Adding health aides to law is rejected

The House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor rejected legislation Tuesday that would remove the exemption for work performed on behalf of “certified homeand community-based health

services” from the state’s definition of employment.

Rep. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne, said her House Bill 1192 is a “worker’s rights” bill that would make it harder for home health-care providers to mislabel their workers as independent contractors.

“These are people that are working, most of them barely above minimum wage, deserve to have the same benefits that the rest of the people in the state are afforded,” Gray said.

Similar legislation drafted by Gray died in the Senate in 2019.

She said her latest version of the bill was stripped down to simply remove an exemption from state employment law, and that any worker who meets federal guidelines for an independent contractor could still be paid as one.

Q. Byrum Hurst, an attorney for Superior Senior Care in Little Rock, testified against the bill, saying it would cause “havoc” for home health-care providers.

“I think this bill is coming at the worst possible time that it could ever possibly come because there is a great need for caregivers,” Hurst said.

After hearing from Hurst and another home-health representative, the committee voted to limit debate and immediately consider the bill, which failed on a voice vote.

Gray said later Tuesday that she would attempt to run the bill again in committee when more members are present.