LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe signed bills into law Monday ending the state’s prohibition on concealed weapons in churches and barring coverage for most abortions on the state’s health-insurance exchange.
Bills to allow the Parole Board to deny parole to people convicted of felony sex offenses and to require a study on school violence also advanced Monday in the Legislature.
Senate Bill 71, which allows congregations to determine who - if anyone - may carry a concealed handgun into their place of worship, is now Act 67. It became effective Monday morning upon the governor’s signature, said Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample.
Besides signing SB7 1 into law Monday, Beebe introduced House Bill 1284, sponsored by Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna, to accompany Act 67. Beebe said he thinks his proposal - which requires churches that allow the concealed handguns to post a sign at each public entrance telling attendees that such weapons may be inside - will pass the Legislature “unless they want to go against all these pastors and preachers.”
He noted that many pastors, bishops and clergy told his office that if “a church wants to allow you to carry a gun in the church, there should be signage that makes it very clear that that’s available.” HB1284 also would give houses of worship where concealed handguns are welcome charitable immunity from legal action and includes exceptions for churches “covered by a policy of insurance, in which case liability for ordinary negligence is limited to the amount of insurance coverage provided by the policy.”
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who sponsored SB71, said he’ll wait and see what happens with Beebe’s proposal, but “some of this is overreacting.
“When you post a sign, you are actually notifying people of your security procedures. If you don’t post a sign, well no one is going to know if there is possibly somebody carrying [a concealed gun],” he said.
House Bill 1100, which prohibits coverage for most abortions on the state’s health-insurance exchange, is now Act 72, said DeCample.
The exchange is a marketplace for health coverage mandated by the federal 2010 Affordable Care Act. It is set to begin in 2014.
HB1100, sponsored by Rep. Butch Wilkins, D-Bono, blocks abortion coverage from the exchange except allowing women to purchase it,unsubsidized, through a separate “rider.” The bill includes exceptions to save the life of the mother and for cases of rape and incest.
PAROLE BOARD AUTHORITY
The Senate voted 35-0 to approve a bill allowing the Parole Board to deny parole to people convicted of felony sex offenses.
Sen. Jonathan Dismang, RSearcy, said the board is allowed under existing law to deny parole to people who are convicted of first- and second-degree sexual assault and rape.
He said his Senate Bill 150 would allow the board to deny parole to those guilty of every other sexual felony offense.
The Arkansas Sentencing Commission projected the bill would increase the state Department of Correction’s costs by $2.3 million from 2014-24.
STOP PAYING
In an 18-8 vote, the 35-member Senate approved a bill to allow the governing body of a city to stop paying a city attorney’s salary from the day that his required professional license or registration is suspended.
Upon restoration of his professional license or registration, the city attorney could petition the governing body for a resumption of his salary and the governing body would be required to start measures to ensure his salary is resumed.
Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, is sponsoring the legislation, Senate Bill 217.
SCHOOL VIOLENCE STUDY
The House voted 83-6 to approve a bill that would require the Legislative Council to conduct a study on public school safety and response to acts of violence.
Senate Bill 93, proposed by Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, would require the agency to perform the study or delegate the responsibility to the Senate and House education committees. The study would “determine the readiness and capabilities of public schools” to respond to acts of violence.
The bill requires the report be given to the education committees by Sept. 1, 2014, and include a list of best practices and recommendations to prevent and respond to acts of violence.
STEEL MILL PROJECT
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus questioned Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Grant Tennille about the number of jobs the proposed Big River Steel Mill project would provide for members of minority groups.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, asked Tennille if there were anything in the deal with Big River Steel LLC to ensure that members of minority groups would equally benefit from the new jobs coming to Osceola, which she said is 53.9 percent black.
Tennille said there was nothing in the deal that addressed who would get the jobs, aside from the training that would be required.
“I believe - and again if it’s the pleasure of the Legislature to try and amend the deal, it is absolutely your prerogative under Amendment 82 ... I will tell you I believe that that will cause the deal to crater and that will take [the project] to another state,” Tennille said.
Tennille added that caucus members could ask if John Correnti, the chief executive officer of Big River Steel, was amenable to such a provision.
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said it’s the state’s job to ensure members of minority groups benefit from such deals and other contracts with the state.
“We’ve been trying to create an atmosphere of expectation in this state that when we get into deals like these ... that this state will at least pretend, seriously, that minorities are going to be included in those contracts and we have done an abysmal - that’s not even the right word, if there’s an abysmal minus - job of that,” Elliott said.
BAKER REGISTERS AS LOBBYIST
Former state Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, whose term ended Jan. 14 and who started work as an executive assistant at the University of Central Arkansas on Jan. 15, is now a registered lobbyist.
He registered as a lobbyist for UCA on Monday, although he said in November when UCA announced his hiring that he did not plan to register as a lobbyist. As a state senator, Baker favored creating a cooling-off period of a year or two years before former lawmakers could become lobbyists.
UCA President Tom Courtway said he decided that Baker should register “out of an abundance of caution,” though Courtway said he doesn’t intend for Baker to engage in day-to-day lobbying for UCA or on higher education matters.
“However, given that [Baker] served time for 12 years in the Arkansas state Senate and is sought out from time to time to discuss legislative or budget matters with members, I do not want there to be a perception or concern on the part of any person that we are attempting to circumvent the registration requirement,” Courtway said. “[Baker] also provides advice to me and other members of the university on legislative matters.”
For example, Baker said, he met for lunch with Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, on Thursday at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Conway, at Key’s suggestion.
Key said he mentioned over lunch his proposal to overhaul the state’s Academic Challenge Scholarship program and base the scholarship amounts awarded to students on their number of credit hours completed. But Key said Baker didn’t advocate a position on the proposal.
The bill was introduced Monday as House Bill 1295 with 27 House sponsors and Key as the Senate sponsor.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 02/12/2013