Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
                                           Act 757 of the Regular Session
 State of Arkansas                    As Engrossed:      H3/29/21
 93rd General Assembly                        A Bill
 Regular Session, 2021                                                             HOUSE BILL 1794
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 By: Representatives Vaught, M. Gray
 By: Senator D. Wallace
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                                   For An Act To Be Entitled
                AN ACT TO CREATE THE LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE PATHWAY
                PILOT PROGRAM; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER
                PURPOSES.
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                                               Subtitle
                         TO CREATE THE LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE
                         PATHWAY PILOT PROGRAM; AND TO DECLARE AN
                         EMERGENCY.
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 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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        SECTION 1.        Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 16, Subchapter 10, is
 amended to add an additional section to read as follows:
        6-16-1005.        Licensed Practical Nurse Pathway Pilot Program.
        (a)    There is created the Licensed Practical Nurse Pathway Pilot
 Program.
        (b)    By the 2022-2023 school year, the Division of Elementary and
 Secondary Education, in consultation with the Division of Higher Education,
 shall establish and implement the program by which a public school student
 enrolled in grades nine through twelve (9-12) in a public school or open-
 enrollment public charter school may enroll in undergraduate courses required
 to obtain a diploma or certificate of completion as a licensed practical
 nurse by the date on which the public school student graduates or within a
 reasonable frame of time after the public school student graduates.
        (c)    The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall work with
 the following entities without limitation to establish and implement the
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     As Engrossed:       H3/29/21                                                 HB1794
 program as required under subsection (b) of this section:
               (1)    The Department of Health;
               (2)    The Division of Higher Education;
               (3)    The Arkansas State Board of Nursing;
               (4)    The Office of Skills Development; and
               (5)    Any other individual or entity involved in the practice of
 nursing and nursing education programs.
      (d)(1)     A public school district or open-enrollment public charter
 school shall submit to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education:
                       (A)   An application to participate in the program; and
                       (B)   The name of the institution of higher education that
 has indicated its willingness to partner with the public school district or
 open-enrollment public charter school to implement the program in the public
 school district or open-enrollment public charter school.
               (2)    A public school district may apply on behalf of a single
 public school within the public school district.
               (3)    A public school or open-enrollment public charter school may
 partner with a secondary vocational center to implement the program under
 this section.
      (e)   In selecting participants, the Division of Elementary and
 Secondary Education shall:
               (1)    Consider qualified applicants from various locations and of
 various sizes and demographics; and
               (2)    Consult with entities listed under subsection (c) of this
 section.
      (f)   The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, in
 consultation with the Division of Higher Education, shall develop:
               (1)    An application form, schedule, and procedure by which a
 public school district or open-enrollment public charter school may apply to
 participate in the program;
               (2)    Criteria to use in selecting public school districts and
 open-enrollment public charter schools to participate in the program; and
               (3)    A policy clarifying that an institution of higher education
 with which a public school district or open-enrollment public charter school
 is partnered shall exercise oversight and control of the academic aspects of
 the program, including without limitation faculty selection, curricula, and
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     As Engrossed:    H3/29/21                                                      HB1794
 evaluation processes.
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      SECTION 2.    EMERGENCY CLAUSE.       It is found and determined by the
 General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that the ongoing public health
 emergency has increased the strain on the state's public health system; that
 the shortage of nurses in the state has been emphasized by the ongoing public
 health emergency; and that this act is immediately necessary in order to
 create accelerated and streamlined opportunities by which young people can
 obtain licensed practical nursing degrees and enter the workforce earlier.
 Therefore, an emergency is declared to exist, and this act being immediately
 necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety shall
 become effective on:
            (1)    The date of its approval by the Governor;
            (2)    If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor,
 the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the
 bill; or
            (3)    If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is
 overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto.
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                                    /s/Vaught
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                                APPROVED: 4/19/21
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