Public Transportation- House

Um You go ahead and you May proceed and bring any witnesses you wish to like on your, on your bill. Anyone else, anyone here to speak for or against the bill? Make sure you sign in this morning. Thank you. Represent Pilton. Are you on, ah, it's not showing up on my screen this >> morning? Yeah, they were settled. Do you want me to begin because you want to hear me or? >> Well, can, can, are we still, are we still able to record if he's not? Can you still hear him? Ok. If you'll speak loud, we'll, we'll go ahead and proceed. Oh, it's a big, big agenda >> uh for this. Uh Thank you to everyone. Um Thank you Chair for recognizing me on the mayor 45 for the health bill. 1046. This is actually a piece of Legislation that need to be from a constituent exam and, and basically brought this to my knowledge. So when I first heard that I had no idea what but essentially its purpose is >> quick way and oh, fantastic brief way to do it. Um But really the benefits is it helps officers recognize the drivers May have uh that the driver May have a disability that affects their behavior such as difficulty making eye contact or responding to commands. It also reduces anxiety for the drivers by giving them a clear tool to explain their situation without having to verbally communicate under stress, which sometimes is difficult with those with autism. It promotes awareness and training for law enforcement about interacting with these individuals with a disability. So uh we, there's a few other states that have already done this. Uh Massachusetts, California and New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine, all have similar programs in place. Uh If we were to do this, we would be the first State in the south to have this program. But, you know, I'll say as someone who um I, I serve on um on a board that deals with those with uh DD and BH issues. I know that this will be a big service to them and, and a big help. And so I just, I know this population supports this Legislation and I'm glad to be a champion for them here today, but I would like to turn over to my guests and let them introduce themselves and explain who they are and why they think this is a necessary piece of Legislation. >> Pressure mic button. >> Hi, my name is uh Ludwig Kosowski. I am a self advocate on the autism spectrum and I am from Norfolk Rock, Arkansas. >> Good morning. My name is Logan Collins. I am employed as a truck driver hauling fuel and I also have autism. I'm from Jacksonville, Arkansas and I really appreciate y'all having me here today to share my story. >> So I will happily share my, my story. Um, in 2004, I was working at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. It was a late night and I just wanted to get home uh from a late day's work. Um I was driving on the military post. Um, it was a hot, dry evening. Um, I was in the back part of the post, um, leaving. Um, it was dark, um, woods in the back area and there were three deer that sprinted out of nowhere crossing the Street. Um There were, um, two baby deer that, uh, sprinted right in front of my car. Uh, barely missed the front of it and out of nowhere there is this big parent deer that, uh, sprinted and smashed right inside right to the side of my front passenger window, had this face against my window splattered right on the side of the road. Um, it chucked me up, uh, it drove me into anxiety. Um, I looked out is flat on its side, do was mashed in, I was fine but I drove to the post exit. Um, when I was informed that they were going to have to get an officer to go back with me to the scene to do a report. Um, I was quite nervous um, try to keep my composure. We get to the scene. Um, and the deer that was on the side of the road, um, was no longer, um, there get out. Um, he gets out his pad, um, starts asking standard questions, you know, what time did this happen? And then we got to the question. In the meantime, my brain's just overwhelmed. There's a lot of sensory stimuli and everything. Next question comes up or one of the questions that next came up was, were there any other witnesses? I answered him and I said there were two other deer and they ran into the woods and he just looked at me like cut the nonsense out and just stared at me and he goes, excuse me. And I looked at him and I got a little bit firmer in my language and I said there were two other deer and they ran into the woods and he just looked at me. He just started making a face and he just kept going. Luckily it did bother me. It, it made me feel like why, why are you not believing me? Luckily, we got through the incident and nothing happened, but it was, I felt like I was, I didn't know what to think. I felt like I wasn't believed. And it, it ruminated with me and bothered me. And the next day when I come down, I realized, did I say that bottom line is when we are in situations where we stopped by the cop speaking for myself. There's a lot of sensory overload and there are things we take literally and having a program like this would very much help remind us and help the cop understand. It's very important how language is phrased. It would remind the individual on the spectrum what they need to do, what they would have, having that emergency contact. It would help deescalates situations, it would bring also what it would be called um neural inclusivity into the discussion so that there's deescalating and, and a calmness and so that nothing bad would happen or, or, or misunderstanding would happen, you know, I love cops and how they do their jobs, but just making sure there's that, you know, good barrier so that there's keeping the peace and nothing can go wrong and just keeping that great relationship in the community. So that's why I believe this bill is necessary. I know many peers who would love for this to happen and it just is great common sense to have something like this. And so that's why I'm here to discuss this today and I'll happily take any questions. >> Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Collins, you go ahead and, and give your testimony and then if we have questions, uh we'll do that after you. Go ahead. >> All right. Thank you for having me here today and I want to reach out and thank Aaron Pilkington as well for inviting me. My hope for this bill is the understanding that police officers are professionals and all professionals need good information to be able to do their jobs efficiently. And so my under hope is that by having this blue envelope program, it can have the information to help the officer understand how they might be able to better go through what needs to be done. And my story was happened in July of last year, I had a load of fuel going to exit 216, the road Ranger, it was 66,000 gallons of diesel for cotton plant Brinkley. And there was a wreck on the side of I 40 at that time and I had tried to get over, but nobody would let me over and it's, it's difficult to get a 60 ft long vehicle over sometimes if the cars aren't willing to cooperate. And I got pulled over by the police officer and I, I pulled over and I felt like there was a lot of times in that situation where there was a communication gap, like they didn't understand my language and kind of body language is different than what they might be used to. And I felt like something like the blue envelope could help them understand, you know, it could have gone a lot smoother and I feel like communication barriers could have been removed. And so my hope is that with this law, somebody else could have an easier time. For example, like me diagnosed with autism could have an easier time and officers could have an easier time because there could be more communication and more understanding from both sides. >> Thank you, Mr. Collins. Uh You take questions. Represent Pilton Representative Richmond. You wait a minute, I think I shut you. Hold on a minute, the press the button again. You're good. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair uh Representative Pilkington. Thank you for bringing this. I think that you're on to something here and thank the Gentleman that come here and shared their testimony. My question is, is that how is an individual with autism initially identified that they have this issue that they're dealing with so that we can get the blue envelopes. I don't know if there's something during the initial process of getting your license or something like that. Does, do you have an answer? Could help me understand how this process is going to work? >> Sure. So I, I had a few other representatives come to me with a very similar question is how would someone essentially qualify? How could you know, I can just walk into DV or our revenue office and say, hey, I need a blue envelope. Um That's not explicitly in this bill. I was leaving it up to DF and A to make those rules, I would imagine during the interim with a LC and the rulemaking process that we would essentially say you need to come in with a, a doctor's note or some sort of diagnosis to prove that you, um, you know, or have a diagnosis of, of autism to qualify for this program. So that would be the way to do it. But I just, you know how it is, you put things in satch and then two years we're having to change it because maybe it wasn't as, uh, wasn't as clear, we didn't do it the right way. So I kind of gave, I wanted to leave it open to DF and a, to kind of create those rules and for us in the interim to, to promulgate them and approve those. >> Thank you. Follow up, follow up as far as do the individuals now when they, you know, and, and anybody can answer this question uh that when you get your driver's license or you get your, you know, your uh trucking license, whatever it is that you're having is there. Do you do? Is there something where you identify yourself as having autism during that process? >> My understanding from a support group, I run for adults on the autism spectrum is there is something you can get on your license plate that indicates there's you could have communication challenges. I did not know about that until this year. It's not well publicized and it speaking from my opinion because I was not aware of it. II I think there needs to be better communication on that. That said I, I do think though having something like a blue envelope deal is still important because when you are on the blue envelope packet is still very important because when you are on the autism spectrum, all of the the sensory overload, you, you face the flashing lights, sirens, people coming up to you um noises. It can, you know if you're not on the spectrum and it affects people in different ways. It could feel like a drill is going into your head and can be very uh uncomfortable and it can result different reactions to different people like arm swelling or, or uh movement, different people are gonna have different reactions. And so having this with that material in there and even guidance on the back for, for the cop and for the person would be very helpful to have them grounded. But to answer your question, supposedly there is something you can get. Um I, I'm speaking for myself, speaking for myself. I was not aware of it and I don't think it's very well publicized. My understanding is not everybody even at the revenue office when this person got it was aware of it. So, um that, that's my answer to that. Let >> me, let me uh represent, let me bring Alicia up from DF and A and let's kind of kind of clear this up, see where we're at with that. And then if you have a, if you would introduce yourself and, and, and go ahead and give us any input, you might have to help us with this. >> Thank you, Mr., Chair Members of the Committee. I Alicia Austin Smith, I'm the chief counsel for the Revenue Division of DFA A. Um I'll, I'll try to speak to what's already been spoken to. Um Yes, D fa issued a fiscal impact statement. You should have that in your packet. We would work with everyone to create the blue envelope program, we would enforce the bill as written. So as written, an individual would be able to come to any revenue office and request State that they have autism spectrum disorder and request a blue envelope and they would be provided that envelope upon request >> any more questions. >> Yeah, I think I asked the question and made it more complicated than the answer I'm actually looking for and I apologize for that. But ok, I'm 16 years old and I go in and get my license for the first time and I, I have autism. Is there, is there something that identifies me as having autism during that process? >> So there are certainly not speaking about the blue envelope program which doesn't speak to that. There are other, there, there is a, a special license plate where those individuals bring in their doctor's certification that enables them to obtain the special license plate with the decal. >> All right. Thank you. I appreciate that answer. And I'll just say that I don't think that's a substitute for the, what you're trying to do now with the blue envelope thing. And I appreciate the uh the information that you provided. Thank you, Mr. >> Chair. Thank you, Representative Hawk, you address her question. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair um Representative Pilkington. Uh I think it's an outstanding bill. I do. Uh My only question is, you know, I ran a similar bill but this was for officials last and the question that always got asked to me is how do we identify to or let the local law enforcement know that this is a thing because, um, from both these two gentlemen's testimony, it's been kind of more of a local issue that they've had problems with. Is there a plan in place? Maybe that's something you guys need to think about later on, but to get the word out to local law enforcement, to let them know this program would be in place and, and what they're dealing with. >> Excellent question, I think, and this, there's, you know, two sides of this, there's the, the, the, the implementation of the program and then making sure people know about the program and how they interact. I mean, obviously, I know there's a lot of training, especially how to deal with individuals who have autism already. And so I assume that this would just be rolled into that training. But additionally, you know, the governor's, um, is it Committee or task force or co council? Sorry, I there's so many councils committees, you guys know, but, um, you know, I think they have have told me that they, you know, see this as a good project for them to help spread the word out and, and a good use of their time is to kind of help, you know, talk about this program with different law enforcement agencies across the State. And, and I think that's part of it too, is the education is them working with us to make sure that they know about it and that they're aware of it coming down the line? Thank you. >> Ok. Represent Duffield, you re recognized for question. >> Thank you, sir. Uh Representative Pilkington one question on the on the envelopes. Are these just going to be a blank blue envelope? Or would there actually be something written on it stating what it is? >> Yes, there, there would be a language written on the envelope that would State what it is. Ok. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Any other questions from, from Committee? Uh I think we have one more to testify. Sergeant Camp from Mississippi County. Uh Thank you, Alicia May call you back here in a minute. Pardon >> me? You want us to stay here? >> I think we need, I don't think we need any more from your witnesses. Y'all, Gentlemen. I appreciate your testimony. Thank you for being here. Uh Sergeant, you introduce yourself and you May proceed. >> Good morning. Thank y'all for having me. I'm Sergeant Jared Camp of Mississippi County Sheriff's office. Currently, I'm the school resource officer for the manila school district. Um At 2023 I was able to take some training, dealing with response to peop citizens with autism. During this training, we done a mock traffic stop on a person that had just got their license. They were on the spectrum. They just wanted to show them what it was like. How would we approach the vehicle, what we asked for. And so I approached the vehicle as normal and the, the citizen, you know, the stress level was high or even though he knew what was going on, he still kind of froze and locked up. Well, his body language is demeanor and his actions in the vehicle is something I would recognize with almost 20 years experience of somebody trying to hide something in the vehicle or be combative, just, you know, non cooperative. A lot of other officers without any training I believe would escalate the situation, try to get the subject out of the vehicle. Um With them not responding, not cooperating. Uh, some officers, officers could escalate to using the taser on them for a noncompliance. Um My fear was these individuals being hurt and that's not what we want. Um So I, I thought about this, this is before I knew about the blue envelope, I thought about how on the driver's license, they have the symbol for the handicap. The disability symbol can be on the driver's license. My idea was to get a designated autistic autistic symbol, kind of like the puzzle piece or something like that to put on the driver's license that way it's more personable. >> Um, sergeant, we appreciate that. Let's let's stick with where we're at on the, on the, the, the blue envelope bill. I appreciate your testimony, but we wouldn't want, you know, we don't want to expand that just yet. >> Right. I was just going along with it in case somebody that had the blue envelope lost it or was in a wreck and we couldn't find it. It would be on their license. Um, but yeah, it is, it is a good bill. I, I applaud it. I think we need it. All officers in the State should be trained on how to deal with, with citizens with autism because it, it could lead to something dangerous for them if they're not compliant and officers don't know what's going on. >> Thank you for your testimony. Any questions? Representative Hall, you recognize, >> thanks guys. Uh >> pull your mic down a little bit >> when, when you talk about, you know, they freeze uh when you walk up there and they don't act normal. Um and a lot of the, you said the autistic uh folks don't, don't have a special license plate. Uh Do you think that they need another symbol like on their window or something? So when you walk up there, they're not reaching in the glove box to get a blue envelope which would maybe, you know, make the officer even more nervous or, or something like that. >> My fear with the the sticker on the windows and a specialized license plate is criminals are smarter than we think they are and they will learn these license plates are specific for people with autism and they can make them a target so or more vulnerable. So that's my fear on that. That's why what I thought about it was the driver's license but to go along with the blue envelope. Yeah. Yeah, >> thank you. >> Ok, Representative Whitaker, thank you, Mr. Chair Motion at the proper time. Ok. We have another question on the board. I was in a car. Ok. Any other questions from Committee? Seeing none. Uh Representative Pilkington, would you, are you wanting to make any changes or, or anything to your bill? Uh You would go ahead and present it as, as you have it written Chairman, >> I'm ready >> and that's really a question for our, for, for our freshman. If at this time, if he wanted to, he could say I want to pull this bill down, uh make a minor change to it, make an adjustment to it. Uh The Committee could let him bring it back, he could amend it, bring it back to the Committee. So that's really, I'm not, I'm not against this bill. I don't want you to misread what we're doing here. So DF and a really has no uh uh no input on it for being a for or against it. Uh So if you, are you, so are you ready to close for your bill, sir? Ok. He's closed for the bill. No, all we need is a motion from someone on the Committee. Uh Representative Whitaker, you recognize mov'e do pass. We have a do pass. Is there any, we don't have to have a second on our committees. Is there any discussion? I don't see any discussion all in favor of the motion. Say a, any opposed, say a congratulations, Representative Pilkington, you passed your bill. >> Thank you. Thank you, Committee. I appreciate it. >> Uh, Committee that concludes our business today. However, if you would, as soon as we adjourn, would you please meet at the steps going to the house floor so we can get our, it's a change this year. Uh, someone else has taken over the photographs. They don't want to do it in the Committee room and they want to do it at the steps. So as soon as we leave here, would you please go to the steps to the house floor so we can get our Committee picture made? Thank you. We stand adjourned. Thanks.