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Committee passes bill to repeal fiscal-impact requirement for health benefit plan cost measures
Summary
The Rules Committee approved House Bill 1080 to repeal a statute requiring fiscal-impact statements for bills that impose new or increased costs on health benefit plans or state entities; sponsors said the measure was recommended by a consultant and that the requirement will instead be addressed in joint rules.
The Arkansas House Committee on Rules voted to pass House Bill 1080, which would repeal a statutory requirement that any proposed legislation imposing new or increased cost obligations for health benefit plans or state entities include a fiscal-impact statement.
Representative John Eubanks, who presented the bill, said the provision grew out of recommendations from a consultant identified in the transcript as Siegel and had unintentionally included higher-education institutions. Eubanks told the committee the requirement led to "eight different fiscal impacts for each bill and each amendment" and that the bureau concluded the provision belonged in joint rules rather than statute because one legislature cannot bind another.
Eubanks said the Senate had passed the joint rules in committee and would consider them on the floor after the House adopts them. Committee members moved and passed the bill; no roll-call counts were recorded in the hearing transcript.
The committee record shows the bill passed in committee and will proceed according to the legislative process; further steps referenced by the sponsor include amending the rules text and adopting a resolution to move assignments between committees.
