Arkansas Civic Leadership Institute Meeting
Video
Transcript
Machine transcript
May contain errors. Verify important quotations against the official video.
About transcript accuracy
- Source
- SliQ live captions
- Model
- SliQ live ASR
- Processing date
- October 2, 2026
I have this oh thank you good afternoon ladies have you enjoyed the day so far? are you ready to have some
fun because this is the fun part, OK?
So just so you kind of know how things are gonna go just in case you got questions about how you're going to present and all of that I know thatpresentative Childress is going to present a bill in a minute
the clerk will say how no AclI123 or4 OKok because we're doing4 bills so that's what they'll call out all right? and the senate bills will be the same way, OK? yeah
pay attention to the caption that's up there and that'll let you know if it's your bill that you're presenting I know this morning
Mr Vines told you you know if you want to speak for a bill
you'll stand up and do your finger up if you want to speak against a bill finger down, OK? and and you can't just come to the well he has or the speaker p re s ent ative Parks she will have to invite you to the
well, OK? when you come to the well and you're recognized you always say thank you madam speaker OK? because they don't have to let you come to the well so we
always are appreciative that we've got to come to the well. You don't have to be in the committee to come speak against a bill or for a bill that's being presented all right so saypresentativealby's bill from her committee is being presented but you're not in that committee room but you're listening to the bill and you've got some questions about it or some concerns about it you can come to the well or you can stand up at your desk, hold up your microphone and they
will say umpresentative beatty you're recognized and for they would say recognize I want to do a question you're recognized for your question, OK? you don't have to come here to ask a question unless I present my bill and I get out of the I will warn you I've
seen people standing this well too long and kill their own bills that is a thing it really does
happen. You can see drop boats drop off very quickly ok?
so anything else representatives that you I didn't touch on will wing it but we're going to have fun winging it right judiciary is ready
Speaker 24
4:10
is education here ready right is city county local ready right we're ready.ublic health
is public health ready? yes yes yes there we go there we go alright well ladies
we're going to start like we would any day they're going to tap the thing like they tapped them I tapped earlier on the third tap make sure that you
stand up and you're ready for business right? let's have fun
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
4:52
Representativeau we we send those delegations to the senate and the govern the governor's office are we going to do that
The House of Representatives for Arkansas's ivics leadership institute will come to order I invite the members staff press and guests in the galleries to stand and be led in prayer by the girls state chaplain McCula and to remain standing for the pledge of allegiance to be led by Representative emmittt. Thank you madam Speaker
Speaker 40
6:27
dear Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for allowing us to be here today and I just pray that everyone can come up here and present their bill to the best of their ability
Members please indicate your presence by pushing your yellow present button. Prepare the machine madam clerk as everyone pressed the button
Speaker 43
7:45
With53 members Cast up the ballot madam clerk. with53 members present the chair sees a quorum Madam
clerk, please read AclI number one
Chair
Unverified
8:19
enhanced penalty for certain offenses against a child based on acts 976 of2025. Representative Steele, you are
recognized. to present your bill thank you madam Speaker
Speaker 55
8:58
Madam Speaker and members present, I I am here to present
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
9:03
Acl one the bill ACl one an act to create enhanced penalty for certain offenses against a child and for other purposes this bit ill outline ends that persons that a person who is 18en years of age or older commits a felony offense and against a offense committed against a child or
offense committed against a child so with this it is a that the penalty should be enhanced and for things such as homicides and kidnapping that are related to children and within this we have we have a decided that it should be that we should make
the enhanced imprisonment to increase it by5 years for classes Y through C solas Y would be35 and so on and within this we have also we have also added we had we have added information about the age of consent meaning that if a minor is of the age of 16 or
older and there's proof of a dating relationship that it that it cannot be as easily charged so parents cannot like come in and add information or try and charge someone just because they don't like a boyfriend and or girlfriend that is over the age of eight and we have added a section on line eight of page two that anyone convicted under this section
must register as a sex offender Representative Ennett for
what purpose? ue s tion you are recognized. how much will this bill
Speaker 60
11:20
cost us with the enhanced sentencing. At the moment I do not have the
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
11:34
information for cost but I don't believe that costs should matter because children are of the utmost priority in our in our communities and they are often the ones that cannot speak for themselves and that is why it's so important for us to protect them
Representative Steele has explained the bill would anyone like to speak against the bill Representative gonzalez
were than you are recognized. to speak against the bill
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
12:54
While I do like this bill I would like to raise a concern so why doesn't the class D felony on page two line 11 line along with the rest of them I believe that it needs to be raised5 years so it will end up being six years forlassd felony
Representative gonzalez wereen has spoken against the bill would anyone like to speak for the bill Representativehudson you are recognized to speak for
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
13:47
the bill. I'd like to speak for the bill because I think it's important that we recognize kids And I know this is especially important
Representative Hudson has explained the bill, has spoken for the bill would anyone like to speak against the bill
for the bill Representative Richardson you are recognized
to speak for the bill Honestly I believe I can speak for this bill just because
Speaker 78
14:36
minors don't specifically have a voice I mean we do but they're not valued or heard so I feel like if all of us members stand up and vote for this then we can be their voice. Representative Richardson has spoken for
the bill would anyone like to speak against the bill? for the bill
ohpresentative Steele, do you wish to close for your bill you are recognized thank
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
15:15
you madampeaker Members I would again and like to ask you to vote for this bill that will help the our the future of our country become be able to continue on with their lives because often this can make the difference in someone that will be a good citizen or a bad citizen
since I was last up here I've received an update that cost will be minimal and so just for everyone to keep in mind please vote
for a good bill. Representative Steele has closed for the bill the question before the house is
passage of acI number one Prepare the machine madam clerk
Is everyone voting Has everyone voted Has everyone voted
Cast up the ballot madam clerk by a vote of51 yayays and zero nays and zero present the bill has and then madam clerk please read AcI
number 2. AcI number two to amend the time of permissible
Chair
Unverified
17:12
sales of fireworks in this state. Representative
Nazarenko you are recognized to explain the bill. you are recognized So
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
17:46
for the bill AC2 I had a constituent of mine come to me and explain that due to the economy they need more time in order to sell fireworks throughout the period. So we compromised and amended this bill in working with the fireworksdministration local fire so we ask that instead of starting at June 20th in order for the sale of fireworks to be started at the sale of June 13th to the 20th and during that time period of June 13th to 20th
there is no fireworks above 150 ft will be sold to people and then from the dates of June 21st to July6th, there's no regulation on what types of fireworks can or cannot be sold. but an overall rule we set in place from the dates of June 13th to July6th is that you must be 21 years or older and you have to make you have to provide a valid form of Id in order to buy or purchase a firework.
Representative Nazarenko has explained the bill
would anyone like to speak against the
bill Representative ladyman you I recognize you to speak against the
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
19:20
You are andersonally I'm against this bill because I have talked to my constituents who own fireworks stands and we have recognized that the cost of having these stands open obviouslybviously more expensive for them and it's common knowledge until very very late before the holiday
believe that this would be too expensive with the additional with the addition of an extra week, renting out parking lots Representative ladyman has spoken
against the bill would anyone like to speak for the
bill Representative shepherd you are recognized to speak for the bill you are recognized
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
20:22
madampeaker seeing as which we have talked
getting hurt works are gunpowder in a can so I mean if you have 16
Representative Roger D. Lynch
Unverified
21:12
thank you Representative Shepherd has spoken for
the bill would anyone like to speak against the bill? Representative garner you are recognized to speak against the bill. you are recognized
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
21:36
Vote against this bill because there is no age restriction and
Speaker 113
21:44
fireworks are dangerous and we don't want young kids Representative garner has spoken against the
bill would anyone like to speak for the bill Representative Lynch, you are recognized to speak
for you are recognized thank you madampeaker I think
Speaker 101
22:18
because Kids buying it and if we have our first hard4urth of July but I think we should take off a little
So I but would you put Representative Burkes you are recognized to speak
against the bill.
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
23:24
she's coming down I'm gonna interject we had someone that once stood to ask a question if the presenter doesn't stay in the well they don't have to take the question in that case the the speaker in that case left so the question doesn't get asked. so that's what happened right there you are recognize Bill because
Speaker 122
23:47
why would y'all add another week of noise pollution nobody wants to hear that every day and all night thank you
Representative Burkes has spoken against the bill p re s ent ed
oh representative Mcollum Question there's no one to take the I have
Speaker 127
24:15
a question for the bill sponsor when she comes back
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
24:53
thank you so my question regarding this bill is if the age limit they said is 21+ to be able to buy fireworks would they be able to allow students who are or just younger sorry young people of younger age to purchase these fireworks as long as they're not dangerous or as large
Representative McCollum has spoken for the bill Anyone who wishes to speak against the bill p re s ent ative Unger, you are recognized to speak against the bill.
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
25:56
you are recognized thank you madam Speaker. the the for this bill has talked about the age limit both sides have talked about the age limit a lot but the affirmation has
yet to address the negations point of these of there being no reason to be open for an extra week therefore I stand in negation and until the affirmation can address this I Representative Unger has spoken against the bill Anyone
who wishes to speak for the bill Representative Bburkes you are recognized to speak for the bill.
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
26:45
you're recognized I support this bill because it gives fireworks businesses and cus customers additional time to legally purchase fireworks before major holidays many vendors are forced to rent places for a week early which creates financial pressure when they are not yet allowed to
begin sales in addition the limit the the limited sales often prevent often prevents businesses for selling from selling all their inventory causing unnecessary economy s losses for local vendors the bill also preserves important safety measures such as restricting purchases purchases to individuals who
are at least the age of 21 years or older limiting fireworks above 150 ft overall the amendment creates a fair compartment compromise by supporting small businesses while still maintaining responsibility responsible public safety regulations I'm sorry guys. Representativeburkes has spoken for the bill would
anyone like to speak against the bill?
Representative McClury you are recognized to
Representative Rick McClure
Unverified
28:36
speak against the bill. You are recognized 21 year olds could person I mean Anybody above
person or they could just sell it they could go buy it and go sell it to a younger person so Representative McClure
has spoken against the bill. would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative duffield for what purpose?
Speaker 152
29:25
I hear your motion for motion I will hear your motion motion for immediate
Representative Roger D. Lynch
Unverified
29:37
consideration that's a proper motion that it is not
debatable all in favor say aye all opposed say nay
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
29:55
motion failed is everybody wondering what just happened OK that's that's a motion we use when to to paraphrase when everything's been said but everyone hasn't said it and that's a phrase you'll hear sometimes up here when the when
the comments when the for and against just gets becomes redundant it's a motion to end debate it's similar to previous question if you're familiar with uhRobert's rules when in your parliamentary teams and certain organizations you'll have previous question it's ours is immediate consideration it's not debatable but the the kicker on it is it takes 2/3 of the body to pass it so in that case there was no way that voice vote was 2/3 so it failed if you really want it to end and you've had enough you want to get all your friends and everybody on the
Speaker 158
30:58
road to voice that concern because otherwise debate will continue. and that's
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
31:04
the that's the other thing about the immediate consideration is that the bill sponsor can't close for his or her bill in this case her bill so it's kind of a it's it's an immediate exit off the interstate so you want to use it strategically this one was probably a good point because you've got a bunch of bills you're trying to get through but just keep that in mind as you go forward good good try.
Representative Howwell Howe you are recognized to speak for the bill. You are
Representative Steve Hollowell
Unverified
31:48
recognized thank you madampeaker while umpresentative McClarre does have a point about the age restriction tw the reason why we're trying to implement the 21 year old to be able to sell is because that's just an extra precaution we're trying to take because
after the we sell these fireworks it's no longer on the fireworks stands rather when it was if you sell it to a minor it's gonna like eventually fall back on who sold it so it's just an extra
Representative Howell has spoken for the bill. would anyone like to speak against the bill? the
Representative Nezarenko you are recognized to close you are recognized So I just
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
32:47
got a statistic that65% of children receive 2nd to third degree burns from fireworks every year from misuse and I think that this bill while it does talk about restrictions to what you can and can't sell for the weeks it also just really focuses on protecting children which we
should be aiming and striving to do every day but also I heard somebody ask that why do we want to have it a week early and why do we not make it just a shorter time span of cell fireworks and we discussed that in our committee and we decided that since if we shorten the time span it's not really safe for the majority with how fireworks stands are set up close to the highway or like close to the interstate and with a bunch of people trying to go one place at one time it's really not that safe so giving people more time to purchase will allow people to be able to
make that purchase and do it in a safe manner. thank you so much and
I hope for a good vote Representative Nazarenko has closed the
bill The question before the house is passage of AcI2. prepare the machine, madame clerk.
Has everyone voted has everyone voted Cast
yvo of27yyay 31 yay 36 nays and zero
Speaker 32
34:52
the bill has passed right your quorum was53 we lied to you
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
35:03
there is math today alf of fi3 is give or take 26.5 which makes it 27 so in this chamber today passages with 27 votes even though we had people punching the machines that not may not have registered their attendance earlier today so the so the number you're
gonna wanna watch today is the green number the gre we everything is an affirmative vote you can vote no present really has no consequence in here if you want something to pass it's got to have the green votes in this case going forward 27's a magic number if we do get into a situation where we have 2/3 dare I ask any more math? 36 don't check me on that so anyway that's that's why typically we have 10,090 to it it typically to pass a bill in in this
chamber is51 votes on most anything unless it isn't as we say some require 2/3 votes which requires67 votes that counts with emergency clauses and then appropriations the money we spend of our taxpayer money is75 votes so be mindful there are different thresholds but today 2736 are your magic numbers madame clerk please read AclI3
Chair
Unverified
36:28
AcI3 to prohibit over the counter diet pills from being sold, transferred or otherwise furnished to a person who is under 18 years of
age. Representative Childress you are recognized to explain
Chair
Unverified
36:44
the bill. you are recognized thank you madampeaker Hello everyone. Today
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
36:51
I'm presenting AclI3 an act to prohibit over the counter diet pills from
Speaker 173
36:58
being sold, transferred or otherwise furnished to a person who is under 18 years of age and for other purposes so before I get into the nitty gritty of this act. let me tell you why this matters to our constituents and the people of Arkansas so one of my constituents that lives in my that lives in my region was recently hospitalized for overconsumption of diet pills.
Speaker 174
37:31
This girl, she was 16 years old and she had been overweight the majority of her life but she was terrified to ask for help to talk to her parents about it or to do anything. so she saw her only way out is going to the store such as Walgreens I believe. Yes, it was Walgreens. She went to Walgreens and she got these pills unbeknownst to her she took too many in her mind she thought she could speed up the diet process by taking as many as possible. that's not how it works. Due to this she was severely
hospitalized and her parents had no idea until she got sick that she had even purchased these pills so our bill
Speaker 173
38:09
or my bill which I'm hoping you will all vote on yayay will be protecting our kids so that instances like this will never happen again. so let's get into the bill over the counter diet pills is defined as a class of drugs that is labeled and marketed under theederal Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act21uC Section301 etc. as existing on January1st2025 for the purpose of achieving weight loss that is lawfully sold transferred or otherwise furnished without a prescription. so in our bill we are specifically talking about pills that are over the counter. so pills diet pills that are prescribed to children or people under 18 I should say, are not affected by this bill whatsoever and then if parents
buy these pills and then or guardians and they end up getting giving them to the the children that's not affected by this bill. We are specifically talking about retail establishments so we define that as a vendor that in the regular course of businesses sells over the counter diet pills at a retail directly to the public including without limitation a pharmacy grocery store or other retail store or online. so we are specifically talking
about retail establishments selling these to underaged people, so under 18. The punishment for if this is passed and retail establishments are found in violation of this is a violation of the of this section is deceptive and uncon unconceivable trade practice under section4-88-107 and is subject to the penalties remedies and enforcement provisions under the deceptive tradederactices Act section4-88-
101 etc In addition to the penalties under subvision E one of this section the department shall impose a fine not to exceed $2000 upon a retail establishment that violates this section. So giving all this this is the bill and I urge your vote for affirmation. I opened the floor for questions
See no questions I will representative shepherd you are right. do I say you are recognizing? for what
Speaker 179
40:49
purpose ue recognizecog how exactly do you plan on regulating online sales seeing as what you can say it's in a different state. I'm so sorry. could you so like if you're online as a child in the state of Arkansas and you said like you lived in a different state on your account. how would you regulate it? Well, if you said you were in
Speaker 174
41:08
another state, if they were to send you the pills you would have to put an address. so it would
be obvious that you were living in Arkansas. Thank you. Representative burkes
Speaker 183
41:25
for what purpose?ues you are red about no What
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
41:32
is your solution for a kid that's under eight that's severely unhealthy and overweight.
Speaker 174
41:44
Yes of course. so our solution and my solution for this is of course it starts with education in the households but specifically in school systems so hopefully kids are begin to be more educated about this but also if kids do need to be on medication like this we push prescriptions in Follow up you also mentioned something about
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
42:12
not being comfortable enough to tell or express something like that to other people. so do you think that would work out in which your solution or
Speaker 174
42:25
shouldn't say hoping, with more education and with students having access to counselors and safe people at school and in home hopefully and at least at school hopefully these problems will be eradicated and we won't have to worry about that
Representative Unger purpose forues you are recognized thank you madampeaker kind of going off of Representativeurke's
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
42:54
question what if the the child that is under 18 years old doesn't have a relationship with their
Speaker 192
43:01
parents or guardian they would they are able to go talk to their
Speaker 184
43:08
counselors and the people at school trusted adults about this issue. OK thank you
Representative Ennett for what purpose? Question you are recognized. how do you plan
Chair
Unverified
43:24
to kind of find the medications and things that are being sold over the counter that are for weight loss just as kids learn how to get high off of things like Benadryl. how do you plan to scope out every single medication that could be used for weight
Speaker 195
43:42
loss that might be having different main purpose. Yeah, of course. so
Speaker 173
43:50
in our bill outlined on page one section B. so we state over the counter diet pills includes a product marketed with drugactx panel under federal regulations that contains either approved drug ingredients or ingredients deemed adulterated under 21 USCsection342 is existing on January1st,2025. you are recognized
Chair
Unverified
44:17
what happens if that weight that happens and
Speaker 195
44:23
it's a drug for a completely different man problem like let's say Tylenol made you lose weight how would you take that Tylenol and other theoretically
Speaker 173
44:35
other medications like that are not included in this bill that this bill is specifically talking about the ones that are defined under our the FDA and things like that that are defined under this thank you Representative Brown for what purpose
Speaker 163
44:56
there's a question I cannot accept that because she left the well. Representative
p re s ent ative Childress has explained the bill would anyone like to speak against the bill? for the bill we're gonna do against the bill first so Representative Burkes you are recognized to speak against the bill
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
45:32
you are recognized I'm against the bill because how do
Speaker 122
45:45
you what do you do when like nobody have that outlet of somebody they can trust enough to ask for appeals or talk to somebody about the pills or wanting the pills or Representative
burkes has spoken against the bill Representative Richardson you are recognized to speak for the bill. you Honestly
Speaker 78
46:19
I speak for the bill because personally it says you know under anybody under the age of eight which is a minor they shouldn't have the responsibility of choosing whether they want or need weight
loss in general I do feel like we need to add in there by parent or guardian signature because like somebody said don't know don't know where she went I lost her obviously they need to have somebody to talk to and that's why it says parent or guardian because not everybody has technically a parent it could be an aunt or an uncle or a guardian that they trust or live with thank you Representative
Representative ladyman you are recognized to speak against the bill You
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
47:18
are recognized I am speaking against this bill because I believe that it has the opportunity to lead to more intense ways of dieting if we are to take away diet pills to minors for what is available to them. I can only lead to believe that they will find worse, more
hurtful ways to go towards this weight loss things like anorexia or eating disorders
Representative Jimmy Gazaway
Unverified
47:45
which are ultimately worse than diet pi
Representative Unger for what purpose? you
are recognized wellpresentative representative ladyman has spoken
against the bill Is anyone for the
billpresentative Pearerce you are recognized to speak for the bill
Representative Shad Pearce
Unverified
48:25
you are recognized thank you madampeaker I would just cc es s to these pills without ident
basedsed on like social media and stuff, it could actually encourage people to have eating Representative Pearerce has
spoken for the bill. would anyone like to speak against the
bill? Representative burkes you are recognized to speak against the you are recognized
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
49:14
am speaking against this bill because because back to the overdose situation even though it's an over the counter medicine and we trying to fix it with prescriptions what's stopping them from overdosing with the prescriptions what's stopping him from taking too many pills to try to speed up the process with the prescribed medication Representative
unger for what purpose?ues you are recognized
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
49:46
would you agree with me that by passing this bill we are if not fixing the problem at least improving and I don't agree
p re s ent ative Representative Perry you are recognized to speak for the bill. thank you madam Speaker.
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
50:12
I would like to point out that this bill
Speaker 219
50:18
is particularly applying to the sal the sale of over the counter diet pills. I think that the question of overdoses is another matter entirely and I would also like to point out that these particularly when being sold to children, these have these over the counter diet pills have more issues than it would be if you kept them it also opens potential like p re s ent ative Childress said
for education in schools on diet and health if anyone has a
Speaker 222
50:56
question nope awesome thanks oh wait sorry umpresentative Bburkes Representative burkes for what purpose sorry sorry you are recognized but what
Speaker 122
51:11
if schools don't offer that like education about pills education about weight loss all that so in this bill it is
Speaker 219
51:19
proposed that funding is provided to schools specifically to educate on diet in replacement of underage children being able to buy over the counter diet pills with the high school children are
Speaker 122
51:33
she should be turning 18. mosts turn 18 after after their senior year so how would you go about that if they are over the age of
Speaker 226
51:46
18 they are allowed to buy over the counter
Speaker 122
51:54
how would you go about that like oh sorry it would be illegal for them to be sold to them.
Speaker 219
52:18
However, with parental consent they are able to
it is specifically about the sale of over the counter drug pills to minors p re s ent
ative shepherd for what purpose? ue you are recognized'm confused because with
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
52:41
the opening statement of the bill it was stated that overdose So I guess I was led to believe that the bill
Speaker 179
52:50
was brought to the attention because of an overdose. So I believe the
Speaker 226
52:58
overdose was the reasoning for this bill
Speaker 219
53:01
to be drafted. However, this bill does not address the taking of over the counter diet pills, it instead addresses the sale of over the counter diet pills to minors. thank you
Speaker 229
53:12
Representativeburkes for what purpose she's still on
the well so I cannot accept that Representative Richardson for what purpose? you are recognized. Is it on? OK
Speaker 78
53:30
so I just wanted to ask you we're specifically asking about the sales not about overdosing not about like anybody else's like what could happen we're just talking about the sales like if you're not 21 or sorry if you're not 18 years or older in other words if you're a minor then you cannot buy these pills that's what we're asking, correct?rrect thank you
Representative Perry has spoken for the bill Representative burkes
for what purpose motion you are immediate consideration that's
a proper motion and it is not debatable. The question before the house is immediate consideration of
say no. all opposed say no Motion carries the question before the
house is passage of AcI3 prepare the machine madame clerk.
Speaker 45
55:07
has everyone voted has everyone voted Cast up
the ballot madame clerk. By a vote of34 yayy,15 nays and four present bill is passed
Speaker 119
55:41
right that was a successful immediate consideration what that does though is it cuts off
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
55:45
p re s ent ative Childers wasn't able to come back and close and I know she had a killer clothes prepared for so be mindful of that if you're it's it's a balance it's a it's a balancing test are you ready for it to be done or you do you need do you need to let your if you're for the bill do you need to let your sponsor come back up and close for the bill so it's kind of a uh6 and one half dozen in the other depending on where you land it can be strategic or
it can work against you in that case it worked for you you were able to pass the bill but be mindful when you do that it stops we move direct the me consideration is the motion passes we move immediately into the vote on the underlying bill with no more discussion no more questions no clothes so just be mindful of that not saying good or bad just you have to be mindful of that when you're handling these this type of legislation Madame clerk please read AclI
Chair
Unverified
56:41
number4 to create the bell to bell no sell Act.
representative unger you are recognized to explain the bill. You
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
56:58
are recognized thank you madam Speaker OK today I'm here to present Bill AclI4, a bill to create the bell to bell noe act and to amend the requirements for public school discipline
policies with regard to student's' use of personal electronic devices I know everybody in here is aware of this bill due to it being enacted in the year in the school year of 20252026 and I'm here to kind of explain it so the legislative findings and intent of this bill is that there were many students that were having
that were utilizing their phones and not the best way it was hurting their academics hurting them academically and mentally. it hurt the young people in these public schools and so we would like to pass this bill to protect the student's safety, well-being and to make the learning environment better. so section three explains the use of this personal
electronic devices in the exceptions. so you are allowed to use devices in emergencies which it means a serious unexpected and dangerous situation that requires immediate action some examples is just an active fighter or active tornado in medical emergencies some personal electronic devices it includes cellular telephones, paging devices, beepers, etc. so
these devices these personal devices are prohibited during the use of the school day and the school day is from start to finish no matter if there's extracurriculars during the day or not I'm just gonna go through some of the exceptions so you have exceptions through for health reasons and these are with um504 plans and just all different disabilities that are taughted to with
this school prior and for medical emergencies they are exempt during after a school day for extracurricular activities they are exempt in our committee we talked about lower end schools who don't get as much funding therefore they have to use their personal devices for their classes and with this bill it says that personal electronic devices if issued to a student by the
public schools are allowed. and then another exemptions we talked about oh during pep rallies or these different school special events they are allowed to use these devices and then these each school will publish the requirements so it'll be school to school whether they use yonder pouches the little pouches on the wall or if they just have to power it off in their backpack. and with that I am open
Representative Richardson for what purpose? Ques you are recognized.
Speaker 78
1:00:28
So I have two questions but the first one is what made you want to do
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:00:38
this? what made me want to do this bill Yeah we were seeing decline in students academics and we were seeing an increase in fights and such through the use of social media. so we thought by taking away the phones that it'll reduce the time spent on social media helping to reduce
Speaker 78
1:00:56
fights and increase academics and that's ok duringen pep rallies whenever all the students are together what's ok
to have your phone if issued by the school do what was gonna tell you you are recognized for a follow
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:01:15
up. Oh OK. thank you. What sorry can you repeat that they are allowed to use them during peer rallies and such if issued
Speaker 204
1:01:20
by the school. follow up no because you only get one follow up
but we will put you back
in the queue. Representative McCollum for what
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:01:35
purpose? you are recognized so just to clarify this bill is like strict strictly for students correct yes
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:01:47
you consider adding an amendment that would also that this bill would also affect teachers because for example
let's say the teachers like they put a test on or it's quiet reading time and they would have like nothing to do like nothing to teach would they have to sorry I see your
Speaker 138
1:02:11
question like basically having a requiring the teachers as well we I don't think that's the
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:02:16
best idea just because of in times of emergencies if schools have the yonder pouches, I think it's best for the adult to have it.
Maybe these schools need to need to talk to their teachers but this bill is specifically for the students Thank you p
re s ent ative Eaves for what purpose? you re you are recognized. How will you make sure that all
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
1:02:42
teachers follow this rule, not just some teachers. Teachers follow what rule? the cellphone act
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:02:54
how will we ensure that teachers OK we are going to really
have to trust our teachers and make sure that
they will do their job Representative in it for what purpose?ues you are recognized as one
Chair
Unverified
1:03:15
of my house members stated since this bill was only for students and not for teachers what could a teacher do on their phone
that like in times of emergency a student could also contact somebody in times of emergency. so what can a teacher do with their phone that a student can't
Speaker 138
1:03:39
some schools have yonder pouches thereforere their students aren't allowed to access their phones unless
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:03:44
they go to like the main office to like open the yonder pouches so for schools that required that for
Speaker 250
1:03:51
those teachers to have it follow up you are recognized
Chair
Unverified
1:04:01
Most of the online presence of students and others is not during school a lot of the fights that you'll see or bullying or conflicts that are happening online. they're not happening right in your classroom when they get home they're also going to do the same things that they are going to do on their phone at school. So how does this bill protect the students and stop fights and get up any type of education if they can do the
Speaker 242
1:04:31
same things at home that will lead to a fight at school. Good question so this bill will stop that like we'll stop all that stuff happening specifically
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:04:42
at school because we can't control out of the school but this will at least make sure that we can contain and not like I guess regulate or will make sure we can regulate the students while they're in the classroom. thank you p re s ent ative Bburkes for what purpose? you are recognizedue
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
1:05:02
you're recognized for an emergency like a active shooting and as many
Speaker 183
1:05:11
would, many would flee if students are in the building they don't have their phones with students are allowed to have their phone
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:05:21
in that case due to with this bill so there will be allowed to use it because it says they're allowed to use it in emergcies
such as active shooters but also statistically when so many people have their phone out it can disrupt cellular like connection which can honestly hurt more than it helps Follow up you are recognized if their
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
1:05:53
phones are in the office how would they have access to their phones if they're in the classroom on this
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:06:00
bill doesn't control where the phones are. this bill says that
each school will publish their phone requirements so if they're in the office that's out of that's up to the school that's not Representative shepherd for what
purpose? you are recognized I think I'm confused on how you
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
1:06:23
plan on regulating it from each school district because it's
Speaker 179
1:06:26
kind of just giving all the school districts free will well that's how this bill
Speaker 242
1:06:33
is set up eachach it says
in Section Section3 CF says
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:06:39
that each public school district and open enrollment public charter schools shall publish on its website its personal electronic device policy. so we're just requiring the students to not have their phone. We don't have to control and regulate it the schools will
Representative Roger D. Lynch
Unverified
1:07:07
follow up you are recognized then how exactly are you regulating phones in
Speaker 256
1:07:12
the first place we are regulating phones in the first
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:07:17
place because we are regulating it by just saying they're not allowed to be accessed or used and
Speaker 138
1:07:22
the schools are the ones that will be regulating them Thank you Representative Richardson for what purpose? ue s
Speaker 229
1:07:27
you are recognized. why is this applied to all schools
Speaker 78
1:07:38
because some schools are oneA and yes they have their issues but it's not always based off of cellular phones or cellular devices at all
Speaker 138
1:07:48
so are you saying we shouldn't have a one size fits all kind of yeah well
Speaker 78
1:07:53
and also like jumping kind of off of that is like if you do this since you're doing this since you're wanting to do this for all schools why can't you make a fine instead of just cutting it cutting it all off. Well there
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:08:10
if they do go against this there will be punishments but with that this isn't a one size fits all. it is up to each school district to decide what they want to do therefore they can make their own rules they can regulate it themselves depending on what they see they just are not allowed to have the phones in the schools so each school can decide whether they want the yonder pouches if they want them just powered off in their backpacks or if they want the on the wall pouchesollow up you are recognized
Speaker 261
1:08:40
I want to make a motion OK. thank you ypresentative Childress for what purpose?ues you are recognized
Speaker 173
1:09:00
thank you so speaking about yonder pouches are you requiring schools to do this? We are not requiring schools
Speaker 138
1:09:06
to have yonder pouches. OK, so they don't have
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:09:10
to have that they don't have to that's the part that's up to this school. Each school can decide, oh, I want the yonder pouch. Oh I just want it turned off in their backpack. that's what's up to the schools we're just saying that they cannot be in the classrooms like accessible I guess. thank you
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
1:09:29
p re s ent ative ar k question you are recognized
Speaker 264
1:09:43
but what stops them from allowing them to have it
Speaker 253
1:09:48
all throughout the school day well that was
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:09:51
just one that was just one amendment made because people talked about oh what if there's fun activities the students want to take pictures and so we implementeddone a policy adopted and implemented under this section may include an exemption of the possession or use of personal electronic device by a student during a special event that occurs during
Speaker 233
1:10:16
so that's it's that's just saying for the specific
special event not all day. thank you Representative hawk for whatur oh never mind would anyone like to speak against the bill Representative burkes you are
recognized to speak against the bill. you are recognized
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
1:10:48
this bill because well I'm speaking for the bill that's already in place that
Speaker 202
1:10:52
took place 2025 through 2026 of my junior year I feel like it really wasn't beneficial because why would y'all lock up our phones like we had to lock them in yonder pouches we'll be piling up at the end of the day to unlock them with the middle things they are an accessible as it was advertised that they would be also. Also it's not really effective like people still sneak their phones
like people still get their phones took and it don't affect nobody like you we get suspended for it but they come back and do the same thing it's not really effective and also nobody will use their phones for AI use if we was being taught the right way like t how to actually know the material rather than to pass a test or to say y'all the teachers taught it to us so I am honestly against it because it really doesn't improve anything it hasn't yet in my schools thank
anyone else want to speak oh representative Burkex has spoken against the bill would anyone like to speak for the bill? Representative Pearerce You are recognized So when I read over
Representative Shad Pearce
Unverified
1:12:17
this bill I found that it was very well worded and when we talked about it in the committee the bill
and it's also shown that schools that have implemented stricter policies for phones other than the bell to bell noe have shown improvements in both grades and student behavior. the bill does support school programs and activities like journalism or online programs and stuff like media although the specific methods of confiscation
methods of confiscation it does still support a lot of in place that prevent the
Speaker 268
1:13:07
school from just having total free will. Representative Pearerce has
spoken for the bill umpresentative Gazaway would you like to speak again
Representative Gazaa uu or recognized to speak against the bill. Madam Speaker, although
Representative Jimmy Gazaway
Unverified
1:13:38
this bill may promote better grades and test scores in the classroom there are many concerns that parents and other people have one of them students who have to use the pouches want to get them out during emergencies and as it states here they are allowed to but if they are stuck in the yonder patches students have to walk to the office to get those unlocked during emergencies you're either outside you're in
a classroom locked down or you're in your FEA buildings for tornadoes you can't go to the office and get those unlocked to message your parents or your guardians to let them know you're ok or what's going on with this school it also talks about digital media cameras and videos. This faces challenges for yourbook and media So I'm in yearbook myself and having to ask the teacher for her phone constantly because that's the only one we can use
it gets we get backed up we get behind we don't get to get our pictures through we don't get to post on our social media as much as we like to. So having some type of exception there for yearbook and media for students would be implemented it also talks about how students are exempt if they have health issues althoughthough you might get a note in from the doctor this doesn't help them and the way that they can abuse it so students may
have access to their phones and say they're using it for their health problems but could go to the bathroom get on their social media Snapchat Tikok whatever but what they told the teacher is not what they're doing so students can abuse this really easy there either needs to be an exception for all or an exception for none. a lot of these policies also aren't clear for schools it talks about how the school can make their decision on what they want to do but technology
and work is something we will face in ther world. havingving phones in school helps us with our responsibilities when we need to manage our work and when we need to have social time and be out in the real world banning phones should also not be the main concern for schools with all the nationwide shootings I feel like if we are going to implement a phone ban, we also need to implement ways to help with school shootings and vaping and kids getting high in school I also think that
parents are very concerned about their kids at school and I know many students at our school don't get the announcements set out in school status parents would like to have that s reassurance from their kids that they are ok and that they are safe
during any emergencies. Thank you. Representative Gazaway has spoken for
the bill against the bill. sorry would anyone like okpresentative Richardson you
are recognized to speak for the bill.
Speaker 78
1:16:48
while some of you may be disagreeing with this bill because obviously we're in school I do think that we all need to take a moment and think about the real big question what does it hurt with us not being able to have our phones in school and what does that help and weigh it out I mean genuinely think about all the suicides committed because
of people who's had their phones at school and then think about all of these emergencies that have happened whenever you haven't had your phone. The bill's not saying that you can't have your phone at school and that's not going to be accessible instead of charging the mound here maybe you need to be charging your school board and asking them where they're keeping their phones. do we want a transferable pack to put your phone in whenever you do go outside or whenever you do go in the classroom whoever you're around should be carrying your phone I guess but
I don't think that we should be attacking the mound because there has been multiple incidents where phones have been more of a harm than good. I mean if you're in a pep rally and you have your phone, what are you going to do you're going to go make fun of people with your phone in the bathroom or you're going to video each other in the bathroom whether you're smoking pot snort and sal. I mean you know there's no telling what kids do at school nowadays I mean at my school there was literally a kid that snorted salt and videoed it and I
believe 100% that phone's going to be taken away because if anything that's an influence. I mean I don't know why because that'd be like they'd burn but like kids are influencing other people to do things whether it's good or bad. yes you may not like your phone being taken away because you can't snap your boyfriend. you can't text your mama. this girl said this about me buckle down you don't need your phone you can live without it I promise you if you need to check your makeup to see if it's running go look in the bathroom mirror because honey you look fine. OK?
so you don't need your phones there's no point in charging them out if you're so worried about where your phones are or where you're at during school then have your teacher put a fanny pack and hold all your phones on her and follow you around but your resource officer and your school district should be the ones taking care of you at school and keeping a
hold of all of that. Thank you Representative Richardson has spoken for the bill Representative Mayberry you are recognized to speak against the bill you are recognized
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:19:18
madam speaker ok I am against this bill because I think the least our schools need to be worried about is phones. I think they need to be worried about I think this world is getting worse with school shootings and with vapes and stuff. kids are more worried about vaping and mainly their safety at school. school shootings are getting really bad and obviously fights are getting really bad but like someone else said fighting can happen anywhere not just in
school. People can video fights anywhere but not but school and if I want to contact my parent I'm like I need to contact my parent I don't want to have to rely on a teacher to contact a parent because like it's none of a teacher feel like especially if it's like family or personal thank you Representative for what purpose I
Speaker 261
1:20:12
was gonna ask a question but it's ok
Representative Mayberry has spoken against the bill is there anyone that wants to speak for the bill
Representative hawk you are recognized to speak for the bill. I speak
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:20:40
for this bill because not only is it great to get away from the distractions of cellphones. I've noticed in
Speaker 275
1:20:46
our daily schools even at like lunch tables and everything I feel so
much more connected to my peers than I would have ever if they would have been able to have their phones they would have all been distracted. I feel that our mental health has been getting better increasing too it is really cutting the stress and anxiety that students have coming from all these main social media posts and just discretion against them so stand with me in favor of this bill. Representativehawk has spoken
or the bill anyone like to speak against the bill Representative shepherd you are recognized
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
1:21:44
to speak against the bill. I'm not necessarily speaking against the bill itself. I'm speaking there's a complete fallaway between the original bill being that we don't have cellphones in school
and the amendments are saying that kids are allowed to have them in school it's just completely opposite sides trying to make it the exact same thing and I just don't agree with the fact of giving them those phones because they're just going to sneak it anyways if they're gonna sneak it anyway then what is the point of trying to make these amendments I don't really understand on what we are really arguing for when there's already a bill taking away the phones
Representative Richardson for what purpose? Representative shepherd has spoken
against the bill is there anyone who wants to speak for the
bill Representative Springer you are recognized to speak for the bill. you are recognized I'm
Representative Joy Springer
Unverified
1:22:49
speaking for this bill because as we know the biggest reason for this bill being set
Chair
Unverified
1:22:59
in place is we're worried about our children's safety and it's been mentioned multiple times about school shootings they're worried about getting in contact with their parents but the instructors will also have their phones on them and I would like to clarify with this bill children are allowed to bring their phones to school but they just won't have access to them it's explained that the school district will determine the method in which the phones are taken care of as the presenter mentioned they are either supposed to put it
away in their phones or put it in a yonder pouch but they can still have it at school just not access it until after the day. My biggest reason for supporting this bill is the mental health we live in a crisis right now where a lot of young girls especially are greatly influenced by social media especially when they see their peers on social media promo ting whatever and a lot of it is done in schools I can speak personally a lot of school
fights would happen at my school between 9th and 10th grade year and the rumors would start group chats were started about oh let's meet up here we're gonna fight in this section of the school and so everyone would be waiting and then here everyone goes pulling out their phones so overall that's why I'm in favor of this bill thank you Representative Gazaway for
what purpose?ues you are recognized we're stopping it
Representative Jimmy Gazaway
Unverified
1:24:33
from happening in school whether in first period and it's gonna happen6th period. This bill still doesn't stop people from doing it outside of school, doing it after the day's over, ready for the next day it just it just doesn't add up and I know people are wanting to try and stop that and help our students and get them the safety that they need but it it's just not gonna happen if we can also do it outside of school so what what is your idea for that? I agree with your point that's a fair point but this
Chair
Unverified
1:25:06
bill applies to school and if we limit cellphone usage within school then it decreases as outside of school as well it's still your point I feel doesn't justify why they would need phones in school. It again I can only go off personal experience that's only led to negative outcomes Have I answered your question or are you wanting
more Representative McCollum for what purpose? you are recognized
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:25:38
so this is about the fights I feel that from personal or like from observation if phones were to be taken away like as they have been taken away this will lead to like more personal confrontation which will be like more fights more likely more fights basically all right so you're arguing that we again please restate your question sorry. althoughthough like
well this is kind of like not in control like sorry yeah like uncontrollable like not I don't think the bill really like can help this but if phones are being taken away it's still not going to decrease the fights because they'll just happen more personal like more confrontation instead of like oh meet me here they're just gonna like go straight away.
Chair
Unverified
1:26:35
Well the statistics that we found go against your statement. It shown an improvement in student's
behavior when they don't have access to their
phones at school. thank you p re s ent ative Richardson for what purpose? Question you
Speaker 78
1:26:55
are recognized Here's my question to you are we asking about like do you agree with me that faculty is the state is paying for faculty to be trained on behalf of emergencies, correct? would agree with that statement. OK follow up
Speaker 204
1:27:12
you are recognized would you also agree that if there's
Speaker 78
1:27:17
more conflict personal conflict then that would be better than cybersecur or that would be better than cyberbullying because more people would rather say it behind a phone than come to your face and say it so y'all can duke it out
Speaker 282
1:27:33
in the parking lot you're saying that got it Yes because people
Speaker 231
1:27:38
are scared or yes because people are scared to
Speaker 282
1:27:42
say it to people's faces social media limits account thank you Representative garnerner
garner for what purposeue you are recognized how does this
Speaker 113
1:27:57
affect and apply to private schools this bill
Chair
Unverified
1:28:13
So I don't know how would it would affect private schools. I believe that's simply up to their jurisdiction of how they want to handle phones if they allow them or not. Where specifically Representative springer
has spoken for the bill. Does anyone want to speak against the bill? Representative uhpresentative Ennett you are
recognized to speak against the bill. you
Chair
Unverified
1:28:59
are recognized Thank you madam speaker Honestly I'm against this bill because Banning phones in school is not going to do anything for the
fights and it's just gonna make kids more likely to sneak their phones and get on their phones if you tell a kid that the school age not to do something they're gonna want to do it more they're not going to want to listen to a teacher who I know we've all heard you're not my mama you don't pay my phone bill we're gonna hear more of that it's gonna be more arguing with teachers it's gonna be more conflicts in the long run because if you let the student
and you actually teach and you have a good curriculum. the kids will be interested. I'm not saying that oh if school's boring get on your phone. I'm saying you need a better curriculum to get your kids engaged why do they want to be on your phone in your class. that's what you should be thinking about and also if the kid does get on their phone, you can take that student's phone and teach them a lesson what about the kids who don't get on their phones in class and it's just in their
backpack but they have a family member in the hospital and they just want in their backpack or on in their pocket so that they know when something happens it's little things like that that you have to think about when passing a bill like this because a lot of kids just want to feel secure and have their phone in their pocket sometimes. yes it's annoying when they're like oh it's just my phone and they just want it all the time but some kids really just want it as a source of comfort knowing what's going on is something that a lot
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:30:48
of people need I know a lot of you want to know what's going
on in your personal life Representative andnnett has spoken against the bill. Representative
young unger ok thank you madam speaker
Speaker 137
1:31:24
I will now just go over the bill and the main
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
1:31:29
things that were discussed today. So again this bill is this bill is to prohibit the use of personal electronic devices during the school day. so many of the people who oppose this bill, some of their points were that yonder pouches can't take phones
during when you have yonder pouches you can't take your phones during emergencies like fires but what I'd like to say to that is that's why we are allowing the teachers to have phones to be able to contact parents the op the negation talked about how we can't use digital cameras for school extracurriculars my yearbook, but this bill states that personal electronic devices is
issued to students by a public school district or an open enrollment public charter school for the you during the school day so that is one exception that is allowed therefore, you can use digital cameras for school extracurriculars during the school day students or representatives talked about how students can abuse health issues and emergencies but for that issue I believe that these students it would be better for them to have
their phones during emergencies and for us to have full faith in them that they will follow the rules and maybe the schools can regulate the medical emergencies make sure that they are using it properly. they talked about how phones when phones are present it teaches responsibility but clearly s they've had time and we've shown that academics are hurting and they continued
fights therefore with these phones taken away it'll help we've seen help increase in academics and in that. So some other some other things that were talked about were that there were other issues we need to focus on like school shooters and vaping but this bill is not talking about that we are directly trying to just work on the phones and I would be more than happy to talk to those representatives about legislation to target those issues
Speaker 152
1:33:56
and with all of that I would appreciate
a good vote. the question before the house is passage of Acl umi number4 prepare the machine, madame has everyone voted
by a vote of 20 yea30 nays and two present the bill has failed meeting adjourned Representative ought or recognized
thank you madam Speaker. Have you had fun? awesome. rips if y'all come up here militia
Agenda
No agenda available.
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative DeAnn Vaught Chair
Unverified
Speaker 24
Representative Rebecca Burkes
Unverified
Representative R. Scott Richardson Chair
Unverified
Speaker 40
Speaker 43
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 55
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
Speaker 60
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
Speaker 78
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd
Unverified
Representative Roger D. Lynch
Unverified
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
Speaker 113
Speaker 101
Speaker 122
Speaker 127
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
Representative Steve Unger
Unverified
Representative Rick McClure
Unverified
Speaker 152
Speaker 158
Representative Steve Hollowell
Unverified
Speaker 163
Speaker 32
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
Speaker 173
Speaker 174
Speaker 179
Speaker 183
Speaker 184
Speaker 192
Speaker 195
Representative Jimmy Gazaway
Unverified
Representative Shad Pearce
Unverified
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
Speaker 219
Speaker 222
Speaker 226
Speaker 229
Speaker 45
Speaker 119
Speaker 204
Speaker 138
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
Speaker 250
Speaker 242
Speaker 256
Speaker 261
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
Speaker 264
Speaker 253
Speaker 233
Speaker 202
Speaker 268
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
Speaker 275
Representative Joy Springer
Unverified
Speaker 282
Speaker 231
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
Speaker 137