House Convenes

I invite the member staff, press, and guests in the galleries to stand and be led in prayer. by Pastor Ricky Massingale, the lead teaching pastor of Cross Life Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, also superintendent of the Union Christian Academy guest today of Representative Ryan Rose. Let's pray. Lord God, you tell us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of who you are. So Lord, today in our days are not about who we are and who we want to be and who we can be. But our days are to be spent glorifying you. But Lord, there are men and women in this room who have many things to decide that affect many other lives. I'm not praying for the issues, Lord. Lord, I'm praying for the men and the women who have devoted their time. Lord, I pray for their wisdom today. You tell us if any of us lacks wisdom, let him ask, and you will give it freely and without discernment, and that your wisdom is pure and peaceable and reasonable and easy to be entreated. Lord, we need your wisdom and not our own. Lord, I pray for your grace, one towards another. Because when issues arise, Lord, we don't want those issues and those topics and those discussions or to break relations. So Lord, give us grace and mercy one towards another, grace and a mercy that you gave us, that you brought to us, that we would have one towards another. So look for your wisdom, for your grace. And Lord teach us to walk in humility. Or teaches to walk in a way that honors you and the gospel and who you are and what you have come to do, which is to redeem. Where I lift these men and women up to you. Pray for their wisdom, their grace, and their humility. Lord, may you be honored today. And we pray the song on your son's holy name. Amen. Members, please indicate your presence by pushing your yellow present button. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. As everyone indicated their presence. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With 97 members present, Cher sees a Qorum. Are there any requests for leave? Representative Rose, for what purpose? Leave. You're recognized for Representative McCollum. His leave granted for Representative McCollum. So ordered Representative Grammas, for what purpose? Leave You're recognized. We requested for Han Barro. His leave granted for Representative Bro. Representative Milligan, for what purpose? You're recognized for Representative Meeks. I leave granted for Representative Meeks. So ordered. Representative Matthew Shepherd moves that we dispense with the reading of the previous day's journal with no objection, so ordered. Madam Clerk Are there any reports from select committees, you're recognized. Mr. Speaker, we your committee on joint budgets to whomd House Bill 1088, House Bill 1089, House Bill 1093, House Bill 1094, House Bill 1098, House Bill 1120, house 1123. House Bill 1201. House Bill 1259, House Bill 1262, House Bill 1267, House Bill 1390, House Bill 1391, hospital 1392, has 1393, has 13994, has 1395, house with 1396, house with 1397, house 1406 vaguely report we're under the same consideration here for time with the same recommendation that it do pass respectfully submitted Lane Jean, chair. Thank you, Madam Clark. Are there any reports from standing committees you're recognized. Mr. Speaker, we your Committee on Public Health, welfare and Labor to whom was referred House Bill 1393, Senate Bill 58, vaguely report, we have the same consideration here for time with the same recommendation that it do pass respectfully submitted. Representative Wooldridge, vice chair. Mr. Speaker, we're committee on Judiciary, to whom was referred House Bill 1049, House Bill 1263, House Bill 1282, beg leave for the same consideration here for term same recommendation that it do pass respectfully submitted Carol Darby, chair. Mr. Speaker. We your Committee on Education, to whom was referred House Bill 1060. Vaguely report we have under the same consideration and here the term the same recommendation they do pass as amended number 3, respectfully submitted Representative Brooks, chair. Mr. Speaker, we your Committee on Education to whom House Bill 1189, Senate Bill 142, vaguely report the same consideration and here return with the same recommendation and they do pass effectively submit it. Representative Burke. Thank you, Madam Clark. Is there any unfinished business? Any executive communications. Members, I'd like to take a moment to recognize in the back of the chamber. With us today are Arkansas State trooper, Sergeant Greg Dykes of the Highway Patrol Administration, and Corporal Dustin Starkey from also from the Highway Patrol Administration both of Little Rock. Gentlemen, thank you for your service to our state. Members also providing service to each of us is our nurse of the day, Ms. Lee Fazio. Please make her welcome. Remembers, we have some other guests with us today that we'd like to recognize first in the East gallery, we have with us today as guest of Representative David Ray, they're students from the Fellowship of Christian Homeschoolers from Dangerfield, Texas. We welcome you to the House chamber today. Also with us, uh, in the East gallery today, guest of Representative Wade Andrews, Representative Sonia Barker, and Representative Matthew Shepherd. We have the, the Camden Chamber of Commerce Leadership Group. Welcome. We're glad to have you with us today. Representative Beatty, for what purpose? Point of personal privilege. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a point of personal privilege today. I'm honored to have, uh, as my guest and represents Wardlaw's guest, representatives of UAM in Monticello, Lonnie Davis's class on ag policy. Members please make them welcome from UAM. Thank you, members. Madam clerk, please read House Resolution 1006. House. Resolution 1006 by Representative Re to recognize February 7th through the 14th, 2025 as National Marriage Week. Representative Ray, you're recognized to explain the resolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, this resolution is to recognize February 7th through 14th as national marriage Week. I first became aware of National Marriage Week last year, um, through a chance encounter with Mark and Michelle Ellis, who run an organization called the Central Arkansas Marriage in Initiative. Which tries to foster healthy marriages in all of our churches across central Arkansas. And when they found out that I was a state representative, they asked me, what is Arkansas's government doing to promote marriage across our state. And embarrassingly, I struggled to come up with a list of things that the state was proactively doing. Obviously, there's limitations to what the state can accomplish in this area through, through state action. But I told them that as I gave thought to what policy proposals we might consider in the future. What we could do at the very least, was expressed through the will of the House of Representatives through a resolution that we believe that marriage is important for the people of our state. So National Marriage Week is a nationwide movement designed to strengthen and promote the benefits of marriage. This week reminds us that marriage is more than just a single day on the calendar. It's more than just a ceremony. It is the foundational relationship for all of society and good marriages are the bedrock for strong societies. Of course, the institution of marriage was established by God Himself in Genesis chapter 2. So it should come as no surprise that there are many benefits that come along with marriage. There's a wealth of academic research on the benefits of marriage, including healthier lifestyles, longer life expectancy, increased levels of happiness and better financial well-being. And we know also through research that marriage decreases crime, substance abuse, poverty, and suicide risk. And there's an even longer list of benefits that marriage, a healthy marriage confers on the children that it produces. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that a lot of the problems that we struggle to address in this legislative body. Problems that we spend millions upon millions if not billions of dollars trying to alleviate. Would be alleviated tremendously if we had more healthy, strong, vibrant marriages across our state. And so I want to thank Governor Sanders for issuing a proclamation in honor of national marriage Week, and I'd like to ask for all of you to consider posting something, maybe on your social media to let your constituents know the importance of this, um, if you would like to learn more, you can check out the Arkansas Marriage Initiative at Arkansas marriage.com. And with that, I'd appreciate a good vote. Madam Clark, please read the resolution in name only. To recognize February 7th through the 14th, 2025 as National Marriage Week. Representative Ray has explained the resolution. Would anyone like to speak against the resolution? For the resolution Representative Ray is closed for the resolution. The question before the House is the passage of House resolution 1006. All those in favor say aye. Rose, the eyes have it. Congratulations, Representative Ray, you have passed a resolution. Members also joining us today in the North Gallery, uh, spouse of Representative Carlton Wing is Ms. Lee Wing. Would you please make her welcome? That concludes the morning hour. Representative Evans recommends that we concurry in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1056, Madam Clerk, please read Senate Amendment 1. Amendment. Representative Evans, you are recognized to explain Amendment One. Members, I'm, uh, asking you to concur and send an amendment number one to this bill, uh, this was the, uh, overwhelming vote that we had here both in committee and on the floor of creating the joint committee on, uh, Military and Veterans Affair Affairs. Uh, we got down to the Senate end, we found one word, uh, it's on page 3 at the top, uh, where we needed to make a change, changing the word shall to may. Uh, I thought it was a good catch on their end. Uh, happy to make that amendment and would appreciate your support in this concurrence of this, uh, so that we can get this committee off the ground. We appreciate a good vote. Speaker Evans has explained the amendment. Would anyone like to speak against the amendment? For the amendment. Representative Evans, you're closed for the amendment. The question before the House's concurrence with Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1056. Preparing the machine, madam clerk. As everyone voted, casts up the ballot, Madam Clerk. By a vote of 94 years, zero nays, and 0 present. You have concurred in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1056. Madam clerk, please read House Bill 1317 Representative Shepherd to amend laws concerning fraud against the government to include fraud against the state-supported retirement system. Representative Shepherd, you're recognized to explain the bill. Members, glad to be in front of you today. Have House Bill 1317. This bill was uh brought to me by our retirement systems and really in large part it's in response to some of the work that's been done in our audit, uh, committees. Oftentimes, there have been questions about why aren't there prosecutions of instances where maybe our retirement systems appear to have been defrauded and previously, uh, well, the current law is that Those types of violations are only misdemeanors. And so this bill would, uh, Actually require that to become a felony, that would match what's already the law when it comes to Social Security, uh, disability determination. So we're trying to bring some consistency into the law, uh, hopefully to elevate, elevate the importance, the attention that's paid to these matters. Obviously, our prosecutors have a number of matters that come across their desk each and every day, uh, with, with it being raised to a felony, probably will gain more attention, but also provide some additional options to hopefully uh, recover, uh, some of those monies that may have been wrongfully taken from the state of Arkansas. And I'd appreciate a good vote. Representative Eubanks, for what purpose? Question. You're recognized for a question. Representative Shepherd, do we have prison space if uh these people are convicted. I think you know the answer for that, of that. Representative Shepherd has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? You wanna like speak for the bill. Representative Shepard is closed for the bill. The question before the house is the passage of House Bill 1317. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Members, your one vote is for the bill and the emergency clause. So everyone voted. Everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. vote of 97 e, zero nays, and 0 present, the bill and the emergency clause has passed. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 12:15. House Bill 12:15 by Representative Bentley to authorize a coach or athletics personnel member of the opposite sex to address supervise or treat student athletes in a multiple occupancy restroom or changing area under certain conditions. Representative Bentley, you're recognized to explain the bill. Thank you, Speaker, uh, colleagues, I was able to pass a bill last session that protected our girls in the bathroom and make sure they were safe there and in pressing that bill, I thought we had made exemptions for coaches, but I didn't. Failed to do so. So I wanna appreciate, uh, Representative Shepherd who would help with me on this bill to make sure that we have a safe, so now we will allow the team cap to come out and let the male coach know that girls are all dressed and appropriate and they come in and speak to the girls at halftime. A lot of our schools invest a lot of money in television, those things for the girls to see uh what happened during halftime so they can do better on the other half. So this really just allows a safe way for the coaches to come in and speak to the girls, and it's been asked for by the AAA and our superintendent. So with that I'd be happy to take any questions if anybody should have some. Representative Parier for what purpose? You're recognized for a question, a background check required for the other adult? I expect the school to do so, yes. I question I will ask them. I really don't know the answer to that question. I apologize, but I, I'm sure the school would want to make sure have a common adult and they want to take care of their kids, so. Thank you. Oh, without any questions, I appreciate a good vote. Representative Bentley has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? anyone like speak for the bill. Representative Bentley, do you wish to close for your bill, Representative Bentley's closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1215. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted. Cast up the ballot vote of 86 ye, zero nay, and 8 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 1180. 1180 by Representative Bentley to create the Baby Olivia Act. Representative Bentley, you're recognized. Thank you, Speaker. Colleagues, I have been waiting for 2 years to run this spill. It's something that I'm really excited about. I went to a legislative conference and saw states of Tennessee and South Dakota I'm busy with those legislators and how they passed the baby Olivia bill. And when I saw the video, I said, we have got to do this in Arkansas. I'm really excited. As a nurse, I've always been passionate about the human body and just love to see how God created our body and just, just the eyeball fascinates me. I don't have to go further than that to see how amazing our bodies are and how God created them. So, before we get started, I'm gonna read one of my favorite verses from. 39:13 through 15, you formed me in my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside. And wove them all together in my mother's womb. I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex. Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It's simply amazes me to think about it. How thoroughly you know me, Lord. You informed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place. Carefully, skillfully, you shape me from nothing to something. So, when I worked at Children's Hospital years ago, um, back in the early 1980s, we had the first ultrasounds and the tiny little pixel things and little dots, and I was always amazed the physicians could see an infant's heart and see how it was acting with those, uh, early. ultrasound, so they were so fuzzy, you couldn't really see anything. Now, we get to see our grandkids before they ever get here with 3D and 4D ultrasounds, and they're just, just fascinating to see uh how beautiful the babies are even before they get here. So, um, that's really what kind of started since we have ultrasounds now, we can really see inside those mother's wombs which for years we could not, um, now we have a whole new story we can tell our kids. So, baby Olivia is a medically accurate animated glimpse of human life from the moment of fertilization. The story details Olivia. growth as she progresses from one development stage to the next, in preparation for her continued life outside of the womb. Baby Libby was created by live action and collaboration with a panel of medical doctors, including experts in embryonic fetal development. Doctor David Bollinger, Doctor Donna Harrison, Doctor Terra Sandra Lee, Doctor Katrina Firth, Michelle Fritella, and Jeffrey Barrows all with doctors of, of medical science. Each endorsed the project. In chronicle order, um, they portray Olivia's life. And it's important to note before I discuss and go through this, that this, the order of weeks of the baby start at fertilization. It does not start two weeks before when you go to an obstetrician, you're, the baby's date is based on your last menstrual period. Well, the baby's not created till 2 weeks later. So the baby Olivia Bill isn't a biological film of in uh fetal development, but it starts at gestation, or at fertilization, not the two weeks before. So people like ACOG will try to say, well, it's inaccurate, and I'm sorry, um, if you look on ACOG's website, you can see the ACOG believes that abortion is essential health care. ACOG believes that abortion saves lives. I'm not gonna listen to something that AO tries to tell me on this film when they say it's inaccurate because it portrays the weeks of baby Olivia from the moment of conception, not from two weeks before, from her mother's life. menstrual period. So understand when you hear people say that's an accurate, it's not inaccurate. It starts, it's a biological, uh, film about fetal development from the moment of fertilization. Many of the development facts shared in Baby Olivia are sourced from the endowment for Human Development, which is a nonprofit organization. Dedicated to improving health science. Its website states that the Endowment for Human Development is committed to neutrality regarding all controversial bioethical issues. Our board of directors, board of advisors, staff and volunteers includes complished educators, researchers, authors, programmers, and clinicians from a variety of scientific and business disciplines who share the common goal of improving lifelong health through prenatal development-based education. Science educators across the United States have endorsed the organization's award-winning content. Including the National jury cracker who National Geographic who distributes their material. Oh, we certified OByn Kathy Altman has said, Olivia is a spectacular and medically accurate portrayal of the development of a baby girl within the womb. It is based on information from the Endowment for Human Development, a highly respected scientific source on embryology and fetal development. Olivia draws back the curtain on the womb, giving us a realistic glimpse of the baby within. Each and every word, every image in this short video. Have the backing of experts and embryonic and fetal development. Let's go over just a few of the statements that they have in there. The very first words that you hear when you watch Baby Libby is, this is the moment that life begins. This statement refers to fertilization. The Endowment for Human Development states biologically speaking, biologically speaking, fertilization or conception is the beginning of human development. The journal Nature stated in June, January 2010 issue, The Life Cycle of Mammals Begins when a sperm enters an egg. The textbook patterns Foundation of Embryology states, the time of fertilization ramps the the time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history of or ony of the individual. So we know when it says that that's when life begins. That's when mammals begin, when the, when the egg and the sperm get together, and then there's a flash of light. I think it's just amazing to me that God creates a flash of light when a human being is created. At fertilization, her gender, ethnicity, hair color, eye color, and countless traits are already determined. The Endowment of Human Development, says the zygote contains 46 unique chromosomes with the entire genetic blueprint of a new individual. Science Daily notes that the sex of a baby is determined by a chromosome makeup at conception, an embryo with 2 X chromosomes will produce a girl, an embryo with an XY commendation results in a boy. I'm not gonna read everyone here because each one of them are backed up, we'll be here all day long. We've got some other bills to go over. So I want to talk about one more since I worked, um, In the CBSU when I could see baby hearts, I'm always fascinated by the baby's hearts. So, at 3 weeks and 1 day, just 22 days after fertilization, leavey's heartbeat can be detected. The endowment of Human Development states about 3 weeks, 1 day after fertilization, the heart, heart beat first begins to beat. Merck's manuals also say the heart and major blood vessels begin to develop early by about day 16. Day 16 from fertilization. The heart begins to pump fluid through blood vessels by day 2, and the first red blood cells appear the very next day. Now 2020 study published by Journal of Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy. Oxford affiliated researchers wrote, by the end of gestation in week 3, passive oxygen diffusion becomes insufficient to support metabolism of the developing embryo, and thus the fetal heart becomes a vital for oxygen and nutrient distribution. The initiation of the first heartbeat via the primitive heart 2 begins at gestational age 22. Followed by active fetal blood circulation by the end of week 4. Baby Libby's story goes on to say about her arms developing in the arm buds and then our hands and arms coming together, and I'll read one more because again, we're not, we don't have all day. At the beginning of the 9th week, Olivia will have grown from a single cell. And to nearly 1 billion cells, and she is now called a fetus. She will suck her thumb and swallow and grasp an object, touch your face, sigh, and stretch. The endowment of Human Development states 8 weeks marks the end of the embryonic period. During this time, the human embryo has gone from a single cell into nearly 1 billion cells. It also states by 9 weeks thumb sucking begins in the fetus may swallow amniotic fluid. The fetus can also grasp an object, move its head forward and backward, open and close the jaw, move the tongue, sigh, and stretch. So from the moment of fertilization to 8 or 9 weeks, all those things are beginning. I'll talk about one more thing, quickening. Her mother first sent Olivia's movement between 14 and 18 weeks. It's an event called Quickening. The endowment of Human Development states of pregnant when first census fetal development between 14 and 18 weeks, traditionally, this event is called Quickling. So It'll go through each week and it's just, just such a beautiful video, and I'll start with that 27 weeks, your eyes are responding to light. She can recognize her parents' voices and even recognize lullabies and stories. The Endowment for Human Development states that pupils dilate and constrict in response to light as early as 27 weeks. And right now, I have a little granddaughter who's 27 weeks and her momma's getting an ultrasound today, so I'm pretty excited about her coming. By 20 weeks, the cochlear reaches adult size within the fully developed inner ear and from now on the fetus will respond to a growing medley of sounds. The fetus hears numerous sounds before birth with the mother's voice and heartbeat dominating other sounds, and studies show that after months of listening to her mother's voice, the newborn prefers her voice to any other. The newborn also refers prefers female voices to male voices and familiar lullabies heard before birth to new lullabies after birth. Newborns can distinguish between prose, passages heard during the last six weeks of pregnancy from new passages providing additional evidence of an end uterine memory formation and learning. So, now let's go to, we'll see that um on the first page, we're just adding uh requirements for certain human growth and development education, human growth and development education is used in this section, uh, we'll discuss an all written or digital lessons, lecture presentation regarding human biology as it relates to pregnancy and human development inside the womb. Each school district an open charter public school will incorporate a human growth and development discussion into an existing health and safety course beginning in the 5th grade. The human growth and Development discussion required by the subjects which will include a high different high definition ultrasound and the baby Olivia video. And so, from there we go. Very simple bill, um, just simply adding some truth. I know some, some of you have been concerned about the age that we're talking about here with the 5th grade, but many 9 year old girls are starting their period. If you'll talk to psychologists, child psychologists is very important for these kids to hear before all that begins what's going on with the human body. Kids are seeing so much already on their phones, they're hearing stuff in the bathroom. I want them to see some truth on really what's happening so they can have honest discussions. This is provided at absolutely no cost to the school. There's no financial obligations, the school would ever. Live action has granted a non-exclusive license to use the resource for educational purposes and perpetuity and at no cost. Live action also provides the resources unbranded for educational purposes, so no child is gonna see live action when they see baby Olivia. Um, I think we're gonna, we'll say that um if a parent does not want this child to see the video. We already have statues in place and they can be excused from seeing the video. There's nothing that forces a child to see the video. I just think it's some good honest truth for parents to be able to see. And with that, I will take some questions if anybody has any questions. Representative McAuliffe, for what purpose? You're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, Representative Bentley, will you go back on that opt out, um, part that parents can do. Can you tell me exactly when, when will parents be notified? Will teachers notify parents? Can you kind of tell me about that process? It's totally up to the schools, how this, however the school wants to do it, just how to handle with every other subject now. It's in stature that parents can opt out. I'm not gonna tell the school exactly when they should do it. I'll leave it up to the local school to decide. How they want to handle it. Representative McGee, for what purpose? Reg for a question. Representative, you and I have talked about this as a physician. When you do this video in cycle. That's why, after your period. Um, I didn't really what I said was it starts at them whenever conception starts, that's when the video starts. So one of the moment of conception occurs, that's when life begins. That's when the embryo starts. That's all I'm saying is that we start, it starts when conception starts and not before. You're recognized. But the videos assuming that conception occurs at ovulation with 2 weeks after. Approximately 2 wheel cycle. People can become pregnant the first day of their menstrual cycle, anytime, uh, There've been some some very surprised parents. Again, this was developed by physicians, and I would say to you that I have a I as a mom, I watch human development of my kids and children develop at different stages, right? I have a child, one child that starts walking at 9 months, another one will start walking till 13 months. So every human development is different, every human body is different. Again, I'm gonna have to agree to disagree with you. The video says when conception occurs, it doesn't say, it doesn't base anything on the mother. It doesn't even talk about the mother. It talks about the baby and the embryo development and the fetal development, and it was to, uh, again, developed by physicians. the American Association of Pro-life OBGYN's 100% support baby live, and then they have 10s of thousands of obstetricians across the nation, there are 100, 100% behind this video, including Doctor Kay Chandler, our surgeon General. She thinks it follows exact science, and I, I would trust Kay Chandler. OK No Without any further questions, I will step aside some of his pros and cons on it. Representative Bentley has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative McGee, for what purpose? You're recognized Mr. Speaker. Recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So colleagues, I'm, I'm gonna speak to this from several standpoints. One is a physician, then I won't speak to it for a couple of problems I see in the bill that I think could be made better. And I visited with Representative Bentley about some of this. And then told her that, that if it stands as it is, I'm going to be a no on the bill. I like the concept of the bill. There's no doubt about that. I think anything we can do to educate our children, um, is, is a great thing to do. Um, I still, Have a problem with the dates they use. I know that there may be many pro-life obstetricians that say they don't have any problems with those dates. But when the kids go to school and they see this, and then they go out and they're gonna go out and they're going to get on their phones and they're going to YouTube this and they're gonna see other videos and there's a lot of conflicting dates. I just think it should go with what is generally accepted medical standards for, for the date of the start of the pregnancy, cause that, I promise you. Pregns geeks can start on day one of a menstrual cycle. And they don't always start. Two weeks after the last menstrual cycle. That's the normal case, but, but, but they can occur anytime. So that's the problem I have. I don't have, I don't really have a real problem with the video other than the dates and the way that that's presented. I talked to Representative Bentley about possibly using Latin schools using different videos. If you go, get on YouTube tonight and look at them. There are a lot of great videos. One of the other things this bill doesn't address or the video doesn't address at all what's going on with the mom? I mean, I think that's really important. There's one on YouTube now, it's about 3 minutes. Great, lady did goes through the same things, don't really, they don't even really talk about the dates that much. They talk more, show the video as the child is developing, but they're also talking about the mother is also talking about what's going on with her? Why do they get morning sickness? When do they feel the first kicks of the baby, you know, uh, why do all the hormonal changes occur, so dramatically in the last trimester and mom's irritable or, you know. or the husband needs to duck his head every once in a while or why do they want to eat and gain weight and get dark splotches on their skin. I mean, there's a lot of, a lot of more information that we could give these kids with different videos. Anyway, that's from the, from the medical perspective. Now, just from the bill itself, some of the things that I really don't like is I don't like it starting in the 5th grade. Some people will argue, well, 5th graders ought to know it. Most people in education think that 6th grade is about the earliest time you should start having children see these types of videos. I'd like to see if the the sponsor might get up and address that. I have a problem with it starting in the 5th grade. I prefer, if you want to pick something, I would say 7th grade. That would be my personal choice, but even the experts say, Kids are probably mature enough and know enough that 6th grade would probably be OK. Um This mandates that all school districts show this video. There is no law in Arkansas that mandates anybody in any school, give anything about sex education or pregnancy or anything. The only thing Arkansas law has, is about this, about sex education. The law says they have to emphasize Abstinence. Anything else that they put in, in the programs in school, they can put, and many of the schools do a great job. They talk about important things, sexually transmitted diseases and abusive relationships and all those sorts of things, contraception, those kinds of things, but it's up to the school, and there are school districts in Arkansas that, that don't have any sexual education programs. But now they're gonna have to show this video. Um, you know, I would prefer That, that, that schools still be allowed to have a choice in what, what they're showing their kids. Um, That's really about all I have to say. I think about it. Oh, the other thing about the opt out, I'd really like to see, I don't think opt out is a good way to do things. People need to opt in. I'll give you an example. CBD over here had an opt-out program on me on their retiree program. You had to opt out of one insurance to stay on the other. People found out 3 months later they were, their insurance would be changed because they didn't opt out. It, it, it should go to the parents say, your, your child, that'd be a whole new law, I guess, something different we could think about, should say they should opt into the program, but Anyway, I, I, I'll answer any questions and if I can. Questions. I'm back for what purpose? Question for question. Uh, Doctor, I, I, I, I appreciate you talking and I had the exact same concern when I first read the bill, I'd I thought that's too young. So I actually looked it up on the internet and the internet says that most schools begin at the 5th or 6th grade. They don't, they're not required. There's no law that requires the schools as far as I know to do anything. But it says that most schools do. Start sex education in the 5th or wouldn't you agree? What I say is they're not required to do that. They may do it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Representative McGee has spoke against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Crawford, you reckon I speak for the bill. Hello, friends. What a time. We live in Where you can see a baby. In her mother's womb. And the technology has gotten so great. That you can see it in 4D now. You can see The facial expressions of the baby before the baby's born. I have worked in this field for All my adult life. And everything. That Just adds to the beauty of birth amazes me. 5th grade. I remember the 5th grade. Do you guys? We didn't have social media. We didn't have cell phones. We didn't have a lot of things. We played the dirt. Do you know my nickname? Getting on the school bus was dirt. Because I was dirty when I got back on the bus. Anyway, We didn't have What the kids have today. Most kids before they ever get in the 5th grade. Know what's going on with sexuality. That's unfortunate. I agree. But it's truth. So they already know. So the only thing this bill would do. I show the children. The beauty inside of. It would show them things that two of my best friends never saw. Because ultrasound wasn't invented yet. And they had an abortion. And I live with that today. In 1984, the silent scream was made. It was one of the first videos, and it was made by an abortionist. Doctor Nathanson. Because he was doing abortions. And then when the ultrasound machine was made. He saw the baby scream. When he tore the baby apart. So all this would do. I let children know. That it really is a human life. And that abortion really is murder. And that 3 million more babies don't need to be aborted. In the United States of America. I know it's harsh to use the words. I know people don't like to use the words. And his pro-life people, we hid behind that for a very, very long time. But when you hit 63 million. It's time to quit hiding. So I don't hide any anymore. I love people. And in here I'm sure some have had abortions. Or men have been involved. But there's forgiveness for that. And so that's not what this is about. This is just about. Giving tools. To teachers. To train the next generation. On what human development is. And what life is. We can disagree to agree on conception. But the one thing we can't disagree to agree. Is this is how you were made? And this is how I was made. And I'm glad my mother chose life. Thank you. Representative Crawford has spoke for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Hudson, you're recognized to speak against the bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've heard a lot about what we think 5th graders are doing, and I am privileged to not have to wonder because I have one. Actually, I have 2. My son's a 5th grader this year, my daughter Abby will be a 5th grader next year. I've talked to several of you about my daughter Abby. She is a firecracker. She's sweet and kind, and she doesn't know a thing about how babies are conceived. She's not ready for that. She's not old enough. She is 9 years old. That is a decision that my husband and I, as her parents have made. And a decision that I know because my constituents have been blowing me up about it, that a lot of my constituents have made for their children. And we talked a lot about parent choice in here, but as Doc said, why isn't this an opt-in if parents feel comfortable about it. Every parent in here knows about the missing permission slip, the form that their parent, their kid forgot to bring home from school, the things that get lost in backpacks and in lockers and that don't make it. And for something this consequential, showing your child, your 9 or 10 year old child. A video about fetal development and not being able to participate in that conversation is something that I am just not comfortable with as a parent. Now, I went down a little bit of a rabbit hole here, um, and so you'll forgive me for that, but as a parent, I wanted to make sure I understood as much as I could about this video. I watched it. I watched it a few times, um, and then I started looking into who made it, Live Action is unapologetically a pro-life organization, um, that goes and does undercover sting operations and abortion clinics. Um, they fund, um, a number of different types. types of activities that again, I as a parent am uncomfortable and supporting. Um, I, I don't, you know, these undercover things are weird, these, these, you know, propaganda, um, videos that they have on their website, all of this stuff to me again, um, is something that in our family, we, we certainly wouldn't show to our children. And we certainly wouldn't encourage our children to go and seek out, especially at 9 or 10 years old. But the problem with that. In large part is that word I said, propaganda. Because I remember sitting in this chamber last session and talking an awful lot about propaganda in schools. Talking about how parents should have the choice on the types of information that their kids consume, what they hear from their teachers, the curriculum that we are teaching them. And the reason that I know this is propaganda is in the bill. Because we can't use any other video. We can't go and get one of the videos at the Mayo Clinic has or that Harvard and Stanford Medical schools put out. The Children's Hospital in Saint Louis has one. Khan Academy has one. There are hundreds of videos by nonpartisan organizations that we could access and tell our teachers, hey, show them this. Show them this video. Let them see the, the, the wonder of, of, of fertilization all the way through to birth. But let's do it in a way that isn't clearly volatile and isn't clearly meant to promote a certain agenda, which is certainly what this does. I also know that that's true because in Tennessee when they passed it, they pulled out the reference to live action, and they just described the type of video that the kids could see. And they did that in large part because the Republicans, the majority in that body recognize that what they were going to do was likely to be a First Amendment violation. So then, I kept looking. West Virginia did not pass this bill. Um, the chair of the judiciary Committee which heard the bill in West Virginia, um, is named Charles Trump, which could be confusing, but anyway, Trump said, I have a concern that this is across the line of the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. If we put language in a bill that forces schools throughout the state to show children a video which asserts that life begins at conception, even though I I agree with that. I think it is an imposition of what is fundamentally a religious or spiritual belief. Now we heard a lot about religion in the presentation too. We talked a lot about people's faith and why they believe in, in, in pro-life causes. And one of the things that happens when you're talking about a constitutional question is that the court will look at the intent of the bill. And it is clear from this record and from the record that was created in committee, that part of the intent of the bill has a religious bent to it. But even if the establishment Clause wasn't implicated in this, the First Amendment certainly is because we are using this one video, remember this video brought by live action, and unapologetically political organization and we are forcing teachers to show this video. Not any other video, not any video of, of an animation of what it looks like in the womb, but this video by live action and unapologetic political organization. Arkansas has been here before. In 1968, We as a body passed a law that forbade teachers from teaching about evolution. This was at the time, uh, shortly after what was referred to as the Tennessee Scopes monkey trials. The Supreme Court heard that case. And the Supreme Court ruled against the state of Arkansas and said in part that we cannot require teachers to say or do something because of a religious or political bent because of their First Amendment right to speech. The court said judicial interposition and the operation of the public school system of the nation raises problems requiring care and restraint. Our courts have not failed to apply the First Amendment's mandate in our educational system where essential to safeguard the fundamental values of freedom of speech and inquiry and belief. There are several other cases in this line. They go on through this mid 70s and into the 80s and the Supreme Court has always come to the same conclusion. We cannot mandate political speech in our public school systems. We cannot force our teachers to say these things just because it is something that perhaps the majority of this body prefers politically or even religiously. I know we also talked about the fact, well, there's, there's doctors who have decided, um, or who helped make this video. So I looked them up too. Doctor Donna Harrison, former president of the American Association of Pro-life, pro-life obstetricians and gynecologists, um, whose testimony on abortion has been discredited by multiple courts as quote inaccurate and incomplete, quote, generally at odds with solid medical evidence, quote, exaggerated or distorted and quote shaped primarily by the position she is advocating for at the moment. That is from uh case coming out of the Eastern District of Arkansas in 2019. Um, and was affirmed in part by the 8th Circuit, not necessarily known as a court full of liberal squishes. Other courts, I've got 2 pages, of course, that have found that some version of this, her quote statements were contradicted and disputed by record evidence. The study she cited for a variety of reasons didn't support her position. There are 2 pages of, of courts who have stricken her testimony because of the fact that she is an unreliable witness. Many of these cases were actually right here in Arkansas. Tara Sander Lee and Katrina Firth were also on this video. They are both part of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is a pro-life institute. It is the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America organization. Michelle Cratella, the president of the American College of Pediatricians, um, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine called one of her daily signal articles, vitriolic deception based on quote medical omissions circumstantial facts, hateful interpretation and peripheral context. Crotella said getting the message out is our duty and privilege. She goes on to say, we've read the book. The book is capitalized, so of course, she's referring to the Bible. We know we're on the right side of history. again, this is religious speech. We have an establishment Clause question. Doctor Jeffrey Barrows. Doctor Barrows hasn't been licensed to practice medicine in over a decade. These are the people that made this video. This was not a video made by the medical establishment. It was not a video even made by people whose testimony is considered valid enough to stand up in a court. So going back to my initial question and my concern, why this video. Why not any other video from one of these sources from Harvard or Stanford or the children's hospitals in Saint Louis, I bet UAMS has one if we look for it. Why this one? And the only answer I can come up with is because it is propaganda. And we talked a lot about keeping propaganda out of our schools, and I would hope that as a body, we would not go back on that promise to teachers and students. I'll be a no on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Hudson has spoke against the bill. We would like to speak for the bill. Representative Rose, you're recognized to speak for the bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. It's been an interesting debate. I always appreciative to hear, uh, different sides of, of discussion on different issues and so this is differently, definitely one for discussion. I just wanted to make a couple of quick points, uh, in the ninety-third legislative session, uh, SB. 6:55 was introduced, uh, by a House Democrat and a House senator. And it was designed to institute sexual education in our public education system. And Starting at the 5th grade, it was going to introduce information with regards to sexual health, positive body image and family and social norm, including dating healthy relationships, consent, sexual assault and violence prevention. I think we could continue a great conversation about sex education for all ages. And as a representative before me mentioned, I'm also a father of a 5th grader, 5th grade girl, lots of great and interesting conversations you have with children at that age. Uh, one of the conversations that I'm fortunate we haven't had to dive into that a great number of families do have to dive into with regards to sex education is exposure to pornography at a young age, and the average age that a child is first exposed to pornography in a common sense media survey is 12. Of those children exposed to pornography, 40% of it takes place at school. During the school day and 15% of those are under the age of 10. So, they're seeing Content they shouldn't see that'll be awful for the formation of uh sexual education in their lives, um, and a video like this, That shows purely the development of a child in the womb. Will be beneficial, will be educational and is similar in respect to that 2021 Senate bill that would have also required videos in the public schools for fetal development. And so, uh, based on just those simple facts and the content of the bill and the video, I'll be voting yes, and I encourage you to do the same. Thank you. Representative Rose, who spoke for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Anyone like to speak for the bill. Representative Bentley Recognized clothes for your bill. Thank you, calls for your time and I guess I'm gonna go over this again. I showed the video to Secretaryliba in my office and watched him and said, what time do you think we should start this video. He said, well, line up with Lawrence perfectly in 5th grade. 5th grade is a good time to start, and he's seen it from beginning to end. Doctor Kay Chandler, our surgeon General, OBGYN certified physician. She's a member of APOG, the Americans, uh, Pro-Life OB-GYNs. And she fully supports this bill. She fully supports the video. She fully believes that accurately to plays what happens in the womb with human development. And I think I'll take Doctor K Ka Chandler's voice over others. I know her personally. I've shown the movie and the video to the Governor Sanders in her office and has absolutely no opposition to this bill at all. She's a pro-life governor, one of the best we've had, for sure. So, again, I will say, Live action has granted a non-exclusive license to resource the educational purposes and in perpetuity at no cost to the school. They provide a resource that has been unbranded, there'll be nothing about live action, live action will receive no money from this, and there's nothing about live action on the video, period. The bill is about teaching children the basic facts about human development and approachable way, children deserve unvarnished truth. The resources not talk about sex or mandate specific teaching on the procreative Act. There's nothing preventing a teacher from showing another video of the school chooses to do so. They're also going to see an ultrasound. doesn't have to stop. We can show videos about moms and about other things. This is just a 3-minute video to get the discussion started and get the truth in the classroom. We want children to understand the truth, the beauty, and the wonder of human life and development in the room. I will admit that it clearly dispels the lie that it's just a clump of cells, and that's the lie that's been told to our students for a long time, and it's not the truth. And they need to hear the truth. And with that, I'd appreciate a good vote. Thank you. Representative Bentley is closed for the bill. Representative McGee, for what purpose? Respectfully, Mr. Chairman. I'll hear your motion. we re-refer this bill back to committee for further that's a proper motion. It is debatable. You recognized to come to the well and explain your motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I've not done that before on anyone's bill. And I didn't intend to do it today. Overall, I like the concept of this bill. I really do. I like the video. I've watched it several times. I don't like it because of the dates, but, you know, sometimes around here, We can go 2 weeks or 3 weeks and get the dates wrong anyway. So I don't know that that's the real significant part of the bill. The part of the bill that I would like to, I would like it to go back to committee, so the committee can Open this thing up a little bit. There are wonderful, go home tonight and look at YouTube. There are wonderful videos that are as good as this one. That Include the mother, include all the things that the mom's going through, give the schools a choice. I don't like it being in statute that this is the only option that the school has. It would be better to me that that local school district has the option to pick Whatever the Department of Ed can develop the criteria and say what you have to put in it. But, or what they can watch, let the Department of Ed determine a list. Of 3 or 4 or 5 of them, let the schools look at them. If y'all go tonight on YouTube and look at them, there's some great ones. So I just don't like tying it to one video, although I'm not opposed to completely if this bill comes back, and that's one, the only one that's on there. I'm probably going to vote for it, OK? But I would prefer that they go back to committee to study it. Look at it, open it up to other videos. I really am opposed to a 5th grade education. I, I just, uh, I've had 5th graders, 9 years old, watching this. Uh, I don't like opt out. It should be opt-in. I'm open to any questions, but that's kind of where I'm at on it, and I would ask that it be re-referred. What's it gonna do? It's gonna slow this thing down, maybe a week. They're gonna take it back to committee. They'll rehash it. The committee can pass it back out just like it is if they want. And then I'll be a no vote. I want to be a yes vote on it. I, I really do. Thank you. Representative Ray, for what purpose? Question, recognized. Representative McGee, this bill has already been to committee, and from what I understand, it was a fairly lengthy discussion. So my question is, if you felt so strongly that this bill needed an amendment. Why did you not offer an amendment or have someone else on the committee offer an amendment when it was in committee that's, that's a very good question, because I didn't know about the bill that it come out of committee. Perhaps I should have been better informed. Thank you. Representative McGee has explained the motion. Would anyone like to speak against the motion? Anyone like speak for the motion. Representative McGee is closed for the motion. Question before the house is a motion to re-refer House Bill 1180 back to committee. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted. cast up the ballot. With a vote of 21 e, 58 nays, and 3 present. The motion has failed. Members, the question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1180. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Excuse me. Remembers, we do have a pair on the desk. Representative Austin McCollum votes yes. Representative Nicole Clowney votes no. This was witnessed and attested to by Representative Ryan Rose, Representative Clowney is the present member. Are there any procedural objections to the pair? Seeing none, please do not vote either of these two voting machines. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With a vote of 70, 18 nays, 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 1145. 1145 by Representative Wooten to increase the purchase amount authorized for additional aftermarket equipment for a new motor vehicle purchased by a county or municipality. Representative Wootton, you're recognized to explain your, your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Colleagues, this is a noncontroversial bill. OK The, um Intent of the legislation is to increase to $2000. From 600 at the present time in the cities in 1200 in the counties. For after Mar purchases for cars without bids. It's already in the law. We're just changing the amount to $2000 for municipalities and for counties. With that, I asked. Representative Wootton has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill. Representative Wootton is closed for the bill. Question before the house is the passage of House Bill 1145. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted Everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. Vote of 95 yeah, 0, nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1311. 1311 by Representative Langstrom to direct the legislative auditors to develop a comprehensive financial management system for appropriated funds. Of cities of the 2nd class and incorporated towns. Representative Luundstrom, you are recognized to explain your bill. Colleagues, if you've ever been in City County Local Audit, you're wondering probably why we've never done this before and we've needed to, we have 385 cities of the second class, and we have 385 opinions on how to do accounting. Makes it very difficult to do an audit, makes it very difficult if you're a mayor to know which end is up. Very, very difficult to follow the whole process. So this simply cleans it up. They have 3 years to move from paper or Excel or whatever to some standard accounting. practices and standard terms. So mayors and city council members can actually know what's in their budget. Up Any questions? Thank you, colleagues. Representative Lindstrom has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Lundstrom is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1311. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Everyone voted. So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. Vote of 94, 0, nay, and zero present. The bill is passed. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 1324. Representative Duffield to amend the time of permissible sales of fireworks in the state. Representative Duffield, you recognize, explain your. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, colleagues, what this bill simply does is it allows fireworks to be sold a week earlier than they currently are. This was brought to me by the Rustville City Council and Pope County, Arkansas, we have some events, and we like to be able to get those fireworks sooner, so that we can have those for our events in our community. Take any questions. Singan, appreciate a good vote. Representative Duffield has explained the bill. Would anyone likes to speak against the bill? For the bill Representative Duffield is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1324. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot. vote of 94, 0, nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 1196. 116 by Representative Maddox to separate the offices of sheriff and tax collector in Montgomery County. Representative Maddox, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, colleagues, this truly is a very simple bill. There's been numerous bills like this filed already this session. Montgomery County is one of the few counties left that still has the combined sheriff and collector's office. So they recently passed a resolution unanimously in their court asking us to separate them. So that's all this bill does and I'd appreciate a good vote. Representative Maddox has explained the bill, what anyone likes to speak against the bill. Anyone like to speak for the bill. Representative Maddox is closed for the bill. Question before the house is the passage of House Bill 1196. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted, cast up the ballot. With the vote of 94 y, 0, nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 12781278 by Representative Steinel to require surveyors to take a certain, to take certain actions before entering onto commercial poultry farm. Representative Steel, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You got a simple and straightforward bill here that requires surveyors to make contact with the poultry farmers before entering the farm and to follow the biosecurity protocols that are required at the time of entry. The reason for this bill is to protect our poultry farmers from the spread of the devastating avian influenza, along with other diseases that could lead to catastrophic flock loss, uh, to keep the, uh, backyard poultry farm separated from the commercial poultry farms, we, uh, put, uh, some language in there that was, uh, that defined that commercial poultry farm of a house in excess of 5000 ft. So with that, I'll take any questions. Seeing none, uh, I would like to also add that the, uh, surveyors Association is neutral on this bill as well. Thank you. Representative Steinel has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Anyone like to speak for the bill. Represents Dola's clothes for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1278. the machine, Madam Clerk. So everyone voted Everyone voted Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. The vote of 95 ya, 0 nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Members, if you take a look at your red calendar. requests, Representative Pilkington, we're going to pass over House Bill 1372. 1373. 1374. 1375. 1376. 1377. At the request of Representative Cooper, we're going to pass over House Bill 1385. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 1309. Houses 1309 by Representative Rose to amend the law concerning coverage of examinations for breast cancer and to clarify the cost sharing requirements for examinations for breast cancer. Representative Rose, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Uh, I just wanna share a little information about HB 1309, uh, more or less to summarize what this bill does is it ensures full coverage for breast cancer screenings. Uh, last session, uh, we eliminated copays for mammograms, uh, to remove financial barriers for women to receive breast cancer screenings. Uh, in response to this, some cost shifting took place, and it then moved to co-insurance, and it created a new financial burden for women. So this bill closes that loophole, ensuring that women can access breast cancer screenings and diagnostic follow-ups without out of pocket expenses. Prohibits insurers from charging co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance. Um, The bill is strictly limited to breast cancer screenings and diagnostic follow-ups, nothing else. There's nothing beyond that scope that it can be used for. And it ensures, uh, that, uh, Early detection. That's, that's the key, and I meant to say this right out of the gates, is that, um, I don't say this haphazardly. Uh, we have the opportunity to genuinely save lives today. Early detection in breast cancer saves lives. And so when we can eliminate those barriers, cancers are discovered earlier and lives are saved. This ensures early detection. It also reduces healthcare costs when cancer is discovered later, the costs are more significant and life expectancy is significantly decreased. Bottom line is this is a straightforward fix to protect women's access to life saving breast cancer screenings. It also reaffirms our commitment to removing financial, financial barriers, uh, for Cancer detection. And I appreciate your time and consideration, and I'm open to any questions at this time. Representative Torres, for what purpose? Question. You're recognized for a question, Representative Rose, does this include, uh, screenings for women with breast tissue that's dense and requires MRIs. So that's a good question, uh, this is primarily, and I can look at the language of the bill, but primarily, uh, for diagnostic procedures, uh, breast ultrasounds, diagnostic imaging, MRI's related to breast cancer detection. Uh, additional and follow up, uh, That may be required are kind of in a separate set of uh medical procedures and insurance costs, etc. But no, I get what you're saying with regards to dense tissue and uh hopefully this ensures all of that. Representative Rose has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Reading what I speak for the bill. Representative Rose, you're recognized to close for your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and if you'll allow me just a latitude here, uh, I have a closing. And the only words that I will share are some that I received from, uh, my two-time breast cancer survivor wife, who was very passionate about this bill. She said, my, my name is Tiffany Rose and I'm the proud mother of three beautiful children, ages 7 to 14. And I'm also a two-time breast cancer survivor. Over 4 years ago, I received a life-saving mammogram that led to the early detection of an aggressive form of cancer that could have easily taken me from my family, if it had not been caught in time. I've lived through the fear, the uncertainty, and the financial strain that comes with the cancer diagnosis. And I know all too well how critical early detection is. What many people don't realize is how quickly medical bills can add up, even just for diagnostic tests. The cost of getting screens should never be something. a woman has to worry about. I have a close friend who learned this lesson the hard way. She went in for a mammogram, only to find out her copay was a staggering amount. Afterwards, she told me if she'd realized the financial strain of the screening, she would have never gone. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, second only to skin cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that this year alone, 42,170 women will die from this disease. You have the power to change this. When women have access to routine screenings without the burden of cost. More women get screened, more cancers are caught early and more families get to hang on to their loved ones. I was diagnosed when I was very, very young, and I can't help. think about how many more women could have outcomes like mine if cost wasn't a barrier. It's heartbreaking to imagine how many lives could be saved if every woman had access to the screening she needs, no matter her financial situation. I'm asking for your support to remove cost barriers for diagnostic breast screenings for women. This isn't just good policy, it will save lives. I agree, it will save lives, and I appreciate a good vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Representative Rose is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1309. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted cast up the ballot, Madam C clerk with a vote of 94 ya, 0 nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Members at the request of Representative Johnson, we will pass over House Bill 1184 today. Madam Clark, please read House Bill 1193. Council 1193 by Representative Kavanaugh, who require an insurer to include a lien holder on payments made under an insurance policy. Representative Kavanaugh, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, this is, uh, a bill that simply says that when there's an insurance claim in the state of Arkansas, and there is a perfected lien holder on an automobile that that lien holder will be then added to the check. Are the insurance companies good with this? No. They say that it makes it too hard on them to be able to find the lien holder. This bill is specific only to lien holders that actually have a physical presence in the state of Arkansas. Um, so it really kind of limits it. Why is this necessary? Because unfortunately, with a lot of things happening in the industry, uh, with the cost of automobiles going up and the repairs, lien holders are not getting listed and unfortunately, consumers are not paying that debt down on their loans and it's creating losses. Um, the insurance companies will tell you that it's gonna make it hard to find us. I will say, um, when there's a total loss, they have no problem finding us so that they could get that title. So with that, I would Thank you for a good vote. Representative Kavanaugh has explained the bill. The question before the House. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? You will like speak for the bill. Representative Kavanaugh's closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1193. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted. Cast off the ballot, Madam Clerk. About a 75 years, 9 nays, and 7 present, the bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 13788 by Representative Beatty Junior to amend the composition and meeting requirements of the state Board of Finance and to repeal the requirements for the employment of a chief compliance officer by the state Board of Finance. Representative Beatty, you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, members, I'm here to present House Bill 1378 is to amend the composition and meeting requirements of the state Board of Finance and to repeal the requirements for the employment of a chief compliance officer by the state Board of Finance. This bill makes 4 updates to the state Board of Finance. One, it lowers the required number of board members to make a quorum from 7 to 6 members. The board struggled in the past to have a quorum because members have other. responsibilities and one member, the insurance commissioner is only allowed to vote on health benefit plan matters. It replaces the securities commissioner on the board with the Secretary of TSNS. Back in 2023, Act 475 transferred the administrative duties of the State Securities department to the state bank department and allowed the bank commissioner to act as securities commissioner. Uh, so this would ensure that there are 2 board positions not held by a single individual. During committee, I was questioned as to why it was TSNS. And I can revive the following information is that the board of finance reviews all contracts, formularies, and other matters relating to employee benefits division, uh, but for legislative council, the Secretary of TSNS oversees both the employment benefit division and the Office of Personnel Management. And it was a choice that that Secretary of Transformation Shared Service has knowledge of employee benefit division, and therefore would have knowledge of the effects that board approved changes would have on the overall expenses of those departments. The board also permits the governor's designee to serve on the board. It would allow for flexibility of the governor's, uh, if her schedule would prevent her from attending the meeting. And it also eliminates the requirements that the chief compliance officer be employed by the board. The chief compliance officer is a physician that's authorized under the treasurer of state, it's not practical, practical for a chief compliance officer to be paid for by the treasurer of the state, but then employed by the Board of Finance. So the chief compliance officer's role, um, is simply that, uh, to review the investments made, uh, at the treasurer's office and to eliminate and provide guidance to the board. And with that, I would entertain any questions. No, I'd appreciate a good vote. Thank you. Representative Beatty has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Beatty is closed for the bill. The question before the house is the passage of House Bill 1378. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Everyone voted So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. vote of 94 ya, zero nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Members at the request of Representative Lee Johnson, we'll pass over House Bill 1287 today. Madam Clerk Please read House Bill 1318. 1318 by Representative Collins to amend the excursion train permit to include excursion boats. Representative Collins are recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, this bill, um, creates the excursion boat permit or really more accurately, it takes the existing excursion train permit and allows excursion boats to be part of that as well. So what this is is a couple of years ago, um, we created an excursion train permit, $200 permit where, um, a group that's on a moving train can get a permit to serve and sell alcohol. It's kind of an economic development idea and a group now would like to come, uh, they operate in Memphis. They have a paddle boat, do tours around the river. They'd like to come to the Arkansas River and do a similar thing on the excursion boat, but there is right now not a permit that would allow for that. So this just takes the existing excursion train permit structure and adds boats to it, and that's all it does. I'm happy to answer any questions. Representative Long, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized for a question Representative, I'll read through the bill, and it doesn't really get into how big of a boat could be. It's like, could it be a houseboat, a ski boat, a john boat. Yeah, I think maybe we could have some unintended consequences. Thank you. So, what it says here in the definition of excursion boat is that it's available to the public through ticket sales for scheduled dates and times for operation with a fixed schedule or route with the specific beginning and ending point. And so with those specifications, we feel like it's very clear that a houseboat or a John boat or a rowboat or whatever other kind of boat would not be doing those sorts of things, um, and we also of course ran this by ABC and. And they were fine with this bill, so. Thank you, and I'd appreciate a good vote. Representative Collins has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? would like to speak for the bill. Representative Collins is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of House Bill 1318. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. Everyone voted. Cas up the ballot, Madam Clerk. About a 63, 17A, and 9 present. The bill is passed. Members at the request of Representative Eubanks, we will pass over House Bill 1353 today. Madam Clerk, please read House Bill 1221. House 1221 by Representative Ray to amend Arkansas law concerning initiatives, referenda and constitutional amendments and to declare an emergency. Representative Ray, you're recognized to explain your business. All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 1221. Colleagues, this is a short, relatively simple bill that deals with our state's initiative process. So in short, what the bill does is it clarifies that a ballot title that's been certified by the Attorney General. And the signatures that have been gathered for that ballot title or only valid during the election cycle in which they're gathered. Uh, or in, in the cycle in which the ballot title's approved. In other words, you couldn't carry them over from one election cycle to the next. You couldn't get a ballot title approved now in 2025, and then just continue to gather signatures for 3 or 4 or 5 years and place it on the 2028 ballot or the 2030 ballot. You'd have to use it. If you got it approved in 2025, you'd have to use it for the 2026 election. This is really not, uh, a significant change in the law because The historical custom for the past 80+ years, uh, is that, uh, this is how the, the initiative system has been utilized. So we're codifying the long-standing practice there. The reason I'm proposing this is because we do have a problem that exists within our current initiative system. It's not a problem that people talk about a lot, and we can debate how much of it is due to honest mistakes or intentional acts. But the fact is, Our system is the petition system is riddled with mistakes. Duplicate signatures, inaccuracies, um, and so forth. And if you extend that process out beyond the two-year window, you're only going to exacerbate the problem because voters move from one county to another, voters move from one state to another, uh, voters become deceased, voters become ineligible to vote, so on and so forth. So just to give you an example, In 2024 with the Arkansas Medical marijuana Amendment. There were And make sure I give you the right number. There were 5,839 duplicate signatures. 5,839 duplicates. Think about that for a second. It takes about 90,000 signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. And if 5800 of your signatures are duplicates, that is 6.5% of the total needed to qualify to reach the ballot. Imagine if we had just had an election and the State Board of Election commissioners conducted an audit, and they found that 6.5% of the signature, or 6.5% of the votes cast were duplicate votes. People would be outraged. They would, they would demand that we bring integrity to the ballot box. If you consider that for an initiated act only 72,000 signatures are needed. That would, that same, um, error rate. Would be just north of 8%. So This would, in my opinion, drastically reduce the potential for, um, mistakes in the process. It also improves the ballot title process because the certification of a ballot title is often very complex and approval can hinge on just a single word or a single phrase, um, and if it's wrong, it can lead to that ballot title being rejected because it's legally insufficient. And the General Assembly meets every 2 years, obviously, and we laws and we repeal laws and we change and amend existing laws, often well over 1000 of them. And the legal sufficiency of a ballot title. That has been approved can be changed. Simply because an existing law has been changed, thereby nullifying the whole ballot title. So that is what the bill would do, and the reasons that I'm bringing it and would be happy to answer any questions about it. Seeing none, would appreciate a good. Representative Ray has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Ray is closed for the bill. The question before the house is the passage of House Bill 1221. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Members, your one vote is for the bill and the emergency clause. So everyone voted. So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With a vote of 75 y, 14 nays, and 0 present. The bill and the emergency clause has passed. Madam Clerk, Please read House Bill 12231223 by Representative Wright to allow a candidate for the Office of Justice of the Supreme Court or judge of the Court of Appeals who is serving in that position as an appointee to use the title of that position as a prefix on the ballot. Representative Ray, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, colleagues, House Bill 1223 is also a fairly short succinct bill. This bill deals with, uh, the officeholder titles being used as a prefix on the ballot for um uh judicial officeholders that have been appointed. So under the current law, uh, if you've been appointed to a district court position or a circuit court position, you can use that title, uh, and running for a nonpartisan judicial office as the prefix on your name. But if you're appointed to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court under the exact same set of circumstances, you're not allowed to use your officeholder title as a prefix. Um, I'm not aware of any policy distinction for this reason. It's just one of those things that I found in the law and thought would benefit from standardizing it across all of the court positions, um, and that's what the bill does. Seeing no questions. I appreciate a good vote. Representative Ray has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? What do you want like speak for the bill? Representative Ray is closed for the bill. Question before the house is the passage of House Bill 1223. Prepare the machine, Madam Clerk. So everyone voted. So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. The vote of 93 ya, 1 nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clark, please read Senate Bill 13. Senate Bill 13 by Representative Gasaway to amend the law concerning civil actions brought by certain victims of sexual abuse and to allow a claim to be brought for injury caused by child sexual abuse at any time in certain circumstances. Represent Gazaway, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, this bill is a very narrowly tailored piece of legislation that only applies to Uh, certain individuals specifically victims of sexual abuse that was perpetrated by the Boy Scouts, uh, and is in accordance with the Boy Scouts bankruptcy Trust. Specifically, this bill relates only to claims that have already been deemed to be valid and that have been adjudicated and that have been approved under the National Settlement Agreement by the Boy Scouts of America. That is pending in bankruptcy court. There are over 500 Arkansas victims who have made claims in the Boy Scout bankruptcy trust. And this bill will simply allow them to have priority in collecting that money. Uh, the the money awarded under those claims, uh, who won their claims has already been committed in the national global settlement. And if our Arkansas victims, if we don't pass this bill or Arkansas victims will not have priority such that other states' victims would have priority over Arkansas victims. So this Helps our victims and with that I'm happy to answer any questions. Seeing that I'd appreciate a good vote. Thank you. Representative Gazaway has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Gazaway is closed for the bill. question before the house is the passage of Senate Bill 13. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Everyone voted Everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam clerk. The vote of 95 yeah, 0 nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read Senate Bill 45. Senate Bill 45 by Representative Painter to authorize a certain The creation of women's veterans special license plate and to repeal the Pearl Harbor survivor license plate. Representative Painter, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, I think this is probably gonna be the best bill of the day. Um, There's only 16. Let me say that again. 16. Pearl Harbor survivors left in the entire United States. We are proudly to have one of those in the state of Arkansas. So we're not growing in that population, but you know what population we are growing in. Women veterans And I have personally served with a lot of women veterans in my military career. So all this bill does is taking away The Pearl Harbor survivors license plate. And adding a women's veteran's license plate. The there's already money in ADA's budget, the upfront cost is $20,000. There is a $15 fee. And there's a $1 renewal fee. Portion of that, we'll go pay the debt. The other portion will go to veterans programs. Once that debt is paid off. All that money We'll go to veterans programs. And so I think it's just time to, you know, unfortunately, we're, we're, we have no more Pearl Harbor survivors. But let's get rid of that play. DFNA has 125. Left over just in case that population does grow. But I don't think so. And let's celebrate our women's veterans. I'll be glad to take any questions. Representative Brown, for what purpose? You for a question would just be state programs with state facilities would be federal programs? What would they won't go to federal programs. It will go to state veterans programs specifically for women veterans since there's not that many. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. represented more for what purpose? Question. Recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those remaining license plates, can those still be used if that one veteran survivor wants to use the license plate? Correct, yes. Thank you. All right Representative Painter has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? But when I speak for the bill. Representative Painter, you recognized clothes for the bill. Gig collies. I thank you for a good vote and I think we're gonna do a good thing today. Thank you. Representative Painter is closed for the bill. Question before the house is the passage of Senate Bill 45. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Everyone voted So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With the vote of 95 e, 1 nay, and 0 present. The bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read Senate Bill 133133 Robertsentative Beatty Junior to amend the Uniform Commercial Code to define central bank digital currency under the Uniform Commercial Code and to modify the uniform commercial code definitions of money and deposit account. Representative Beatty, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I'm presenting Senate Bill 133, uh, is an act to amend the Uniform Commercial Code to define central bank digital currency under the UCC and to modify the uniform commercial code definitions of money and deposit account. Basically, a central bank digital currency or CBDC means a form of digital money. Uh, our monetary unit denominated in a national unit. That's a direct liability of the central bank of, of the US which would be the treasury. CBDC in the US would allow our government. To know how much money we have. How we spend our money, and ultimately control where we spend our money. This is a preemption bill, so it would fundamentally, if, if we had CBDC CDBG, it would change the current banking system in Arkansas. This bill does 3 things. It defines what I see BDC ES, it clarifies that it is not money in an Arkansas bank, and it clarifies that it is not a deposit account under the UCC for our. So with that on. So you know and I'd appreciate a good vote. Representative Beatty has explained the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Beatty is closed for the bill. The question before the house is the passage of Senate Bill 133. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. Has everyone voted. So everyone vote, cast up the ballot, Madam Clerk. With a vote of 92 ya, zero nay, and 2 present, the bill is passed. Madam Clerk, please read Senate Bill 3. Senate Bill 3 by Representative Bentley to prohibit discrimination or provincial treatment by the state of Arkansas and other public entities. Representative Bentley, you're recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Speaker. Colleagues in the early 1960s, President Lyndon Johnston, with most of his support coming from Republicans, pass the Civil Rights Act. That law reversed years of mandated discrimination. Johnson recognized at the time, two distinct populations in America, black and white, and as a provisional remedy, Johnson signed the limited executive order to affirm affirmatively assist minorities as they seek to enroll in higher education, and to obtain a and and to obtain employment. This was the start of affirmative action. I think we all would agree it was the right move at that time. Now, 60 years later, we are dramatically different. While we do have pockets of racism remaining in our nation, the notion that America is a racist country is simply false. For those specific instances of hatred that persist, we have powerful state and federal anti-discrimination laws to fight that. No one discredits the horror of segregation and the harm that it did to the people in that time period. But it is time for us to move forward. In historic decision, the Supreme Court severely limited, if not effectively ended, the use of affirmative action in college admissions. By a vote of 63, the justices ruled that the admission programs used by the University of North Carolina and Harvard College violate the Constitution's equal protection clause, which bars racial discrimination by government entities. On the 21st day of this January, President Trump rescinded Johnson's abused executive order. And he filed the presidential actions ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit based on opportunity. And I'm going to read some of this president's Executive order. Long-standing federal civil rights laws protect individual Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. These civil rights protections serve as a bedrock supporting equality of opportunity for all Americans. As president, I have solemn duty to ensure that these laws are enforced for the benefit of all Americans. Yet today roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical. An influential institutions of American society, including the federal government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are legal policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government and the medical aviation and law enforcement communities. Yet in case after a tragic case, the American people have witnessed firsthand the disastrous consequences of illegal. discrimination that has prioritized how people were born, instead of what they're capable of doing. The federal government is charged with enforcing our civil rights laws and the purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by ending illegal preferences and discrimination. It is the policy of the United States to protect civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. It is time for Arkansas to catch up with the federal law and eliminate state sanctioned discrimination and preferential treatment. SB 3 does exactly that. So we'll look at SB3. I'm gonna read the first legislative intent, the General Assembly intends for this act to prohibit discrimination by public entities on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. The General Assembly does not intend for this act to affect any preferences provided to veterans under the law based on their statute status as a veteran. So, um, I'm gonna touch on section 2. Where we have some misunderstanding about the um liquor licenses, the liquor lower. What that does actually is defend small business that makes a better definition of the small businesses are protected. We had some folks that came to the house side yesterday to say that somehow this negatively impacted small business, but I have checked and I can promise you, if one of you know that this negatively impacted liquor licenses, you would have heard from a million folks. And I've not heard from a single one, so it does not negatively impact small business. We go through the rest of the law and it just puts out equity and puts out um equality through there for the next few pages versus section 3 and 4. Um, and we'll see section 5 is deleted. It was a teacher administrative recruitment and retention plan. And I know that we'd had a lot of discussion that yesterday in committee, but I know one of you talked to your superintendents and they were actively doing retention and recruitment plans for, um, The teachers there on an active basis. I know my teacher's there in the small districts have put in a 4-day work week so they can retain and keep teachers there and it's not a lot for them. So nothing is stopping our superintendents to do retention and retaining plan. All right, so, moving through there we uh get rid of affirmative action and the Department of Education's, uh, different things that they were doing. Section 6, just gets rid of unnecessary reporting done by the Department of Education. And affirmative action programs in Section 8. And again, what we're, we'll get to section 9, we're replacing minority with critical needs, because I know all of you know that we don't want to stop any programs. We want to make those go to all our constituents, so we're, we're ending nothing, we're enhancing what we're doing to make sure every child in Arkansas that has a critical need is able to get that critical need met as they need it. We want all of our kids to succeed. And that's exactly what we're doing through this program. Um, get on to page 11. I want to read what it says there, and it says prohibit prohibitation or of discrimination or preferential treatment by state entities as uses this sec in this section, state means the state of Arkansas, a city, a county, an institution of higher education and public school district, a public. A special school district, a political subdivision, or governmental instrumental of the state. The state shall not discriminate or grant preferential treatment to an individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement. Then I say some things that it does not apply to, and you can read those as well. And it does give um a civil cause of action for those who feel that they've been discriminated against. I believe this law is just exactly what we're needing in Arkansas at this time. Um All right. I just want to say, uh, a couple of things about this bill and this answered a couple of questions that were asked. Nothing this bill is gonna stop girls club or STEM clubs there at school. It's just gonna encourage us to have equal opportunity for all of our students. Um, it's not gonna stop mentorship of, of girls at school. We have powerful state and federal laws to protect students and employees in place if they're feeling that they're in, uh, anti, been discriminated against. SB3 does not remove any of these. Um And I also want to go over um section we had. Uh, Representative Mayberry brought up and I was I was secretary of leave for at least 30 minutes yesterday to go. Does any of this stop and the things that we're doing with an IEP or a file 44 or accessibility for disabled children that are in our schools or people that are employed by the state, and it does not do anything to touch that. We have the American Disabilities Act. It's not under the Department of Education. So if the Americans for the so if Trump and the Department of Education, it's not gonna do away with American Disabilities Act. We still have all of that in place. We're taking care of our disabled folks. make sure they have accessibility to school, accessibility to work, and it does not do anything to affect the American Disabilities Act. Um Let's see. I think that's it. Now I'll go ahead and take some questions. I know there's maybe some questions that'd be happy to answer any questions. Representative Springer, for what purpose? Thank you. Um, there, I have a whole lot of questions regarding this bill. However, through the division of secondary uh of elementary and secondary education. Could you explain to me and what data Require for you to believe that there's a need to change. Um equity assistance center to equality assistance Center, and then you go on toward the end of that, where you change um you propose to change that the uh Equity assistance center designed to provide assistance to school districts of the state and such activities as affirmative action program accessibility, human relations, awareness, and you you'd strike those and you put desegregation and non-discrimination. Could you please explain to me why you I think that because, because it better aligns with where we are federally now, we're getting rid of affirmative action. We'll make sure we're not doing discriminating against anyone. I think it better decides we want to protect every student in Arkansas and make sure every teacher and student is excelling. So that's why we changed those words because it better aligns with what we're doing federally, getting rid of the, um, so you're saying uh equality better aligns with uh getting rid of discrimination because we want everyone to be treated equally, so we're getting rid of. versus equality. We're replacing equity with equality because we want every child in the state treated equally, yes. Representative Eaton, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized for a question, kind of going along with that equity versus equality, um. Currently, that board does oversee things such as if I should back up. I have a daughter with special needs, that's where I'm coming from with this one. Along that would Ask if they are following proper protocol would be that equity or the equality assistance center. In a small thing, equity is specific needs. And equality is so. It seems to me that that would be a better Use of the word equity there instead of equality. Again, we have, we have the American Disabilities Act to make sure our kids and so in my mind, a child that's disabled is not equal yet. They need a little more help to become equals. So in order for those disabled kids to become equal, we've got to do special things for those kids. That's why we call it critical needs and being equal. So, those kids that need that are disabled, maybe they need a ramp, maybe they need headphones, whatever that child needs to be equal with the other students in class. That's what we're gonna provide. Well, but I think that's what means versus equality. I like again I visit with Secretary Oliver. At length yesterday or, our Department of Education secretary and he said this is no way hinders what's happening with our disabled children in school, and he assured me of that. I trust secret Oliva to make sure he's a man of his word, we would not, uh, be passing this would hurt our disabled kids. Yes, ma'am. And the last thing, it's uh stricken out program accessibility, which I I'm not sure why that's stricken out. Again, we want to make make sure our kids are treated equal, um, if you have the line, show me a page one. Again, we want to make make sure our kids are treated equal, um, if you have the line, show me a page what I want. It's on page 2. Thank you. That helps me 6, what I'm specifically speaking of. So again, um, We're gonna make sure these kids IEPs and 504s are followed, and I don't see that this is gonna hinder that in any way. So, and I can have a visit with you with Secretary Le if you need to to assure you, but I, I've been with him to make sure all of our disabled kids will be able to get everything they need to to make sure they're getting the education that they deserve. Thank you, one follow-up. You're recognized for a follow-up in the last thing, is it prudent to do this before we get that lined up. I'm sorry, I didn't understand your question, Mr. Lee and make sure that was everything was gonna be taken care of. Is it to stricken this prior to getting that? Still not understanding your question. I'm sorry. OK, I guess we are just supposed to What if Mr. Aliva believes? Well then we can do something to fix it. That's what we're here for. Thank you. Representative Dalby, for what purpose? You're recognized for a question. Thank you, Representative Bentley, you and I have talked about this, and I just, uh, and we've talked about the other day. I just want to make sure you feel comfortable, uh, that any programs that we have for our disabled or or blind like the blind services and those kinds of things. You and I visited about that and how that we have some special programs encouraging the state to employ those, and I know on, on page 10 at the very bottom, it says the state of Arkansas does not discriminate in access to employment. opportunities on employment or practices based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, uh, our genetic information and so you're you're, we're still feel very comfortable after, yeah, I do. I think our American Disabilities Act's fully covers those people, and we don't want to discriminate on anyone based on their disability as well, right? So if they feel they're being discriminated against, they're able to file a civil cause of action if they feel like they're being discriminated against. Sure, I understand that and I appreciate that. You, but, but, you know, my, my question is a little more tailored to some of the specific programs that the state has, uh, to encourage people to hire those who may be visually impaired and all that, and you're comfortable that we can still do that as a state. OK. OK, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the question. Representative Steele, for what purpose? Question, you're recognized for a question. Representative, what impact would this legislation have passed, have on the state budget. The no fiscal impact that I see. I was not shown any fiscal impact whatsoever on this. Well, those programs that are earmarked for minorities, they will no longer exist. Is that correct? We're still gonna make critical areas. I think we're gonna continue to meet the needs of our impoverished kids and kids that are struggling. We're just not gonna do it based on somebody's race, color, or sex. We're gonna continue to meet those critical needs areas. So we'll continue to spend those funds where we need you to make sure every child in Arkansas succeeds. That's my goal in every individual in Arkansas can succeed. We don't want to end any programs. To me, we're expanding them to critical need areas, no matter what the person's gender or sex may be. Or race rephrase then if I could, Mr. Speaker. You're recognized for a follow-up. Those programs that are specifically designed For minority students, Women and others. Those programs can no longer exist under this legislation, if passed, correct? If they're based on sex or if they're based on my, on someone's skin color, yes, but we were gonna continue, if you look through there, we're gonna continue to make critical needs areas. So. So those programs would have to change and am I correct in that? Yes, to make sure they're not discriminating against anyone, yes those programs, so those minority scholarship programs, HBCU programs that provide scholarships and fundings for minority students, those minority teacher recruitment programs will still exist even if this legislation passed. Is that correct? As long as they're not marked out, yes, and we, we're placing things with those kids that are needs crisis needs. So give me a page and a line because I'm kind of getting, I'm gonna do that in just a sec. So what will happen to those resources that are appropriated and dedicated to those specific programs. There's still gonna be used because instead of minority, we, we're using critical needs areas, so we're still gonna recruit teachers to to teach in critical need areas. So we'll still be using this, those funds in critical need areas. So I it's not gonna change anything. So those federal programs now, if you look on page 11 on on line 36. 36, and then on the next page on Line one. I'm speaking specifically about the federal programs that that's pretty much the same thing that provides revenues into the state, specifically for uh disadvantage. Young people, specifically in the higher education realm. go and look at line 30, it says this section does not. So those things underneath there do not. This section does not prohibit an action necessary to establish or maintain eligibility for federal program if ineligibility would demonstrately result in a loss of federal funds to the state. So this will not affect that. Representative Steele, let me hold you there for just a moment. Representative Ferguson, you had stood earlier. Did you, did you have a question? Uh, yes, Mr. Speaker. Representative Steele, I'll come back to you. Let me, let me get him. I'll come right back to you. Representative Ferguson, you're recognized. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Bentley, just for clarification, you are on page 11. You go to page 11, please, line 31 through 33. Where it says that this section does not Correct consideration by the state of bona fide qualifications based on sex, that are reasonably necessary. To the normal functions of state employment, public education, or state procurement. I believe this is saying that this section does not prohibit these actions. Am I correct? Yes, sir, you're correct. OK. So when I go up, A paragraph. July 24 through line 27. Yes, sir. It said the state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to an individual group on the basis of race, sex, color, or national origin, in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement. OK. Now I want to go up one more deal, and then I'll get to my question. In section 2, you reference, uh, A particular code concerning the award procedures for public improvements generally is amendment to read as follows, no contract providing for the making of major repairs or alterations for the erections of buildings or other structures or for making of a permanent improvements shall be entered into by the state agency of the state in the county municipality or school districts or other local taxing. Unit, and then you put in there something like $75,000. And my question is, In this Section At 31, There is a exception. Verse 6. This section does not line 30, line 30 to 33. This section does not prohibit the consideration. by the state. A bona fide qualifications based on sex, that are reasonably necessary. To the normal functions of state employment. In public education or state procurement. I asked that question because in my some 26 years of HR experience with the City of Pine Bluff, we came across some of those things, same uh situations, but here, You have a exception for sex, that does not exist in the body of this bill. But you Elaborate on that for me, please. Well, just there, there may be a point where there's a bona fide qualification based on sexual make a specific sex better for that job. And so one of the things based on merit and qualifications. So there may be an instance where that is. Actually true. So, but very limited. So and then we have, you know, again, someone can sue, uh, a civil cause of action if they feel like they've been discriminated against. So There is an exception for sex in this body. Yes, I see that the state of Arkansas and only the state of Arkansas can take advantage of And any public education. System. Yes. If the state believes That there is a normal function or. But in the other bodies of this. Document 6 is Alleviated Yes sir. OK. Again, again, that's gonna be rare instances where this should be used. That's why I'm gonna, that's all I'm saying. So it's just making them with a rare instance or it may be better for that position, for that person. So, And one follow-up question, so I, and I'm sorry that I can't give you an exact example. One follow-up question. You recognized. So when you look at the exception of sex. It could be male or female, that the state and only the state, Can use This is a Example Not a city, not a county, but only the state. That's how it's written, yes sir. OK Thank you. Representative Allen, for what purpose? Question. You're recognized. Uh, Representative Bennett, uh, uh. Yes, sir. Uh, recently I received several phone calls from the highway department. As you know, they have a lot of female contractors out there. So can you tell me what impact would this bill have on the female contractors at the department they're doing a great job, should have absolutely no. Impact on them. Let's say do a good bit and put in a good bid and do a good job. I can't see it's gonna affect them at all. Well, follow. What what was told to me? Well that this bill will have a direct impact. On female contractors and women women contractors because they have uh Given some preferential treatment because they were minorities. So tell me, will this bills We stand the test out at the highway department. They will no longer be given preferential treatment if they provide a good job at a good price, they're, they're willing to, uh, Bid for that contract just about like anybody else. And I, I think I'm, I'm done with questions, but thank you, sir. Representative Bentley has explained the bill, but he wouldn't like to speak against the bill. Representative Allen, you reckon I'd speak against the bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, I was in this well. Less than 24 months ago. Addressing the same issues. With this particular bill. Make no mistake about it. Nothing has changed. My colleague represented uh Bentley and I are real good friends, and we're a prayer partners. But she is saying to us today that discrimination does not exist in the state of Arkansas. What you need to do is just take a look around you. Any person looking at me right now can tell me what color I am. And a lot of times people are based are judged and based on the color of their skin. That's just human nature. So discrimination in this state still exists. In a perfect world, it wouldn't exist. But we don't have pay we wouldn't have a perfect world, we don't have a perfect world because we don't have perfect people. So we gonna always have discrimination, and the reason why these laws were put in place in the first place. was to make sure that the playing field was level for everybody that was, that wanted to live in the United States and they wanted to do business in the United States. This is not going to go away. Let me tell you something. If my doctor Take my chart. And say scratch out the name cancer in my chart. My cancer is not gonna go away. I'm still gonna have cancer. And that's the way it is with this bill. And let me tell you about this. When I was at Little Rock Central High School. I had the pleasure. A meeting Daisy Bates. She came to Little Rock Central High School. They got me out of the classroom because they want me to meet with Daisy Bates. I went to a meeting with Daisy Bates, and she said this to me. She said, do you know how you got here? I say, yes, ma'am. I know how I got to Little Rock Central High School. She said, you rode the backs. Of the Little Rock 9. LC Bates and many other people in the community that fought for me to get here at Little Rock Central High School, the lace of my tennis shoes, run out on the, on the court and play basketball. If it wasn't for the Little Rock man, that wouldn't have happened for me. So I'm saying to you today, uh, the, the the Rock man. When they were tried to get in Little Rock Central High School, they had to fight to get in there. They have to fight because they were excluded. In exclusion still exist in our society today. And I keep saying over and over again, it's not gonna go away. And let me tell you about affirmative action. Affirmative action does not give me any special privileges. All it does is just level level the playing field and it gives me an opportunity to apply for a job just like none minority. It's not gonna take anything from none of my nos. And I don't know why we continue to introduce bills like this and play tricks with each other's man. Helen Keller said it best. She said the only thing worse than a a man that's blind. It's a man that cannot see but her eyes that cannot see, and we all can see that this is not a good bill. Now if you want to sit here and pretend like it's a good bill, we could do that all day long. But it's not gonna go away. When I was uh first hired with a pharmaceutical company. In White County Hospital, East Bray Street, when I walked in there, And start calling on different divisions of the hospital. Everybody in the hospital could look at me and tell that I was black. I had a difficult time. Call it on hospitals. And let me tell you this. The only reason why I was successful. was because when I called on White County Hospital. That was a guy that was hospital administrator there. And he said, Fred Allen. You've been calling on this hospital now. For over 2 months. I said yes sir. I have. He said, you're not getting it, make it in headway. I said, no, sir, I'm not. He said, can you come to my office. On Tuesday morning, At 11 o'clock, Don't come at 11:05. Be here at 11 o'clock. I got there at 11 o'clock. And he said, I want to take you into the cafeteria. And I'm gonna introduce you to the persons in the department, the pharmacists, all the doctors. He said, I want you, I want them to treat you. Like they treat all the other sales rep. They come in this hospital, but y'all saying discrimination don't it, don't exist in Arkansas, but it does. It was only because Mr. Albert Pilkerton. Who was the hospital administrator, opened the doors to me at White County Hospital. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it. I was married with a family, and they all had decided that Fred Allen was not going to make it in rural Arkansas. So what he did for me in White County, opened up doors, not just in White County or Madoson Independence County, Saint Francis County, and other counties around the state of Arkansas. But it would not have happened. If it wasn't for one person. And that was Mr. Pilkington. That's your grandfather. Your grandfather. Paved the way for me. And all I'm saying is this. We're gonna have discrimination. So don't pretend like it doesn't exist. It's gonna always exist. But what we need, we need to make sure That things like this don't happen in in the state of Arkansas. It's not gonna go away. You take away all affirmative action, the, the, the entities that were identified in affirmative action. It's still going to exist. Because we don't have a perfect world. So My request for you all. Today, it's to vote no on this bill. And sometimes It's difficult. To do what's right. When you're trying to hold party lines. I know. Mr. Speaker, there were times when my party got mad at me and angry with me because I voted for the hate crime bill because I voted for taxes. But guess what? I did not do the wrong thing. I did the right thing. And sometimes when you when you're trying to do the right thing, my mother always told me this, you hear me say this in the past. If you want to be strong, Lift something heavy. And this is a heavy lift. So I ask you all to lift lift something heavy, lift this bill up and do what's right and vote against it. Thank you. Representative Allen has spoke against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Would anyone like to speak against the bill. Representative Shepherd, you're recognized to speak against the bill. Colleagues I rise before you today. Not only as a legislator. But as a black woman. I rise before you today. As a daughter of the South. I come from a family of farmers. Factory. Steel workers. Out of Lone Oak County. I also rise before you today. As someone who knows deep down within her bones. What it feels like. They have laws used against you. That closes doors of opportunities. Instead of opening doors of opportunities. Many of you met my father when I was sworn in for my first term. You thank him for his service. A 3 tour veteran. My father served in Afghanistan. Desert Storm in Iraq. A first sergeant. My father taught me to believe in the American dream. That if you show up to work on time. You work hard. You outperform everybody else. You will have a fair shot in life. Well, colleagues, let me be clear about something here today. Not everyone has had a fair shot in life. My grandmother did not get a fair shot. My mother did not get a fair shot in life. And if we pass this legislation here today, that will be Arkansans for generations to come, that will not get a fair shot in life. Now I know there are some in the chamber that argue race and gender no longer matters. We don't need these protections anymore. Well, I beg to differ, colleagues. Walk a mile in my shoes for just one day. When you got to show up at your committee meeting, and you're the only black person on the committee. Feeling like you got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Feeling like you've got to prove yourself two times over. Or walk a mile in the shoes of a parent, that when they son goes out into the world. They got to pray to God that he comes home at night. I walk a mile in his shoes. of a mother. That has to look a little girl in the eyes and tell her she's got to work twice as hard as her male peer and expect half the recognition growing up in life. This legislation claims to ban discrimination and special treatment. Ban discrimination and special treatment against who? What this legislation does is it ties our hands. It takes our power away. When desparities exist when farmers or other businesses can't get loans or contracts when communities began to fall further behind. When women are paid less for the same amount of work. This legislation puts a target on the backs of decent, hard-working Arkansans. Every Arkansan deserves a fair shot. At a quality education, affordable healthcare, a good paying job, a life filled with opportunities and possibilities. But this legislation ties our hand. I ask your colleagues, be on the right side of history today. Then for the hardworking decent folks of Arkansas that sent you down here. Don't turn your backs on them. Representative Shepherd has spoke against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? You would like Speak for the bill. Representative Torres, you're recognized to speak for the bill. Well thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, House members, um, I'll just tell you that long before I was ever recognized as representative. I was, um, called. Maskin Mexican I was told that um I should sit in the back of the pickup instead of in the cab of the pickup because that was my rightful place. I was told by my high school counselor that I was, shouldn't even consider college because I wasn't college material. Consequently, I mailed her 3, Announcements, graduation announcements. I got a bachelor's and two master's degrees. And I'll tell you what led me up to this. It's my grandfather. Domingo Taurus. A 2nd generation little Mexican man. That told me once, he said, son, He said Don't ever let anyone or anything make you a victim. Don't ever let anyone or anything ever make you a victim. Now let me tell you about this little Mexican man named Domingo Torres. In the 3rd grade, his dad abandoned the family. Left him And his, and his, his mom and his two sisters. So he quit school. Grabbed a burlap bag, went out, picked cotton to help his mom raise his siblings. He forfeited his education, so his siblings could get theirs. When he passed away, he was an illiterate. Well respected. Bank board millionaire in my community. Because he said, son, only, he said, excuses will only beget more excuses. He said it takes effort. And if you give it all your effort, opportunities will come to you. I'll fast forward to my life. Even though my grandpa did everything extremely well. I grew up in a home where my electricity was disconnected from time to time because my parents couldn't pay the electric bill. Only to find myself in the classroom the next day being ridiculed by one of my classmates because it was his dad that had to leave the baseball game early to go reconnect my electricity. I grew up in a home without a phone during all four years of my high school life. And back then that was the only way you could foster relationships. You know I get to college, I had 0, not a penny's worth of help from my family to go to school. I worked my tail off. Because I wanted a different life. My first career. Professional career when I, I was the first one to get a college degree in my family. So I was, my first professional career was not a burlap bag like my grandfather. It was a Walmart bag in these two hands. And the opportunity that came to me when I was scrounging for loose change underneath the car seat for my next meal. was to go pick up trash. On a high-end condominium across the sorority houses in College Station. And so every day I'll walk that property and I picked up every cigarette butt, beer bottle, and you name it. And that place was extremely clean. And it led to another property and another property, then it went commercial. And my wife and I We wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning and go out and pick up trash on commercial properties that are included junior colleges and bars. 3 o'clock in the morning, we'd go do that, she and I. picking up trash. OK. We worked hard, we invested everything we had. And at the age of 31, I was retired. That's when I moved to Silo Springs. I was financially free. Because the principle that my grandpa gave me. He said, son, it's not excuses that are gonna get you forward in life, it's effort. I'm opposed to any governmental architecture that continues to make you and others victims. As for a good vote on this bill. Representative Torres has spoke for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Ferguson, recognize speak against the bill. Good afternoon, colleagues. I've been here for some. 5 terms, 10 years. And you probably never seen me come down here to speak against somebody's bill. I don't think that. Representative Bentley is. Trying to destroy. Civil rights of Arkansans. He's not the kind of person. However, I have some issues with this legislation. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I came to work for the city of Pine Bluff in 1981. I was the city's. Relations, equal opportunity for housing officer. A year later, I became the Human Resource director for some 26 years. I spent 4 years. In federal court, defended the city. On civil rights cases. Testified in federal court. I begin to ask. Department heads and city government. I said, I send you time and time again. Good qualified individuals. Young men Women But White And yes Hispanic And you refuse it. They said to me, Ken, well, I'm not racist. I said I know that. I know you love the Lord and I know you go to church. But they said, I just feel like feel like hiring people. It looked like me. I was the only one that looked like me. So that became a challenge. I want to ask you. But before I do that, you know, I, I asked representative Bentley, when she comes back to the wear all the clothes I'd like represented Bentley. Just make a few comments. When I asked the question, Of page 11. Where You give the state of Arkansas. A preference of sex. If they can come up with a qualified. Bona fide Situation But in the body of this deal. You don't give the same preference to cities and counties. I want you to expound. Now, I'm not gonna be long, but I, I'll say this. As a young child. I can remember riding. In the back of the bus. I can remember using bathrooms. But I was at Chris's department store in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. And The colored Water fountain wasn't working. I used the white water fountain. An elderly white gentleman. Grabbed me and my mother grabbed him. And I thought we both was going to jail that day. But what I'm saying is, There are a number of Arkansans still. I left the city in 2007, and I was still having issues. With hiring practices. And how sometimes women were having issues with harassment, sexual harassment. Then I had to deal with it but there's still people. They are trying to get a drink of water. Water fountain. It's broke. So You know what's in the bill. I ask you If you desire to vote no. present. just go to the bathroom. Thank you for your time, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ripsson of Ferguson who spoke against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill. Representative Brown, you're recognized to speak for the bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to read section 1 of the 14th Amendment. All persons born are naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor to die nor deny to any person. With its jurisdiction, equal protection of the law. As citizens and lawmakers. We are obligated to follow the Constitution of the United States. Discrimination. is a problem in the heart. But it has no place. In our government policies, practices, and statutes. I asked for a good vote. Thank you. Representative Brown who spoke for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Gonzalez, where then you recognize to speak against the bill. Thank you, Speaker. Representative Bentley. Mention that we would be looking at critical needs when it comes to Educators, administrators, um, and the like. What are those critical needs in the state of Arkansas. When we look at The demographics of our students. And our teachers. 62% of our students are white. Caucasian, 90% of our teachers are white Caucasian. When we look at our African American population. We have 20% African American students and 7% African-American teachers. We have 12% Hispanic students and 1%. Hispanic teachers. We have 1%, this is statewide. Hawaiian Pacific Islanders and 0.01%. Of teachers Now you might think, well, That's who's applying, that's who was hired. But let me tell you what has happened and what has been occurring in Northwest Arkansas. When I moved here in 1996, Northwest Arkansas experienced the largest immigration wave. Ever Many jobs were filled. All you had to do is look around at the poultry plants, agriculture, construction, service, etc. Because the students were from different cultural backgrounds, language backgrounds, our teachers did not know how to work with the students. And so as a result, not intended. I am sure not intended. But one day, as I was teaching, A student came up to me and said, I want to learn about scholarships. And I said, well, the scholarship coordinator is going to all of the classrooms and mentioning about scholarships, how can you apply? Well, I haven't heard anything. Another one of my students later, I would like to know about scholarships. No one, again, this happened all day long, because the scholarship coordinator had been going to the classes. At the end of the day, it puzzled me. I was thinking, what, what was going on here? And at the end of the day, I happened to come across this, and I asked her, I said, By the way, I have some students that are interested in going to college, and they would like information. And I don't know what's happened, but they don't have that info, I've gone to all of the English classes, they all have the information. I said, well, I'm just telling you my science students do not have that information. Well, what students are you talking about? And I said, they're my ESL, English as a Second Language, biology students. Oh, those students, well, they're not going to college because they don't speak English. And I said, We have English as a second language in our schools. They're learning English, and it does take time, but as teachers, as educators, what we have done is, we have We have inspired them to continue their education. Yes, we know they need to learn English, and that's what we're doing, but they cannot be negated. We need them to have the scholarship information as well. And she did. She did provide the scholarship information she was not happy about it, but she understood. That was one of the things that I had faced over and over time and time again, because of this, and the school district and currently in Northwest Arkansas, we have school districts, um, that have very diverse populations, and you see the same type of disparity within the teacher workforce. I'm concerned about that because the minority teacher and administrator preparation, recruitment strategic plan that was striked out. That was one of the things that has helped us to increase. Our population of teachers, where the teachers have that same background of the students, uh, they can relate to the students. We already know that research shows that, that teachers who share the same language or cultural backgrounds of their students, um, they are able to support them because they have. Had those same experiences. And so, currently in Springdale, my district, District 9, there are 32% white Caucasian teachers. 91% white teachers, 48% Hispanic students, 4% Hispanic teachers, 14% Hawaiian Pacific Islander students, 0.1% Hawaiian Pacific Islander teachers. 2% black students. 2% black teachers. 2% Asian students, 1% Asian teachers. Because there has been an emphasis on this minority recruitment plan, our numbers have gone up. In some of those areas, and we need this, we need this to continue, um, so that our students will be able to attain and get that same access that everybody else has, and so I I am asking you, my colleagues, to really consider those disparities that we have in pockets of our state of Arkansas. And additionally, looking at the whole state of Arkansas. If we were not ranked forty-third in the nation. I would say, well, maybe we are now equalized across the board, but we're not. We still have areas and many opportunities to move forward. And so, Please consider. And I would ask you to vote no against Senate Bill 3. Thank you. Representative Gonzalez Worthen has spoke against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Long, you're recognized to speak for the bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, earlier, someone mentioned that, uh, you know what's changed from 2023 when this bill had been heard before because it's basically the same bill. And, uh, there is one thing that has changed, uh, in, in 2023, uh, or June of 23, the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action is unconstitutional. That's a major thing. Uh, I think we have no choice but to pass this bill because to go on as we are now, um, our, our current laws are unconstitutional. I'd ask you to vote for the bill. Representative Long spoke for the bill. Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Barnett, you're recognized to speak against the bill. Thank you, Speaker. Before Representative Bentley. Left the podium. I was going to ask her a couple of simple questions and the first question was if she was aware that the state of Arkansas has the highest maternal mortality rates in this nation. And then I was gonna follow that question with asking her, did she know that pregnant black mothers are dying at twice the rate is pregnant white women in this state. I say that to say racial disparities exist and they are real. And this bill ignores that. Senate Bill 3 ignores the fact that the playing field in our society is not leveled. It disregards the reality of bias, and it falsely perpetuates itself as a bill that seeks to do good rather than harm. This bill will reduce and remove needed mandates that were put into place to level the uneven ground that continues to exist in today's society at large, which includes Life here in Arkansas. To pass this bill into law would be a regressive step in our state's history. The truth is, life is not always fair, but we all have a moral obligation to use our actions for good by making the effort to make life more fair. Your decision today will have a far-reaching impact on and in the lives and futures of not just yourselves, but on and in the lives of the very people of this state who entrusted you to represent them, their families, friends, neighbors, and even their foes. This includes men, women, people of color, people of all races, colors, creeds, and different abilities, not just those that look like you, not just those that think like you, and it most certainly includes those who differ from the majority. Of the state and this nation. It includes minorities of every kind. Minorities whose lived realities and live life experiences are real, undeniable, and worthy of consideration, compassion and care from this state and from this legislative body. To pass this bill, would leave a stain of unrighteousness, a stain of injustice and a stain of total disregard for the factual need of equity in our states, practices and operations. To vote for this bill will return us to the lights of an era in the past. I implore you to think wisely. Before taking your vote today. Some argue that this bill is a needed step forward. I beg to differ. If this legislative body affirms SB 3 with a majority vote, it will cause us as a state to revisit the trials of days past. And perhaps that's what some may want. Either way, this state's fate. Rest in the collective hands of this body. Let's do the right thing by not voting for a harmful bill cloaked in a lie of equality. For this bill is truly a wolf, poorly disguised as a sheep. Equality cannot exist apart from equity. And for that reason, I'll be voting no. Thank you. Representative Barnett has spoke against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for the bill? Would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative Bentley, you're recognized to close for your bill. Colleagues, thank you for your time. It's a very important decision. And my friend Ken Ferguson, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for that hateful white man and what he did to you, and it was wrong. And I'm sorry what happened to you? This bill, I want to tell you. It ends affirmative action. It strengthens our discrimination laws and makes them more powerful. It does not stop. Us being able to make sure that we're not being discriminated against. I want to assure you of that. And for my friends that are so concerned about hurting disabled children. I was blessed to work at Arkansas Children's Hospital for 14 years. There is nothing, nothing more important to me than disabled kids. I have fought for them, worked hours on end to make sure those kids are OK, and I would not for a millisecond support a bill that would hurt any disabled kids. any disabled Arkansan, period. I would not do it. And I had been assured again by Secretary Ley that it will not hurt our disabled kids, and I trust him. I think our Les Act is gonna go a long way, much further to help our kids know what's happening now. We have critical need areas, no doubt. And we're going to have more abilities to help those kids in critical need areas. Representative Long again strengthened that this is. Affirmative action is against the law. It's against the 14th Amendment. And Representative Bennett, you weren't here. But I'm acutely aware of our maternal mortality. Rates in Arkansas. I have been working for years to make them better. Today, we pass an amazing package that we have been working on for years to help maternal health in Arkansas. And I don't want Arkansas just to be better than Mississippi. I want Arkansas to be the best place for women and children to have babies, and I'm working hard to make that happen. That's why I've been working on the midwife field that I've been doing because that helps black women. More than any others, and that's why I'm working hard because other states have seen a huge improvement in their health, and I promise you that I will continue to work for all the women in this state. I promise you. We've been here a long time, but I want to say that the women in this nation have come a long way. And even in other states, I'm real quickly say we, we, we act like we're doing something drastic and way out of the way out of the whack. But in 1996, California stopped affirmative action. In 1998, the state of Washington stopped affirmative action. Florida banned it in 1999. Michigan banned it in 2006, Nebraska in 2008, Arizona in 2010. New Hampshire in 2012. Oklahoma in 2012, and Idaho in 2020, they all banned affirmative action. This is not something drastic. We are ending affirmative action. We're ending discrimination. We are strengthening our discrimination laws. It's exactly what we are doing. And I'm gonna end with this, a little story. Cause everybody share a little story. I know y'all are tired, but I promise I talk fast and it won't take more than 5 minutes, but I'm gonna tell you a story about somebody. His name was John Murphy. And he was born in 1934. In the city of Boston. He had an older brother, Eddie, and an older sister, Anne. And unfortunately, when my, my dad, John Murphy, when he was 10 years old, his daddy left and his mom. Do some things she shouldn't have done, but trying to make money, she did. And my dad and his brother and his sister slept in trash cans in the city of Boston. Trying to stay warm and not freeze to death. And then they stole money. and stole food to survive. And thankfully, all three of those kids ended up in a great Christian home, and my daddy went into the Air Force and my uncle Eddie went into the Navy and became a great cook. And then my aunt became a nurse. There is horrible things happening all over the state. To little kids of all different colors, Hispanic kids, white kids, black kids, all those kids, and we're not gonna stop helping them. This simply ends affirmative action like other states have done decades ago. And Fred and Ken, I appreciate you guys talking. I appreciate you sharing it, and I promise you will be sure to make sure we continue to do good things for women. I mean, women are soaring here and the nation. We've got the first woman, uh, cabinet member with President Trump and Susie Wallace and his, his chief of staff, and Christy Nomes, our US Secretary of Homeland Security and paying bond is a US Attorney General. We got the first female governor was Sarah Sanders, who's doing an outstanding job and Leslie this is our first lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. We no longer need to be victims. We all need to so. We've got more women graduating than men. It is time for us to move forward some great things. And with that, colleagues, I appreciate your time and I would appreciate a good vote on SB 3 and now let's end discrimination. Thank you. Representative Bentley is closed for the bill. The question before the House is the passage of Senate Bill 3. Members, we have a pair on the desk. Representative Austin McCollum votes yes. Representative Mark McIlroy votes no. This was witnessed and attested to by Representative Ryan Rose. Representative Matt Roy is a present member. Are there any procedural objections to this pair? Seeing none, please do not vote either of these two voting machines. Prepare the machine, madam clerk. So everyone voted. So everyone voted. Cast up the ballot, Madam clerk. About a 64 years, 26 nays, and 4 present. The bill has passed. It should be 65 days. Bill has passed. Members, we're going to skip over the budget calendar for today. Representative Milligan, you're recognized. Motion. Recognize promotion pursuant to Rule 33. I move we adjourned till Monday afternoon at 1:30. That's a proper motion. It's non-debatable. All those in favor say aye. say nay. The eyes have it. Do I have any announcements from committees, Representative Gonzalez, you're recognized. Thank you Mr. Speaker. City County Local will meet in 10 minutes, MacB. In the other committee announcements. Representative Vaut, you're recognized. Uh, several of y'all have asked me when house management will will be meeting to do some resolutions. We'll be Monday 15 minutes upon adjournment. Seeing no other committee announcements, the desk will remain open as needed for the reading of the bills and upon completion of the items mailed in the adjourned resolution. The House will be adjourned until 1:30 Monday.