Transportation, Technology & Legislative Affairs - Senate

Let's call the meeting to order. Appreciate everyone being here today. If there's anyone's gonna want to speak far against any of these bills, please get signed up on sign up sheet. Senator Johnson, we'll start with you. SB 78. Please introduce yourself for the record. Thank you, Mr. Chairman Mark Johnson, state senator, District 17. Uh, Sa Bill 78, uh, is a simple bill, uh, this concept was brought to me by representatives of the highway construction industry, uh, and all it does is it adds topics that will be required to be included in the written driver's test and added to the manual that the state police publishes to uh I started to say to instruct young drivers, but I guess any drivers, depending on when you try to get your license from being able to uh know about all the rules and things you need to know to be a safe operator of a motor vehicle. It adds information about highway work zone safety and specifically spells out statistics concerning the dangers of a motor vehicle operator committing a moving violation in a highway work zone, meaning don't speed where there's people working that you might injure them or yourself, uh, information about the importance of awareness and slowing down in highway work zones and a Q&A section regarding how safe you one would safely operate a motor vehicle. on the highway work zone. I think any of us that have commuted past Benton in the last 3 or 4 years would know that it is a scary place to be driving a car and to some extent Senator Hill driving between here and Cabot through Jacksonville was not quite as bad, but similar problems and we appreciate the work that RA is doing improving our roads, but the fact that it does add an added layer of danger when one is traversing that area and certainly the most exposed people in that are the actual highway workers themselves, so our dot both the uh uh the current new director and the recently retired director of both reviewed this and support it, uh, the Associate general contractors support it. It was originally brought to me by some representatives of the asphalt Paving Association and, and of course all their employees are the ones that are exposed to this, but If we can teach our young people that this is not a typical driving situation. This is a place you need to be a little extra careful, actually a lot extra careful because both their lives and the lives of others are more at risk in these work zones, but that's all the bill does. I do have the representatives of these agencies here, the AGC for example, if there's any questions of them, but uh otherwise, uh, I'll be happy to take any questions from the committee. OK. So this is a, this is a state police generate the questions and control that exam. They are the ones that control the license process of you. it's their agency that does it. I I forgot to add, I did speak to Colonel Hay. All right, that was my question. Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Any other questions? Saying now, is there anyone here to speak for or against. No one signed up to speak for or against the will of the committee. Have a motion, Senator Johnson, second by Senator Bryant. Any other, any further discussion, all those in favor say aye. Oh same sign. Congratulations, your bill passed. OK, we have moved Senator Penzo's bill to the deferred list. HB 1046. Representative Pilkington and Senator Davis, a no one here. We'll skip over that one. Senator Boyd, Thank you, Mr. Chair. May I proceed? Yes, sir. Um, I'm here, Senator Justin Boyd here to present House Bill 1135. So in 2023, the legislature passed and our governor signed a bill to allow for a digitized or mobile driver's license upon the payment of $10. Uh, this bill seeks to amend that or make a couple slight changes to that and in nowhere does this create a mandate for anybody to have a mobile driver's license or a digitized driver's license. It, it makes it a possibility in the state of Arkansas. And so the two amendments are, first of all, in addition to a mobile or digitized driver's license. It also would allow for a digitized state ID card. And then secondarily rather than mandating that a fee of $20 I'm sorry, $10 is collected, it would be a fee of up to $10 could be collected. Are you through, sir? I think that's it unless you have a question. We have any questions? Senator Johnson Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Boyd, do you have any statistics on how many people have taken advantage of the digital driver's license as of now. I mean, I know DFNA people are here, but do we have a number on that? No, not yet. No, nobody has. It's not available yet. No, I mean the uh not the ID card, but the 2023, right, they, they have yet, they have not issued one. We're getting close, but we're we're not quite there yet. OK, are, are there, maybe this is a question of DFA. Are there inquiries, I mean, are people kind of in the queue to do that, and with Mr. Chair's permission. We're going to bring somebody up from DFA who has more inside knowledge than Justin or Senator Boyd, however you want to refer to me. And please identify yourself with the record. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, Elise Austin Smith with DFA. Yes, Senator, there, in fact, our employees and certain groups that are interested are already testing the digital ID card, but it's not actually supposed to be out there on the app until February of this month, so that's the purpose of the bill is that when they're actually putting it out there for everybody, they'd like to go ahead and include everyone and have the mobile driver's license and the ID card all in. Well, I had a late friend who was legally blind and had the ID card, and I would think this might be a handy thing, so it sounds like a great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator Boyd. Senator Johnson. Any other questions from the committee? Saying no and what is the will of the committee or center would you like to close? Yes, uh, I would appreciate someone giving me a due pass in a second and then I'll vote in favor. Thank you. Motion of Senator Johnson. Seconded by Senator Stone. All in favors. pose the same sign. Congratulations center, your bill passed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. OK. Yeah HB 1046. Representative Pilkington. Please introduce yourself for the record. Thank you, thank you committee. I'm Representative Aaron Pilkington, District 45. Uh, would it be OK for me to bring up a few guests with me as I present my bill. No Uh, today House Bill 1046, the Blue envelope program. As many of you may or may not know what the blue envelope program is. I'll just give a quick refresh. It is essentially a program designed to help improve communication between law enforcement and individuals with disabilities, particularly those with autism. Um, it's a standardized way to share information with police officers during a traffic stop. The goal is to reduce misunderstandings, increase safety, and foster better interactions. Essentially what it is is an individual with autism will be able to go to DFNA. They will receive a blue envelope in this blue envelope they will keep their driver's license, their insurance card, all important documentation for a traffic stop. When they are pulled over, and they're asked for a license and registration, they will hand this blue envelope to the police officer. This is a nonverbal communication. the police officer understand that this is a driver who has autism and also lets the The person with autism, let them know that the police officer now sees and understands what's going on. I have a guest with me today who will explain a situation in which he had a traffic stop that could have gone a very wrong way because they weren't able to adequately communicate with one another. I think this is a great bill. There's been 6 other states that have started this program already. Um, I have received no opposition for this piece of legislation, and I think it's just a good way for us to help those with disabilities, be able to participate, reduce their. anxiety during traffic stops and to also help police officers when encountering an individual because a lot of times there can be situations in which maybe the behavior of someone with autism in a different context would would escalate the situation that doesn't need to be that, but because they have autism, it doesn't need to be escalated, and this is a way for them to communicate with each other. Uh, like I said, in a nonverbal standardized way, but I like to turn it over with my guests here to tell his story and who he's with and why this is an important piece of legislation for him. Thank you. If you would please. go introduce yourself. Yeah, my name is Ludwig Lud Kozowski Jr. I live in North Rock, Arkansas. I'm a self-advocate on the autism spectrum. Also on the Governor's council on Developmental disabilities, but I'm also now a spectrum first and foremost. I want to talk about an incident I had back in 2004 in July of 2004. Uh, I was working at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, and I want to thank Representative Pilkington for bringing this bill up, it's going to do a lot of good if it gets passed, so in July of 2004, I was working at the Arsenal, um, one of the things when you're on the autism spectrums, you get really focused and I was working a really long day on a pilot program for our contractor office of domestic Preparedness, and I was working 1212 hour day, our commute back one way and back back and forth and uh finally got to the point where I was done and little did I know was already after dark, and I wanted to just get home and I was driving home on the military post. I had 1 mile to get to the gate. Um, it was light, it was dark, and as I was driving, I was in the back area of the post, and there were woods on the left side and field on the left. And there were 3 deer, uh, that were ran across the street. There were two baby deer that made it right in front of my car to stashed made it skin of their teeth right in front of the car, right into the woods, and all of a sudden there was this big deer hit the passengers, the driver's side door of my car, uh, and its face was up against the window and it smashed my door and it freaked me out and it hit it. And it went smack down the side of the road. Um And it was quite, it was quite the moment. Um, it was uh quite overwhelming. I worked, it was far on the side of the road, um, my door was dry smashed in. It was drivable, um, I went to the gates to exit because you have to exit through security. They said, What happened? Um, I explained what happened. They said, Oh, we need to get a post officer with you. You've got to go back and you've got to do a report. We've got to do a report, um, and I already was tired. I was overwhelmed, and we went back about 9:30 at night, We go out there. He asks me a couple of questions. What happened? Tell me what happened. And then he asked the question. were there any witnesses? And I said, I answered him and I said, yeah, there were two other deer, and they ran into the woods, and he looked at me, stared at me and he goes, Excuse me? And I said, and I was, I was a bit taken back that he wasn't believing me and I said, Sir, there were 2 other gear and they ran into the woods. You know, probably was coming across a little bit of an attitude, you know, 11 when we're on the autism spectrum, we don't always make eye contact because of the fact that we're trying to focus on what someone's saying. It's not that we're trying to be aloof or indifference. It's so that we can focus on what someone's saying and he, he just, he, I saw him. He just made a, he just sort of just laughed it off and he kept going. Luckily it didn't escalate anything because it probably would have aggravated me even more. I could have gotten to a worse situation, so kept going, um, but it bothered me while he was down that next day when I calmed down and everything to my senses, I just was like, did I actually say that? So situations like that could easily end up bad, um, you don't always know things in black and white, you misread situations, um, over sensory whites, um, you know, situations like when I'm in a lot of noisy situations like airports. It's like a drill's being done to your head. So can you imagine if someone has situations with police lights and sirens. You have no idea how, how overwhelming that can be. So something like this where they would have a blue envelope that would have their driver's license and registration, um, their information, how to communicate, it would go a long way and de-escalating the situation and keeping things from going awry or bad, and be very helpful for inclusivity and helping helping things keep de-escalated. It remind also the person about how what they how they would react in situations like traffic stops with officers, so it's a win-win for everybody involved. A win for the first for the police officers who have the utmost respect for and a win for people who are neurodiverse in the community. Um, any questions? Sandra Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your testimony. It's very helpful. Representative Pilkington, how many states have a similar program. There are currently 6 states that have some type of blue envelope system in place. Some are not completely say why they're they're by county, I think California is one where a couple of the counties have only done it, not all, but there's there's 6 states in which this is operational, so it's not something entirely new. Is this something that some of the associations that we are members. of of the other legislators should develop a A standard, I mean a blue envelope is fine. Maybe some states will want a red one or something, but my point being, is there, is this something that would lend itself to a standardization that people across the country would or in law enforcement and in other agencies would would recognize this blue envelope. Sure, I think obviously the disability rights groups have advocated for this in various states, and they all call it the blue envelope program. I think there is a desire for it to be standardized, but obviously, since it, you know, it's not We would be the first state in the South to have this, you know, there's a little bit where I think we can kind of help dictate what it looks like and feels like, but you know, the general gist of it is they see this envelope. It is a nonverbal way for them to understand. I'm now dealing with a with a driver who's autistic, um, and one of the story I just want to add real quick, um, you know, that was, that was a situation that didn't end poorly, but we had an individual come and testify who was pulled over in Desart and uh the escalation, um. escalated and was later tased by a police officer over a simple misunderstanding of one another and so we just, we don't want to see that for people like this. And at the same time we also want them to be able to drive and work and participate in our economy and not be stuck home. So, um, but to your point, uh, you know, I think we will see that as it gets adopted further, but right now we have the ability to kind of make it our own. That makes sense. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Centre. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative Pilkington. I love this bill. I love the idea and the framework, um, quick questions real fast, uh, and you, I heard some answers that might be to this question in that exchange, but um, is there a concern about fabrication of if we um Uh, if folks are able to make fake blue envelopes or not official envelopes maybe the authenticity of the envelope system. Sure, you know, right now we would, we would be designing those and ordering those in-house. I mean, and that's really up to DFNA how they would like those to look. I mean, that may be something that as this gets developed with them, we need to make sure that they have some sort of variation. I don't know why someone would fabricate a blue envelope. I don't know what advantage they would have. And pretending they have autism, but I just get your point. I think that is a concern we should share with DFNA, and I, you know, I think we've, I've given them a lot of leeway in this because I, you know, it is relatively new and I don't think sometimes we need a micromanage, is there going back to the multiple states with different programs. I represent a border district of two different states in Missouri and Oklahoma and is, would there be any possibility of confusion about if you're stopped right near a border and trying to, trying To show a blue envelope and you just have to be in Oklahoma now and confusion of of now sorry, I didn't mean to sorry about that. Uh, well, I think one of the nice things about it is that the way the blue envelopes are is there is a written instructions on the outside of the envelope for the police officers. So if you're a police officer in a border state and they hand you this envelope, it might be we'll take you back for a second, but basically they can Look at it, understand that this is for an individual with autism, you know, the blue is just a way to immediately identify it, but there also is verbiage on it as well that will be developed and and that they can read that and understand, OK, this is, this is the situation I'm dealing with. So if you do end up in a situation like that where you're in, let's say, Oklahoma, um, you know, the hope is that we'll then do it. Maybe the recognition won't be as fast, but it'll be quicker than a situation where you're 20 minutes in and there are cuffs on the ground and then they realize, you know, they weren't being aggressive, they just were. Autistic and maybe last for my own clarity in this exchange in a blue envelope is handed that has identification and clarity of information, but if, if an officer still wants to proceed. For whatever do cause of further inspection or needed, that that doesn't stop anything of normal traffic. It's it's a normal traffic stop. There's no special privilege or anything like that. It's just understand this is the individual and they may have certain needs that just to be aware of. And so, but yeah, they can still search, they can still do everything they need to do in a regular traffic stop. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Dees. Any other questions from the committee, Senator Stone. Representative Pienting, if someone with autism goes to the revenue Department and wants a blue envelope, do they have to show any kind of medical papers. Uh, it doesn't say this in the bill, but that's something I've discussed with Secretary Hudson about the requirements they would put in place for someone to get a blue envelope when they come in and we've discussed having a doctor's note or some sort of official medical verification of their autism. All right, thank you. Any other questions? Or you, would you like clothes rebuild? I'm closing my bill. Thank you. Thank you for the questions. Thank you. What was the will the committee motion by Senator Bryant, seconded by Senator Des to pass all those in favor say aye, oppose the same time. Represented. Congratulations, your bill passed. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Saying nothing else on the agenda. I would like to say next Monday before, so everyone try to get around a little earlier. We're going to do pictures. Senator Dismay and Senator Dees, y'all be the lead on this. So we appreciate it and we'll take pictures. 5 minutes before. That being said, meetings adjourned.