Arkansas Legislature Convenes

We've adjourned for the three-day MLK weekend after convening the 86th Arkansas General Assembly on Monday. The first week went surprisingly smooth in the House, considering that we installed a new governor, speaker, and 35 new members.

As is usually the case in the first week of the session, committee meetings and votes were few and far between since few bills have been read across the desk and assigned to committee. However, there were interesting pre-filings that sparked some limited debate on our side of the capitol.

Rep. Dobbins's HB1037 prevents female inmates from being shackled when transported from the pen to the hospital for childbirth. One would think that common sense would dictate this to be a reaonable measure, but there were 10 no votes on the Bill. The absolute risk of harm in a potential birth from a woman shackled at the ankles surely outweighs any danger she may pose to the public during this limited time, especially since such inmates are already guarded. This legislation was apparently sparked from a civil suit that is currently pending. The Ark. Department of Corrections was opposed to the Bill and testified at the House Judiciary Committee on the basis that the proposal was unnecessary since it had recently been implemented as an administrative policy. The Bill is now headed to the Senate.

Rep. Chris Thyer almost derailed my goal to read every bill in the first week with his 121-page HB1009. This Bill enacts and revises the Uniform Limited Partnership Act and sets out the fees for the filing of such an entity. The proposal passed the House Judiciary Committee unanimously and is currently undergoing a "member's own" amendment prior to heading back to the committee. Rep. Thyer also filed legislation that would require drivers involved in a car accident resulting in injury or death to remain on the scene for a "reasonable" time until they know that law enforcement is en route. This reminded me of the old common law "good samaritan doctrine" in civil tort law. I remembered that this is current law in Louisiana, where I am also licensed to practice in addition to Arkansas and Texas, and I was happy to support this proposal.

Rep. John Paul Wells filed a bill that enhances penalties for manufacturing meth in the presence of an "elderly person" (defined as someone 70 years old or older) or an incompetent person. Previously, this enhancement only applied to minors. I was somewhat concerned with the addition of an elderly person who has not been adjudicated to be incompetent, but after considering the bill, I supported the enhancement.

Rep. Bruce Maloch filed legislation (HB1066) that would establish a "Rainy Day" Fund to protect education funding and state government operations in the event of an economic downturn that would leave the state budget in a shortfall. This is a continuation of the Revenue Stabilization and Classification Acts, and the Bill provides that the fund cannot exceed $200,000,000. During each fiscal year, the state's CFO can transfer money into the fund from the General Revenue Allotment Reserve Fund after the terms of that fund are resolved. I'm thankful for Bruce's leadership on this issue, and it fulfills one of my personal legislative goals in dealing with the current revenue surplus.

I must say that I'm highly impressed with Governor Beebe. I heard him speak on Tuesday both in the House chamber and on the steps of the capitol, on Wednesday in the State of the State address and at the Municipal League's Winter Convention, and on Thursday morning at the local "Political Animals Club" at the Little Rock Hilton. He has laid out a vision for Arkansas's future, and he has been very detailed in both his educational legislative package and his tax relief package. I'll be discussing details of his legislative package on this blog soon.

Almost 200 bills have been filed so far. The coming week is sure to bring more key legislation that will help define this session.