Latest news with #ArkansasHouse
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Fake CDLs, language laws and the battle for safer US roads
This is Part 1 of a series on CDL fraud looking at a recently enacted Arkansas law designed to get a handle on CDL fraud, and how that effort was informed by similar legislation in Texas. Part 2 releasing Saturday examines how Texas uncovered a high number of phony documents held by people with Mexico's equivalent of a CDL who in fact were from Central America. Part 3 releasing Sunday looks at the ease with which fraudsters have exploited a loophole to obtain a Mexican document that essentially grants them the privileges of a U.S. CDL holder. The current discourse on the quality of drivers more closely resembles Don Quixote in a trucker hat chasing CDL-inspired windmills while his faithful squire, driver misinformation, accompanies him in his attempt to revive the good old days of trucking. I decided to follow the mania and try to answer the question, 'What is up with all this non-domicled driver talk, and why are some in trucking media obsessed with speaking English.' What I found out from conversations and interviews with state safety officials and trucking lobby groups, as well as research, was a web of regulatory oversight, loopholes and bad actors, decades in the making. The situation is way more complex than it looks at first glance. The regulatory questions involve local, state and federal guidelines, international trade deals, and bureaucratic machinations worthy of an HBO special. But to begin this tale, let's start in Arkansas by way of Texas. I began my odyssey by reaching out to Shannon Newton, president and CEO of the Arkansas Trucking Association, about a bill in the Arkansas House, HB1745. The bill would make presenting a fake CDL or operating a commercial motor vehicle without an employment authorization document a Class D felony in the state. This all came about from dueling Arkansas legislation, with another bill, HB1569, gaining headlines over its purported $5,000 fine for truckers who did not possess sufficient English proficiency. The Arkansas ATA-backed bill, HB1745, recently passed in the State Legislature and was subsequently signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders as Act 604. In addition to English proficiency, 'certain commercial driver license holders must possess a U.S. work authorization to operate a commercial motor vehicle in the state.' Failure to meet the new requirements results in a $500 fine for the first offense and a $1,000 fine for any subsequent offense. What I found more interesting was how these bills came about. For Newton, this problem began in 2023 when her counterpart in the Texas Trucking Association reached out to her to raise awareness about fraudulent CDLs. Texas had 'come up with this solution to try to root it out' and warned Newton to 'be aware of it because it's likely that it'll be coming to Arkansas next. And the issue that they had discovered was a quantity of fraudulent Mexican CDLs or LFCs that were being presented at roadside by drivers in Texas that law enforcement could almost think were suspicious,' said Newton in an interview. She told FreightWaves that the Texas roadside enforcement officers began to dig, and what they found was a black market for fake Mexican LFCs – short for Licencias Federal de Conductor. (For purposes of this article, LFC is the equivalent of an American CDL.) The Texas solution to combat the fake LFCs was to require a second form of ID, like a work permit, visa or green card. The Texas ATA told the Arkansas association that if Texas closed this loophole by requiring extra ID, fraudsters would likely move upstream, in this case to adjacent states like Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. In other words, because the states are a patchwork of regulations, if one state cracks down on documents, those that don't become havens for bad actors who were chased out of the first state. The recent flurry of news on state bills targeting CDLs is a direct response to this. After the Texas law passed, there were significant penalties associated with fake CDLs – but with a twist. Newton added, 'As those who were doing wrong became aware of the new law, the numbers spiked in individuals who were actually presenting as having no CDL rather than presenting their fake one to avoid the charge of presenting the fake. It was actually a less strenuous penalty to be cited for just not having a license at all.' So my question became, 'Why do I keep hearing about fake LFCs, and how does this all tie into my bad-English, non-domiciled windmill?' For that, we go to the Lone Star State (and Part 2 of this story). The post Fake CDLs, language laws and the battle for safer US roads appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Final work day of Arkansas 95th General Assembly marked by flurry of activity
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas House and Senate are both in session and very busy on the last workday of the 95th General Assembly. Legislators have acted on a number of bills now headed to the governor's desk to become law. Arkansas legislature set to pass state $6 billion-plus state budget for 2025-2026 Bills passed on Wednesday waiting for the governor's signature include: Senate Bill 486 would allow someone to sue for up to two years after they encounter someone of the opposite sex in a restroom. The legislation includes protections for people who need assistance and correctional facilities. Senate Bill 640 empowers the governor to reconstitute the seven-member state library board by removing all its members and appointing a new round of members who will serve staggered terms. Usually, an appointment to the library board is for seven years at staggered intervals. Senate Bill 217 is the Gov. Sanders-backed bill to request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Human Services to exclude candy and soft drinks from SNAP benefits. Senate Bill 290 to place limits on moratoriums on watersheds passed after it was amended to maintain current protections on the Buffalo River and Lake Maumelle watersheds. Senate Bill 437 would create the 'Arkansas Wind Energy Development Act' to promote the growth and development of wind energy resources in the state. Senate Joint Resolution 15 allows the General Assembly to create economic development districts in the state through loans and grants. Four takeaways from the final full week of the Arkansas 95th General Assembly Not all bills will make it to the governor's desk. House Bill 1662, which would prohibit foreign lobbying, failed after three days of votes in the Senate, where it never received a majority. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill adding harsher penalties to felonies committed by undocumented migrants passes Arkansas House
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (right) talks with state Rep. Frances Cavenaugh, R-Walnut Ridge, after Sanders announced the introduction of an immigration bill sponsored by Cavanaugh and Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate) The Arkansas House approved a bill Wednesday night establishing harsher penalties for undocumented migrants who commit violent felonies in the state. Senate Bill 426, known as the Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act, also mandates Arkansas law enforcement agencies participate in a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement program that deputizes them to help ICE apprehend and deport undocumented migrants held in local jails and state prisons. The Senate passed the bill 45-5 on April 2, with five of the chamber's six Democrats opposed. Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pinebluff, was absent. The House voted 73-20 with 2 voting present to pass SB 426 Wednesday night. The bill creates the following additional penalties depending on the type, or class, of felony: A person convicted of a Class D felony, or an unclassified felony with no more than six years of prison time, would get up to four years added to the sentence; A person convicted of a Class A, B or C felony, or an unclassified felony with a prison sentence between six and 30 years, would get up to 10 years added to the sentence; A person convicted of a Class Y felony, or an unclassified felony with a prison sentence of longer than 30 years or life, would get up to 20 years added to the sentence. In Wednesday's committee meeting, Rep. Diana Gonzales Worthen, a first-term Democrat from Springdale, spoke against the bill, telling her colleagues that the legislation will destroy trust between the Latino community and law enforcement that has taken years to build. In the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the bill's House sponsor Walnut Ridge Republican Frances Cavenaugh said the bill fulfills Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' promise to help make Arkansans safer. At a March 17 press conference announcing the legislation, Sanders said: 'The Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act makes it clear: Arkansas will not tolerate violent, criminal illegals and will do our part to help the Trump administration keep our citizens safe.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill removing Arkansas' fluoride mandate passes Senate; in House committee
Sen. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale, addresses the Arkansas Senate on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Two bills affecting fluoride in drinking water are scheduled for Arkansas House committee discussion Thursday after passing the Senate on Tuesday. Senate Bill 2, which would repeal a statewide mandate for public water system fluoridation, passed the Senate on an 18-12 vote with five senators not voting. Senate Bill 613, which outlines a petition process to put the question of water fluoridation on a local ballot for consideration by voters served by a public water system passed by a wider margin, 27-7, with one senator voting present. Both bills are on the agenda of Thursday's House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor. Committee rejects proposal to repeal Arkansas' water fluoridation mandate Both bills were sponsored by Sen. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale, who has said that fluoride is a 'poison.' Fluoride — which helps prevent tooth decay — has been used in drinking water since 1945 to improve dental health. Penzo described SB2 as 'a good local control bill that allows the local water districts to determine' whether to fluoridate in his remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday evening. SB2 was voted down in the Senate Public Health committee in February, but Penzo successfully extracted the bill from committee last week over objections from committee chair Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, who said her committee had done its due diligence when urging her colleagues to reject the extraction motion. Green Forest Republican Sen. Bryan King, an opponent of water fluoridation, argued that it was a matter the entire Senate should take up and that four members of an eight-member committee shouldn't be able to hold up a bill that the whole body wanted to consider. The extraction motion passed 19-12, with two voting present. Arkansas is one of a minority of states that mandates fluoride in its drinking water, and has done so since 2011. Penzo's effort to remove Arkansas' mandate comes at a time when fluoridation has been put in the spotlight by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been outspoken in his opposition to community water fluoridation. The Associated Press reported Monday that Kennedy planned to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending water systems fluoridate their water, and that the EPA announced the same day that it is reviewing potential health risks from fluoride. Utah became the first state to ban adding fluoride in drinking water in late March. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas Senate approves proposed changes to blocked social media age verification law
Sen. Missy Irvin (left), R-Mountain View, asks a question about Senate Bill 611, sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees (right), R-Siloam Springs, on the Senate floor on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) The Arkansas House will consider a proposed amendment to the state's enjoined social media age verification law after the legislation received Senate approval Monday. Additionally, the Senate will vote Tuesday on a bill that would create a right for parents to sue social media platforms if their child develops eating disorders, self-harms, commits or attempts suicide, or becomes addicted to the platform's feeds because of content the child was exposed to. Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, and Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, introduced both bills last week. Senate Bill 611 would amend Act 689 of 2023, the Social Media Safety Act, which was the first of its kind in the nation and required social media platforms to verify the age of new account holders in Arkansas. Those under 18 could only access sites with parental permission. A federal judge temporarily blocked Act 689 in August 2023, before it went into effect, and permanently blocked the law March 31 for violating the First Amendment and the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. The amendments to Act 689 in SB 611 more clearly define social media and apply the definition to more platforms, lower the age of minor users from under 18 to under 16 years old, prohibit social media algorithms from targeting minors, and add a penalty for companies that do not comply. 'There still is reasonable age-verification language, but it puts more emphasis on the social media company to make sure that they are not preying on the youth,' Dees said. SB 611 passed the Senate with a bipartisan 21 votes. Four senators voted present and seven did not vote. Sens. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot; Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville; and Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, voted against the bill. Arkansas Legislature passes social media age verification bill over privacy, speech concerns Hill expressed the same concerns he did in 2023 before he voted against Act 689. 'I know I'm not going to change any of y'all's minds, but I do want you to think about the slippery slope we're walking on,' Hill said. '…If you want to limit the freedom of speech, go ahead and continue to vote for this.' Dees said SB 611 would not result in withholding content but instead would 'protect our most vulnerable.' 'We're trying to make sure that the profits of these social media companies don't come before the protection of our children,' Dees said. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the Social Media Safety Act a priority during her first year in office. In January, she called on lawmakers to amend the law and to give parents the right to take legal action against technology companies if their children experience mental health crises, such as suicidal ideation, tied to social media consumption. No members of the public spoke for or against Senate Bill 612, the private right of action bill, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed the bill with no audible dissent Monday. Under SB 612, a social media platform could be held accountable for 'placing content on the feed, screen, account, or other digital medium of the minor that causes the minor to view the content without explicitly searching for that specific content and includes algorithmic promotion of the content based on a previous search or engagement' if viewing the content leads to 'significant bodily or cognitive harm.' Dees told both the committee and the full Senate that technology companies have contacted him asking for the bills to be amended so it would not be applicable to them. He said he is open to amending the bill but does not want to accommodate billion-dollar companies that have 'neglected our youth.' SB 611 and SB 612 both establish a civil penalty of $10,000 per violation. The penalty for violating the Social Media Safety Act was originally $2,500 per violation. Sens. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, and Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, both asked Dees during the committee meeting how a plaintiff would prove under SB 612 that a social media platform 'knowingly' caused intangible harm to a minor. Whether a platform leads a minor to 'develop or sustain an addiction' to it, as SB 612 states, is 'a little tougher to prove' than a suicide attempt or an eating disorder 'without getting inside someone's head,' Tucker said. Dees said SB 612 is 'the framework to have that discussion' and creates a process for the courts to decide 'if there's damaging aspects that have taken place as a result of an interaction with Big Tech.' Dees and Eubanks also sponsored the Bell to Bell, No Cell Act, which Sanders signed in February, that bans personal electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, in schools. In March, a bipartisan majority of House members approved two bills that mimic stalled federal legislation aimed at regulating companies' online interactions with children. Lead sponsor Rep. Zack Gramlich, R-Fort Smith, told the Advocate he does not expect to proceed with one of them, the Arkansas Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The other bill is House Bill 1717, the Arkansas Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act. Gramlich said he is amending the bill and hopes to present it to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. HB 1717 would ban technology companies from collecting data from Arkansas minors except under specific circumstances, such as for financial transactions. They would also be barred from retaining that data and disclosing it to third parties that use the information in advertising targeted to children. Editor's Note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at
