Filing Period Ends With 2,190 Bills And Resolutions On Hand

The clerks at the state House and Senate offices may need Tuesday off after the rush to meet a Monday deadline for bill filing led to nearly 500 bills being filed.

Lawmakers had until 5 p.m. Monday to file non-appropriations bills in order to be considered for this session. As of Monday night, lawmakers had filed a total of 2,190 bills and resolutions this session, with 462 bills filed and processed Monday at the Capitol.

Overall, Senate members filed 1,054 bills and House members filed 1,006 for a combined total of 2,060 bills.

In 2013, the last regular session, 2,492 bills and 89 resolutions were filed. The 2011 regular legislative session saw 2,235 bills and 79 resolutions filed.

Many of the bills filed Monday were so-called shell bills, with lawmakers filing several bills that were forwarded to committees based on their subject titles.

HEADLINERS
Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, filed Senate Bill 939, a bill to display the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state Capitol in Little Rock.

According to the bill, the “Secretary of State may permit and arrange for the placement … containing the following text, which was displayed on the monument declared constitutional in Van Orden v. Perry.”

“The Secretary of State shall arrange for the monument to be designed, constructed and placed on the State Capitol grounds by private entities at no expense to the state of Arkansas,” Rapert said in his bill. “The monument shall be placed on the State Capitol grounds where there are other monuments. The Secretary of State may assist private entities in selecting a location for the monument and arrange a suitable time for its placement.”

The design and site selection for the monument is also subject to the approval of the Capitol Zoning District Commission. The bill also includes language if the state faces a legal challenge to the issue.

“In the event that the legality or constitutionality of the monument is challenged in a court of law, the Attorney General may prepare and present a legal defense of the monument or request that Liberty Legal Institute prepare and present a legal defense,” Rapert said in his bill.

The bill was referred Monday night to the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

SB 956
A bill to support transparency in healthcare around the state was filed Monday. Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, filed Senate Bill 956, which would create the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative.

The initiative would help “create and maintain an informative source of healthcare information to support consumers, researchers and policymakers in healthcare decisions,” Sanders said in his bill.

Sanders’ bill would create a database “including ongoing all-payer claims database funded through the State Insurance Department that receives and stores data from a submitting entity relating to medical, dental and pharmaceutical and other insurance claims information and enrollment, eligibility and provider files.”

The initiative would be governed by the state Insurance Department and advised by a 12-member board, according to the bill.

HB 1950 and HB 1879
A Northwest Arkansas Democrat and a Central Arkansas Republican filed civil rights and religious freedom bills Monday.

Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, filed House Bill 1950 while Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton turned in House Bill 1879.

Leding is seeking to amend the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the law.

“The right shall include, but not be limited to the right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination, the right to the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement; the right to engage in property transactions without discrimination; the right to engage in credit and other contractual transactions without discrimination; and the right to vote and participate fully in the political process,” Leding said in his bill.

Hammer’s bill would permit private businesses, religious organizations and individuals authorized to perform marriages to exercise their right of choice when providing wedding services and supplies.

“When a marriage violates the religious beliefs of a private business, a person authorized to solemnize marriages or a religious institution, the person, business or institution may choose to not provide services to the couple,” Hammer, a hospice chaplain and pastor, said in his bill.

The bill was referred Monday to the House Judiciary Committee.

HB 1785
Rep. Scott Baltz, D-Pocahontas, also filed a bill to require applicants for and recipients of public assistance to test negative for illegal drug use.

Under the bill, an applicant or recipient of public benefits “shall submit to a drug screen to be tested for illegal drugs” in a program set up by the Department of Human Services. The test “shall be administered to a random sampling of applicants or recipients,” the bill noted.

A person who fails the drug test would not be eligible for public benefits.

OTHER BILLS
A bill that would make female genital mutilation a Class C felony in the state was filed Monday.

Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro and Sen. John Cooper, R-Jonesboro, turned in House Bill 1762.

Rep. Deborah Ferguson, D-West Memphis, filed House Bill 1847. The bill, if approved, would prohibit a health carrier from denying coverage for healthcare services due to an injury sustained by an insured person while the person was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, also filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, asking the House Management and Senate Efficiency Committees to study the meeting schedules for the Arkansas General Assembly.

Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro also filed two shell bills Monday. House Bill 1766 would look at the criminal penalties and sentences for people convicted of patronizing a prostitute or other similar offenses, while House Bill 1767 would create a Human Trafficking Call Center in the state and look at the report of human trafficking offenses to law enforcement.

Also, a Faulkner County legislator filed a bill to eliminate daylight saving time in the state. Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, filed House Bill 1947, which would create year-round standard time in the state.