[0:17] it was signed on September
[0:21] 17th the 1787 helping to
[0:23] establish us as currently the
[0:24] oldest and
[0:27] sometimes miraculously the most
[0:29] stable government currently in
[0:31] existence so just wanted to
[0:32] acknowledge that us today.
[0:32] thank you sir
[0:37] with that we'll get started and
[0:38] we'll start with the state plant
[0:39] board
[0:53] Good afternoon if you all would
[0:54] identify yourselves
[0:57] yes sir corery seats Arkansas
[0:58] Department of Agriculture, state
[0:59] plant board
[1:02] Mike Stoneage Arkansasike
[1:03] Sthoge Arkansas department of
[1:04] agriculture thank you sir
[1:07] Matthew Ford department of
[1:08] agriculture OK and you all may
[1:08] proceed
[1:11] thank you sir.
[1:15] we are here today for three
[1:17] occupational licenses actually
[1:19] it's two there is there are
[1:20] three on the
[1:23] agenda but the third lime vendor
[1:26] was repealed
[1:29] by
[1:36] Act557 of2021 so that that
[1:37] license is actually not in
[1:38] effect now
[1:41] the remaining two are
[1:44] agricultural consultant licenses
[1:45] and grain dealer licenses
[1:49] with regards to a consultants
[1:51] this license was created by
[1:55] Arkansas code annotated 1713101
[1:56] atc in 1987.
[1:58] the legislature
[2:02] in that act recognized that the
[2:03] agricultural community should
[2:05] have a choice in seeking the
[2:06] advice of whomever they choose
[2:08] regarding control of pests,
[2:09] plant pathogens, weeds or the
[2:11] use of fertilizer, lime or
[2:13] micronutrients but also
[2:14] recognized the
[2:17] that
[2:20] the benefit of having a
[2:21] mechanism whereby persons
[2:23] licensed by the state plant
[2:26] board as agricultural
[2:27] consultants may thereby hold
[2:29] themselves out as a licensed
[2:30] agricultural consultant
[2:36] and it's that license that we
[2:38] are the first one that we're
[2:38] here for today. currently
[2:44] there are 10re0 well for 2026
[2:44] there were 184 licensees
[2:47] and
[2:52] by having the required
[2:53] educational or experience
[2:59] background along with a
[3:00] period of continuing education
[3:01] required every two years they
[3:03] may maintain themselves out as
[3:06] an agricultural consultant and
[3:06] charge a fee for their service.
[3:11] Members are there any questions
[3:13] ' ll ask
[3:17] my cochair thank you Mr
[3:17] Chair.
[3:19] so I I pretty much asked this
[3:21] question of everyone who
[3:23] presents before us what is
[3:26] the current state of the
[3:28] career do we have enough people
[3:29] performing these duties? do we
[3:33] need to have more or less and if
[3:35] so are y'all doing anything to
[3:37] promote more folks to take up
[3:38] this occupation
[3:41] I would say our current status
[3:43] is is adequate we generally
[3:44] don't
[3:47] vary too far from the number we
[3:48] have right now and I've been
[3:52] not made aware of any need
[3:55] for an an increased number of
[3:56] people out there as an ad
[3:56] consultant. awesome thank you.
[3:59] members are there any other
[4:00] questions
[4:05] Seeing none without objections,
[4:06] this report stands as reviewed
[4:11] the second license is for
[4:14] grain dealers. this license
[4:15] was created by the Arkansas
[4:16] Grain Dealers Act
[4:20] from 2015 codified Arkansas
[4:23] code annotated 2 24-da101 at
[4:25] sec. It requires grain dealers
[4:27] to obtain a license from the
[4:29] plant board before entering into
[4:30] contracts for the purchase of
[4:33] grain. These licenses are are
[4:35] issued to business entities and
[4:36] are
[4:41] issued to dealers in grain which
[4:43] are defined by statute as corn
[4:45] wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice,
[4:47] solo, soybeans and oil seed.
[4:51] Members any questions
[5:03] Senator Johnson, ir, you are
[5:05] recognized thank you Mr Chairman
[5:08] gentlemen thank you for this
[5:08] I I was curious
[5:11] when we have these these special
[5:12] revenues in this particular
[5:14] license is is $800 a year
[5:17] where does what is done with
[5:19] that revenue I know it's special
[5:20] revenue for something but what
[5:21] all is what all is done with
[5:23] well with regards to this
[5:26] license it goes directly toward
[5:28] the costs of maintaining the
[5:30] people within the department of
[5:33] agriculture that monitor the
[5:35] program conduct the audits
[5:36] receive the reports that sort of
[5:39] thing. So this is to get help
[5:43] gain data that the department
[5:47] uses for a myriad of of
[5:49] purposes. The license itself sir
[5:50] no the fee oh yes sir
[5:53] ok so it's not just to to I mean
[5:56] I I I see these these regulatory
[5:57] things I wanna make sure it's
[5:59] just not a circle we collect
[6:01] money to to to regulate you but
[6:02] main thing we do is collect the
[6:05] money and but this covers other
[6:07] grain related and and commodity
[6:11] related things that your
[6:12] department the department of
[6:13] agriculture does I would say
[6:16] specifically it goes directly
[6:18] toward these grain dealers
[6:22] there there's a very long story
[6:23] about how this
[6:27] licensing procedure and this act
[6:30] came about but it is to ensure
[6:33] that grain dealers don't receive
[6:37] grain from farmers there is
[6:39] generally a period of time
[6:41] between when the dealer receives
[6:43] the grain and when the farmers
[6:45] are paid for the grain and there
[6:47] have been situations both in
[6:49] Arkansas and other states where
[6:50] some between
[6:53] those two events the dealer goes
[6:55] under and the farmer is left
[6:57] without
[7:01] being paid for the grain that he
[7:03] sent to a lot of small
[7:05] businesses deal with that
[7:07] problem at one level or another
[7:09] so thank you for that I I just
[7:10] wanted to make sure because I'm
[7:10] I'm sensitive to the fact that
[7:14] everything we do regulatory wise
[7:15] has a a real purpose and not
[7:18] just to to you know to
[7:21] perpetuate the system so to
[7:22] speak right thank you thank you
[7:23] Mr chairman
[7:26] members are there any other
[7:27] questions
[7:30] see none
[7:37] Without objection this report
[7:38] stands as reviewed
[7:41] and gentlemen thank you all for
[7:42] being here today. thank you sir
[7:49] Next we have the Department of
[7:50] Health Engineering section
[8:09] and if you would please
[8:10] introduce yourselves
[8:13] good afternoon members thank you
[8:14] for allowing us to be here at
[8:14] Charles Thompson attorney
[8:15] Arkansas department of Health.
[8:18] re s a Lee engineer Department
[8:19] of Health
[8:21] Craig Smith attorney for
[8:22] Arkansas department of
[8:23] healthalth.
[8:24] thank you and you all may
[8:24] proceed
[8:29] thank you Mr Chair. we are
[8:31] presenting two licenses under
[8:33] this report water distribution
[8:34] operators and water treatment
[8:36] operators distribution operators
[8:38] are water system operators
[8:39] that deal with water
[8:41] distribution systems and
[8:42] facilities treatment
[8:43] operators obviously for
[8:46] treatment facilities water
[8:47] system operators are necessary
[8:50] to ensure the safety quality and
[8:51] quantity of water that are
[8:53] dispersed in in public water
[8:54] systems these licenses are
[8:55] required under
[8:57] the federal safefe Drinking
[8:59] Water Act and so with that
[9:00] open to any questions
[9:05] my coachchair
[9:09] yeah good afternoon thank you
[9:11] for being here so just kind
[9:13] of like I did with the previous,
[9:15] where are we at with having
[9:19] enough individuals to perform
[9:20] these duties across the state
[9:21] obviouslybviously waters of
[9:24] major issue that we're all are
[9:26] concerned about. I know in some
[9:27] of the rural areas that I
[9:29] represent, they've been having
[9:31] trouble getting, you know, folks
[9:32] to that have these
[9:33] qualifications to come work
[9:35] within their water systems so
[9:37] where are we at with this
[9:38] occupation and are we doing
[9:40] anything to try to promote
[9:42] you know more of this in the in
[9:43] the state if there is a need
[9:47] sir you're correct we do have
[9:51] problems in the rural areas and
[9:53] there is also a large number of
[9:54] water operators that are
[9:57] retiring right now we have
[9:59] programs at some of the
[10:01] community colleges and com
[10:03] central Arkansas waterter has an
[10:04] internship program
[10:07] and of course our training
[10:08] academy SAU
[10:13] tries to promote it. OK so so
[10:14] we do have a pipeline where
[10:17] we're trying to mentor the next
[10:18] generation it sounds like. All
[10:18] right, thank
[10:23] Representative Beck, ir you are
[10:24] recognized
[10:27] thank you, Mister Chair. and
[10:28] and this may be a question that
[10:31] we can talk about that offline I
[10:32] guess but
[10:32] the
[10:36] the operators just not so much
[10:37] about the operator themselves
[10:40] but how does are are are the
[10:43] systems actually I'm assuming
[10:44] they're the ones responsible for
[10:45] the quality of the water
[10:49] are the is there a routine
[10:50] checking of the water systems to
[10:51] make sure they are delivering
[10:55] and yes sir we routinely sample
[10:58] the systems and we inspect them
[10:59] every 2 to3 years and the
[11:01] funding for that is part of that
[11:02] part of this fee off of this
[11:02] license
[11:04] or not
[11:07] part of it is through the 40
[11:10] cents a month fee that everyone
[11:13] pays on their water bill and
[11:13] then we also get federal money
[11:17] just one quick question go ahead
[11:19] sir and the frequency of that
[11:20] roughly would be I'm not sure
[11:23] it's not set in stone but like
[11:24] you were you would check a
[11:25] system
[11:25] twice a year
[11:30] we just we physically inspect
[11:32] the systems every 2 to3 years
[11:33] depending on the size but we're
[11:35] also available all the time to
[11:37] make technical assistance visits
[11:39] if they need it or if we know of
[11:40] a concern
[11:42] all right thank you
[11:46] members are there any other
[11:46] questions
[11:51] seeing none without objection
[11:54] this report stands as reviewed.
[11:55] thank you all for being here
[11:56] today
[12:01] Next we have the
[12:02] Arkansasfessional Bill
[12:02] Bondsman's license Bo.
[12:13] You are who we call when we get
[12:14] in trouble, right?
[12:19] if you will please identify
[12:20] yourself
[12:24] Lay Kirchner counsel for the
[12:24] department of laborbor and
[12:25] licensing.
[12:29] Paulurnett, director of the
[12:30] Arkansas Professional licensing
[12:33] bail bonds board. thank you and
[12:34] you all may proceed. Thank you
[12:35] Mr Chairman. we submitted this
[12:37] report with the clarification
[12:39] between the business fees and
[12:41] the transfer agent fees and
[12:42] with that we're happy to answer
[12:42] any questions
[12:46] members are there any questions
[12:50] my coachchair
[12:54] so just like the previous
[12:57] for this occupation do we
[12:58] have enough folks that are
[13:01] licensed bail bondsmen I
[13:02] guess would be the appropriate
[13:04] term and do we need more or
[13:07] less? how how is this occupation
[13:08] faring in the state right now?
[13:09] Yes Mr Cochair, we are actually
[13:11] good and we're on average we're
[13:13] averaging about 2 to3 new
[13:17] agents a week a month a month
[13:19] OK I was gonna say that's a lot
[13:20] of new agents if we're doing
[13:20] that I'm sorry a a month but yes
[13:21] I
[13:24] think we're good and then if
[13:25] he's collected looks like you're
[13:27] collecting about a little over
[13:28] half a million dollars every
[13:30] year and annual expenses roughly
[13:33] 100,000 less than that is that
[13:37] basically going to employees
[13:38] or what what what do we spend on
[13:41] the400,000 dollars on it
[13:43] actually goes to yes it goes
[13:44] toar goes to our our
[13:45] operations but the other part
[13:47] goes to the domestic abuse
[13:50] and domestic peace funds for the
[13:52] child abuse rape, domestic
[13:53] violenceence commission so
[13:54] that's where the rest of the
[13:55] funds go sir. OK so you use just
[13:56] what you need and then the rest
[13:57] gets transferred over there sir
[13:58] right
[13:58] right thank you
[14:03] Representative Gonzalez
[14:05] you recognize her
[14:09] how much are y'all transferring
[14:10] over to the domestic peacece
[14:11] fund
[14:13] it roughly
[14:17] estimates too and our finance
[14:18] department does it so roughly
[14:21] estimates about75% of what we
[14:23] take in through the fees and
[14:27] finds we can only keep enough to
[14:29] keep the board to keep our
[14:31] personnel and maintenance and
[14:32] operations up and running.th
[14:33] everything else gets transferred
[14:34] over so
[14:37] sorry I will get back with you
[14:39] with that number exactly that
[14:40] one I don't have in front of me
[14:42] but that's good enough do you
[14:43] know if that is that 100% of
[14:45] their funding or do you know
[14:47] what do not know on that one
[14:48] thank you you're welcome
[14:54] Members, are there any other
[14:55] questions
[15:01] Without objection this report
[15:02] stands as reviewed and thank you
[15:02] all for being here today
[15:14] Members we don't know yet but
[15:15] we we think there will not be a
[15:17] a meeting inoctober but we'll
[15:19] find out after I think ALc
[15:20] tomorrow
[15:23] so with that thank you all for
[15:24] being here and we are adjourned