House votes 94-0 for bill to create task force to plan veterans home

Rep. Allen Kerr, R-Little Rock, (left) and Rep. John Edwards, D-Little Rock, confer Friday at the state Capitol. House members Friday voted to create an advisory board to help plan development of a new state veterans home, a project Edwards has championed.

Rep. Allen Kerr, R-Little Rock, (left) and Rep. John Edwards, D-Little Rock, confer Friday at the state Capitol. House members Friday voted to create an advisory board to help plan development of a new state veterans home, a project Edwards has championed.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

— The House of Representatives unanimously voted Friday to create a task force to help plan a new state veterans home.

Senate Bill 3, proposed by Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, passed by a 94-0 vote.

The veterans-home bill was one of several matters taken up by the Legislature on Friday. Lawmakers also discussed laws affecting libraries and rape victims.

Rep. John Edwards, D-Little Rock, who is sponsoring a bill that would allow the director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs to select the location for the home, spoke in favor of English’s bill.

“Everyone understands that when they see a veteran come home from the airport, how emotional and wonderful that day is when they greet their family. And everyone understands how important it is that respect is paid to that veteran at their final resting place when that flag is draped on their casket. This bill deals with the in between. The life that’s in between,” Edwards told the House.

The bill also unanimously passed in the Senate on Jan. 22.

The task force would study the matters related to opening the new veterans home and submit recommendations to the General Assembly. Those concerns include the number of veterans who would live at the facility, the types of services it would offer and the funding structure for constructing a new facility.

A report would be due to the House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs; the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs; and the Legislative Council by Oct. 31.

MEETINGS WITH GOVERNOR

In other business, House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, announced that representatives will meet Wednesday to discuss the $1.1 billion steel mill that is planned to be built in Osceola.

The state is seeking to issue $125 million in general obligation bonds to construct the steel mill under Amendment 82, which passed in 2004 to provide incentives for superprojects.

The Senate has already announced a similar session on Monday to discuss the project.

Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe, said the governor would be speaking at both meetings.

CUSTODY RIGHTS

The House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs passed a bill that would prevent rapists from having custody rights when the rape results in a pregnancy.

Under House Bill 1002, all rights to custody and visitation would be terminated immediately after the father’s rape conviction.

“This bill to me is about doing something for victims and protecting the rights of a woman who’s been raped,” the bill’s sponsor, Edwards, told the committee.

In certain cases, such as statutory rape, the mother could petition the court to reinstate the custody rights of the father, Edwards added.

LIBRARY BOOKS

The House Committee on City, County and Local Affairs approved a bill to let county law-library boards dispose of property.

Senate Bill 94, sponsored by Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, was approved by a voice vote.

Files said after the meeting that current law doesn’t address how to dispose of the law books.

He said the Sebastian County Law Library Board wanted to be sure it can dispose of old books before it moves to another site.

“The new location would not support the weight of all the volumes,” Files said.

Sebastian County law librarian Brenda Elliott said the library will keep about 4,800 volumes and discard 17,000.

She said the library will dispose of old books, encyclopedias, digests, insurance guides, and copies of the Harvard Law Review.

“We want to deal with it correctly, we don’t want to just dump them in a Dumpster. We don’t want them just boxed up somewhere in a storage facility ... but like I said, they’re worthless,” Elliott said.

She said the library will try to make sure the information in books that are thrown away is available for researchers online.

Front Section, Pages 7 on 02/02/2013