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State legislative representatives met with Fayetteville Chamber
of Commerce members and local residents Saturday, March 3
to discuss legislative issues and House activity as the session
draws to a close.
Rep.
Jan Judy addressed legislative activity of the last
two weeks in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
(Photo:
Adam
Wallworth)
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Although most legislative representatives were not able to
attend, state rep. Jan Judy, as well as chamber members Chett
Caldwell and Bill Ramsey, were present to discuss bills.
Judy was quick to remind audience members that March 5 was
the deadline to file new bills, and said "things are really
heating up" in the House because of the frenzy to introduce
the 1,400 bills that made it in before deadline.
The Rising Junior Exam bill, which would retire the college
exam labeled by many as ineffective, was one bill that made
it out of committee last week, passing with a unanimous vote.
Judy said the Department of Higher Education will soon begin
developing regulations regarding testing, allowing state universities
to request an alternate method of testing that will be more
beneficial the needs of the individual schools.
"In
no way do we want to make the institutions across the states
not accountable, but on the other hand, we need to have a
tool that really does what we want it to do," said Judy.
Judy also expressed concern regarding the methamphetamine
labs she said Arkansas is becoming more known for.
"I
filed that bill because I felt like we really needed to do
something about the meth problems we have in Northwest Arkansas,"
Judy said of House Bill 1417.
In the month of January alone, there were 90 labs in the state
of Arkansas that were cleaned up, Judy said, each lab costing
$5,000-$20,000 to clean up. Judy said the problem is critical
because it affects everyone.
Judy also informed audience members that there was a group
that met in Little Rock last week to discuss the Arkansas
Freedom of Information Act, claiming they wanted to make sure
the rights of the FOIA were protected.
Many of the group, Judy said, were unaware that shelter records
were open to the public. In some areas of the state, locations
of the shelters were printed in the newspapers, putting the
staff and the residents of homeless shelters at a risk, Judy
said.
Similarly, Judy also received a call from a member of the
AIDS foundation asking about legalities of a person accessing
information regarding people who have AIDS in Arkansas. Judy
said that the Attorney General said this issue was in the
"gray area" under the FOIA, so no definitive laws have been
made regarding AIDS.
"We
need to make sure that our citizens are made aware of all
issues that pertain to them, but on the other hand, we need
to protect confidentiality where personal lives are taking
their toll," said Judy.
"I
have a bill that has passed through the house now that will
make those records confidential and now they can only be accessed
with a court order," said Judy.
Forums are held bi-weekly each legislative session at the
Chamber of Commerce with various state representatives. To
find out about legislative issues or discuss bills that would
affect the university, attend a forum and ask your representative.
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