House of Representatives Aging, Children, Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee
January 22, 2025
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker [00:00:00] ...the Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs. That is the name of our committee for the foreseeable future, until, as many of you know, the legislation goes through that Representative Evans has to make a joint committee between the Senate and House that is solely devoted to military affairs. But as for now, we're going to continue as normal, whatever normal may be.
I am Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker, and I am the chair. I will introduce myself last, but I'm very thrilled to have Representative Mary Bentley as our vice chair this term. And I'm going to let her start us off. And if you'll just tell us your name, your district, maybe what your district covers and something interesting about yourself. No 30 minute introduction or anything.
And we'll keep moving around and come back around. And then I'll introduce our legislative staff and analysts. And I will tell you, though, before we go, that we are such a great, unique, already well formed committee. We have ten veterans and ten freshmen, so we're just as balanced as you can get. So I hope you all feel that. Go ahead.
Representative Mary Bentley [00:01:20] Well, it's an absolute honor to be chosen as vice chair to work with my good friend, Representative Sonia Barker. She and I came in together in 2015. We have been through thick and thin on many things, and it's really is an honor to be vice chair with you. So thank you.
I am Mary Bentley, State Representative, District 54, the central part of the state. So I have Saline County, Faulkner County, Perry County. I live 40 miles from the Capitol steps to my house. So not very far. I'm blessed to get to go home every night, unlike a lot of you. So I appreciate all your commitment to this committee. I was a registered nurse, worked at Children's Hospital for 14 years and absolutely loved it, loved taking care of children. So I'm passionate about kids.
I could have, as a veteran, chosen any committee I wanted, but this committee is very important. This committee is dear to my heart. I wanted to be a part of it. So thank you all for being a part of it today, and we'll go down and let Representative Springer, if you'll start with us, we'll go down this side and come back up. Thank you.
Representative Joy Springer [00:02:07] [mic off]...starting at, if you've seen Chester Street, all the way west past Baptist Hospital. That is my district. It's like Central Little Rock area. I've been on this committee since I started in 2020. I came here based upon a special election. I think I had about 5 or 6 elections before I really became the representative for this particular district. As I recall, I think it was 5 or 6. So I'm happy to be here. I chose to be here again this term. I had a choice to choose another committee, but I decided that I wanted to continue on this committee. So I'm happy to be here. I'm looking forward to working with each and every one of you. Thank you.
Representative Rick McClure [00:03:04] Rick McClure, District 29, portions of Hot Spring and Saline County. And this is my third term in here. This is where we really get to deal with some very heart touching stories and can make a difference for a lot of people.
Representative Keith Brooks [00:03:22] Keith Brooks, District 78, portions of West Pulaski and Saline County. This is my third term, as well as my third term here on Aging, Children and Youth. And just appreciate your leadership, appreciate the issues that we deal with. They're not always easy. In fact, are oftentimes very difficult. But I think we have a great group of people who are passionate about the good of kids and the good of what we can do for our state. So thank you.
Representative Tony Furman [00:03:47] Tony Furman, District 82, southern half of Saline County. Third term on this committee. Very passionate about the subject. And my wife and I are foster parents going on, I think ten years now. But I don't know. Foster time kind of blurs. Ten years might feel like 15. But it's very important work that we do. Not always easy, but happy to be here and looking forward to working with you guys.
Representative Hope Duke [00:04:11] Thank you. I am Hope Duke. I represent District 12, which is the northwest corner of the state of Arkansas. My district borders Missouri and Oklahoma. I represent Gravette, Decatur, Maysville, Bella Vista, Hiwasse, and some rural areas and some bigger areas. Interesting tidbit about me, I guess, is, veterans here will know this is a big deal to me, I am entering the grandparents club this year for the first time. I'll become a-- well, I am a grandparent. The baby will be due in June, so I'm very excited about that. And you're going to see lots of pictures in months to come.
Representative Joey Carr [00:04:48] Joey Carr, District 34, which is about the eastern one third of Mississippi County. 30 year retired educator. But this allows me to still help and serve children in need. I have a lot of veterans in my family, so that was another main reason I picked this committee for the veteran aspect. And the Lord decided to give me a connection to the aging because my mother in law has moved in with us. So I'm getting all aspects of this committee now. So thank you, Madam Chair.
Representative Matt Duffield [00:05:21] Matt Duffield, District 53. I represent Russellville and a handful of homes in the Pottsville area in Pope County. Second term legislator, second term on this committee. Looking forward to working with each of you. Thank you.
Representative Shad Pearce [00:05:35] Representative Shad Pearce, District 40. District 40 encompasses Independence, a little bit of White and a little bit of Cleburne County. I'm also like, Representative Duffield, two for two on this committee. And this is one of the only things I ask for is to be on this committee because, as I said last year, it's everything I love. And it's a very important committee and it's very sensitive. And again, it's everything I love, and I'm honored to be here. Thank you.
Representative Jessie McGruder [00:06:08] Good morning, everyone. I'm Representative Jessie McGruder in Crittenden County and a portion of Cross County. I want to thank Representative Barker for allowing me to sit on this side of the table so I can see the door. That's the issue for me. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I've been blessed to have six children. So I have an understanding of dealing with children. But I'm here to learn as much as I can, and I will try to be as involved as I can on this committee.
Representative Dolly Henley [00:06:38] I'm Representative Dolly Henley, District 88, Southwest Arkansas, all of Hempstead County, part of Howard and part of Miller County. Excited to be with this committee. My husband is a retired warrant officer and I'm also a volunteer on the Employer Support for Guard and Reserve in Arkansas. Thank you very much.
Representative Jason Nazarenko [00:06:59] Good morning. Jason Nazarenko. I've got district 4. So that's all of Marion County and then the southern portion of Baxter County. I'm really excited to be here. This is one of the committees that I really wanted, so I was excited that it was available. I'm a 23 year Army veteran and my mother in law, to Representative Carr's point, my mother in law also lives with us. She's been with us since I retired. And to Representative Duke's point, I'm also joining the grandparents' club. I've got one in July and one in August. So very exciting. Thank you very much.
Representative Diana Gonzales Worthen [00:07:33] Good morning. Diana Gonzales Worthen from District 9 in Springdale. I'm a long time educator and I was very pleased to be on this committee. This was one of the committees I really wanted to be on with my work with children and youth being a classroom teacher. And that is very dear to my heart. Taking care of our seniors and grandparents is also very important. And I come from a long line family of veterans. So everything in this committee, it just matches my own passion. And I'm a learner. I'm a freshman along with, we have several of our freshman class here. And I'm just happy to be here and I'll be learning as much as I can from everyone, all of you that have been serving on this committee for two, three terms. Thank you.
Representative Nick Burkes [00:08:24] Good morning. My name is Nick Burkes. I represent District 14, which is Southwest Bentonville and Centerton. As a relatively young person, I'm hoping to provide some unique insight maybe on the youth aspect of this committee. So I look forward to doing that. So I'll do that.
Representative James Eaton [00:08:47] James Eaton. I represent District 26. I'm also a freshman. District 26 takes in all of Madison County, the southern part of Carroll County and the northern part of Franklin County. So basically from the Arkansas River to Missouri. Glad to be here. I'm an insurance agent. I have some cattle interest also. I'm a farmer. So glad to be here.
Representative Glenn Barnes [00:09:15] My name is Glenn Barnes. The 65th District covers Jefferson County. I'm really glad to be in this committee. I worked with the Juvenile Justice Court for 14 years and DHS court also under Judge Earnest Brown. I've seen some really tough situations for children. And one of the problems we're having, especially in our black community, is children at a young age experiencing a lot of hardship. I would really love to see some changes made. So I'm just glad to be on this committee.
Representative Paul Childress [00:09:55] I am Paul Childress. I serve District 83. I'm a week and a half on the job. Brand new. I'm here to learn. My district is Benton, Hot Springs Village and pretty much everything north of-- not everything, but north of 30. I share Saline County with-- five of us on this committee have Saline County. So Saline County has a big presence. My history is I was a policeman for ten years. I worked with children in crimes and been in the insurance business for 25. Currently still on the Benton School board until my term is up. So I get to deal with children a few times a day on issues with the school and I've served on the CASA Board, Mercy Hospital Child Advocacy Board. So I'm involved with children. It's a passion of mine, so I'm glad to be here.
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker [00:10:40] Thank you. Representative Barnett? Nothing like walking in the door and somebody calls you out. We're glad you made it. And I realized-- good morning-- that, for example, Representative Torres contacted me yesterday and he is running a bill, I believe, in State Agencies and hoping to get back in time to introduce himself before we finish our committee today.
But you will have times you will have to be out and we'll talk about making sure I have your contact information, but don't ever stop at the door and think, they've started and not come in, please. Because sometimes we're actually looking for a quorum once things get pretty hot and heavy. So we're introducing ourselves. Name, district, a little bit about ourselves. And it's your turn.
Representative Lincoln Barnett [00:11:28] All right. Hello, everyone. I'm Lincoln Barnett. I reside in Hughes, Arkansas, and I represent District 63, which is parts of Crittenden County and St Francis County. And prior public service has been on the school board and in the mayor's office.
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker [00:11:46] Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Such a varied and unique group. We have youth. We have grandparents. We have all kinds. But you can hear everyone's heart for what happens in this committee and the good we can do in this committee. So I'm very, very honored to be serving with you. Let me tell you. And we're going to come back to Blake also before we're done with things.
But our committee analyst is Blake Gillam. And I know you will be glad, if you don't know it already, but you cannot be happier to have Blake than I am. Does a great job as our committee analyst. We also have Destiny Davis, who is our designated assistant. Today we have Terry Dunlap, who may be with us some, may be out in other places. And our committee attorney is Laura Holzhauer. You will see her some, but not on a regular basis. Would you like to tell us anything before I introduce myself, or do you want me to finish up the introductions and come back to you? Okay, go ahead. Okay.
Blake Gillam [00:12:51] My name is Blake Gillam. I've been the committee analyst since the summer of 2019 for this committee. And what I'm going to do, basically during the session, I kind of act as the parliamentarian for this committee meeting. I organize the agenda, work with the bills, do the paperwork to get the bills out of this committee to the main chamber floor.
Basically, any of the members on this committee, if you ever have questions about procedures for it, feel free to reach out to me. I'll make sure you have my email, my phone number. If you have questions about your bills, reach out. I do have a list of agency contacts that I will email you all today and I will have hard copies of that contact list for you at our next meeting next week. That list may grow. If you want additional people on there, I can absolutely have that added.
I did have a couple of members ask me today. We have our organizational meeting and we have two deferred bills on there. That was done at the sponsor's request and there's multiple ways that can happen. They basically just asked if it could be put on there as deferred and some members do that just because they don't-- they want people to know that those bills aren't going to run.
If you ever want those taken off, you just contact me by 2:30 two days before the meeting. So you would contact me before 2:30 on Monday if you want something off the deferred agenda for a Wednesday meeting. So me and Miss Davis will help with wherever you need us to. Ask questions as you see fit. And I will always be here to assist the committee. It's a very important committee, and I look forward to working with you all.
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker [00:14:36] Thank you, Blake. And he's every bit as good as you think he could be. Destiny is, too, and we're very grateful for them. I am Sonia Barker. I already said that before. I represent District 96. I'm very envious of you that call out one county. I represent all or part of six counties. Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Ouachita and Union. But that's the way rural Arkansas goes. So it's great.
I'm an educator by trade. I taught for 21 years, taught a little bit after I came in to the legislature, taught first semester only. I taught English, high school English and French, oral communications, and I coached the tennis team. Have been married for 34 years, have three grown children and six grandchildren, and they're the best thing in the world. I mean, I know you know that, but I just have to say it for the record. Okay. And I'm going to ask you a question, Representative Worthen or Representative Gonzalez Worthen?
Representative Diana Gonzales Worthen [00:15:39] Gonzales Worthen.
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker [00:15:41] Okay. I use my maiden name as well. Not even hyphenated, but I use it also sometimes. But I wanted to shorten it if you wanted it shortened and not if you don't. But as you said, I chose education and this committee freshman year and I have been on this committee all five terms. Well, this is my fifth.
So very important committee, very, I believe someone said heart touching, heart wrenching at times. And yet very, very important. But no one ever told us that being a legislator was for the faint of heart. Right. So we're gearing up and we're going to get with it. Okay. I'm going to read you a few things off of here. We have several different agencies and stakeholders, obviously, that are involved with this committee and we'll have various ones here at different times. But if you're here today with an agency or entity and you would like to introduce yourself, I'm just going to ask you to stand where you are. And we'll start over here to my right and just move around the room if you would like to introduce yourself.
[00:16:50] [Off-mic introductions]
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker [00:22:22] Well, he's not on this committee. His bill was coming and he's the one that pulled it down. We didn't defer it. He did, just for the record. But we're very glad to have you and thank you for that program and that explanation. Yes. Thank you. If you introduced yourself from an agency, then would you stay around just for a moment when our committee is over and make sure that Blake has your contact information, please? Thank you all. And thank you for introducing yourself.
Okay, Let me just go through what we have here. And so I don't forget anything, I'm going to basically read it to you. We do meet Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and I think I may have said room 131 yesterday. It's room 130. But you all figured that out. I don't know where 131 came from. At the call of the chair and on Wednesdays. A quorum must be present, as you know, to start each meeting. 11 members constitutes a quorum. So it's important to be on time and to be here.
It's also important to me to have your contact information so that, as Representative Torres let me know that he would not be here because of another bill, so that we can have those kind of conversations so that I can get a feel. Representative Bentley as well, depending on who's chairing and who's doing that day so we can get an idea of what kind of quorum we will have. I don't like group messages. As Representative McGruder said he doesn't like sitting with his back to the door, my husband is the same way. I know exactly where I'm supposed to sit when I go in a restaurant because he doesn't put his back to the door. Well, I don't like group text. I appreciate the efficiency of them, but I will only send one out if we need it.
Okay. But I would like for you to individually contact me any time you have anything, questions, concern, you're going to be late, that kind of thing. Agendas are prepared in accordance with house rules. Agendas are prepared two days in advance. Sponsor notifications will be sent to members who have bills on the agenda two days before the committee meeting. Those notices are sent by email, so be sure and check your email.
After a bill or resolution has appeared on the committee agenda and has been called up for consideration and the sponsor is not present, the item will be placed at the bottom of the active agenda. We do try in here to go in order, but obviously that works for a little while until people are gone and things go haywire. And so I will try and let you know if there's just a total change to our agenda. If a bill or resolution has been called up for consideration three times, it will automatically drop to the deferred list unless the sponsor notifies staff. Requests to move bills from the deferred list to the active agenda must be made at 2:30 p.m. two days prior to the scheduled committee meeting, as Blake has already informed us.
Amendments should always be in writing. And please make that the first thing you do. If you bring a bill that has an amendment, go straight to staff and let them know that you have an amendment so that they can get those copied so that we can all have copies, even if it's just to add a co-sponsor. That's just the procedure. So please take that straight to them immediately.
And special order of business is set at the call of the chair, done when the sponsor of a bill requests a special meeting date or time to hear their bill. This is used when there is a controversial bill, which we don't have a lot of, but we have had in the past where a lot of people will either be testifying for or against, or when a sponsor has people coming in from out of town and needs a particular special date. But it needs to be really special. We can't jump around all over the calendar for everyone that just has someone to come in, but we can talk about that.
As far as a follow up goes in procedure, if you're asking questions and I'm just going to echo what Representative Brooks has told us and several of you are on the Education Committee with me, you don't have to stop and ask me for a follow up. If you are in the vein of a conversation and you need another question, just keep that conversation flowing. The oral comm teacher in me really just almost stutters when we have to stop, you turn your mic on and ask, and I turn my mic on and recognize you, and then you go back to your mic. Just keep it going.
Now, if you tend to monopolize the time, I will politely remind you that we need to move on and put you back in the queue for questions at a later time. But if it's a reasonable conversation that's going on-- I realize, though, that if you're a veteran, it may just be habit to say follow up, Madam Chair, at which time I probably would just nod at you and not even fool with my mic. So let's just keep things flowing.
If I do not have your cell phone number, if your number that is associated with your headshot and your information on our agenda, I mean, our roster for this committee, would you see me after we gavel out so that I have a good working number. In case that's your home phone number that's on there, please let me have your cell phone number.
Anything else? Anything else? Apparently we're good to go. Anything else from members or any questions? I loved hearing all the, I'm here to learn. Well, guess what? It's not just this side of the table that's here to learn. This side of the table-- well, I don't know. Probably not Blake. He knows everything. But we're still here to learn, too. And every session is unique. All the bills are unique. Everything that's going to happen is unique and has not happened before. So please don't feel out of place. We're all in this together. We're all working for the same thing, the good of Aging, Children, Youth and our Military and Legislative Affairs as well. Okay. Thank you. We are adjourned.
