STATE CAPITOL NEWS IN BRIEF: Medical Board bill stumbles in Senate | Eateries measure sent to governor | Senate votes 34-1 for migrants bill

Medical Board bill stumbles in Senate

A measure that would dissolve the state Medical Board’s current membership and split new appointments between the governor and legislative leaders failed to clear the Arkansas Senate on Monday.

In a 19-13 vote, the Senate rejected Senate Bill 570, by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro. The bill fell five votes short of the 18 required for approval in the 35-member Senate. The Senate later expunged the vote to clear the way for another vote.

The bill would end the terms of all 14 members of the board before the end of this year, and also add one seat, for a total of 15, and have appointments split among the governor, the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore. Currently, all Medical Board members are appointed by the governor.

— Michael R. Wickline

Eateries measure sent to governor

The Arkansas Senate on Monday voted to send to the governor legislation that would allow restaurants to pay their sales taxes quarterly rather than monthly.

After concurring with a House amendment to Senate Bill 479, by Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, the Senate voted 35-0 to give final approval to the bill. Under the bill, restaurants may delay the remittance of sales taxes and the filing of reports for sales tax collected from March-May this year until June 20; for June-August until Sept. 20; for September-November until Dec. 20; and for December-February 2022 until March 20, 2022, according to the state Department of Finance and Administration.

SB479 also would no longer require restaurants with a valid alcoholic beverage permit to get preapproval from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division to offer outdoor dining, according to finance department spokesman Scott Hardin.

— Michael R. Wickline

Senate votes 34-1 for migrants bill

The Senate on Monday approved a bill that would allow migrants with federal work permits to receive occupational and professional licenses in Arkansas.

Senate voted 34-1 to approve House Bill 1735, by Rep. Clint Penzo, R-Spring-dale, sending the bill to the governor.

The bill follows efforts in recent sessions to allow migrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to receive nursing and teaching licenses.

— Michael R. Wickline

Bill on defacing Capitol advances

The Senate on Monday approved a bill that would set penalties for damage to buildings on the state Capitol grounds, on the Capitol Mall and at the Governor’s Mansion.

The Senate voted 35-0 to send to the governor House Bill 1313 by Rep. Johnny Rye, R-Trumann.

Under the bill, a person commits the offense of defacing or damaging a public building or an object of public respect if he or she purposely defaces, mars, vandalizes, destroys or otherwise damages the Capitol building; any other building on the Capitol grounds, on the Capitol Mall and on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion; or any publicly owned monument, statue, fixture or landscape on the Capitol grounds, Capitol Mall or Governor’s Mansion grounds.

The bill would define a publicly owned monument as an object on public land that commemorates a person, people or an event that has become relevant to a social group as part of the social group’s remembrance of historic times or is part of the social group’s cultural heritage due to the object’s artistic, historic, social, political, technical or architectural importance.

— Michael R. Wickline

Proposal on flags passes in House

Legislation that would bar high schools from prohibiting the flying of the American, Arkansas, county or school district’s flags passed in the state House on Monday.

The bill also would provide that schools may fly flags from foreign countries to welcome students from those places.

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, previously told the House Education Committee that House Bill 1816 came out of a situation in Clarksville where some students were using flags to harass one another.

The chamber’s vote was 87-1, with two lawmakers voting present, sending the measure to the state Senate.

— Rachel Herzog

Fentanyl measure passes in 93-0 vote

The House voted Monday to add small quantities of fentanyl to the classification of drugs that include methamphetamine and cocaine, which are subject to the highest criminal penalties.

Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, noted the potency of fentanyl and its ability to cause overdose deaths even in small quantities in calling for it to be included in the highest drug classification. His legislation, House Bill 1878, passed 93-0.

The bill would make the manufacturing or trafficking of more than a single gram of fentanyl a class Y felony, punishable by 10-40 years or life in prison.

— John Moritz

Lawmakers favor bills on patriotism

Two pieces of legislation that seek to increase patriotism among students passed in the Arkansas House on Monday.

House Bill 1831, the “Star-Spangled Banner Act,” would mandate that public schools broadcast the national anthem at the beginning of each school-sanctioned sporting event and at least once a week during school hours. The bill passed 89-1.

Rep. Megan Godfrey, D-Springdale, voted against the bill and said many teachers are concerned about losing instructional minutes.

House Bill 1832 would require public kindergarten-through-12th-grade schools to observe a moment of silence after the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill passed 89-0.

Rep. Mark Berry, R-Ozark, is the sponsor of both bills.

“There is a serious decline in the levels of patriotism among our youth,” Berry, a military veteran, said.

— Rachel Herzog

Tax-exemption rise for used cars OK’d

Legislation to waive sales taxes on used cars sold for $10,000 or less easily passed in the House on Monday.

House Bill 1160, by Rep. John Payton, R-Wilburn, would increase the current exemption from $4,000 to $7,500 in the first two years. The exemption would then increase to $10,000 and continue thereafter.

Payton said the legislation would primarily help low-income Arkansans who purchase cheap used cars to get to and from work.

“By the time this vehicle gets down to this price, it’s already been taxed four or five times,” Payton said.

If passed, the bill will cause state tax revenue to decrease by $24.4 million in fiscal 2024, when the $10,000 exemption is in full effect, according to an estimate by the Bureau of Legislative Research. The bureau also estimated that the legislation would cause a $3.5 million hit to city and county sales taxes in that tax year.

— John Moritz

Abortion legislation goes to Hutchinson

The House voted Monday to send legislation to Gov. Asa Hutchinson that would require abortion clinics to have written agreements with hospitals to transfer patients with “unforeseen complications” from abortion procedures.

Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, called Senate Bill 527 a “continuity of care” bill. It attracted opposition from two abortion-rights advocates who said it was unnecessary and unconstitutional. Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, ran the bill in the House.

Earlier this session, lawmakers voted to ban all abortions in Arkansas except to protect the life or health of the mother. Opponents have vowed to go to court to challenge that law, which was signed by Hutchinson.

No one spoke for or against the bill on the House floor Monday. The 74-15 vote sent the bill to Hutchinson’s desk.

— John Moritz

Student-athlete bill endorsed by panel

The Senate Education Committee on Monday advanced a bill to allow athletes to be compensated for use of their names, images and likenesses.

House Bill 1671 by House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, has the support of top athletic department officials and coaches at the state’s largest universities.

Six states have already adopted similar measures.

If passed by the full Senate and signed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the bill will go into effect on Jan. 1.

— Rachel Herzog

Ad disclosure bill backed by Senate

The Senate on Monday voted to send to the House a bill that would require a notice bought by a county or city in a newspaper to identify the local office paying for the notice and disclose the cost.

The Senate voted 34-1 to approve Senate Bill 610 by Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Mountain Home. The information required to be disclosed in the notice would be “printed in the same font size” as the notice itself.

— Michael R. Wickline

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