LITTLE ROCK — The House of Representatives voted 70-11 in favor of a bill Friday that would allow employees of the state’s higher-education institutions with concealed handgun permits to carry weapons on campus.
On the 33rd day of the session, members also considered criminalizing the use of public funds to advocate for or against ballot measures and permanently exempting records about water-system security from the state Freedom of Information Act.
Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, told the members that he filed House Bill 1243 to allow concealed handguns on campus because “we’ve got a serious problem in America.”
If the bill becomes law, employees with permits would be able to carry concealed weapons on their campuses unless the governing board of the university or college opts out of the provision. Any policy banning concealed weapons would need to be renewed each year; otherwise it would automatically expire.
Collins said armed staff members would be a deterrent to violent criminals and could prevent a mass shooting, such as rampages at Virginia Tech and other universities in recent years.
“One of the things I think we can do to protect our loved ones is to move forward with this bill,” Collins said.
Rep. David Whitaker, D-Fayetteville, said he would not vote for the bill, which he said would be a “bad little law” because it required the boards to opt out annually “until kingdom come.”
He asked other members to vote against the bill or leave the room and skip the vote if they did not feel comfortable publicly opposing a piece of legislation involving guns.
“Leave the university and college communities of this state alone to make these decisions for themselves,” Whitaker said.
Ten other Democrats joined Whitaker in voting against the bill, including fellow Fayetteville Rep. Greg Leding.
Leding told the House that he has heard from faculty and staff members and students from the University of Arkansas who do not support the bill. He said more than 150 people spoke out against the bill at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum last week and no one spoke in favor.
“I understand this is optional, and they would have the opportunity to opt out, but I, we all, were elected to represent these students and parents and faculty and staff members ... they oppose this measure,” Leding said.
Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, defended the legislation.
“This bill gives college campuses the ability to decide for themselves how they best want to protect themselves,” Burris said. “It is very simple and reasonable legislation that I think will make college campuses safer.”
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
BALLOT MEASURES
In other business, a bill to criminalize the use of public funds to support or oppose a ballot measure sailed through the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs.
Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, told the committee members that House Bill 1187 would make it a Class A misdemeanor to divert public funds for such a purpose, which he said is a lower penalty than in other states.
“I believe most of us know in our hearts that something’s just wrong with taking public funds and using them to influence the outcome of an election,” Bell said.
Under the bill, a conviction would also make the employee ineligible to work for or be appointed to a governmental body.
Bell didn’t offer any instances when government money has been used to promote or defeat a ballot measure.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Also Friday, the House Committee on City, County and Local Affairs approved a bill that would permanently exempt records about water system security from disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.
House Bill 1300 by Collins also allows public agencies to discuss water-system security in executive session without the public present.
Collins said the law already exempts water-system security records, such as plans or risk assessments, but the Legislature has to renew the exemption every two years.
Central Arkansas Water Chief Operating Officer Thad Luther encouraged committee members to make the exemption permanent.
“I don’t think there’s any question about whether our infrastructure is critical,” Luther said. “The question is, is it critical every two years? No, it’s critical all the time.”
LOTTERY SCHOLARSHIPS
Also at the Capitol, House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said he was “perplexed” by recent criticism of proposed changes to the lottery scholarship system.
Former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who led the campaign to approve a constitutional amendment to establish the scholarships and is the only announced Democratic candidate for governor, said Thursday that a bill to create a tiered system of scholarship awards based on years in school “fundamentally changes the program to the point where it will reduce the number of Arkansas students able to enter a state college or university.”
Rep. Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, is sponsoring House Bill 1295, which would award first-time recipients at universities $2,000 the first year, $3,000 the second, $4,000 as juniors and $5,000 as seniors. First-time recipients at community colleges would receive $2,000 a year for two years and would be eligible for larger amounts if they transferred to a four year school.
“The reality is the money generated under the lottery system is not enough [to maintain the current award amounts],” Carter told reporters after Friday’s House session. “When you have all the four-year schools, all the two-year schools, and the vast majority of support in both chambers come to some compromise that provides some long-term sustainability to the lottery scholarship program, I can’t in my wildest dreams understand how that’s not a good thing.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/16/2013