AFEC: Developments at the Legislature

By Larry Page, Executive Director • Arkansas Faith & Ethics Council

The General Assembly is within a few weeks of completing this session. With many bills still in the pipeline and the time to get them all vetted at a premium, there will be a good bit of impatience and the tendency to get “things out the door” will be a catalyst to move with haste. Sometimes, those dynamics can cause things to get less attention than they deserve. It can — and often does — get hectic in this stage of a legislative session. Hopefully, mistakes will be held to a minimum.

The following are some of the more important measures we are following. I will be as brief as possible, but I will share more details about any of these at your request if you contact me. (Information is at the end of the article.)

Several bills that had been highlighted previously have been resolved in some manner, so those have been removed for the sake of brevity. (Note: HB=House Bill; SB=Senate Bill.)

Bills Concerning Drugs/Marijuana/Alcohol

• HB1578, HB1722 and SB455 — Each of these bills deal with the legalization of the growing, processing and sale of hemp-derived products. Hemp is a variety of the cannabis plant (marijuana) and like the marijuana plant, it contains THC. This psychoactive component gives a user a high and puts them under the influence (although at a level lower than in the marijuana plant). Many hemp-derived products allowed under these bills are human consumable products, such as beverages, candies, vapes, etc, and therein lies the problem. These products will have the capacity to cause intoxication and render the user impaired. The solution is simple. The law should prohibit hemp-derived products intended for human consumption. These bills are pending in the relevant committees.

• SB533 — This is a good bill that provides the solution set out in the discussion of the three bills described above. It simply does not allow for hemp-derived products intended for food or drinks. This bill will be heard this week in the Senate Agriculture Committee.

• SB564 — This bill will dramatically increase the percentage of alcohol permitted in beer sold in grocery and convenience stores. Currently, the percentage is set at 5% alcohol by weight; this bill will increase that to 10% alcohol by weight. Cold beer is sold in grocery stores and convenience stores. It is not uncommon for drivers to consume the cold beer purchased at a store. The evidence is clear by all the beer cans we see on the shoulders and ditches along our highways. These drivers may down two or three of the 5% beers and get a good buzz. What will happen when those two or three beers contain 10% alcohol? Impaired drivers, DWI arrests and mayhem, injury and death on our highways will be some of the results. This bill will be heard this week in the relevant Senate City Committee.

• HB1189 — This bill will be dealt with in the House Rules Committee this week. It is a measure that will allow a dispensary to deliver marijuana. The bill outlines procedures that should be followed to make certain that the delivery is handled properly and that the recipient is entitled to receive the delivery of marijuana. However, there are so many ways call-in orders and deliveries can be botched that a law like this would be ripe for abuses. Not a good idea.

• SB523 — This bill would permit private clubs to deliver alcoholic drinks. The same problems with delivery orders and the deliveries themselves described in the above paragraph concerning HB1189 are likely problems in this scenario. Furthermore, this is such a departure from how private clubs were to function. They were meant to be as the name implies — private, not open to the public at large and intended to be a gathering place where friends could socialize over drinks. They were intended to be membership-based clubs and not open to anyone and everyone. Private clubs have devolved to a point where they no longer resemble anything envisioned by those who first conceived the idea for them. This delivery scheme will simply further the erosion of the private club concept. Not a good fit for Arkansas.

Other Bills of Interest

• HB1615 — This bill concerns religious nondiscrimination. It will prohibit government discrimination against religious organizations based upon the religious organizations’ religious identity or conduct. It will ensure that faith-based adoption and foster care providers remain free to serve children in need. It will also prohibit the government from discriminating against certain individuals and organizations because of their beliefs regarding marriage or gender. It will prevent the government or a private party through litigation from compelling individuals and organizations to engage in conduct that conflicts with their beliefs. This bill is pending in the House Judiciary Committee.

• SB223 — This bill is intended to enumerate and guarantee several religious rights for students attending public schools. Some of those rights include praying silently or aloud, individually or in groups, forming and participating in religious clubs in the same manner other clubs or groups can function and expressing a religious viewpoint in the same manner other viewpoints can be presented. There are several other religious rights students will enjoy listed in the bill. This bill was passed in both chambers of the legislature and is awaiting the Governor’s signature to become law.

• HB1880 — This bill is intended to amend the Arkansas Human Life Protection Act. It is an extreme measure that would set the clock back on our state’s abortion laws. It would allow abortion for a host of health reasons — not just to save the mother’s life in an actual medical emergency — but for other health reasons that do not threaten death but are inconvenient or less severe. Also, it would permit abortions in cases where rape or incest has been claimed. This bill is pending in the House Public Health Committee.

Get Involved

Thanks for your participation in good government. It works best when we get involved, have our voices heard and our preferences known. Let me encourage you to do a couple of things. First, we want to hear your thoughts about these issues. Contact us at llp@arfaith.org or (501) 837-1688. Secondly, let your state representative or senator know how you feel about any issues that resonate with you and how you would like them to handle your concerns.

To identify your state senator and get contact information for him or her, take the following steps:

• Go to senate.arkansas.gov

• On the Senate’s home page, click on the green box that says Find My Senator.

• On the page it takes you to, type in your address and click on Search.

• Your senator’s name and contact information will appear.

To identify your state representative and get contact information for him or her, take the following steps:

• Go to arkansashouse.org.

• On the house’s home page, click on Find Your Representative.

• On the page it takes you to, type in your address and click on Search.

• Your representative’s name and contact information will appear in a box.

• For an email address, click on “Full profile,” and on the page it takes you to, scroll to the bottom for the email address.

You can call the Senate switchboard at (501) 682-2902 and the House of Representatives at (501) 682-6211 during regular office hours and leave a message for your legislator requesting support or opposition to a bill under deliberation. Please use the bill number when conveying this information or describe the issue sufficiently.