Weekly Legislative Roundup
March 15-21, 2021
Renters’ rights bill postponed for special hearing on Monday
As the Arkansas 93rd General Assembly zooms past its first 60 days in session, the House Insurance & Commerce Committee was unable to advance the controversial House Bill 1563, which would require landlords to meet minimum rental housing standards. HB1563 also creates a simple eviction procedure guaranteeing a hearing to both landlord and tenant.
According to Lynn Foster, a retired emeritus professor at UA Little Rock law school, Arkansas is the only state in the U.S. where renters essentially do not have any rights and can go to jail for not paying rent. Under current Arkansas law, the landlord of a tenant who is one day late on rent may order the tenant to vacate the premises within 10 days.
If the tenant fails to do so, they are guilty of a separate misdemeanor offense for each day they fail to vacate the premises following the expiration of the 10-day notice and must pay a fine of up to $25 per day or offense.
Among many things, HB1563 would have required all residential rental properties to be structurally sound and have working locks, plumbing, electricity and heat, along with a few other basic living standards. Similar bills have failed to pass the several past legislative sessions due to opposition from the Arkansas Realtors Association.
Although the committee chair set aside 1.5 to 2 hours for consideration of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, debate on the legislation extended over the time and was table for consideration until today (March 15) as a special order of business. Thus far, proponents of the law have succeeded in keeping most of the state statute in place, although some of the more retaliatory measures in the original law have been rolled back. After being made even more punitive in 2001, the statues’ amended language was declared unconstitutional by the Pulaski County Circuit Court in 2015 and was rolled back to its previous language in 2017.
On the legislative side, several attempts at amending the Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 to require minimum habitability standards for tenants of residential rental properties have also been brushed back. During the 2019 Arkansas General Assembly, legislation to revamp Arkansas’ tenant-landlord law died in the same House Insurance and Commerce Committee after weeks of back-and-forth between lawmakers, housing advocates, policymakers, and the influential Arkansas Realtors Association.
That bill, also sponsored by Gazaway, a Northeast Arkansas property owner, eventually died on the House calendar at sine die of the General Assembly, which officially adjourned on April 10, 2019. Lawmakers have set April 30 as the tentative adjournment date for the 2021 session.
As of Thursday, March 11, the 93rd General Assembly that began on Jan. 11, 2021, more than 1,000 bills have been filed since the session began and more than 300 have been signed into law.
Last week, here are some of the bills based by the Arkansas House, including:
• HB1517-This bill states that the Secretary of State shall prepare and administer electronic voter registration application forms. Electronic voter registration application forms may serve for purposes of initial applications to register and may serve for changes of name, address, or party affiliation.
• HB1349-This bill creates the Every Arkansan Retirement Plan Opportunity Act. It outlines a plan for employers without a current retirement plan offered to their employees. It is a voluntary plan that features payroll deduction. It will be run by the Arkansas State Treasurer’s office.
• HB1516-This bill allows a law enforcement officer to transport a person in crisis to a sobering center instead of jail.
• HB1510-This bill requires a school district board of directors and local law enforcement agencies to adopt a memorandum of understanding governing school resource officers. It also requires school resource officers to complete specialized training.
Arkansas House, Senate takes up tr8ansgender exclusion bills
The Arkansas House and Senate, which Republicans sustain a near veto-proof supermajority, on March 10 overwhelmingly approved a tandem of bills supported by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge that opponents say would marginalize and criminalize the state’s vulnerable transgender population.
Senate Bill 354 by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, passed the upper chamber in a 28-7 vote on Wednesday. It would prevent transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. That bill, which has more than over 30 House and Senate co-sponsors, was referred to the House Education, where it is expected to be debated this week.
Similarly, HB 1570 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Springdale, prohibits healthcare professionals from providing gender transition procedures to any individual under 18 years of age. Opponents say this legislation would block young people from essential care, criminalize health care providers who treat them, and take away parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s care.
The controversial bill, which was approved by the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor committee on Feb. 25, was also easily approved on the House floor by a 70-22 vote last week. Debate on both SB 354 and HB 1570 have been portrayed by emotional and heated back-and-forth in committee hearings and floor debates.
According to state Department of Education, there are currently no transgender athletics in Arkansas that participate in girls’ sports. Arkansas is among more than a dozen states that have introduction similar legislation to prevent transgender females from competing in girls’ and women’s sports at the high school and collegiate level.
Transgender advocates have said that both SB 354 and HB 1570 would end up in federal court, costing Arkansas taxpayers millions of dollars for legislation that is not needed.
Also, Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed one of the nation’s strictest anti-abortion bills in law on Tuesday (March 9), although he expressed concerns that the legislation does not have an exception for rape or incest.
Senate Bill 6 by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, authorizes penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for people who are convicted or performing or attempting to perform an abortion. It specifically does not authorize any criminal charges against any pregnant woman in the death of her unborn child.
SB6, which is now Act 309 of 2021, has no emergency clause, which means it will officially be enacted 90 days after the Arkansas legislature adjourns. Rapert, a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022, has explicitly stated that he filed SB 6 to trigger in abortion ban in Arkansas in case the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade under the current 6-3 conservative majority.