Weekly Legislative Roundup

March 22-28, 2021

After getting stuck in committee in several consecutive legislative sessions, Arkansas lawmakers gave a do-pass recommendation for a controversial renters’ rights bill during a special hearing on March 17 before the House Insurance and Commerce Committee. 

 

House Bill 1563 by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, was approved by the influential House committee on a voice vote. Following a roll call request, the committee chair recorded a close vote of 11-7. The 18-page amended bill now goes to the 100-person House of Representatives for a floor vote. 

 

The bill, which amends the Arkansas Residential Landlord Tenant Act of 2007, still has a way to go before becoming law with keen opposition from Arkansas landlords and some property owners’ associations. lawmakers, housing advocates, policymakers, and the influential Arkansas Realtors Association.

 

During debate last week that was tabled, the landlord group requested an approved amendment to allow further flexibility when it comes to roach and pest problems caused by negligent tenants. Other issues brought up during both committee hearings, which lasted several hours, was the question of legal liability regarding smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors. 

 

Lobbyist Slyvester Smith, who also heads the Arkansas chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, argued that landlords should not be held accountable for providing those devices and having no control of tenants taking out the batteries.

 

The amended version that passed omitted language that does not hold property owners legally responsible if an incident occurs. HB 1563 still must gain a do-pass recommendation from the Senate Insurance and Commerce and an affirmative vote from the 35-person chamber. Then it will also need to get Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s signature to change the Arkansas code.

 

According to Lynn Foster, a retired emeritus professor at University of Arkansas 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. However, this is the first time such a bill has been passed out of committee. 

 

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 opponents and supports.

 

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.

 

 

HOUSE, SENATE BILLS

 

As of Thursday, March 18, 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.  On Wednesday, the House voted to raise teacher salaries and increase public school funding, a key part of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s legislative agenda. Here’s a brief roundup of key legislation approved on the House floor, including:  

• HB1614 seeks to raise the average salary of public-school teachers by the Teacher Salary Equalization Fund. For the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, the statewide target average annual salary will be $51,822. The current average is $49,822.

• HB1677 raises the foundation funding amount for the 2021-2022 school year from the current $6,899 per student to $7,182 per student. It raises the amount for the 2022-2023 school year to $7,349 per student. The bill also includes enhanced funding for school districts in which 90% or more of the school’s enrolled students qualify for the national school lunch program.

• The House also voted in favor of HB1572. This bill states that a chemical abortion shall not be performed or induced without the voluntary and informed consent of the pregnant woman seeking the abortion. It also states that at least 72 hours before abortion is to be performed, the healthcare provider must provide the patient with a list of risks and complications and information on reversing the effects of the chemical abortion if the woman changes her mind.

• Members voted in favor of HB1246 which allows pharmacists to treat certain health conditions.

• The House has also passed several bills prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. They include:

• HB 1488 would allow employees to file a workers’ compensation claim if they can prove they contracted the Covid-19 virus in their workplace. It would expire in two years.

The House also passed HB 1521 to provide immunity from civil lawsuits for health care providers when they diagnose and treat patients with Covid-19. Their immunity would be similar to that of emergency responders.

• HB 1061, called the “No Patient Left Alone” act, would create procedures for allowing people to visit family in hospitals and nursing homes during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a group of about 35 legislators have also formed the “Back the Blue” caucus to support bills strengthening law enforcement. Here are several bills supported by the caucus.

• SB 300 would prohibit parole for certain repeat offenders who use a firearm to commit a felony.

• HB 1343 lowers the threshold for retirement for state troopers, from 30 to 28 years of service.

• SB 346 would add audiovisual media to the list of documentation that law enforcement agencies maintain in criminal investigations. Other criminal investigation documents include lab reports, arrest records, search warrants and incident reports. The bill outlines how many years those documents must be retained, which depends on the severity of the crime.

• SB 346 would allow law enforcement agencies to charge reasonable fees for the costs of copying audiovisual media and electronic records, for example to comply with a request for public records under the state freedom of information act. Reasonable fees could include personnel time needed to reproduce the documents.

 

Some advocates for transparency in government have expressed concern that approval of SB 346 might encourage other government entities, apart from law enforcement agencies, to charge for personnel time when complying with FOI requests.

 

 

STATE OF EMERGENCY

 

Almost exactly a year after Gov. Hutchinson declared the COVID-19 pandemic a state emergency, Arkansas lawmakers approved Senate Bill 379 to give the legislature more say on executive declarations of public-health emergencies and state public-health directives.

 

SB 379 would allow the Senate president pro tempore and the House Speaker or a majority of the respective House and Senate chambers to call the assembly to convene to act on a resolution terminating an emergency. In the fall ahead of the 93rd General Assembly, several Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against the executive branch to end the public-health emergency declared by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in March 2020. 

 

Several lawmakers have complained about actions taken by the popular Republican governor amid the pandemic, especially those executive orders that limited most business and social activity during the pandemic. After a 78-16 vote in the House on March 15, SB 379 is now headed to the Hutchinson’s desk where it is expected to be signed into law.