House approves eVersity bill, 93-3

Measure on disposing fetal remains OK’d, sent to Senate

Lawmakers pushed through legislation Thursday to ease the creation of the new Internet university run through the University of Arkansas System.

The House of Representatives also passed bills dealing with fetus remains, banning "revenge porn," and punishing drunken boaters the same way as drunken drivers.

By a vote of 93-3, the House passed Senate Bill 265, which will exempt the UA System's eVersity from 15 laws and regulations that traditional, brick-and-mortar schools must abide by.

The new online program, which will consist of six-week courses, will target older Arkansans with some college experience and those living in rural areas far from four-year campuses.

Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, who ran the bill on the House floor for the bill's sponsor, Sen. Eddie Cheatham, D-Crossett, said the eVersity will change the game for education in the state and give people like him, who have some college credits, the chance to complete their education and earn degrees while balancing work and family.

"The eVersity represents a unique opportunity for Arkansas to move from 49th in a college-educated populace to something much better," Bell said.

The bill would remove requirements faced by traditional campuses, such as charging students for facility fees and requiring students be immunized.

"One is an exemption for free tuition [for] World War I veterans," Bell said. "There are two [WWI veterans] currently in Arkansas ... they are well into their later years and they aren't going to be pursuing a degree."

Bell said the cost of a course, expected to be about $500, is pricier than at two-year schools and won't create much competition between the UA-backed learning program and community colleges.

FETAL REMAINS

The House also passed a bill to prevent medical staff members from disposing of fetal remains along with other medical waste.

House Bill 1407, sponsored by Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, would mandate that the remains of an unborn child be either handed over to the mother or be buried or cremated.

Hammer said the process to handle fetal remains is based on standards used by state hospitals but would apply to abortion providers as well.

"[The bill ensures that] those babies that do not reach that opportunity of drawing their first breath, that they're handled in a dignified way," Hammer said. "This will remove them from being included with medical waste."

The bill, which passed in a 84-3 vote, will be sent to the Senate.

PRIVATE-OPTION NOTIFICATION

A bill that would notify Arkansans enrolled in the state's private-option program that their coverage will end on Dec. 31, 2016, passed easily.

The sponsor of HB1363, Rep. Donnie Copeland, R-North Little Rock, said requiring Department of Human Services staff members to notify people as they register or re-register that there is an end date to the program was the right thing to do.

Several Democrats questioned the need for Copeland's bill and said they were worried it would cause more confusion and alarm than help the more than 180,000 Arkansans enrolled in the state program, which uses Medicaid money to pay for private health insurance for lower income Arkansans.

The bill moved on to the Senate after passing with a 60-32 vote.

REVENGE PORN

Legislation that would prohibit "revenge porn" in Arkansas was passed in the House with a 97-0 vote and will go to governor's desk.

SB156, by Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, would make it a Class A misdemeanor, one punishable by up to a year in jail, to share video, pictures or audio of a "sexual nature" involving a former romantic partner and sharing it without the person's authorization.

The legislation is meant to deter the use of once intimate videos and photos from being used to "harass, frighten, intimidate, threaten, or abuse" a former partner.

The House also approved a bill that would treat drunken boating the same as drunken driving.

Inspired by the deaths of a pair of University of Arkansas students in a 2013 drunken boating accident, SB81, by Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, would make the separate DWI offenses interchangeable.

For example, a person with two DWIs for a vehicle who picks up his first DWI for drunken boating will face the same sanctions as though it was his third DWI with a vehicle.

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Prissy Hickerson, R-Texarkana, said several states, including Texas and Louisiana, have enacted similar legislation.

"Boats do not have brakes," Hickerson said. "[The bill] will be a strong deterrent just like stricter DWI laws over the last few decades have helped rein in drunk driving."

The bill, which also passed 97-0, was sent to the governor's office.

EDUCATION BILLS

In a 33-0 vote, the Senate approved a bill that would remove the July 1 sunset provision from the Public School Choice Act of 2013.

The law allows students to transfer out of districts.

In a 24-6 vote, the Senate approved SB325 by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, to consider a course to be regarded as taught by a school district in compliance with the state's accreditation standards if the district made the course available to students, even if no one signed up to take the course.

Clark said a small school district shouldn't be placed on probation by the state if it offers a course and no students sign up for the course in a particular semester.

But state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said that "we are going to be assisting kids in going backwards" under the legislation.

The bill goes to the House.

LIMITS ON DRONES

In a 27-1 vote, the Senate sent to the governor a bill that would bar the use of an unmanned vehicle or aircraft to take surreptitious video or pictures that invade a person's privacy.

HB1349 by Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, would also prohibit the use of drones to enter a private residence or otherwise violate privacy.

Metro on 02/27/2015

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