Table Talk
‘Stand Your Ground,’ COVID among breakfast topics
During Friday’s Saline County Legislative Breakfast, a number of senators and representatives spoke to those gathered at First Southern Baptist Church in Bryant and shared some of the projects and bills they have been working on during the current legislative session.
Those participating in the breakfast included Rep. Lanny Fite, Rep. Richard Mcgrew, Sen. Bill Sample, Rep. Julie Mayberry, Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Keith Brooks.
Mayberry shared extensive information on a bill she is sponsoring called the “No Patient Left Alone Act” which will require medical providers to allow patients to have visitors. She was inspired to create the act after her personal in 2020 dealing with healthcare issues as a patient, wife and mother during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Saline Courier will feature an in-depth look at Mayberry’s bill and her reasons for proposing it in an upcoming issue.
Rep. Mcgrew shared that two bills garnering high interest this week were the “Stand Your Ground” bill and a bill for getting rid of what is colloquially known as “the tampon tax.” If passed the bill would make tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins and other feminine hygiene products tax free in the state. There are currently 30 states that do not allow tax-free feminine hygiene products, including Arkansas. The bill passed through committee this week.
Fite shared that over the past week 500 house bills and 390 senate bills had been filed. There were also 43 constitutional amendments filed, although only three can be ultimately allowed on a ballot, if any at all.
“You go, man that’s a lot of bills,” Fite said. “A lot of these are just actually amending a bill.”
Fite spoke about his support for a bill concerning improving the availability of broadband services to customers adding that the cable and telecom companies had initially been “fighting me pretty hard on this” but that they ultimately realized it could also benefit them.
Sample told those gathered that he knows that there have been some unpleasant things happening in the senate and he and other legislators are working to change that.
“We’re all working together,” Sample said. “(It’s) sad to say that if you watch us on live stream you might see some things that are not very pleasant that’s coming out of the senate right now. We’re working very hard to get that back under control and have some stability.”
Hammer shared that he knows there are a number families in Saline County who have been affected by PANS/PANDAS which is an autoimmune condition that disrupts normal neurologic functioning.
“We were able to get the advisory committee reestablished,” Hammer said.
There is also a companion bill that states that if a child is diagnosed with PANS/PANDA at the Center of Excellence at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Medicaid will cover the treatments costs.
He also echoed Samples thoughts on how the senate has been operating and that at times, people may wonder exactly what is going on.
“I’ll tell you what we are doing down there,” Hammer said. “we are exercising independence and freedom. Iron sharpening iron and a battle of wills and a battle of power. It’s like a family. Sometimes you fight with your family, but at the end of the day though, you come to the aid of your family and you work it all out. Please don’t judge what happens on just a snippet of the process. It’s a longterm process and we are proud to be representing and, at least this delegation will try to make you proud and that you will be proud of our representation.”
Brooks spoke about his experience as a new house member, having only been his position a few
weeks and joked about trying to absorb so much information in such a short time
“Everyone always says it’s like drinking from a fire hose,” Brooks said. “I told someone the other day that it’s like drinking from a fire hose while juggling a church nursery full of babies. There’s just a whole lot of things to try and absorb and figure out…our delegation and many others have been very gracious to teach those of us who are new like Rep. Mcgrew and myself.”
Brooks said the subject his constituents have reached out to him for help most has been unemployment. He also encouraged those who need help navigating the system to reach out to him.
“If you have someone who is having trouble or challenges with that, have them reach out me, have them reach out to their representative or their senator because I think it can do a lot of good.”
Brooks also spoke about a bill that he is “most passionate about” which is HB1371 which, if passed, will help to create the Arkansas Child Academic Opportunity Scholarship and Grant Act.
“I think this bill provides a good opportunity for us to look at the most challenged economically students and what can we do to potentially provide them help. Because, oftentimes you’ll find that some of them are dealing with some very significant learning disabilities.”
Brooks shared his own personal experience as the parent of a child with “very profound disabilities” as part of the reason for supporting the bill adding that his family has had a very difficult time finding the help his child needs in the central Arkansas educational system.
Brooks’ wife and child had to temporarily relocate to Florida to get their child the help he needed because it simply wasn’t available locally.
“We needed to find the right help for him and unfortunately we couldn’t find it around here,” Brooks said.
Besides the difficulties of being temporarily separated from his wife and son, Brooks also faced temporarily caring for this other child alone saying that the experience gave him a whole new appreciation of those who are single parents and the challenges they face.
“I’m not very good at that,” Brooks said. “I will be very upfront and honest. Just the dynamics of running a kid around all the time. Man, single parents, especially single moms, you are absolute heroes I would say.”
Brooks said the bill will help strike a good balance between opportunities for low income students and the scholarships that are a potential within the bill for them to use for a number of things, while at the same time, providing grants and opportunities for public schools.