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Committee passes a series of local-government bills including vacancy procedures and election filing clarification
Summary
On voice votes the committee passed several municipal and local-government bills: a police leave clarification, SB297 on municipal election ordinance filing, district bills combining treasurer/collector offices, HB1555 on vacancy procedures, and HB1414 updating FEMA equipment rates for volunteer fire departments.
The House City, County & Local Affairs Committee approved a number of relatively uncontroversial municipal and local-government measures on voice votes.
An early bill (sponsor Representative Tosh) clarified that leave accruals for police officers apply to full-time officers; municipalities retain discretion to award leave to part-time officers. The measure passed with no public testimony.
Senate Bill 297, presented by Senator Kim Hammer with Jonathan Kendricks (attorney for the State Board of Election Commissioners), requires cities to file their council-election ordinance (ward, at-large or a combination) with the county clerk so ballots clearly indicate whether a candidate runs at-large or by-ward; the sponsor said the change brings clarity to voters. The committee passed SB297 on a voice vote.
Representative Jeremiah Moore ran two district bills (HB1590 and HB1591) to combine treasurer and collector offices in Woodruff and Arkansas counties at the request of local quorum courts; both passed on voice votes.
Representative Stetson Painter introduced HB1555 to standardize municipal vacancy procedures, giving cities two options (special election or appointment), clarifying that mayors cannot veto appointments and allowing interim appointments before a special election; John Wilkerson of the Municipal League said the bill promotes consistency and is optional for municipalities. The committee passed HB1555 on a voice vote.
Representative Wade Andrews presented HB1414 to update FEMA equipment-rate schedules used when volunteer departments bill non–dues-paying property owners; Brad Moore of the State Fire Association said equipment rates vary widely and have risen about 30–40% since 2013. The committee passed HB1414 on a voice vote.
Several other deferred district bills were noted as coming off deferred lists and will be scheduled according to the two-day notice requirement. The committee adjourned.
