I hope that you were able to watch the State Agencies Committee meeting today as it addressed HB1013. The outcome gave me a huge lift of confidence in our legislators. I sounded like that lil pig in the Geico commercial as I squealed “wheee” with excitement watching it transpire. (OK, don't judge me)
If you weren't able to swatch it unfold, here’s a brief synopsis of what I believe is the way government should work. The committee meeting opened with Rep. Nickels presenting HB1013~ "AN ACT TO ALLOW THE CONTRACTORS LICENSING BOARD TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST A CONTRACTOR FOR KNOWINGLY EMPLOYING WORKERS WITHOUT LEGAL STATUS."
Rep Nickels explained his reasoning and defended against the arguments he had heard opposing it.
Rep. Ed Garner asked several relevant and thought-provoking questions-(see twitter feed for details).
After several minutes of discussion and a few more questions from other committee members, Rep. Ann Clemmer addressed the same issue that Rep. Garner had raised, but from more of a layman’s view: "If I hire someone to clean my house and leave for the day, I’m not aware of who they bring with them to help," she noted.
In essence what they each were saying is, how do you hold one legal business entity responsible
At that point, Rep. Clemmer moved to add an additional amendment to his bill that reads:
“A contractor shall not be liable through a subcontractor under this section if the contractor and the subcontractor agree in writing that the subcontractor shall be responsible for the verifying that each worker employed by the subcontractor is legally authorized to work in the United States.”
Then there were a few questions and some confusion about contradictory language and questions over E-verify, at which point (and this is where it gets really good) the idea was mentioned to perhaps pull the bill entirely and allow committee members to actually READ and study the amendment, then return next week to address the issue.
Rep. Nickels agreed and pulled the bill. Now it appears Arkansans will reap the benefits of our legislators doing their due diligence, working together and making what those who were opposed saw as a bad bill into one that is reasonable and workable for everyone as well as effective for our state.
I spoke to Rep. Garner afterwards and here’s what he had to say: "We stopped a bad bill for a chance to make it a good bill" Additionally, I called Scott McDaniel, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Legislative Committee " for Associated Builders and Contractors of Arkansas. He went to the committee meeting to testify in opposition to the bill. Afterwards, he told me: "It was a good idea, but a bad bill, the amendment seems to rectify the challenges we had with the bill. If Rep. Nickels goes forth in good faith we would not have a problem supporting it. We will be monitoring it throughout the process.”
Please call or contact the committee members and thank them for their service. Let them know that Arkansans are willing to come alongside for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to help ensure our state’s government is always being run for, of and by the people to advance life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of party.
In essence what they each were saying is, how do you hold one legal business entity responsible
At that point, Rep. Clemmer moved to add an additional amendment to his bill that reads:
“A contractor shall not be liable through a subcontractor under this section if the contractor and the subcontractor agree in writing that the subcontractor shall be responsible for the verifying that each worker employed by the subcontractor is legally authorized to work in the United States.”
Then there were a few questions and some confusion about contradictory language and questions over E-verify, at which point (and this is where it gets really good) the idea was mentioned to perhaps pull the bill entirely and allow committee members to actually READ and study the amendment, then return next week to address the issue.
Rep. Nickels agreed and pulled the bill. Now it appears Arkansans will reap the benefits of our legislators doing their due diligence, working together and making what those who were opposed saw as a bad bill into one that is reasonable and workable for everyone as well as effective for our state.
I spoke to Rep. Garner afterwards and here’s what he had to say: "We stopped a bad bill for a chance to make it a good bill" Additionally, I called Scott McDaniel, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Legislative Committee " for Associated Builders and Contractors of Arkansas. He went to the committee meeting to testify in opposition to the bill. Afterwards, he told me: "It was a good idea, but a bad bill, the amendment seems to rectify the challenges we had with the bill. If Rep. Nickels goes forth in good faith we would not have a problem supporting it. We will be monitoring it throughout the process.”
Please call or contact the committee members and thank them for their service. Let them know that Arkansans are willing to come alongside for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to help ensure our state’s government is always being run for, of and by the people to advance life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of party.
