Bills on ethics, liquor stores clear House committee

The first piece of legislation clarifying the voter-approved Issue 3 passed a House committee Wednesday.





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Passed by voters in November and now known as Amendment 94, it extends term limits for state lawmakers, prohibits lobbyists from giving certain gifts to state elected officials and bans direct corporate contributions to candidates.

There was little action and no votes on the House or Senate floors Wednesday, but several bills made it through committee or were filed, including House Bill 1002 sponsored by Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock.

Sabin's bill, which cleared the House Rules Committee, would formally give the Ethics Commission the power to issue advisory opinions and investigate complaints involving the new rules created by the ethics changes established by Amendment 94. The Rules Committee also passed legislation that would amend the state's alcoholic beverage control laws, including making it a misdemeanor for minors to enter a liquor store without a parent or guardian.

Sabin said HB1002 is the first of what might be several pieces of legislation clarifying the constitutional amendment.

"There will be more legislation that you'll be considering in the future, but we just thought it was important to take this first step and give the Ethics Commission the chance to answer questions [and] issue advisory opinions before we do the rest," he told the House Rules Committee.

"When any of you or anybody from the general public has been calling over to the Ethics Commission, [the staff], for the most part, can't really answer any questions or issue any advice," he said. "And I think that's become somewhat frustrating to a lot of people."

Arkansas Ethics Commission Executive Director Graham Sloan said the bill was necessary for the commission to move forward with its role in the new ethics measures.

The amendment says, "The Legislature shall give the ethics commission advisory power, give the ethics commission rule making power and give the ethics commission enforcement power and the power to conduct investigations," Sloan said. "I would mention that's the exact same jurisdiction we have with respect to the other laws already under our jurisdiction."

The Rules Committee also approved HB1024, by Rep. Mary Broadaway, D-Paragould, which would reduce the number of liquor permits granted. The bill also creates an 18-month expiration date for inactive alcohol permits and ends a provision so that businesses with permits granted before 2001 could not relocate within 1,000 feet of schools and churches.

Currently state law allows one permit for every 5,000 residents, but HB1024 would change the law to allow one permit for every 7,500 residents.

Michael Langley, director of the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration Division, said the market in some Northwest Arkansas counties with growing populations has been saturated. He said the division issued 55 liquor permits to Benton County businesses since residents voted to allow alcohol sales, and about half of those are not being used.

Several lawmakers asked for clarification about a fourth provision that would make it a misdemeanor for a minor to enter a liquor store without his parent or guardian present.

Langley said it would require judgment calls to enforce.

"This was designed to be a deterrent ... it's a case-by-case identifiable situation," he said.

Langley described a scenario where three young people enter a liquor store with a 21-year-old, who purchases alcohol. Then, when outside the store, they divvy up the alcohol. He said that was the kind of situation that the bill was trying to deter.

In other developments Wednesday, Rep. Bill Gossage, R-Ozark, introduced legislation to implement Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan for each high school in the state to offer computer-science classes.

HB1183, filed Wednesday, would require high schools to offer at least one computer- science course, starting in the 2015-16 school year.

Under the legislation, the computer-science course would have to meet the state Board of Education curriculum standards and requirements, and be made available in "a traditional classroom setting, blended learning environment, online-based format that is tailored to meet the needs of each participating school."

The bill would authorize the creation of the computer-science and technology task force of up to 15 members, including the commissioner of education; directors of the departments of Career Education, Higher Education and Workforce Services; the president of the state Science and Technology Authority; and seven appointees by the governor.

The task force would recommend computer-science and technology standards and frameworks, changes to the current standards and frameworks, and strategies to meet the anticipated computer-science and technology workforce in the state.

The task force would be required to file written reports to the governor, legislative leaders and the state Department of Education by Nov. 1, 2015, and by Nov. 1, 2016, before expiring on Dec. 31, 2016.

Gossage, a retired assistant superintendent in the Ozark School District, said he is waiting for a fiscal impact statement for the bill and he could ask the House Education Committee to consider the bill as early as Tuesday.

Several bills also made it through the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. The director of the state Career Education Department, Charisse Childers, also told the Senate Education Committee that she's worried about the proposed 5.8 percent budget cut for the department under Hutchinson's proposed fiscal 2016 budget, and she's hoping to restore some of the funds.

The draft budget, released Tuesday, would cut state general revenue to the state Career Education Department, by $216,471 to $3.49 million.

That led state Sen. Eddie Cheatham, D-Crossett, to question Childers about the proposed budget cut.

Childers said she was sworn in recently and the proposed decrease in state general revenue for the department "is a concern for us because, as the general revenue side is affected, that affects our ability to match federal grants."

"So I have already expressed my concern and I will be working on that and I hope to restore some of that to the career education general revenue budget," Childers said. "With all the new things coming about and the challenges we have ahead of us and the exciting opportunities it is going to be even harder if we have less funding."

It's rare for state department heads to express concerns about budget cuts proposed by the the governor.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee endorsed SB94 by Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, to bar the state Board of Private Career Education from exerting its authority over yoga-teacher training schools and other instructor-training programs such as horseback riding, dance, music and sewing, knitting or other needlecrafts.

The Senate committee recommended approval of SB76 by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, to allow a public school to exceed the maximum class size adopted by the state Education Board for no more than one semester per school year per class, if the school began the semester at or below the maximum class size allowed and doesn't exceed the maximum class size allowed by more than 10 percent.

It also endorsed SB30 by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, to reduce the number of professional development days required for teachers as part of their 190-day teacher employment contract from 10 days to no fewer than six days. Johnson said the state is now only providing funding for six professional development days for teachers and his bill provides the flexibility for the school districts to have more than six professional development days.

A section on 01/29/2015

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