Senate passes bill lowering bar for education chief
Legislation to change the qualifications for the state’s education commissioner to clear the way for a former state senator to serve in the post and to require the licensing of grain buyers zipped through the Arkansas Senate on Wednesday.
The House sent the governor bills to bar the implementation of a state-run health insurance exchange until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a lawsuit challenging certain health insurance subsidies, and to eliminate the Arkansas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies and transfer its duties to the Arkansas State Police.
In addition, a Senate committee recommended approval of bills imposing restrictions of abortion-inducing drugs and cutting state unemployment benefits.
Wednesday was the 59th day of the regular session.
In a 24-6 vote, the Senate approved Senate Bill 681 by Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, which would allow an education commissioner who doesn’t meet the existing requirements for the position to serve if the deputy education commissioner meets the requirements.
The education commissioner is required to hold a master’s degree from an accredited institution, have 10 years of experience as a teacher, five of which must be of an administrative or supervisory nature, and hold a valid state teacher’s license.
SB681 would become effective upon the governor’s signature if approved by the House.
The legislation would clear the way for University of Arkansas System Associate Vice President for University Relations and former state Sen. Johnny Key, a Republican from Mountain Home who now lives in Little Rock, to be the education commissioner. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson recommended the former chairman of the Senate Education Committee for the job on March 2.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, who voted against the bill, said a commissioner of education “must run a school district.
“That means that person must know curriculum. That person must know standards. That person must know assessments,” said Chesterfield, a retired educator. “To say now that anybody can be a commissioner of education, it doesn’t matter whether they have credentials … is wrong.”
But Clark countered that his bill doesn’t reduce the qualifications for the education commissioner because either the education commissioner or deputy commissioner are required to have educational experience.
Leaders of a teachers group and an educational administrators group, and a former education commissioner all suggested that Key be given the position, he said.
“If we had valued expertise and experience, then experience has spoken and the governor of Arkansas has listened,” Clark said.
The bill now goes to the House.
GRAIN BUYER LICENSING
In a 33-1 vote, the Senate sent to the House legislation to require grain buyers to be licensed by the state Plant Board before entering into contracts for or purchasing grain. If the bill becomes law, existing grain buyers would be required to get licenses within 60 days of the governor signing the bill.
The bill is SB555 by Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne.
It’s a legislative response to the payment defaults of Turner Grain Merchandising in Brinkley and millions of dollars of losses that farmers suffered.
The state Plant Board could require a surety bond, financial reserve or other evidence of creditworthiness for grain buyers. The board also could audit and inspect each grain buyer annually and as necessary.
A violation of the law could result in the filing of a Class A misdemeanor or Class D felony charge.
The board would be allowed to assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation of a state law, rule or order enforceable by the board and to temporarily suspend a grain buyer’s license if the board determines that public health, safety or welfare requires immediate action. It also would be required to establish a slow-pay hotline for someone to notify the board that a grain buyer is more than 30 days late on the buyer’s contractual obligation for payment of grain.
INSURANCE EXCHANGE
The House voted 74-12 to send to the governor SB343 by Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, which would prohibit a state-based health insurance exchange from being implemented until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the King v. Burwell case. The plaintiffs in the case are challenging the legality of health insurance subsidies granted in states that use federally run exchanges.
Arkansas has a federally run exchange in a partnership with the federal government.
If the Supreme Court allows health insurance subsidies under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for a state-based insurance exchange, but not for an exchange operated by the federal government, then “implementation of an appropriate health insurance exchange for the state of Arkansas shall be determined by a future act of the General Assembly” under SB343.
But if the Supreme Court allows subsidies for both staterun and federally run exchanges, then the authority of the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace to implement a state-run exchange “shall not be affected” by SB343.
SCHOOL SECURITY
The House passed SB164 by Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, to abolish the Arkansas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies, and to transfer its duties to the Arkansas State Police. The bill that passed 871, will now head to the governor’s desk.
The bill allows schools to apply for private security guard licenses and for school employees to act in that capacity to protect their students.
The board stopped issuing licenses to school district personnel after an attorney general’s opinion that called the practice into question, saying the licenses must be given to people employed by the “security department of a private business.”
In September 2013, the Private Investigators Board decided that teachers and staff members at 13 public school districts would be allowed to continue carrying firearms on their campuses in response to the opinion. The decision was designed to allow those employees to retain their commissions as private security guards for two years to give lawmakers a chance to change state law to allow the school systems to permanently continue their security plans.
CONSOLIDATION
The governor signed HB1263 during a news conference in the Governor’s Conference Room on Wednesday. The new law creates a waiver process for school districts that fall below 350 enrolled students to continue to operate independently if the districts are not in academic, fiscal or facilities distress.
Act 60 of 2003, required any district that dropped below 350 students to be consolidated with a nearby school district to make sure the districts could meet adequacy standards set out by the Lakeview Supreme Court decision defining the minimum educational requirements for an adequate education in Arkansas.
ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee endorsed HB1394, by Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, to require Arkansas physicians to follow all U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations when administering abortion-inducing medication.
The bill also allows the Arkansas Department of Health to inspect facilities that provide abortion-inducing drugs to make sure all laws and all protocols are followed.
Supporters said the legislation is aimed at making abortions safe, while opponents said the bill will stop doctors from developing better ways of using or administering drugs.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee recommended approval of legislation that would cut unemployment benefits from 25 weeks to 20 weeks, and reconfigure the salary used to determine benefits by averaging four three-month periods instead of one.
The bill is HB1489, by Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia.
Republicans contend that the bill is a way to boost the state’s unemployment insurance fund after the state had to borrow more than $360 million from the federal government during the recession and will get Arkansas’ benefits more in line with surrounding states.
But the Arkansas chapter of the AFL-CIO countered that the unemployment fund is solvent without the changes, which it said will cut about $50 million from unemployment checks annually.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
LAW EXEMPTION
The Senate Education Committee endorsed SB999 by Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia, which would exempt working papers gathered in the preparation of an audit report by auditors employed by or on behalf of a higher-education institution from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act until an audit report has been presented to the governing board of the institution.
Maloch said no particular public records request led him to propose the bill, which was suggested by the University of Arkansas System, and is in line with the Freedom of Information Act exemption granted to the Legislative Au-
dit Division.
TAX ON ALCOHOL
The House Rules Committee recommended approval of HB1375 by Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley.
The bill would allow the quorum courts in Monroe and Saline counties to have voters decide whether to impose a tax on retail sales of alcohol to help cover the increased costs of law enforcement tied to alcohol sales in those counties, Mayberry said. Monroe and Saline counties are the only counties in the state without countywide sales taxes, she said.
OTHER INITIATIVES
The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee endorsed a bill that would increase the amount of time people have to gather signatures for local ballot initiatives.
HB1688, by Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, would give sponsors of municipal initiatives 60 days to collect the needed number of signatures to place the measure on the ballot. Current law gives people 30 days to turn in those signatures.
The committee also voted down legislation by Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, that would lower the price to obtain a conceal-carry handgun license in Arkansas. Opponents said HB1440 would have reduced revenue to the Arkansas State Police by about $800,000, depending on the number of permits people apply for or renew.
Current law charges $100 for people under the age of 65 and $50 for people 65 and older to obtain conceal-carry licenses. The bill would lower those costs to $70 for anyone who applies using a paper application and $50 for anyone who applies for a license online.