry, if you can come back up and get in a hot seat again and answer some questions for us. And if
Speaker 103
33:07
you introduce yourself again, please. Thank you Madam Chair, Paul Gehring, DFA. So as noted in the original fiscal impact statement and the the taxpayer would claim the credit on their return, but the issue would be is that we would have under the originally filed bill, a $1.5 million cap on the amount of credits, so based upon our our data, we saw that there would likely be um
The $1.5 million cap. claimed on returns and possibly in excess of that amount, so what would DFA do with all those returns with people claiming credits, um. Um, that exceeded the amount available under law. We reviewed the amendment that representative Hudson just recently passed out, um, in her amendment as I read it, it, it appears to be that a taxpayer would apply to DFA for a tax credit to demonstrate that they
have had um these expenditure to care for an eligible person. DFA at that point would issue that taxpayer credit to the extent that we still had the 1. 5 million in credits available once we reach that 1.5 million, we would be unable to issue any more tax credits for that given tax year and then it would roll over until the next year, the additional cap space of the 1.5 million for people to apply for the credit. OK, I I
guess I didn't express what my real question was. My real
question is, how are we going to determine that this person is truly a caregiver to someone. Because I can tell you all day long I'm a caregiver, but what proof am
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
34:46
I going to have to require? Sure that the bill doesn't require any, any particular proof on that, um, you know, given the, the types of expenses associated with caregiving that DFNA would be receiving and the limits on the amount of money available for the tax credit.
Um, we believe that that this is so limited that it's not necessarily going to be an attractive uh opportunity for someone to try to Um, fraudulently,
uh, claim the credit. My take And fraudulent
claims is that they can find a loophole, they'll take the loophole no matter where it's at and how limited it might be and that's unfortunate, but it does happen. So that's my take on it, but, uh, representative Riy you have a question? You're recognized
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
35:35
ma'am, Mr. Chairman, um, Ms. Hudson uh Representative Hudson, uh, does this cover any disease that's leading to death. Yes sir, yes
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
35:46
it doesn't necessarily have to be leading to death imminently, it could be a disability, um, that requires, uh, requires care. Thank
you. Mr. Geering, I have a question. Um, If, if there were not a cap in the bill of 1.5 million on the credits.
Do, do you have, you guys probably didn't try to estimate this, but I'll ask in case you did. Do you know? What the what the cost of the credit would be if it were uncapped. I guess I'm wondering how much demand is there, how big is the caregiver community. I'm wondering what that would look like. I would have
Speaker 103
36:28
to go back to income tax, Representative Ray, and just see what they anticipated over over and above the 1.5 million that
we would anticipate that the demand would exceed the cap, but I, I'm sorry, I just don't have
that in front of me right now. OK. And then Representative Hudson, you have sort of a, a two-tier system where some folks are eligible for up to $2000 on the credit and for other categories, it goes up to 3000. Can you just kind of explain your thought process and how
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
36:59
you set that up. Sure, um, so the $2000 minimum credit um is for people who are caring for an elderly relative,
the $3000 is in situations where someone is caring for someone with dementia or a veteran, um, in both of those. kind of, I guess, higher level situations caring for a relative with dementia is, is often a much more difficult and expensive endeavor, um, in terms of, of emotional and financial labor, um, just because of the nature of that disease, um, same thing with, with caring for disabled veterans, often those veterans have high needs, um, or using different types of equipment, have uh medical needs that are higher than than those
that you would normally experience caring simply for an elderly
relative. OK, thank you. Uh, Representative Wang, you're recognized
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
37:46
for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And this might be a remedial question, uh, but
when we've got a cap of 1.5 million. Is it first come, first serve? Is there a certain time period and then everybody that is in the in the pool will divide proportionally equally. How does that, how does that work?
Speaker 103
38:05
Representative Wang, so the in the amendment that um
representative Hudson just recently adopted the taxpayer would have to apply to DFA for for credit, um, we would be able to then issue the credit to the taxpayer based upon that they've met the eligibility for the credit and they have the demonstrated expenses, um, every year we would have a $1.5 million in credits that we would be allowed to issue to taxpayers, but once we got to the 1.5 million, we would not have any additional credits that we could authorize. We would just have to wait
Speaker 138
38:34
until the next year for the taxpayer. to apply to get a tax credit at
Speaker 103
38:40
that point, so it is kind of a first come, first served then. That is, that is correct. You would have to apply and um meet and make sure that your application was submitted in time so that the the credit could be authorized and we, we have other credits that operate in that fashion like the, the credit for scholarship granting organizations, we, we maintain a running total. Of the amount of credits on our website to show taxpayers where we are at under the existing cap, so I would anticipate if this were to be enacted we would do the exact same thing. So
taxpayers would have that information to know that the cap is at this point and there's this
Speaker 138
39:15
space left or if the cap has been reached and we wouldn't be able to accept any new applications until the
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
39:21
following year. So it's an incentive to file your taxes early. I apply for the credit, correct. Yes, sir. All right
Speaker 141
39:30
Representative Michael London. Yes. Down there? OK, you're recognized. Thank you.
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
39:34
Thank you, Chairman. Um, so Representative Hudson, I had a quick question going
back to what Representative Ray was saying about the two-tiered
system. You talk about a diagnosis of dementia, but are there there are other diseases that are very. caregiver intensive like an Alzheimer's diagnosis, and these are not included in there. Can you just explain why the differentiation? Uh, sure, I mean, I would my, let me
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
39:54
go back and look at the definitions just so I can be clear, um. You know, I
don't know that I see any daylight between dementia and Alzheimer's since I think Alzheimer's in many cases cause it's a bit of a subset. uh, Mr. Cook is here from the Alzheimer's Foundation who can
provide some additional information on that. OK, I'd like that. Yeah. Mr. Cook, if you would introduce yourself
David Cook
Unverified
40:33
and you'll be recognized to answer that. Sure, uh my name is David Cook. I'm the director of government affairs for the Alzheimer's Association, um, in response to your question, it's important to note that um Alzheimer's is a
form of dementia, um, and if you would consider it in the same way that we consider uh cancer for perhaps dementia is an umbrella term, um, and so there's different types of dementia, Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disease, and it's the leading cause of dementia, but there are several other types of dementia. My father's living with frontal temporal dementia. There's vascular dementia, um, dementia with Lewy bodies, um, but dementia is sort of an umbrella term, but Alzheimer's, of course, is the leading cause of that. So Alzheimer's would fit under that dementia
definition in the statute as it's written. OK, thank you. All right, Representative McGrew, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Chairman. If
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
41:23
I'm understanding this properly so that uh Someone that wants to take this tax credit declares that they fit two of these categories and, and in order for them to be able that they simply have to have to say that they they qualify. Is that correct? Representative McGrew, they
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
41:40
have to be able to say that they
qualify and also have a qualifying expenses, um. The eligible
expenditure section is on page 2 beginning at line 10, um. So those expenditures are an improvement or alteration to permit the family member to live in the residence, um, the purchase of medical equipment, DME, um, Other expenses paid, including uh including without limitation, home carriage, respite care, adult daycare, personal care, attendance, healthcare equipment
and technology. Um, it does not include general household maintenance items, um, painting, plumbing, electrical, or exterior maintenance. So there are specific categories that, that are eligible for the reimbursement, so
it isn't just any anything that someone submits and and wants to claim a credit for. I appreciate that and I do think, you
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
42:33
know, I have been a caretaker so I sympathize with this, but also see a place that there could
be a lot of fraud. This might be a more question for DFNA. How do you stay on top of this to make sure these legitimate
Is there anything in your process to how do you
watch out for the fraud? Looks like Mr. Geering's going to go to
Speaker 103
43:04
the end of the table and answer that question for you. Thank you, Paul Geering, DFA. The bill does provide that you have to actually have qualified expenditures. Normally what to in order to claim the benefit of the tax credit, we would would require those actual receipts
and invoices that demonstrate that the funds were actually spent by the taxpayer as well as for a qualified expenditure as well that demonstrate that they were purchasing equipment that was used for mobility or to accommodate the The eligible person that is um Needing the assistance and care of their family member. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. All right,
Representative Aker, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Aker
Unverified
43:46
Chair. Uh, thanks. Hudson for bringing this up. So DFNA you do feel
confident that your capacity to serve all types of fraud that you currently do, you would be
Speaker 103
43:58
able to enforce this, correct? Well, certainly, uh, the, we're always working to combat fraud in in all forms, whether it's on income taxes or otherwise, but certainly in order to apply for the need to the credit and have to provide those actual expenditures, um, is, is very helpful and also it is. Um, what's helpful about the bill is that it's a non-refundable tax credit, so it's not where a person can create.
False invoices, submit them to DFA to get a tax credit that
Speaker 138
44:27
is refundable to the taxpayer. They actually have to have taxable income in Arkansas and a tax liability before this even helps
Representative Aker
Unverified
44:34
the taxpayer, my point was that we trust you guys to take care of all kinds of verification and I, you
Speaker 160
44:40
don't see that this is anything that would be. Unique in your capacity to
Speaker 103
44:46
do your job. We do have plenty of non-refundable tax credits that that we administer um within DFA. That do require um proof of
expenditures, proof of that taxpayers qualified. We have a our audit staff that is very um uh diligent when it comes to reviewing the claims of credit or or an exemption, uh, we do our very best to make sure that we are protecting the The revenues of the state to make sure that tax credits that are not earned or are not issued, but certainly we have our, our processes in place to guard against fraudulent claims for credits, and I think we
Representative Aker
Unverified
45:26
agree that you guys are are very competent and do a great job, so I think that you'd be able to obviously execute this as well, so thank you
Speaker 103
45:33
for your comments. Thank you. It is also helpful that there is a cap, so um once we would reach that certain cap under the bill, we wouldn't be able to accept um further claims of credit as well. All right, committee members, if you're not the
one asking the question, if you would turn your mic off just so the mics work a little bit better, uh, Representative Rye, you can go ahead with your question. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
45:57
Chairman. Um, I guess, Paul, would this be like for the
loss of one spouse. Within their job when they had to take off or maybe having to pay someone to come in and look after
their husband or wife was helped there as a caregiver and is that kind of where we're at with this, Ms.
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
46:16
Hudson Representative Rye, that's right. If you, if you go and look at some of the eligible expenditures on page 2. it does have a provision to use respite aid and, and things, uh, home
care aides, so reimbursements for those types of services if you have
to have someone come in and assist with caregiving in the home for either an extended or temporary
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
46:39
period of time. Follow up, please. Um, Miss Hudson, let me ask
you this, ma'am, uh, Representative Hudson, um, On we're, we're talking about not being able to take material off like diapers and things like that, uh, and the reason for that because of hospice taking care of that.
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
46:59
Um, Mm If you look in section or beginning on page or line 13, um, and the list of eligible expenditures, there is a section in which um you can you can get reim or get a tax credit for either DME equipment um or other expenses including but not limited to, um, healthcare equipment may include adult
diapers, um, you know, and so I think that In, in a situation where you have that expenditure, you would submit it to DFNA um. And, and For
them to determine whether or not that was a qualifying expenditure. Thank you. Thank
Speaker 168
47:42
you, Representative Hudson, and thank you, Mr. Chair. All right, Representative Burke
should recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I
Speaker 38
47:48
just want to echo Representative Acres's comments about, you know, DFNA obviously has does this every day, ferreting out the fraud and that kind of thing. Is that part of the reason why in the green sheet you mentioned that you
would have to expand your staff by one fiscal support analyst to assist with those kinds of duties as well as managing the process of administering
Speaker 103
48:08
the credit's correct. We would have additional work in order to review the claims of credit. Um, look at those expenditures and verify those. So yes, that's the the reason for those additional resources being necessary. OK, thank you and also the uh anytime we have a new tax credit, there's also a programming cost that's associated with um programming our tax system to account for that new tax credit. We'll also
update our our tax booklets, so, um, we have that educational information within our tax booklet, so the taxpayers can they may not be aware that there is available credit um and so if they, and they, um. filing their taxes and they see, oh, well, yes, I did have these expenditures. I didn't know that I could qualify for a credit. We will be updating our tax booklets and, and so as well as the software companies that provide. Online filing for income taxes, they would also do the same to update their information in
their systems. Excellent. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. All right, are there any additional questions from the committee? OK, seeing none. It looks like we've got 2 people signed up to speak for the bill first on the list is Chris McCoy. Sure. Mr. McCoy, if you would, when you get to the end of the table, please introduce yourself and who you represent, and you will be recognized to. Share your testimony. anything like that around. That.
Speaker 174
49:31
Uh Chris McCoy, uh, I am the associate state director of advocacy for AARP here in Arkansas. Uh, Arkansas is home to approximately 420,000 unpaid family caregivers who assist their loved ones at home, allowing them to age in place where the majority of Arkansas aging residents want to be and help them avoid costly taxpayer funded institutional care. Family caregivers are the
bedrock of our long term care system, without whom many of our older residents would not be able to remain in their homes. These caregivers are critical members of an elder loved ones. Healthcare team the first line of support for adults and people with chronic or other health conditions, disabilities, or functional limitations. Family, I'm sorry, family caregivers are essential to ensuring the safety, quality, and sustainability of our long term care system.
Family caregivers in Arkansas provide over 390 million hours of unpaid care valued at approximately 5.8 billion annually to support their loved ones at home, while family caregivers provide support out of love, caregiving can create a serious financial and emotional hardship for many. On average, caregivers spend 26% of their income on caregiving activities and typically spend $7,00242 annually on out of pocket expenses related to looking at their loved ones.
Easing the burden. Of the high financial cost of family caregiving by implementing House Bill 1076 is one real solution to the long term care crisis here in Arkansas. The tax credit would be particularly helpful for families living on fixed and low to moderate incomes, according to a UCA report, 10.5% of Arkansans 65 and older are living in poverty. These are people who are struggling to make ends meet, but in many cases they are also providing care for a loved one.
About half a caregiver say they would use their own money for household related expenses, 32% covered rent or mortgage payments for their loved ones and 21% financed uh home modifications, medical costs such as paying for health care, therapists, in home care, or medical equipment. Many others accounted for about 17% of what caregiver spending uh was on. Only about 5% of caregivers reported having no expenses in the past year related to caring for their loved one.
When a family member is assisting more than 10 hours a week or helping with activities of daily living. They often shell out more money than the average caregiver, and many employed caregivers face stress juggling both their jobs and caregiving. In addition to expenses, caregiving can cut into caregiver's income, about 1/3 of respondents in ARP survey report two or more related strains, such as having to change their schedule or take leave from their employment, resulting in lost wages, lost opportunities to contribute to their own retirement, which leads to an
average outlay of about $10,525. About half of caregivers say they have experienced financial setbacks. This may mean that they have to curtail their spending, dip into their personal savings, or cut back on retirement contributions, the pandemic magnified sacrifices for caregivers with 42% of our respondents spending more time and money on caregiving. Every day that a person needs to that every day that a person who needs long-term care can live at home rather than be admitted to a nursing home is a day that Medicaid spend down process is
delayed. OK, caregivers have saved and continue to save the state of Arkansas, millions of dollars while bearing some financial risk, taking on increasingly complex tasks and having to balance their caregiving and work responsibilities. Your leadership and supporting House Bill 1076 makes an essential investment in the health and stability of our older Arkansas residents and our state's long term care system while helping family caregivers care for their loved ones and safeguard their financial security. It's a critical, it is critical that we ensure that all family caregivers
Have the financial, emotional, and social support they need because they're, because the care they provide is invaluable. Both of those receiving it and to their communities. With luck, we'll all grow old one day, and many of us will have the privilege to depend on our loved ones to help us age in place with grace and dignity. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak for you today.
Thank you, Mr. McCoy. Are there any questions for this witness? Seeing none, thank you,
sir, for your testimony. Uh, the next person signed up to speak for
the bill is David Cook. Mr.
Cook, if you would, please introduce yourself again and you'll be recognized to share your testimony.
David Cook
Unverified
54:23
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. Uh, my name is David Cook. I'm the director of government affairs for the Alzheimer's Association. Um, Alzheimer's has created a public health crisis here in the state of Arkansas with over 60,000 Arkansans over the age of 65 currently living with Alzheimer's. Uh, that number is
not inclusive of those individuals who may be living under the age of 65 with a younger onset um diagnosis or those individuals who may um be living with another form of dementia. In addition to the patient who's diagnosed, uh, Alzheimer's, as you know, in other forms of dementia have a significant impact on family caregivers, um, in addition to the statistics that um uh Mr. McCoy just shared, um, I will just focus specifically on the dementia caregiving um aspects of the
impact that's happening here in the state. In 2023, um, uh, we uh recognized that there were over 155,000 unpaid caregivers who are caring for someone with dementia. And in 2023, we estimated they provided over 270 million hours of unpaid care at a value of $4.48 billion in cost savings to the state. Caregivers play a significant role in delivering care and delaying placement and long-term care settings and um
ARP in 2022 did a study that revealed nearly 32% of individuals would rather age in place than be placed in in care. The more we can do to support family caregivers, rather it's investing in a tax credit or investing in services like respite, um, the more money we save in delaying placement in long term care. More than 1 in 4 dementia caregivers are part of the sandwich generation. Um, I'm included in that, which means I'm caring for individuals or my, my children at home, but also um assisting my mother and providing care for my father.
Um, the lifetime cost of caring for someone with a dementia diagnosis is $400,000. Nearly 70% of those costs are absorbed by the family caregiver. I see it in my family as well. Uh, my father has multiple uh conditions which 85% of the population who were diagnosed with dementia also have other comorbidities. It is not uncommon for my mother to have to take my daughter, my, my, my daughter to take my father to at least 2 or 3 doctor's appointments a week. Uh, some of those. at the VA here in Little Rock,
um, most of them are in Conway, uh, but mom's on the road all the time, which again takes away the time she has to invest in her own health. Um, among employed dementia caregivers, 57% have reported having to take, um, having to go in late to leave early or take time off to fulfill their caregiving duties. Nearly 1 in 5 had to reduce their hours of work. The caring for caregiver um or caring for caregivers credit provides financial relief to caregivers who support aging
family members at home, uh, again, delaying placement and more costly care settings. Um, the credit offsets 50% of eligible expenses, um, which giving that enhanced benefit to dementia caregivers who bore more financial expenses and also more emotional and report higher levels of stress, um, because as the disease progresses, so does the need for more interventions. Um, they become a little bit More burdensome on the caregiver, causing emotional and financial stress. Um, this, uh, bill, another piece of this legislation that I
think is important to note on is nearly um I lost my statistic. Give me one second. Over 40% of dementia caregivers have an annual household income below $50,000. Um, this targeted tax relief will specifically go to middle and low-income families with that $50,000 threshold, um, and so in our opinion, our association um uh supported legislation in Oklahoma, uh, but there is also uh legislation at the federal level called the Credding for
carrying um Act, uh, that we um have received some support from the new administration. that we are preparing to file at the federal level that will establish a federal tax credit uh with an enhanced benefit for those families who are caring for someone with a dementia diagnosis, um, that benefit at the federal level will be $5000 and just like this, it is not subject to a refund, but it is a tax credit. Um, so we appreciate Representative Hudson, um, for bringing this legislation, certainly consistent with our priorities, and I'm happy to take any questions that the committee has any. Thank you,
Mr. Cook. Are there any questions for this witness? Seeing none,
thank you, Mr. Cook, for your testimony. Is there anyone else that did not find the sign-in sheet that would like to speak on this bill. Yes, sir, you may come to the end of the table and introduce yourself and Who you're with and you'll be recognized to share your testimony. Thank you,
Mark Diggs
Unverified
59:18
uh, and thank the committee for allowing me to speak to this. My
name is Mark Diggs. And the immediate past
Speaker 183
59:26
president of the Arkansas Veterans Coalition. The Arkansas Veterans Coalition is a statewide coalition. Uh, that encompassed the entire state of regional veterans coalitions. And uh veterans is kind of a misnomer in that we do represent the active duty military. The reserve members, the National Guard members. On we discharged veterans, retired veterans.
Their families. And they're survivors. If you encompass all of those into a number, it's about 500,000 Arkansas. So we're pretty significant uh representation. Uh, I want to thank, uh, Representative Hudson for bringing this forward. Uh, we've heard a lot about the economic numbers being floated around what's going on. I'm not going
Mark Diggs
Unverified
1:00:15
to speak to that. I'm gonna speak to the human element. I'm gonna try to do this.
Speaker 183
1:00:29
OK. The human element is huge. And because there is a special provision for veterans. That's why I'm talking to this. Uh Most of the uh veterans and their families. Live in rural Arkansas. I'm, I'm very fortunate. I live in central Arkansas, so I have great health care from the VA. I have a lot of resources to me. To, to call them, but you, you
live in Mina or? Um, one of the smaller Communities, Out, uh, you don't have it and so you have to depend on yourself, your neighbors, and your family for care. Uh, here's where I'm at, um, you read about and hear about the 22 setter. Suicides a year by veterans nationally, actually the numbers probably double that because California and Texas does not report and they only count. The suicide that are known
suicide so it's quite a bit larger number, and I know that from personal experience. The nonprofit I worked with. We had 4 veterans by name. That we worked with that commit suicide in one week. That was a tough week. And anything that you can do. To help alleviate Uh, the caregiver that are providing for veterans. Uh, helps alleviate that number because the veterans don't want to be a burden on their
caregivers. And unfortunately, things get out of hand and some of these veterans don't want to be a burden on their family. So this helps alleviate that and I would ask for your support. And thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you, Mr. Diggs.
Are there any questions for this witness? OK. Seeing Nun, thank you for your testimony, sir. Uh, seeing
no one else signed up to speak on the bill just as a reminder, um, this is one that
we are not taking a vote on today. I got that question texted to me a second ago, um. With that Representative Hudson, would you like
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
1:02:41
to close for your bill? Thank you, Mr. Chair and thank you again, committee. uh, thank you for your attention to the presentation day
today, and also to this issue, um, as you heard, caregivers are contributing quite a bit to our economy here in Arkansas, but more importantly to our society and our family structure. I wanna make sure with this bill that we're doing anything we can to
try to support them as well. Obviously, at this point, this is a limited program, but my hope would be that we
have the ability to expand it in the future. so that we can help even more caregivers with
that, I'm closed. Thank you, committee. All right. Thank you, Representative Hudson. Um, Representative Pilkington, you see, you're in the room, OK? We're gonna move back down to House Bill 1444. Representative Pilkington.
And I believe he has a handout on this bill that staff is going to circulate, so we'll give them a minute to do that. If you'll just wait
for the handout to be passed out before you proceed. No problem. I've got, I've got a copy. Thank you.
Yeah. OK, Representative Pilton, you're recognized to proceed with your bill. Thank you, Chair. Thank
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:04:30
you committee, for letting me be here today. I'm Representative Aaron Pilkington, District 45, Johnson and Pope County. Uh, today I have the pleasure of presenting House
Bill 1444 and with a little bit of uh um I would say, uh, I want to present a little bit of history to this bill uh before I, I, I speak on it directly. Uh, as you know, last session we had the Aum in sales and use tax exemptions for data centers. Uh, this is a bill that came out of this committee unanimously, got 78 votes on the House floor and uh went into law, um. And since then, uh, we were copied by other states. It was
good policy that other surrounding states decided that they would want to follow and try to track the same data centers that we wanted to attract. If you'll see in this handout, you can see just in the past few years the amount of data centers that have located in surrounding states, Mississippi, 2024 AWS and that's $10 billion data center, uh, Northern Louisiana met a $10 billion data center, Missouri, Google announces a $1 billion data center. Tennessee, I'm sure many of you are familiar with the story about Memphis and West Memphis
that project ultimately went to Memphis and I think what I've heard estimates is around a $13 billion project. Um, obviously we have a billion dollar Microsoft facility in Texas as well. And um so as you can see these are all within the last few years, data centers and large scale data centers are coming to surrounding states and we just need to make sure that we're competitive as well, and that's essentially what this bill is looking to do. We're updating language to better Um, better coincide with what the ADC wants, we're creating a classification for what we're
calling large scale data centers, which follows the same pattern we did in the bill 2 years ago where there has to be a certain amount of investment and a certain amount of money spent on salaries, but for these large scales it needs to be a 3 or $2 billion investment with a $3 million salaries to Arkansans in the first two years. Uh, we included some language to make sure that none of this can go to crypto, and then of course, we changed some definitions. when it came to facilities about being adjacent. There were some concerns that if you had a data center that was large and there's a road that went through
it, those were actually two separate sites and so we changed the adjacency so that could be considered one site, um, that's essentially the bill, like I said, we're creating a new, uh, we're updating it and with better language and then at the same time we're also creating this new category of large scale data center which, as you can see from the handout, uh, it's pretty in line with some of these large projects that are coming to surrounding states and essentially we're just trying to make sure that Arkansas can get in the game and be a competitive site for some of these facilities to locate, uh, and I, I have no, there's no fiscal impact to this
legislation, and I just appreciate the uh the support from the Department of Commerce and ADC on this, um, these are, these are big projects that can be life changing for communities and I hope that we can land one
very soon. All right, committee, you've heard a description of the bill. Are there questions from
the committee? OK. Representative McGrew, you're recognized for a question. Yes, thank you,
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:07:46
thank you for bringing this forward. Question your mic down
please so we can carry. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you for bringing this forward. uh. It, it says in here that
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:07:55
uh. That uh gets to talk economic Domini commission is going to obtain a positive cash benefit analysis. Can you explain me a little bit of how that positive cash benefit allows how it how it is possible to us and how they, how they certify that. Yeah, is there someone from ADC that can speak that.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:08:17
You don't mind if I bring Clen O'Neill up? No, of course, OK. Like. If you
would, sir, just introduce yourself for the record and you can
Speaker 192
1:08:29
answer the question. Clint O'Neill, executive director AEDC. Thank you committee for the opportunity to address this. Really appreciate Representative Pilkington's leadership on this. I do believe it's going to lead to some great opportunities for us we have a software modeling system called Ilan, where we put all the inputs into the project. It
takes into account the benefits of construction, direct, indirect jobs, all of the Great benefits of the project. As well as what it would cost the state and so the cost benefit analysis is run over a certain time period to determine for every dollar that we spend or give up in tax revenue, how many dollars we get back as a state, so a cost benefit analysis may come back and say it's a 3 to 1 benefit for every
$1 we spend, we get $3 back over a 10-year time period, something like that, but we're looking for a cost-benefit analysis of greater than 1
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:09:31
to 1. OK. Thank you. That answers My question there, I have another question I can that
uh On the 5 lamp pack, it says it's neutral, but also DFAFNA says that Uh, there's a lot of things they have to support in here it looks
like nearly $468,000 so DFNA, if you don't mind them coming to the table and question, tell us what has to be put in place and what. Tell us a little
Speaker 102
1:10:11
bit about that. Thank you, Paul Geering, DFA. So when the legislation passed in 2023. DFA scored
Speaker 103
1:10:17
this legislation to also be revenue neutral. The
main component of that is the positive cost benefit analysis that is required by AEDC um for this type of project to be eligible. The main benefit of this law is the sales and use tax exemption for the eligible expenditures of the data center as well as their ongoing exemption for their utility's electricity that they're going to be consuming now in the original legislation there were components of mini s t r ative work that were required to be done over at commerce in this current bill,
some of those duties are being now transferred over to DFA for for so which also are ongoing that we have to verify the compensation paid to their employees as well as their other authorized expenditures. So that is the reason that DFA in the fiscal impact did identify that there would be additional personnel costs to
Speaker 138
1:11:10
the department because we are assuming new responsibilities with this proposed law change. Thank
you. Yes, sir. Representative Barks, did you have a question?
Speaker 38
1:11:25
I do, thank you, um, really quickly, I noticed on the green sheet under legal analysis, there were 3 items that DFNA recommends as a potential amendments, um, one being to define when a facility is primarily engaged in adding transactions, the other relating to metering of the electricity, uh, Representative Pilkington, are you going to make these amendments? Um I didn't say
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:11:46
need to make those amendments, um, I know those are the recommendations, but um. I, I didn't feel a need to do
it. We didn't need to do them on the last go around and
so I, I felt the bill did not require them. So, thank
Chair
Unverified
1:12:03
you. Representative Eaves, you're recognized for a question. Thank you. This is more to Paul. So Paul, the fiscal impact is neutral because I suppose if a
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
1:12:10
data center does not come here, I mean, there's no impact, right? They don't show up and they don't move here. There's no impact. But did you use the same theory. But how you came up with this $468,000.
Speaker 103
1:12:28
So the, the revenue neutral revenue impact mirrors exactly what DFA scored the bill in 2023 because it had the same requirement of a positive cost-benefit analysis, that would be a a prerequisite before the project could even be um DFA could be granted any type of exemption certificate. The the main savings here is that the sales and use tax that would otherwise be due um on the the data center's investment in their qualified expenditures. But since there are these duties
that were are now being transferred in the bill from commerce to DFA, um, we would have to account for those additional duties and our staff members to perform that work that's going to
be necessary. All right, Representative Lindstrom, you're recognized
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:13:17
for a question. Thank you. I think I just need an education on page 3 lines 18. True lines 33, could you explain exactly what we're doing here. I understand we're lowering the
qualified investment from 500 million to 100 million. What was
the reasoning for that and could you just educate me on where we're going with this.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:13:37
Sure, so as I mentioned in my presentation, we're also creating a category of large scale data centers which are that that higher investment and so essentially what the just data center has kind of becomes the, you could say. Medium to smaller data center, uh exemption and so looking over that and talking to some of the economic developers who I've worked with in the past on this, they felt that we could actually
lower that a little bit, um, because it would, it would basically make it to where if you had some of these facilities that maybe came under right on that 100 million, but once again, you still have to have the million dollars in compensation paid to Arkansans, and so we kept that aspect, which is also just lowered the amount of initial investment, but once again it has to be um it has to be an economic benefit. to Arkansas for them to get this exemption and approved by ADC so if they, you know, It doesn't look like it doesn't, they, they still don't qualify, so we just that initial amount was for 500 million, we just
took it down to 100 million for a few of these people we think might be able to come in and maybe not be as large as the $10 billion investment, but they may be like one of these, you know, even the Oklahoma one that was in a town of 10,000 people, that was a $75 million investment, but it wouldn't qualify for this because it's not the 100 million. So you've got data centers that are large, that are huge investments, but uh maybe that'll reach the point of 500 million, but they may reach the 100 million, so. We're just trying to catch a few other smaller data centers into the net so that they so that Arkansas becomes an attractive
place and we're not just mega data centers only. Does that
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:15:06
make sense? I'm starting to get comfortable with it. I'm just trying to understand the whole process and why we're lowering that is to attract more. Yes, yes, ma'am. OK. All right, I'll, I'll pull out and
listen to the questions. Piggybacking on that question. Paul, do you, do we
have any idea or or Representative Pe can have questions for either one. Do we have any idea of since the last session when this law is
passed, how many data centers qualify under this across the
Speaker 103
1:15:38
state. I do not, that might be a question that possibly represent Pilkington or or commerce might be able to assist with.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:15:45
I, I don't know how many. I mean, obviously there are various firms, you have Google, Meta, um, Walmart, they built a billion dollar data center in Missouri, um, you have all sorts of industries, you have server farm, you have some of these groups that are just, they build servers and then rent them out to other companies. So, um, I, it'd be really hard to tell you how many.
Companies or projects that might be identified, but I will say there's a lot, um, you know, President Trump recently announced a $10 billion investment in the data centers, uh, across the country, um, you're seeing more and more of these being built and so um I I can't put an actual finger on how many products there are, but I just know for my area in this project that's kind of, that we've worked on in Johnson County, um, you know, we've talked to quite a few vendors because of this bill, they've come to us and said, now we're curious and so, um. I, I
On the top of my head, I know 5 different potential vendors who have actually come
to Arkansas and looked at places in Arkansas, so. OK. Representative Way U Representative
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:16:51
Ryan, could you turn your mic off, please? Thank you. Thank you very much, chair. Um, so my question
is, uh, going back to the, uh, the fiscal impact being revenue neutral, but DFNA needing to add $468,000 in salaries to this, um, do we have a data centers currently that would qualify or if no data
centers come, but we would have to ramp up employment wise to be ready for the eventual data centers kind of walk me through cause while, while I see it's a 0 negative or zero fiscal impact there is. There
is a substantial annual fee for this, of course, and certainly we,
Speaker 103
1:17:27
we would not um approach the additional resources required unless there was a real project that we were aware of that would necessitate the need to come to the General Assembly and ask for those
resources, so we would certainly keep in contact with commerce to be aware of any projects that are coming just so that we will, we can anticipate the additional
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:17:49
work that will be required by DFA. OK, so that wouldn't take. until said project arrived
Speaker 103
1:17:55
regardless or after the passage of this we certainly also can understand that um in order to just start um a project to actually having a data center that's up and running, there's going to be a definitely a time period involved that we would be
able to communicate with commerce to know about the project and also anticipate what our needs would be. So definitely the, the resources required are not
Speaker 138
1:18:18
saying if this bill were to were to pass through the General Assembly. sometime this month that we would be immediately coming to the General Assembly to um get these additional
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:18:27
positions authorized. And then if I may, Mr. Chair, just kind of walk
me through then why, how does that figure into why it's not that not included in the fiscal impact. As far as the salaries that the
Speaker 63
1:18:42
state would have to pay to manage this, it's remedial but right
Speaker 103
1:18:46
and so this is a kind of a a unique situation. We, we had this legislation in 2023. We're not aware of in the past two years that we had um a project that was going to go through this process and get certified to qualify for the exemption. So we, we would just want to make sure that we continue the lines of communication with commerce are open, so the DFA. will know what to expect. It is a um
It is an incentive in the form of a tax exemption that requires the review of the taxpayers uh invoices, expenditures, which can be significant for our, our staff to be able to review and verify our or qualified expenditures under the law, but we certainly understand with this, it's a new exemption that's only 2 years old. We don't have a project yet, uh, so it is a Quite often, if it's a new type of incentive we really don't
know what we're going to need until we actually know what the, the project will entail, but we are certainly our intention was not to say that we would definitely need these resources now, definitely we can make it very clear we wouldn't need the resources unless there was a real project or multiple projects that qualified so that um our our our auditors and our people in um Uh, in sales tax can be prepared for the workflow, and we want to also be Ready on day one when we have to start doing our duties as well. OK.
Thank you, Mr. Geering, the, the green sheet says under resources required DFNA does not currently have a process for sales and use tax exemption incentive programs. Help, help me understand because we, we passed this two years ago. How do we not have a process. If, if we've, if we enacted this
Speaker 103
1:20:39
two years ago. Yes, sir, so we don't have a sales tax exemption incentive like this data center's exemption, um, and so the the legislation from 2023,
those duties are not within DFA under current law. They're, they're under commerce, so this would be because those duties are being transferred with the exception of the cost benefit analysis, the verification of qualified expenditures, and it is an ongoing, that's why we have not staffed up because we didn't have the legal requirement to do so because currently those duties are, are in a separate state agency. OK. Representative Rye,
you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
1:21:17
Chair. I appreciate it. Um, Paul. On the green sheet.
The total approximate sales tax and use tax loss is 15078925 and then we come down and uh total local city and county sales and use tax losses 7,655 uh. That's 16. This is. Oh, I'm sorry, I. I'm sorry.
Speaker 207
1:21:40
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. I got Go here. Lots of papers everywhere. You got lots of good. Yeah. Yeah. It's just.
on my question, sir. OK. Are there other questions from the
committee. OK. Um, I've got one Representative Pilkington, you on your handout here. Um, you identified several surrounding states that have data center type projects that
have been announced in in recent years, do those states, which of those states do you know? Do they have similar incentive type programs. Like the ones you're proposing
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:22:35
here. Yes, Mississippi and Louisiana do. They actually pass similar legislation to ours after we passed our legislation, so, uh, you know, only be in session every other year sometimes you can get caught sleeping. So, and then some of these already had exemptions way before we even passed Texas and Oklahoma being one of them,
those were existed before we had passed ours as well, and so, and on that map as well, I um wanted to just say there's, you know, these are some of the recent announcements, but obviously there's data centers in Northern Virginia, California, a few of these coastal states and so uh we're just still one without one and even in the South, I know Alabama recently just got a large scale data center that I noticed on this map is not included, so, uh, we're, we're now becoming one. A few states that does
not have one of these large scale projects. OK, thank you for that.
Representative Eaton, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, chair, uh, Representative Pilkington, so
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
1:23:33
now on a $10 billion project or even if it's a $75 million project. kind of explain why you think the citizens of Arkansas should put up to $470,000 for the additional. Staffing DFNA. Well So, the
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:23:48
first, if it's a $75 million project,
it would not qualify for this program, so, uh, but if it is, I mean, I would say you should, I mean,
you're a businessman, I'm sure you understand you make investments so that you can grow and and and and grow your business. I mean, we as a state are making an investment here so that we can attract these large billion dollar projects that are going to be around for years and years and years, you know, data centers are not going away. It's not a fad, you know, you've got data centers built in the 1980s that are still in operation in Northern Virginia, so, uh, and as, as the digital age continues to grow and AI grows, we're just going to need more and more data
centers across across the state, so I would hate for Arkansas to be at a point where we look back and realize we took no action and we once again got left behind in an emerging industry. And so, uh, I think this transfer of duties from commerce to DFNA is a good move. That was a suggestion from the state agencies, and so I think if we ended up having to spend some money to able to audit these, but yet we're bringing in a billion dollar project with a B billion into the state, uh, I think it's, I think it's
worthwhile, so, um, you know, once again, sometimes you have to put up a little bit to make something large and. Oh, was that clear? Representative Eaton. Thank
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
1:25:12
you. Appreciate it. Yes, I understand your point there. Thank you. But I still wonder, follow up. I still wonder if if they're gonna be obviously if it's a $10 billion project, uh, I don't, I'm not sure that the. Everyone in Arkansas would be comfortable contributing to the $468,000 outlay on our part.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:25:32
Just a question. Yeah, yeah, um, I, I would say the citizen that had
issue with that, um. I would tell them, would you rather that $10 billion be spent in Oklahoma or Missouri or have those jobs, those industries go to those other states and not here, um, I, I, I think it's worth, I think it's worthwhile, so. All
right, Representative McNair, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Ron McNair
Unverified
1:26:05
Yeah, I'll just, I've been mulling but We're, we're trying to change it, I'm assuming I guess to make it more attractive for data centers. At the same time that we're having a huge discussion on our electrical grid. So that, that really concerns me. I mean, Uh, I don't know whether that because we're not even If we can't burn it, if we don't have the, the Electricity
I mean, why why are we lowering there? I, I don't know. I'm sorry, but that's, it's a, it's a real concern because we've not even figured out how we're going to take care of our, our demand that we have now and And I again, I don't know about the employment of data centers. But the, the, the usage that we have on our grid. Uh, to me it would make more sense for something that would employ a lot more people, but that's, that's a concern that I've got because Actually, when we passed this in
23, I don't know about everybody else, but I, I got a lot of pushback from my district on that. Thank
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:27:13
you. Got you. Well, I'd say I think some of the pushback probably was a
lot of people confuse this with crypto, which it's not, but the crypto bill was called data center. There was some confusion about definition, so I got a lot of calls about that bill as well and then when I walked constituents through it, they understood that these were actually two separate things, so, but your, your point about power is, is well taken, you know, I've had a project in my district we've been working.
on for almost 4 years now. Uh, I've talked to the utility companies, uh, about the issues we have with power. I mean, and obviously we have a bill that's going to address this. This is separate from that issue. But I would, I would remind you though, these grids are very large grids. They, they, they cross state lines, they cross, um, Different regions of the country entirely. And so, um, while I would say our infrastructure um needs to be upgraded, and I'm supportive of that bill, um, I think we can't just say that
we're not going to do anything because the reality is, guess what, there's still built these surrounding states, I mean, Missouri, Oklahoma, they're in the same grid as Clarksville, Arkansas, and if you're in West Memphis, you're in the same grid as Tennessee and Mississippi. And so you're still, you know, they're still pulling. Power from the same grid. I mean, there's a lot there's a different discussion that's not this bill which is about power generation in this country and what we need to do better to produce more power and build more power, um, but that, that, that's not the spill, but I can understand your hesitation, but
we've got these things are getting built, and I'd rather them be built in Arkansas so that we can take advantage of them so we can get the jobs then being built in surrounding states, and I think it's also prudent for us to realize that we do need to upgrade our infrastructure to make sure that we can handle these things because other states are doing that and we have to Be competitive with surrounding states, especially if we want to continue to cut taxes and grow ourselves economically, so. I appreciate that comment. Representative Rye, you're recognized. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
1:29:10
Representative Pilkington Paul. Let me ask you this, you know, we, we've got this figure of $468,000. But how do we know have we got other states like Oklahoma, Texas that have had these type situations occur. Do we know what
type of return we can expect out of this earth. I, I'm not aware of any cost benefit
Speaker 103
1:29:33
analysis from the other states, we can certainly look into that and and maybe perhaps, you know, if anyone from
commerce wanted to talk to that question as well, but because that function is in, in the legislation currently now, and it would continue to be under this bill, um. if there was anyone in commerce that wanted to speak to that if they were aware of their What the return has been on these projects. I, I just, DFA just doesn't know. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is there anyone
from commerce that wants to take a stab at that question.
Hugh Mcdonald
Unverified
1:30:17
Good morning, Hugh McDonald, Secretary of Commerce. I, I do not have a specific. Cost benefit analysis of the other states, but I, I can tell you that these projects and not all data centers are are equal, but the, the big data center projects multibillion dollar investments in a in a community. Uh, they also pay property tax. Property taxes are not, are not exempted from this uh from this bill. They are life changing
community changing uh investments for those communities and those regions that have never been seen before, uh, and probably never will be seen before, so there, there's just tremendous advantages for um For landing these projects in the state of Arkansas. It's happening all around us. And, and I would, I would also
say, uh, the, the job numbers um on these large data centers, uh, they're in the four figures. So there's significant. All right, Representative Ryan, did that answer your question?
It sure did. Good. OK. Representative McAlinden, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman.
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
1:31:42
Representative Pilkington, in your old bill, you did have a minimum requirement of number of jobs if the center came in. Is that correct? And that still applies? Yes, that still applies.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:31:52
50 yeah, I mean, obviously it's it's in starting here, it's in century, but I believe that was, it was 50 jobs, um, so. OK, thank you. All right, are there other
questions from the committee? OK, I think we've exhausted the questions at this point. I don't, I didn't see anyone on the sign-in sheet to speak for or against the bill, but we'll put it out there. Is there anyone? That would like to speak. For or against the bill.
OK. Seeing none, um Representative Pilkington, would you like to close for your bill? Yeah, committee, I
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:32:31
appreciate the questions. I, I understand it's, uh, these are big deals, they're big projects when you're talking about investments over over a billion dollars. It's uh it's a lot and um, but as the Secretary of Commerce said, I mean, these are, these are. These are life-changing opportunities for states and getting a project like this
would be would be life changing for the communities that they come into and I would also like to add that a lot of times a data centers cluster, so you make it one in a community and then others start following suit. They realize it's a good state to do business, and Arkansas is really poised where we're at to Get data centers because of our low cost of living, our low cost of land, and, and relatively low utility rates and so, um, we are, we are primed, we just need to make sure that we have a correct incentive structure and you know, last time when I brought this, I, I mentioned the Walmart data center that's a
mile over in Missouri. That was a billion dollars that we lost out on. Because we didn't have the right incentives in place. And so, to me, I think this is good policy. I think it's just, you know, trying to grab the future by the horn by the horns and, uh, you know, when I uh saw that we lost out on the XAI data center from West Memphis to Memphis. I mean, that would have changed West Memphis. I mean, people would have started calling Memphis East Memphis at that point, but uh, you know, I just hate for us to lose opportunities again and
again and so I just want to put Arkansas back in the game, and I want to make sure that we do everything we can to get these to get these, uh, data centers. So
with that I asked for a good vote and appreciate
the time and the questions from the committee today. All right, Representative Pilkington is closed for his bill as a reminder, um. This is one that uh the green sheet has a revenue neutral impact on so uh per representative Kavanaugh or chairwoman Kavanaugh's' instructions. We can take a vote
on this bill if that's what the committee
wishes. Uh, Representative Eaves, you're recognized for a motion. I make a motion to pass. OK. Representative Eads, uh, motions to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? Representative Aves, you're recognized for discussion. Yeah, I want to thank Representative Pilinen for
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
1:34:43
bringing this bill to us. I mean, folks, if you look at this map, we are clearly a desert here in the south central of the United States. And if you take a look at the data center from Amazon Web
Services that was, uh, I believe in Mississippi, that is a $10 billion data center, and I believe the numbers I've looked at it's nearly 1000 employees in that area. I can tell you this. Google Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services are on the ground in Arkansas. They have hired lobbyists. They want to come here. This bill is gonna be critical for us to get those type of businesses to come here and the, the power bill that Representative McNair referenced is also going to be critical in,
in some ways, uh, related to this, but these businesses want to come here for the reasons that Representative Pilkington explained. And I think with this bill is the initial step in us laying the foundation. To get these type of businesses. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is a modern gold rush. And if you want to kind of go down the rabbit hole of what this will also mean, there are national security implications to having data centers located in our country, not in China. AI is not going away. AI is going to continue to grow.
And if we don't build the data centers in this country. Then they're going to locate those data centers in China. They're already doing it. They're building 13 or 14 power plants a uh a month in China, I mean, to support data centers like this. I, I understand. There's some hesitancy on the 400 and some odd $1000 to um Take care of this program. I feel that's probably a high number. I don't think it would be that high. Maybe I'm wrong, even if it is that high, I think
that is a very good investment and what this would mean to the state of Arkansas, and I would, I'm going to vote yes.
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:36:38
I would encourage you to do the same. Representative Wang, you'll recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I,
I agree with everything that represented Es just said, and I appreciated everything that Representative Pilkington said about this bill. I actually intend to vote for it. However, I'm a little concerned with the fact that we have, we want to be consistent with what's been taking place in this committee.
We've sent other bills to the, to the end of the line for when we see what the fiscal impacts are that we're even only a $20,000 fiscal impact. So while I know the green sheet says um revenue neutral on the fiscal impact, we do have an impact in terms of salaries and what's going to be paid out of the state of Arkansas. I'm just wondering if procedurally, if perhaps we should vote on this when we vote on all of the other bills that have fiscal impacts, and I'm just curious to hear if anybody else has the same concerns. I just want to be
consistent as a committee that's something that we've had to pay attention to, not only this this committee but in the other committees as well for anything that has a fiscal
impact on the state of Arkansas. All right. Um, Representative Wang, thank you for sharing that, are there any other members of the committee that wish to discuss, yeah, Representative Eaton.
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
1:37:52
I'd like to echo Representative Wing's comments. It seems like we've pushed everyone else back if there was a financial implication. So I would recommend pushing
that back until we voted on all the bills that associated with fiscal impact. OK. All right,
are there other members who wish to join the discussion. OK. We do have a motion
on the table, Representative Eaves made a motion do pass, so um. We have to vote on that motion as I understand it, Representative Wang, you
recognize. Can we take a substitute motion? We
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:38:39
could, if you have if you have a substitute motion, make a substitute motion that we uh not vote on this at this time and place this win with the other bills that have fiscal
impacts. I think you'd have to make a formal motion that like, I mean, a motion
to table or Hold on, let me confirm, just a second with staff.
OK. Representative Wang, we conferred on this. So if you wanted to make a motion. Uh, to do what you just described, you could, you could make a motion to lay the bill on the table. You could make a motion to postpone to a date certain, or you can make a motion to postpone indefinitely any of those are options that you could make as a
substitute motion if you wanted to. What would be the date certain? That would be up to the person making the motion. When will we be making, uh, when
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:41:03
we'll be hearing the bills that are on the Rest of the agenda. That have fiscal impacts it's going to depend on
Speaker 237
1:41:13
where we're at. Yeah, I, I don't know that
there is a date certain at this point because we are, you know, waiting clarity on the
budget as we typically do, uh, a little further down the line in session. I guess I, I guess I'd just say
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:41:26
what would be the recommendation of the chair with regards to the wishes of the intent of this motion.
Yeah. That's what you want to do. And again, to be clear to the sponsor, I'm in favor of this bill and I fully plan
to vote for it. But here's, here's my take. I understand the concern about the cost if it were implemented, um. I will say This is revenue, Jen. Neutral in the physical impact.
And by all the rules that we have set forth during session all along this bill can be voted up or down in my opinion. If you don't feel like you want to let it pass, then I wouldn't let it pass. But I think laying it on the table creates another set of issues. That's that's what my fear was. I didn't
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:42:23
want to lay it on the table. Yes, I think that
creates another set of issues that we would have to overcome at a later date. My humble opinion. OK, well, I
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:42:37
guess I've made my wishes known, uh, you know, I just want to be consistent with the other bill sponsors who have come in with far less fiscal impacts and that we have told them we'll address that when we address all of the bills with fiscal impacts. To me this does have a fiscal impact even though it's not listed on the revenue side, it is certainly listed on the salary side with DFNA. And
just for clarification, because we're in discussion part, this money will be coming out of central services. Is that not correct? Alright, it's coming out of Central Services.
It's not coming out of GR. It only comes out of central services if we have one of these data centers. If we don't have one of these data centers, it doesn't. There's no impact even to central services. So if this were to happen, so that's, that's why you'll see DFNA came back that it was actually neutral because there was no hit to GR and Salaries are out of central services, so it's not a hit to GR for central services either if the recommendation of the
Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
1:43:39
chair is that we're maintaining the purity of the intent of all of our fiscal impact bills is such that I will withdraw my motion. Thank you. Representative A I appreciate that Representative Wing.
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
1:43:50
My, my intention is not to have us do something that we're not doing for all the other bills. I see on here it says revenue neutral, um, and my understanding was that we were able to vote on bills that were revenue neutral. That's the reason for my motion. So I'm certainly not trying to put this committee in any harm at all.
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:44:10
represent matter to recognized. Thank you. I just, I mean, Representative Eve just head on, it's my opinion for whatever it's worth, it says it's revenue neutral. Um, this only occurs if we land one of these things, is my understanding, um, representative Pilin has done a great job presenting it. I would like to have the opportunity to vote yes on this and move forward, but that's just my opinion. Representative Ry recognized. I'm, I'm
Chair
Unverified
1:44:31
in total agreement with Representative Matters. Thank you. Any other discussion?
So, I'm assuming the motion on the floor is a due pass by Representative Eaves. Is that where we're
at? OK, I appreciate that. I walked in. I'm just in the middle so I appreciate that. We have a motion for due pass. Second,
all in favor say aye. Opposed. The eyes have it. Congratulations representative, your bill has passed.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:45:02
Thank you. Thank you. I've never had a more suspenseful vote in my history down
Speaker 21
1:45:06
here thank you. All right, that committee
we have one bill uh by Representative in it to um present for us. HB 1366. I know I
Speaker 242
1:45:20
forget. I'm sorry. Hey, I just came from the
Speaker 121
1:45:24
Senate. I mean that. I mean, they're, they're crazy. C. You know what 1190. 13.
Speaker 173
1:45:32
Representative, if you'll recognize yourself for the
record and you can present your bill. Good morning, tax and rib.
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:45:44
I am Representative Denise Sennett. I represent District 80, parts of downtown Little Rock and Pulaski County. Today I like to present House Bill. 1466 In the early afternoon of March 31st, 20032023, 5 tornadoes devastated multiple counties in Arkansas. 2 F 52, sorry 2 E.
EF 3 tornadoes hit central and East Arkansas destroying homes and causing extensive damage to businesses and infrastructures and Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Cabot, and when the tornado and Cross County destroyed Wynn High School. Arkansas is prone to several, or sorry, severe weather events including tornadoes by providing a financial incentive. For the installation of storm
shelters, House Bill 1366 seeks to enhance the safety and preparedness of residents, potentially reducing injuries and fatalities during such events. Um, this bill was brought to me or the ideal was brought to me by a constituent and also this bill is modeled after the one in Alabama. So a storm shelter is considered. Oh sorry A qualified storm shelter must um
Be a storm shelter or safe room built or installed on the site of the taxpayers' primary residences, be capable of withstanding a EF 5 tornado and meet or exceed minimum criteria established by FEMA. Let's see. And with that, I'll take any questions. Thank you, Representative. uh, Representative Lunstrom, you're
reckon and just as a reminder, we'll be debating. We won't be able to take a vote on this one, but we are
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:48:00
debating. Representative Lustrom, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman Kavanaugh. um. Do we already have federal? Didn't FEMA do this a few years back. They did a big push to have people with in storm areas have. storm shelters and there was a tax credit for that at the time. I believe so. Did, did they not extend that? Don't we already have that currently in the federal? No.
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:48:25
OK. All right, well. And I forgot to mention to um Representative Langstrom. Um, this is, this tax credit is up to $3000 and the cap of the cap is up to $2 million
a year. Thank you for capping it. We need
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:48:42
to do that more often. All right,
Speaker 122
1:48:45
thank you. Thank you. Any other questions, members? Seeing of Representative
Speaker 38
1:48:55
Berkshire recognize. Uh, thank you. So my question just relates to the $2 million general revenue reduction and then in the fiscal impact statement they talk about a $14,000 cost of software and implementation. I was just going to get a little more information on that. OK. Can I have DFA come
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:49:09
up here, please. Thank you. Mr. Gary if you'll go down to the end
and introduce yourself again for the record and you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.
Speaker 102
1:49:26
This would be a new tax credit. The tax credit is would
Speaker 103
1:49:29
be issued by the division of Emergency Management, but DFA would be responsible for maintaining the credit within our tax system, so anytime we have a new tax credit, we do have to program that for the system and then our estimate is provided um of $14,000 to implement the new credit. And, and just could you give me a little, I'm sorry, may I follow
Speaker 38
1:49:50
up a little more information about how we arrived at the $2 million revenue reduction. Yes, ma'am. So there
Speaker 103
1:49:59
is a $2 million credit that can be issued per year for these types of investments in placing a qualified storm shelter. We got some data that a storm shelter is about $15,000 to to build the credit is either 50% of the costs or $3000 whichever is um. Whichever is less, so we anticipated about 700 storm shelters could be built in Arkansas at that average cost and meet the $2 million credit, so we, we believe that that
credit would get met on an annual basis if up to 700 taxpayers took advantage of
it. Yes, ma'am. Any other questions, members? Seeing none, thank you, Mr. Geering, and Representative Bennett, you're welcome
to close for your bill. I'm closed. I appreciate that. Thank you for presenting this idea to us. Thank you. Um, with that, we're gonna move on to representative Vo. Uh, she has two bills to present. The first
one is gonna be HB 1190, 1190. And if you'll introduce yourself representative, you'll be reckon you're recognized to present
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:51:12
your bill. Uh, Representative DM by District 87. Sorry, I'm rushing in from Education committee and I've got to find the bill. OK. House Bill
1190 is to create an income tax exemption for teachers, um, thank you so much. um. It does exactly what it says. It's up to that 50,000 beyond the 50,000 would be taxable. Uh, we, I thought this might be a good teacher retention bill that we could use to uh retain teachers and hopefully recruit teachers. With that, I'm closed. Members, do we have any questions?
have one, yes ma'am. Why did we sit on the 50,000 because that was the new pay. pay grade for for teachers now it's 50,000. OK, but we didn't look at a lower level, um, of it. Well, I, I could have, but I was trying to make sure that it also didn't hit the budget really bad, ma'am. OK, well, the reason I'm asking
is that's the starting salary, so we'd be exempting almost everybody in the state of Arkansas that your teacher, so I was just curious why we came up, why you, why you chose the 50.
I, just because it was what the starting pay was. All right, thank you.
Members, any questions? Representative right, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. Representative, just from a philosophical standpoint, you know, I don't want teachers to have to pay income tax. I don't want plumbers or electricians or truck drivers or nurses or really anyone to pay income tax, and I think that would be my long term aspiration for our
state. Can you help me wrestle with this question of why we should carve out one profession as opposed to a broad-based tax relief more evenly distributed because, and I know you mentioned the um the retention issue, but there's all sorts of businesses that have retention issues with their employees. So Right now we have a shortage of teachers in the state of Arkansas and
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:53:34
I was really just trying to use it as a retention or even trying to attract
teachers into the field. And I agree, I think we're moving towards this anyway, um, with our tax income cuts that we've been doing. So thank you. Any other questions, members? See
Speaker 111
1:53:55
none. Is there anybody signed up to speak. Against
the bill. For the bill? Are you trying to speak for the
bill? OK, if you come down and if you will introduce yourself
Speaker 262
1:54:17
for the record. Uh, Rob McGill, academics plus charter school CEO and uh I just saw that this morning and I do appreciate uh Representative Volt for bringing this forward because I do think it's very important that uh we do have shortages in the state and a lot of different teachers. Uh, my first instinct was we have a lot of shortages in districts, not in, not just the teachers, you
know, with the bus drivers and uh uh finding uh uh paraprofessionals and all the support staff and that that'd be the only thing that I'd like to see it was more people included, but, uh, I would definitely not speak against the bill as it is written, but only for a bill that would include uh additional employees and you can exclude the CEO superintendent, but everybody else in my opinion should be included in that. Thank you. Any questions, members? See you then. Thank you for coming.
Anyone else to speak for or against the bill? CNN Representative, you can close for your bill if you like. I'm closed for the bill. Thank you. I appreciate it. As you know, members were not taking a vote. Um, thank you for bringing this forward, Representative, um, your next bill is going to be HB 1388 and also as a reminder, we won't be taking a vote on this one either. It'll be up for debate and If you introduce yourself again and you'll be
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:55:40
recognized. DM bought district representative for District 87. This was a
constituent driven piece of legislation that was several years ago where um several different things were taken out of being taxed and this was the last thing in that area that was left being taxed and that's why, that's why we've done this so narrowly, um, it would, it would take the boat storage and docking fees. Uh, and the furnishing of camp spaces and trailer spaces at public and private owned campgrounds. Um,
It would just take those fees, those taxes away.
Speaker 260
1:56:21
Thank you. Members, do we have any questions? See none? Do I have
anybody who would like to speak for or against the bill? Against 4. Saying none represented a vault you're recognized to close for your bill. Again, this is uh something that one
of my constituents brought to me that was important
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
1:56:38
to them and I, and I wanted to make sure that I got to present it to y'all and I appreciate you listening. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm closed.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you for presenting, uh, members with that, that's all the bills we're gonna
hear today. I appreciate your hard work, uh, probably the most bills we've heard our session, but at least we're getting through them. I appreciate all the hard work and
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA
HB1018 Hudson TO CREATE THE STRONG FAMILIES ACT; AND TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS THAT PROVIDE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.
HB1076 Hudson TO CREATE THE CARING FOR CAREGIVERS ACT; AND TO PROVIDE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR EXPENSES INCURRED IN CARING FOR CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS.
HB1190 Vaught TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX EXEMPTION FOR TEACHERS.
HB1203 Underwood TO PROTECT ARKANSAS TAXPAYERS FROM A TAX TO COLLECT TAXES.
HB1366 Ennett TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED STORM SHELTERS.
HB1386 Cavenaugh TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS TO REAL PROPERTY; AND TO AMEND THE METHOD OF VALUATION FOR REAL PROPERTY UNDER ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE 16, § 5.
HB1388 Vaught TO EXEMPT CERTAIN STORAGE SERVICES FROM SALES TAX; AND TO EXEMPT THE SERVICE OF FURNISHING ACCOMMODATIONS BY A TOURIST CAMP OR A TOURIST COURT FROM SALES TAX, AS AFFIRMED BY REFERRED ACT 19 OF 1958.
HB1404 C. Cooper TO CREATE A TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO A PREGNANCY HELP ORGANIZATION.
HB1438 Cavenaugh TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR TAXPAYERS SIXTY-FIVE AND OLDER IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE TAXPAYER'S PROPERTY TAX PAYMENT ON A HOMESTEAD.
HB1444 Pilkington TO AMEND THE SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR DATA CENTERS.
HB1464 Vaught TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR PARTS FOR AND REPAIR OF AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY.
HB1469 Beaty Jr. TO CREATE THE BROADBAND EXPANSION AND EFFICIENCY ACT; AND TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT USED IN PRODUCING BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.
HB1472 Beaty Jr. TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR PARTS PURCHASED TO REPAIR AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY AND TIMBER EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY AND PARTS AND SERVICES PURCHASED TO REPAIR A GRAIN BIN.
HB1485 K. Brown TO CREATE A SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR SALES TO CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT VETERANS' FACILITIES.
HB1129 Gramlich TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "HOMESTEAD" FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR DISABLED VETERANS, SURVIVING SPOUSES, AND MINOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN.
HB1497 Painter TO ADD THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MILITARY TO THE LIST OF CLAIMANT AGENCIES FOR PURPOSES OF THE SETOFF AGAINST STATE TAX REFUNDS.
HB1500 Beaty Jr. TO ENHANCE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS BY REPEALING THE THROWBACK RULE.
HB1501 Beaty Jr. TO ADOPT FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAW REGARDING DEPRECIATION AND THE EXPENSING OF PROPERTY; AND TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT ALLOWED FOR THE EXPENSING OF CERTAIN DEPRECIABLE BUSINESS ASSETS TO THE AMOUNT ALLOWED UNDER FEDERAL LAW.
HB1520 Cavenaugh TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TO RESPOND TO A WRITTEN REQUEST FOR A LEGAL OPINION WITHIN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME.
HB1521 Cavenaugh TO REPEAL CERTAIN UNUSED, UNDERUSED, OR UNFUNDED TAX INCENTIVES.
HB1538 Ray TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE NET OPERATING LOSS INCOME TAX DEDUCTION; AND TO INCREASE THE CARRY-FORWARD PERIOD FOR THE NET OPERATING LOSS INCOME TAX DEDUCTION.
HB1540 J. Mayberry TO AMEND THE INCOME TAX CREDIT AND THE INCOME TAX DEDUCTION RELATED TO MAINTAINING, SUPPORTING, AND CARING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY.
HB1594 Vaught TO CREATE A FARMER SALES TAX IDENTIFICATION CARD; AND TO RELIEVE A SELLER OF SALES TAX REMITTANCE LIABILITY UPON GOOD FAITH ACCEPTANCE OF A FARMER SALES TAX IDENTIFICATION CARD.
HB1599 Torres TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY TO BE EXEMPT FROM TAXATION.
SB200 K. Hammer TO INCLUDE TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT ARE LEASED IN THE EXEMPTION FROM THE GROSS RECEIPTS TAX.
HB1636 Ray TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SOFT DRINK TAX ACT, AS AFFIRMED BY REFERRED ACT 1 OF 1994; AND TO PHASE OUT THE SOFT DRINK TAX BASED ON SALES TAX COLLECTIONS FROM SALES OF SOFT DRINKS.
SB263 Crowell TO INCREASE THE HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX CREDIT.
HB1116 Ray TO CREATE THE REMOTE AND MOBILE WORK MODERNIZATION AND COMPETITIVENESS ACT; AND TO PROVIDE INCOME TAX AND WITHHOLDING EXEMPTIONS RELATED TO CERTAIN REMOTE AND MOBILE EMPLOYEES AND NONRESIDENTS.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — REVENUE & TAXATION- HOUSE, Mar 6, 2025 | Agenda | 3 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Frances Cavenaugh Chair
Unverified
Representative David Ray Chair
Unverified
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
Representative Ry
Unverified
Zach Gramli
Unverified
Speaker 32
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 38
Speaker 44
Speaker 46
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Lanny Richmond
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Representative Carlton Wing
Unverified
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
Speaker 76
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
Speaker 102
Speaker 103
Speaker 110
Speaker 121
Speaker 123
Speaker 131
Speaker 138
Speaker 141
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
David Cook
Unverified
Representative Aker
Unverified
Speaker 160
Speaker 168
Speaker 174
Mark Diggs
Unverified
Speaker 183
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
Speaker 192
Chair
Unverified
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
Speaker 63
Speaker 207
Speaker 210
Representative Ron McNair
Unverified
Hugh Mcdonald
Unverified
Speaker 237
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
Speaker 21
Speaker 242
Speaker 173
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
Speaker 122
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 111
Speaker 262
Speaker 260