Hot topics in other states this week

A few more states have adjourned their 2007 legislative sessions. Kentucky, New Mexico, and South Dakota have joined Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in adjourning. Like Arkansas, several other states are projected to adjourn soon, including Alabama, Florida, Wisconsin, California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Idaho, and Mississippi. It looks like New Mexico is about to be called back into session to deal with a road project after adjourning recently -- "sine not so die" as one reporter over there put it.

Number of bills filed nationwide so far this year: 122,097

Business
Kansas: Tha Kansas Supreme Court ruled that a state law requiring workers to be paid their full wages at least once a month applies to illegal immigrants. That law also allows the Department of Labor to double the amount of money an employee collects if the employer deliberately withholds wages. The decision overrules a lower court verdict that said the statute did not cover undocumented workers;

Florida: The legislature gave final approval for the state-run Citizens Property Insurance to sell coastal residents wind-only and full-coverage policies at prices competitive with private insurers;

Iowa: Gov. Chet Culver (D) signs legislation that caps interest on loans that use a car title as collateral at 21 percent. Proponents of the new law say current interest rates on such loans often reach 300 percent;

Kentucky: Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) signs legislation requiring that all cigarettes sold be self-extinguishing. Seven other states have also passed laws mandating the fire-safe cigarettes, which go out when not being puffed on by
the user;

Georgia: The House rejected HB 163, a measure that would have legalized short-term, high-interest payday loans in the Peach State. This proposal is going the opposite direction of our failed legislation filed by Rep. David Johnson. Georgia is one of 12 states that do not allow payday lenders in the state;

Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, and Indiana: These states have approved legislation or resolutions condemning any state investments that include publicly-traded companies in Sudan due to the genocide there. Sen. Sue Madison filed SCR20 regarding this matter in our legislature;

Crime & Punishment
Texas: Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed the "stand Your ground" bill similar to that that Mike Burris filed. It overturns a law that requires residents to first retreat before using deadly force against an attacker. The measure would apply to anyone defending their home, automobile or business, and would exempt the shooter from civil liability. 15 other states have adopted similar laws over the last two years;

California: A trial court ruled that police may detain and search someone they suspect of using marijuana even if that person has a state-approved medical marijuana card. The court said the Golden State law only shields medical pot patients from legal conviction, not from being searched or arrested;

Virginia: Gov. Tim Kaine (D) vetoed SB 1116, HB 2347, HB 2348, HB 2750 and SB 1288, all of which would have expanded the Old Dominion’s use of the death penalty. Lawmakers reconvene this week to decide whether to accept or seek overrides to the vetoes. I can assure that Betsey Wright is keeping a close eye on this situation;

New Hampshire: The House killed a proposal to end use of capital punishment.

Education
Maryland: The House approved legislation that would extend in-state tuition rates to residents, regardless of their legal immigration status;

Texas: The Senate approved a bill that would require all public school employees, including janitors, bus drivers and other nonteaching personnel, to undergo a criminal background check. Anyone with a sexual offense or felony against a child would be barred from being employment in the school system;

Environment
Maryland: The House approved legislation that will ban dish soaps that contain phosphorous. Manufacturers would have until 2009 to comply;

Colorado: Gov. Bill Ritter (D) signed HB 1281, legislation that requires utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources such as the sun, wind or biomass by 2020;

Health & Science
Maryland: The Senate approved a measure that would bar smoking inside most public buildings;

Minnesota: The Senate approved a proposal similar to Maryland's that would bar smoking in virtually all public buildings, including bars and restaurants.

Colorado: The Senate approved a proposal to extend the ban on smoking in public buildings to include gambling casinos. Also in Colorado, the House rejected a measure that would have required parental permission for teens to use tanning salons;

Immigration
Missouri: The House approved a bill that would require police to determine citizenship status for anyone arrested;

Illinois: The House approved legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain a license;

Social Policy
Mississippi: Gov. Haley Barbour (R) signed legislation that would ban all abortions not involving rape or a threat to the mother’s life. The measure will only take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the federal statute making abortion legal;

Ohio: A trial court upheld a law that bars funeral protests during and one hour before and after a service and mandates that protesters stay at least 300 feet away from those proceedings. The court did abolish a 300-foot “floating buffer zone” for moving funeral processions;

Kansas: The House approved a bill that would require funeral protesters stay at least 150 feet away from those services one hour before, during and two hours after the ceremony;

Idaho: Gov. Butch Otter (R) signed legislation that requires all unmarried, unemancipated minor girls to get the permission of a parent, guardian or judge before having an abortion. It goes into effect immediately.;

Iowa: The Senate approved a proposal that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of categories covered under the state’s anti-discrimination law;

New Hampshire: The House rejects a proposed constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being only between one man and one woman.

Transportation
Virginia: Gov. Tim Kaine (D) signed legislation that prohibits drivers under 18 from using cell phones or other wireless devices while behind the wheel. The law
takes effect on July 1;

Scenic Newton County from 270 feet AGL

Here is a pretty neat 65-second clip showing a traverse of Hemmed-in Hollow in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness.

Ark-La-Tex election results tonight

For you real political junkies, there is a Louisiana House race (runoff) today to fill the District 4 position left vacant by Cedric Glover, who was recently elected as Mayor of Shreveport. The term for the winner will be a mere 10 months long, but the Louisiana legislature will be convening for a regular legislative session at the end of April. The candidates are Patrick Williams and Larry Ferdinand, both Democrats. As you know from previous entries on the blog, party affiliation matters not in free-for-all Louisiana elections -- the top two vote-getters meet in the runoff regardless of party.

Williams, a former Caddo Parish Commissioner, is the favorite and garnered 44% in the primary (compared to Ferdinand's 26%). City Councilman Calvin Lester finished third with 19% in the primary and Reginald Johnson, the head of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, came in fourth with 11%. District 4* encompasses most of eastern Caddo Parish and takes in some of northern Shreveport.

*- Here's your useless but interesting tidbit for the day. House Districts 1 in each of the four states in the Ark-La-Tex are adjoining. Louisiana House District 1 makes up the northwesternmost part of Louisiana. I represent District 1 in extreme southwest Arkansas. Rep. Stephen Frost's District 1 across State Line Avenue is made up of extreme northeast Texas, and Oklahoma House District 1 is in the southeasternmost portion of that state.

Update: With 96% reporting, Williams wins with 66% of the vote.

Chairman Bill Gwatney

Bill Gwatney was elected by acclamation as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas this morning at the state committee meeting in Hot Springs. Good crowd, good event -- he was introduced by Governor Beebe, and several elected officials (federal, state, county) were in attendance.

Congressman Ross coming through town Monday

I ran into Mike Ross in Hot Springs this morning, and he reminded me that he'll be in town for "community office hours" at the Miller County Courthouse on Monday, April 2nd at 1:00 p.m. They're in the middle of a two week recess, and he's hitting all areas of his district. Here's a link to show where he'll be in the coming week.

A little more on the 2007 GIF Distribution

I've had a few questions about the funding of GIF projects contained in HB2501 and whether funding was definite for the projects. HB2501 appropriates more GIF money than is available.

Section 3(a) comes off the top, and it will be funded (beginning on p. 3, line 16). Section 3(b) is the legislative side of General Improvement, and it will be funded (beginning on p. 4, line 22). The governor's portion, however, will not be fully funded. He has about $200,000,000 for his side, and that section of this bill includes appropriations much higher than that. It is within his discretion how to prioritize those appropriations (see the language beginning on p. 19, line 33). There are also a couple of items that do not have to be included in HB2501 but that are still included in General Improvement. The most notable of these funds includes the transfer of $21,000,000 from the general revenue allotment reserve fund for the public school URT collection.

The Senate will vote on HB2501 on Monday's Senate Budget Calendar. Their identical version (SB833) has been passed and transmitted to the House, where it has been referred to the Joint Budget Committee. By passing the Senate version of the RSA on Friday, the GIF appropriation is the only large budget bill left undone.

Week 12 Legislative Summary

We are three days from recessing the 83 day old legislative session, and we have plans for a sine die date of May 1 to consider vetoes, to correct errors or oversights, or to consider proposed constitutional amendments.

We moved the two major appropriations to the state budget out of the House yesterday. One of the first items of business Friday was the passage of the 2007 Revenue Stabilization Act. We passed both the House version and the identical Senate version on Friday by a unanimous vote.

The Revenue Stabilization Act is the mechanism that facilitates a balanced budget and prevents deficit spending by allocating general revenue to the various fund accounts for state agencies by priority. As taxes are collected, they are distributed first to the funds and in the proportions set out in the A category, then the B category. HB2338 does not provide for a C category for this biennium. The bill sets a budget of $4.35 billion for fiscal 2008, which starts July 1, and $4.52 billion for fiscal 2009. State colleges and universities received a total increase of 10 percent, from the current fiscal year’s $644 million to $709 million in fiscal 2008. Substantial increases also went to the state Department of Correction, primarily to open two new units, and to the Department of Community Correction, primarily to hire 60 more probation officers. Pre-school programs saw an increase of about $40 million. Programs to help abused and neglected children will see an increase of $8 million.

Our RSA is unique in this country. It was enacted in 1945 after all taxes were earmarked and dedicated for specific purposes from the previous session -- some services became over-funded while others were short. For further explanation of the Arkansas budget process and for all revenue sources and funding for the state, click here.

Also Friday, we passed the 2007 General Improvement Fund Distribution Law out of the House. The General Improvement Fund consists of a portion of the state’s $919-million surplus. Public schools will receive $456 million of the surplus for repairs and constructions to provide a safe environment for our children and to satisfy Lake View concerns.

The House set up a system for GIF distribution for three main areas of funding: volunteer fire departments, senior citizen centers, and domestic violence centers. Members believe these three appropriations within HB2501, which route funding through various state agencies, are acceptable projects with a statewide impact considering the ruling in Wilson v. Weiss, where the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down some 2005 GIF appropriations as violative of Amendment 14 to the Arkansas Constitution prohibiting "special and local" legislation. The governor will have discretion over $187.8 million for various projects. The governor’s projects include $44 million to settle a dispute with the federal government stemming from the previous administration, $4 million to replace an aging state police airplane, $80 million for state highways, $25 million for the National U.S. Marshal Museum in Fort Smith, and a "quick action" account of $40 million for the governor to use in landing a major industry for location in Arkansas.

In addition, Texarkana and Miller County (and all cities and counties) will see a large increase in state turnback funds. Here are some specific figures which we can expect to see locally: Texarkana should receive $226,730.70 from this portion for turnback, and Miller County should receive $206,729.73. Turnbacks for cities is based strictly on per capita population, while turnback for counties based on a formula that distributes 75% equally among the counties while distributing the other quarter on a per capita basis.

Miller County should receive $57,600.00 of the $4,000,000 to be distributed for fire protection services (Act 833 funds). Domestic Violence Prevention of Texarkana should receive $30,000.00, and three senior citizen centers in Texarkana should receive $11,000 each: Miller County, Sandflat, and Texarkana Housing Opportunities. Each of the eight Planning & Development Districts will receive $250,000.00 and each state-supported college/university (two and four year institutions) will receive $100,000.00 of General Improvement Funding.

Two proposed constitutional amendments will be on the November, 2008 ballot. SJR4 asks voters to rid the 1874 Constitution of obsolete language (mainly regarding voting and elections) and shouldn't face much opposition. HJR1004 would allow annual meetings of the General Assembly, which currently meets in regular session only during odd-numbered years. I voted against this, as I believe it makes it tough for part-time legislators to set aside businesses as it is now -- I believe the current constitutional setup is sufficient for the legislative branch. I do see the benefits, however, of being able to control the budget and the various state agencies by reviewing their appropriations more frequently. It probably does give the legislature a little more oversight and effectiveness, both of which have eroded through the implementation of term limits and inexperience. If voters permit, the session during even-numbered years would be limited to budget matters. Such sessions also would be limited to 30 days but could be extended only once, by a maximum of 15 days. 46 states have legislatures that meet annually -- neither Arkansas nor Texas are among them.

It has been a smooth and effective session that included (1) public school legislation that should end the Lake View case and (2) the largest tax cut in Arkansas history. I anticipate that Monday and Tuesday will be light, as we'll mainly be concurring in any Senate amendments and passing Senate bills while considering what's left of the bills for consideration that are still working their way through committee. As always, don't hesitate to call or e-mail if I can be of service.

Texarkana College Commencement

will be May 15, 2007. I'll be giving the address this year and am honored to be doing it. Gotta go pull out my Zig Ziglar, Irving Younger and Lou Holtz CDs for some inspiration. Headed to Texarkana now, though, so I'll be away from the blog. Will post the weekly update later tonight. It's off to Hot Springs in the morning for state committee.

State budget on today's calendar

The House will vote to move the 2007 Revenue Stabilization Act and the 2007 General Improvement Fund Distribution Law out of the House today. Both proposals have remained on members' desks for the required three days. Here's a good read by Seth Blomeley today on GIF/surplus spending.

The Revenue Stabilization Act is the mechanism that facilitates a balanced budget and prevents deficit spending by allocating general revenue to the various fund accounts for state agencies by priority. As taxes are collected, they are distributed first to the funds and in the proportions set out in the A category, then the B category. HB2338 does not provide for a C category for this biennium.

Our RSA is unique in this country. It was proposed by Governor Ben Laney and enacted by the legislature in 1945 after all taxes were earmarked and dedicated for specific purposes from the previous session -- some services became over-funded while others were short. For further explanation of the Arkansas budget process and for all revenue sources and funding for the state, click here.

Update (9:15 a.m.): The RSA passed 97-0 and the GIF distribution passed 96-0.

Update (2:45 p.m.): We also passed out the Senate identical RSA bill. Truthfully, we could probably recess today if GIF was on its way to the governor, but it appears as though Monday (and especially Tuesday) will be light. In other voting today, we voted down the alternative payday lender bill, passed a state version to federal law to criminalize the concealment of illegal aliens, and voted down a $5 MM GIF appropriation for charter schools. There was no motion to remove SB959 from committee.

Update (3:30 p.m.): Just returned from Rules, where SB795 failed on a voice vote. Now waiting on bills from the Senate to be read across the desk here in the chamber.

DPA State Committee Meeting

We'll take a break from the L.E.A.D. Tour this weekend, as the party will convene at the Hot Springs Clarion Resort for the state committee meeting and to introduce Bill Gwatney as Chairman-elect. Here's the agenda:

Today:
5:30 p.m. DPA Executive Committee Meeting

Tomorrow:
10:00 a.m. DPA Labor Caucus Meeting
10:00 a.m. DPA Association of County Officers Meeting
10:00 a.m. DPA Veterans Caucus Meeting
11:00 a.m. DPA State Committee Meeting

Friday's House Calendar (Day 82)

With today's passage of HCR1042, we have 3 working days to get bills through both chambers and to the governor's desk before we recess on Tuesday (assuming there are no further extensions).

7:30 a.m. -- Education (Rm. 138): Agenda

8:00 a.m. -- "B" Standing Committee Meetings

State Agencies & Gov't. Affairs (Rm. 151): Agenda
City, County & Local Affairs (Rm. 428): Agenda
Insurance & Commerce (Rm. 149): Agenda

8:30 a.m. -- "B" Standing Committee Meetings

Agriculture, Forestry & Econ. Dev. (Rm. 138): Agenda
Aging, Children & Youth/Military Affairs (Rm. 130): Agenda

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment -- JBC Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Withdrawal of Members' Own Bills From Further Consideration Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Resolutions Agenda

House Convenes at 9:00 a.m.

Bills for Consideration
House Budget Calendar

Fiscal Impact Statements for Friday's voting calendar: (Pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, a fiscal impact statement must accompany legislation that imposes new or additional costs on municipalities, counties, education, or additional funding or restrictions on the Department of Corrections)

No fiscal impact studies have been distributed for Friday's legislation. Will update as necessary.

Upon adjournment-- House Rules (Rm. 428) Agenda

Upon adjournment-- Public Health (Rm.130) Agenda

Call of the Chair -- Judiciary (Rm.149) Agenda

Motion to remove SB959 from House Judiciary

is on Friday's calendar. Pursuant to Rule 69 of the Rules of the House, it will take a two-thirds vote to remove the bill from the Judiciary Committee. If that is successful, the movant (Rep. Frank Glidewell) can move to suspend two more rules by the same two-thirds vote to have the bill voted upon by the full House membership tomorrow.

If the first motion is successful, he'll have to suspend Rule 64(a) to expunge the vote from the House Judiciary Committee then suspend Rule 17(p) [then 17(e)] for consideration of the matter by the body as a whole. There are other procedural maneuvers that can be used by both sides, and I'm sure that the issue will be raised about preserving the integrity of the committee system. Regardless, as a practical matter, if the first vote is successful, the House will be voting on this bill tomorrow.

Update (2:30 p.m.): We are adjourned for the day and are going to committee. The motion was passed over, and it was not raised today.

Governor's on AETN tonight at 8:00

On "Ask the Governor." Send your questions here.

Extension of the 86th General Assembly

This afternoon, HCR1042 has been filed and distributed and will be considered soon (read it here). An identical resolution has been filed in the Senate (SCR28). They provide for the legislature to adjourn on Tuesday. Article 5, Section 17 of the Arkansas Constitution states that regular biennial sessions "shall not exceed sixty days in duration unless by a vote of two-thirds of each house."

This particular resolution calls for the session to be extended until May 1st at Noon, but that each House shall enter into recess as of the close of business on April 3rd. The 5/1 sine die date allows for the legislature to reconvene to consider any potential vetoes, correcting errors, considering proposed constitutional amendments, etc. We recessed in 2005 on April 13th with a sine die date of May 13th.

Update (5:00 p.m.): The House just passed both resolutions 100-0.

An agency appropriation of local interest

is HB1313, which provides funding for the Dept. of Workforce Ed. Amendment No. 5 was adopted in Joint Budget yesterday, and the bill itself remains in that committee. This department includes the Governor's Commission on Adult Literacy and Adult Education, both of which are active in Texarkana. Arkansas is a leader in adult literacy programs, and Sen. Broadway will add some GIF money to help them achieve their request. Still, the agency appropriation for the literacy councils (see p. 10, line 32) will actually be interpreted as a cut and provides funding for $675,000 (they received $750,000 in the last cycle). The proposal before JBC for the full Commission is $768,831 for FY1 and $769, 493 for FY2.

Proposed GIF schedule has been distributed

As I previously posted, the proposed General Improvement Fund distribution law must be on the desks of each member for at least three days (Section 18 of the Joint Rules). It was placed on each desk late yesterday evening, and according to the rules, yesterday does count as day one. Therefore, we can theoretically move GIF out of the House on Friday. We stuck around until about 7:00 p.m. last night perusing the spreadsheet (it's now a habit to try and pick out any projects that may not pass constitutional muster) and waiting on bills to be read across the desk from the Senate. The schedule is 41 pages long and includes both legislative and executive numbers, and if you want me to look for a specific entry, shoot me an e-mail and I will do so.

Looking for a new background?

I'm uploading some pics I took recently and thought this one was pretty good. Took it Saturday morning before the LEAD Tour, and it reminds me of the lyrics to Terry Rose's "Oh, Arkansas." The recent work to the dome is remarkable.

(click the picture for a larger version, then right click and select "set as background")

U.S. Term Limits organization loaded

This New York organization is dropping a significant amount of money on LR broadcast television on a joint resolution that never even got a vote in the Joint Committee on Constitutional Amendments (and which has no plans to meet further). The ironic thing about the spot is that Rep. Bond is one of the least likely in the legislature to "dance with the lobbyists." No mention that the proposal was tied to a complete ban on gifts from lobbyists.

Thursday's House Calendar (Day 81)

Unless HCR1018 is extended, we have 1 day to get bills through both chambers and to the governor's desk before adjournment. It's looking very likely that we'll approve an extension of the session to Tuesday.

8:00 a.m. -- Personnel JBC Subcommittee (Rm. 151) No agenda available

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment -- JBC Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Members' Withdrawal of Own Bills Agenda

8:30 a.m. -- Resolutions

9:00 a.m. -- Joint Budget Committee (Rm. 171) Agenda

9:15 a.m. -- One "B" Standing Committee Meeting

Agriculture, Forestry * Econ. Dev. (Rm. 138): Agenda

10:00 a.m. -- "A" Standing Committee Meetings

Revenue & Tax (Rm. 151): Agenda
Judiciary (Rm. 149): Agenda
Education (Rm. 138): Agenda
Public Health (Rm. 130): Agenda
Public Transportation (Rm. 428): Agenda

Call of the Chair -- House Rules (Rm. 428): Agenda

House convenes at 1:00 p.m.

Bills for Consideration
House Budget Calendar

Fiscal Impact Statements for Thursday's voting calendar: (Pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, a fiscal impact statement must accompany legislation that imposes new or additional costs on municipalities, counties, education, or additional funding or restrictions on the Department of Corrections)

No fiscal impact studies have been distributed for Thursday's calendar. Will update as necessary.

Upon Adjournment -- Education (Rm. 138) Agenda

Upon Adjournment -- Public Health (Rm. 130) Agenda

City & County turnback proposals are being distributed

We're in the process of receiving proposals on several funding proposals. As an alternative to funding GIF appropriations as they have been done in previous legislative sessions, some of which were found unconstitutional by the Arkansas Supreme Court in Wilson v. Weiss in violation of Amendment 14, the House is attempting to increase city/county turnbacks and to increase funding to rural fire departments, domestic violence shelters, and senior centers through a "statewide" appropriation for these groups. Here are some rough numbers for my district:

City/County Turnback:
We're confident that we have a minimum of $12,000,000 set aside for city/county turnbacks. I understand the governor may include an additional $3,000,000 from his side. It would be distributed on a per capita basis for cities; turnback for counties uses a statutory formula. The following figures do not include turnback from property tax relief.

Texarkana would receive $181,384.56 on the $12MM formula and $226,730.70 in the $15MM formula.

Miller County would receive $165,383.78 on the $12MM formula and $206,729.73 in the $15MM formula.

Fire protection services program (Act 833 funds):
Miller County would receive $57,600.00 of the $4,000,000 to be distributed.

Domestic Violence Shelter Funding (HB2005):
Domestic Violence Prevention of Texarkana would receive $30,000.00.

Senior Citizen Centers:
The following senior citizen centers in Texarkana would receive $11,000 each: Miller County, Sandflat, and Texarkana Housing Opportunities.

Other GIF proposals that are on the desk:
Each of the eight Planning & Development Districts would receive $250,000.00 and each state-supported college/university (two and four year institutions) would receive $100,000.00. These are all House numbers. GIF distributions always raise a fuss, but I'm on the "statewide impact" side if we're going to spend money on general improvements. I like to see funding used for projects with a statewide impact if it will help generate economic development, with the admission that that statement itself leaves a lot for interpretation. The editorial in this morning's Democrat-Gazette nailed my position on it.

HB1201 fails by 2

HB1201 seeks to assist participants in the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association with their group health insurance premiums. Retired teachers are currently spending close to half of their retirement benefits towards premiums, and this legislation seeks to address that issue. HB2090, which has already passed the House, provides funding for this proposal. Only 12 people showed up to Joint Retirement. I needed 11 votes for the measure, and the the vote was 9 for, 3 against (Reps. Burkes, Garner and Harris). I'll continue working on this matter during the interim.

Doc Sadler Altman as next Razorback roundball coach?

I have it on pretty good authority that this will happen Friday. I hope someone can convince Floyd between now and then. Update (3/31): whoops. Guess I'll stick to my chosen profession and stay out of the prediction business. Update II (4/2): Looks like it's Altman from Creighton.

Conference committee requested on HB1575

Section 13 of the Joint Rules provides for either body to request a conference committee on a particular piece of legislation. That was done yesterday after the House Public Health committee recommended that it "do not concur" in the Senate amendment attached to HB1575, the bill that creates the Trauma Center Revolving Trust Fund.

When this bill left the House, the funding for the Trauma System was to be financed by an increase in the fines for moving traffic violations by $25 each. The Senate amended it to delete the House funding mechanism and to create a 1% surcharge on liability insurance for personal and commercial passenger vehicles. Rule 11(p) of the Rules of the House allows the Speaker to appoint a number equal to that of Senator Critcher's conference appointees for a discussion on the matter. This conference committee will take place after adjournment today.

Word on adjournment

Sounds as if we may go until Tuesday. I was beginning to wonder as to whether a Friday adjournment was feasible, especially since the proposed GIF distribution hasn't been placed on the desks yet (required to be placed on each member's desk for three days just like RSA pursuant to Section 18(E)(7) of the Joint Rules). Everyone, of course, also has items that they're trying to push through at the last minute. We're getting to that point where there is discussion of suspension of the rules, calling for special meetings of certain committees, etc. This is a time when legislators have to be particularly alert as to the items that are being put in front of us at the last minute.

Last minute paging opportunity

I still have one slot available for a Page. Pages must be 12 years of age, and the program includes a tour of the Capitol prior to the actual work of running assignments for House members during the voting calendar. The staff likes to limit the number of pages to 12-14 per day, and it runs Monday through Thursday (must sign in by 10:00 a.m.). Pages are allowed on Fridays, but with a shortened calendar on that day, it is best to schedule another weekday to get the full experience. This is a great way to engage your child in the governmental process, and I can personally assure you that your child will be safe here with the capable staff on hand. If interested, shoot me an e-mail today or tomorrow, since we're unsure of the date of adjournment.

Partial footage from House Judiciary on SB959

Courtesy of "rimshot72205"

Wednesday's House Calendar (Day 80)

Unless HCR1018 is extended, we have 2 days to get bills through both chambers and to the governor's desk before adjournment.

7:30 a.m. -- Special Language (Rm. 272) Agenda

8:00 a.m. -- Joint Budget Committee (Rm. 171) Agenda

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment -- JBC Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Withdrawal of bills from further consideration

8:30 a.m. -- Resolutions

8:30 a.m. -- Advanced Communcations & Information Technology (Rm. 130) Agenda

10:00 a.m. -- "B" Standing Committee Meetings

City, County & Local Affairs (Rm. 428): Agenda
State Agencies & Gov't. Affairs (Rm. 151): Agenda
Aging, Children & Youth/Military Affairs (Rm. 130): Agenda
Insurance & Commerce (Rm. 149): Agenda
Agriculture, Forestry & Econ. Dev. (Rm. 138): Agenda

12:00 p.m. -- House Rules Committee (Rm. 428) Agenda

12:00 p.m. -- Joint Retirement (Rm. 130) Agenda

House Convenes at 1:00 p.m.

Bills for Consideration
House Budget Calendar

Fiscal Impact Statements for Wednesday's voting calendar: (Pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, a fiscal impact statement must accompany legislation that imposes new or additional costs on municipalities, counties, education, or additional funding or restrictions on the Department of Corrections)

No fiscal impact statements for Wednesday legislation have been distributed yet (will update as necessary).

Upon Adjournment -- City, County & Local Affairs (Rm. 428): Agenda

Report card for first-term governors

This article from stateline.org gives Beebe some high marks -- higher than any other freshman governor. As a matter of fact, he's about the only governor serving in his rookie term who hasn't stepped in it already. Here's a list of some missteps -- some appear critical and some trivial -- from a few of the 11 new governors:

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) bought $12,000 drapes for his office and frequently travels in the state police helicopter to events around the state. In addition, he traded in the state Crown Vic for a Caddy;

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) angered labor supporters with his first veto. Other than this, which many supporters allege amounts to a stray from a campaign promise, Gov. Ritter appears to be pretty effective, especially on his energy policy, which has brought several items of legislation to his desk already this legislative session;

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) has seen his approval rating dip to 29 percent — lower than that of President Bush. The FBI is investigating whether Gibbons, while he was a congressman, helped a friend land lucrative military contracts. In addition, Las Vegas police investigated allegations that Gibbons grabbed and propositioned a casino cocktail waitress but didn’t file charges.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) has raised hackles in Albany with his biting name-calling. He has been quoted calling health-care lobbyists “crybabies” and reportedly told a top Assembly Republican, “Listen, I’m a (expletive) steamroller and I’ll roll over you and anybody else.”

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter (R) has spent considerable time fighting fellow Republicans in the Legislature. He's vetoed two measures that many believe were simply as a show to flex his political muscle.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) got into hot water before his inauguration in January over plans for a glitzy inaugural ball for which lobbyists were asked to pay as much as $500,000. Crist canceled the event.

Will try again on HB1201 tomorrow

HB1201 seeks to assist participants in the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association with their group health insurance premiums. Retired teachers are currently spending close to half of their retirement benefits towards premiums, and this legislation seeks to address that issue. I presented this yesterday morning in Joint Retirement (getting a quorum on Monday mornings is pretty difficult), and the bill failed due to two dissenting votes from Reps. Garner and Burkes.

The funding companion to this legislation, HB2090, was voted out of the House yesterday. This project has a fiscal impact of $13.7MM for the first year of the next biennium and $15MM for every year thereafter. Even with passage, this is likely to be fully or partially unfunded since it's not in the governor's proposed balanced budget. The last time we chipped in $35MM, we were not given Lake View credit for it. Regardless, I do not want to think where this state would be without our retired teachers' lifelong commitment to the children of Arkansas. We could at least show a little appreciation by contributing the same amount to their health insurance premium as we do for their retired state employee counterparts.

Here's the roll call vote on yesterday's vote on HB2090:

Back in Judiciary

and SB959 will be presented again, apparently. We're now considering SB69 (the eminent domain bill by Sen. Whitaker), but the sponsor has already notified the committee that he will not seek a vote. I have to run SB239, and there are a couple of other items to be presented prior to this bill being considered again.

Update: Rep. Woods moved "Do Pass" on SB959, and the bill failed on a voice vote. Rep. Breedlove was a yes but had to go back to his district this afternoon for a work related meeting. He was also tied up this morning running a bill in Education. He wanted to pair his vote, but that's not permitted in committee.

Update II: Chairman Robert Jeffrey considers this morning's failure to get a motion as the first bite of the apple and has removed the bill from the calendar.

House Judiciary

Several constituents have asked me to provide updates on this morning's proceedings on SB959 beginning at 10:00. I have to be in Education for a short presentation on another bill, but time permitting, I'll try and post an update or two here.

Update (10:00): Room full. Elsewhere in the capitol, HB2642 by Rep. Lewellen (takes 3% of the "80" portion of the Real Estate Transfer Tax for the homeless) failed in Joint Budget by roll call vote (only 20 votes for).

10:30: We're underway with a quorum.

10:55: Sen. Womack has made his presentation, and now we're hearing from Walt McKay, a licensed counselor who is speaking in favor of the bill.

11:30: We're hearing testimony on both sides. A motion was made to limit debate to 30 mins per side, which passed. We're doen to 11 mins on the for side and 13 mins against.

11:45: Sen. Womack is about to close for the bill. Only two or three members are out of the room running bills in other committees.

11:55: Sen. Womack is closed for his bill. An amendment is being offered to make an exception for the following relatives of a homosexual: siblings, step-parents, grandparents, and grandparents. The adoption of the amendment failed.

No Motion: The bill failed for lack of a motion. We're going on to other matters before the committee.

RSA speadsheet placed on the desks

Pursuant to Section 18(E)(7) of the Joint Rules, the schedule reflecting the allocation of funds in the Revenue Stabilization Law and the General Improvement Fund Distribution Law for the next biennium must remain on each member's desk for a period of three days prior to being considered for final passage. The Revenue Stabilization Act is the mechanism that facilitates a balanced budget and prevents deficit spending by allocating general revenue to the various fund accounts for state agencies by priority. A special meeting of Joint Budget was convened last night at 5:30 for the purpose of correcting an error in order to have the spreadsheets with figures placed last night. This would still allow us to move the RSA out of the House and adjourn by Friday.

On getting out by Friday: After passing the facilities bill out yesterday, the biggest two items in front of us include the RSA and the GIF distribution. Assuming we can pass those two items out by Friday and work through the Budget calendar, we could still get out of here by the end of the week. I can't think of any other pressing items worthy enough to keep us around. I heard Christina Munoz report last night that the Senate voted yesterday to extend the session by one week. The status of SCR27, which does just that, shows that it has not been considered as of yet. We're working as if we're trying to get out of here by the end of the week.

Tuesday's House Calendar (Day 79)

Unless HCR1018 is extended, we have 3 days to get bills through both chambers and to the governor's desk before adjournment.

7:00a.m. -- Legislative Prayer Breakfast (Rm. 019)

8:00a.m. -- Special Language JBC Subcommittee (Rm. 272) Agenda

8:30a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment Calendar

8:30a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment -- JBC Calendar

8:30a.m. -- Withdrawal of members' own bills

8:30a.m. -- Resolutions

9:00a.m. -- Joint Budget Committee (Rm. 171) Agenda (thought the announcement called for an 8:00 meeting, but the calendar says 9:00)

10:00a.m. -- "A" Standing Committee Meetings

Education (Rm. 138): Agenda
Public Health (Rm. 130): Agenda
Public Transportation (Rm. 428): Agenda
Revenue & Tax (Rm. 151): Agenda
Judiciary (Rm. 149): Agenda

Noon -- House Rules Committee (Rm. 428) Agenda

House convenes at 1:00 p.m.

Bills for Consideration
House Budget Calendar

Fiscal Impact Statements for Tuesday's voting calendar: (Pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, a fiscal impact statement must accompany legislation that imposes new or additional costs on municipalities, counties, education, or additional funding or restrictions on the Department of Corrections)

No fiscal impact statements were distributed as of Monday evening. I'll update as necessary.

Upon adjournment -- Education (Rm. 138) Agenda

Upon adjournment -- Public Health (Rm. 130) Agenda

Of the few remaining issues in Lake View...

After considering (1) the eight issues referenced as remaining and unresolved in recent reports in Lake View, along with (2) the interim report that was recently released and (3) legislation that has been enacted (or will be) this session -- especially regarding facilities, only one issue remains:

Local district property tax collections. A collection rate of 98 percent is assumed, but might not be accurate, to the cost of schools. Whether or not this issue hangs up litigation is and should be irrelevant to the legislature. HB1632 addressed it with a temporary resolution, but this is an item that deserves an in-depth interim study, which it will get.

HB1201: Increasing the state contribution for retired teachers' health insurance premium

HB1201 seeks to assist participants in the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association with their group health insurance premiums. Retired teachers are currently spending close to half of their retirement benefits towards premiums, and this legislation seeks to address that issue. Sponsors know this is an uphill battle, since the appropriation for this service is not included in any proposed balanced budget for this biennium. With the help of Rep. Randy Stewart, I've amended the legislation to include 35 other sponsors, and I'll be presenting it to Joint Retirement this morning if the agenda allows.

Monday's House Calendar (Day 78)

Unless HCR1018 is extended, we have 4 days to get bills through both chambers and to the governor's desk before adjournment.

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Own Bill/Own Amendment -- JBC Calendar

8:30 a.m. -- Withdrawal of bills from further consideration Agenda

9:00 a.m. -- I'll join Pat Lynch on his show broadcasted over the Super Talk Arkansas Network (click to listen online & scroll midway down to 'Launch Player')

9:00 a.m. -- Personnel (Rm. 151) Agenda

10:00 a.m. -- Joint Public Retirement/Social Security Programs Committee (Rm. 130) Agenda

10:00 a.m. -- Advanced Technology and Information Technology (Rm. 151) Agenda

12:00 p.m. -- Joint Budget Committee (Rm. 171) Agenda

House Convenes at 1:00 p.m.

Bills for Consideration
House Budget Calendar

Fiscal Impact Statements for Monday's voting calendar: (Pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, a fiscal impact statement must accompany legislation that imposes new or additional costs on municipalities, counties, education, or additional funding or restrictions on the Department of Corrections)

No fiscal impact statements were distributed Friday. I'll update as necessary.

Upon adjournment -- House Caucuses will convent

Upon adjournment -- Special Language (Rm. 272) Agenda

Upon adjournment -- Agriculture, Forestry & Econ. Dev. (Rm. 138) Agenda

Digging deeper on SB959

Since I posted my position on SB959 on Friday, my inbox has exploded with arguments on both sides of the issue. I actually enjoy the participation and wish that all legislation got people this fired up. Both sides are armed with legal and biblical arrows and they're being fired without restraint. I'm going to redact names and post a few of the e-mails I've received in the comments section. First, though, let me address a few of the points raised regularly in most of the e-mail I receive:

On the prevention of cohabiting couples from adopting or becoming foster parents: This bill allows for unmarried cohabiting couples to adopt or become foster parents so long as they're not involved sexually. How we're supposed to determine that is beyond me, but it's the epitome of policing your bedroom.

On the necessity of this legislation: According to the Arkansas Supreme Court in DHS v. Howard (link here), no problems with existing law or regulations have been reported (citing the Stipulated Facts of the parties).

On the constitutionality of this bill: The Court in DHS v. Howard (link here) struck down an agency regulation prohibiting conduct similar to that outlined in this legislation as being unconstitutional (on separation of powers grounds) and therefore didn't have to go further to address the other constitutional concerns that were raised. However, the concurring opinion by Justice Robert Brown gives a little insight into how the Court may interpret the constitutionality of SB959, which is almost identical to the agency regulation referenced in the Howard case:

Though I agree that the ruling on the separation-of-powers count is right, the trial court erred in my judgment by not finding equal-protection and privacy violations as well...[this regulation] overtly and significantly burdens the privacy rights of couples engaged in sexual conduct in the bedroom which this court has specifically declared to be impermissible as violative of equal-protection and privacy rights. See Jegley v. Picado, 349 Ark. 600, 80 S.W.3d 332 (2002)...And who are the ultimate losers in this? It is the foster children who will be forced to reside in youth homes because an insufficient pool of willing foster parents is available.

On the bill being assigned to Judiciary: As you can see above, this bill is riddled with constitutional issues that are appropriate for Judiciary. Additionally, the committee must consider the "best interests of the child," a legal standard that has been developed through statutory and common law. Further, adoptions themselves are statutory in nature. Last week, the Senate just referred a bill dealing with adoptions to the Senate Judiciary Committee (HB2270) and no questions were raised.

On a bill being removed from a committee by a 2/3 vote: This is true. Rule 69 of the Rules of the House provides that if the speaker does not admit error, a vote of two-thirds of the House membership may remove a bill from a committee. I'm only in my second term, but I haven't seen this maneuver raised in my time in the House.

The important stuff

I've already messed around and missed Sunday School this morning, so I thought I'd go ahead and post a couple of pictures from Camille's birthday party before I head out to big church:

L.E.A.D. Tour hits 2,000 mile mark in southwest Arkansas

I ended up driving back and forth from Little Rock twice yesterday, but it's a road I could probably drive blindfolded. Our stops on Saturday included Arkadelphia, Hope, Texarkana, Hot Springs, and Benton. I peeled off after the Texarkana stop for Camille's birthday party but met back up with the group in Benton. We continued discussion of the L.E.A.D. Arkansas package and received feedback at each stop in order to keep our finger on the pulse of the concerns of our constituents.

Here is an article from the Texarkana Gazette on the event here.

Here are pictures:
Arkadelphia








Hope









Texarkana






Hot Springs







Benton

Sunday morning roundup

John Brummett: Don't be cruel
Roby Brock: Arkansas business update
David Sanders: What were they thinking?
Stephens Media: Petition requirements may face court challenge
AP: House delays vote on facilities
AP: Beebe on gay foster parents bill

Ft. Worth Star-Telegram: Pledge: 'under God'?
Houston Chronicle: Global warming heats up Texas Legislature
McAllen Monitor: Legislators may hike registration fees for roads
Austin American-Statesman: Craddick's wife displays apartment
Burnt Orange Report continues on the TYC issue

Leg. Audit: Updated Report on ASBA finds more improper travel reimbursements

The majority of my legislative mail comes here to Texarkana, so it piles up while I'm in session. Here are a few items of note from this week:

Audit Report: As you may remember, a 2006 review of travel reimbursements for the Arkansas State Board of Architects previously turned up a shortage finding of $114,634. Here's a June, 2006 article from Rob Moritz on the matter. Shortly before this was published, two members of the agency resigned, and Legislative Joint Audit called for a comprehensive review of prior periods to determine if the same employees had inappropriately obtained additional funds. That report was just released and can be read in its entirety here. This report turns up another $115,597 in improper travel reimbursements. It will be reviewed at the next Legislative Joint Auditing Committee meeting.

Legislative Audit: The Single Audit Report for the Year Ended June 30, 2006 has been released. It will be reviewed at the next Legislative Joint Auditing Committee meeting.

ADFA: The Arkansas Development Finance Authority has notified me that Village Park South Apartments in my district has applied to receive federal low-income housing tax credits from the 2007 Arkansas state ceiling.

Arkansas State Highway Commission: A Minute Order has been released released authorizing the Director to proceed with the 1.53 mile project on Hwy. 82 East to ease traffic and safety concerns.

2007 State Business Tax Climate: This index published by the Tax Foundaton ranks business climates nationwide based on corporate and individual income tax rates, sales tax, unemplyment insurance tax, and property tax rates. Arkansas ranks 35th. The top 10 includes Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Nevada, Florida, Texas, New Hampshire, Montana, Delaware, and Oregon. The 10 worst states are Rhode Island, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, California, Nebraska, Iowa, Maine, and Minnesota. Learn more here.

New Economy Index: I got this a couple of weeks ago but am just now getting around to reading it. This index uses 26 indicators from a variety of sources to rank each state on the extent to which their economies are structured and operate to effectively compete regionally as well as globally. Arkansas ranks 40th in this one. Here are a couple of links: Central New York Business Journal and the Kauffman Foundation.

Local Texarkana maps of interest

Can't sleep and while searching around for the status of local road construction for a constituent, I found this site. I'm certain that David Latham is behind this.

Texarkana GIS Map
Layers include political boundaries (wards, zip codes), base information (points of interest, schools, streets, elevation contour lines, buildings, pavement, railroads, creeks, parks), and aerial photography.

Texarkana Restaurants (also link to hotels/groceries)
Texarkana Traffic Counts
Miller County Aerial Photography
Texarkana Street Map

Rep. Greenberg's HB1035 to be featured on 20/20 tonight at 9:00

According to this link, ABC 20/20 will air a segment tonight on Rep. Dan Greenberg's (R-Little Rock) re-vamped HB1035 (the bill formerly known as the "Edifice Complex Act" but which has been renamed to reflect a more suitable title). The revised bill can be read here.

Update: Good job, Dan.

Week 11 Legislative Summary

We are now 75 days into the 86th General Assembly, and unless HCR1018 is extended, the session will end a week from today with a sine die date of April 27 to consider vetoes, to correct errors or oversights, or to consider proposed constitutional amendments.

This week, the Joint Committee on Constitutional Amendments convened to determine which, if any, proposals should be referred to the full legislative body for a vote. The two proposals that have made it out of the committee include HJR1004 (allowing annual legislative sessions) and SJR4 (cleaning up outdated language). SJR7, the proposal for a constitutional right to hunt/fish/trap and opposed by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, failed by a vote of 10-10, and HJR1005 (lottery) failed by a vote of 10-9. The legislature can refer up to three proposed constitutional amendments to the people for a vote.

Also this week, the House approved SB 296 from the Attorney General's legislative package to create a database to track pharmacy purchases of cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in manufacturing of methamphetamine. Rep. Monty Davenport (D-Yellville) presented the bill in the House. A purchase will trigger an instant message to law enforcement officers by text message or e-mail to immediately identify people who go to multiple locations to purchase the cold and flu medicines to make methamphetamine.

Also during the week, the House amended then gave its approval to SB840, giving authorization to the Arkansas Highway Commission to ask voters to approve the issuance of $575 million in highways bonds. Diesel taxes and future federal dollars would pay for the bond issues. The House approved a bill that would ask voters to approve a similar bond issue that would raise money for school facilities’ repair and construction. The school bonds would be limited to $750 million in an effort to bring all school facilities into compliance with the Arkansas Supreme Court’s ruling in the Lake View case to make public education adequate and equitable for all students regardless of where they live and the financial wealth of their school districts.

The House passed HB 2788 by Rep. Rick Saunders (D-Hot Springs) to make certain cases of animal cruelty a felony offense. It’s currently a misdemeanor. This bill allows a Class D felony charge to be filed against a person who commits a second offense of abuse within five years of his first. The bill applies only to horses, dogs and cats and exempts incidents arising from self defense, protection of livestock, and routine veterinary and animal husbandry practices. I voted against it as an effort to consider supporting a competing bill from the Senate, which was also approved this week. However, that bill has been assigned to House Ag, meaning it likely won't come out of there. The Senate bill makes the first offense a felony. Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Class D felonies are punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Here's the roll call vote on HB2788:



On Tuesday, the House approved SB 440 to create a “quick-action closing fund” for the governor to use when in the final stages of landing a major economic development project. The bill goes to the governor, providing him with $50 million “to close a deal.” A separate appropriation bill for the $50 million still must also be approved.

We're beginning to see some work/discussion on the Revenue Stabilization Act to facilitate the balanced budget for the next biennium, which is a sure signal that the end of the legislative session is near. There is a lot of work to do next week in order to get there. As always, don't hesitate to call or e-mail if I can be of service.

Statewide L.E.A.D. Tour continues Saturday

House Democrats will continue our statewide L.E.A.D. Tour on Saturday through southwest Arkansas. This tour gives us the opportunity to spread our message around the state while getting feedback from people on the issues that most concern them.

Our stops on Saturday will include Arkadelphia, Hope, Texarkana, Hot Springs and Benton. Here is the press release, which includes details on the time and place for each stop. I'll post pictures and notes from the trip on Sunday.

SB241 (enhanced jury) goes down in flames

It only received 25 votes. It was an entertaining debate, though.

Murfreesboro Chamber banquet

Had a good time. Rep. Randy Stewart and I rode down together after the voting calendar, and I filled in for Dustin. Murfreesboro is in a unique position for tourism because of their location between Lake Greeson and, of course, the diamond mine. The town has been in the national news recently for two events: they were the site of a recent ABC Extreme Home Makeover, and their hospital has remained open thanks to the help of an 81-year old local physician (Dr. Hiram Ward -- I own his former place on the lake).

I had a good visit with many after the banquet about local issues. Our topic for the evening was economic development, and the area has long range plans for helping direct future development north towards Mt. Moriah and the lake, where projects are in the works for city water. The lake itself (six miles north of town) has experienced some Lake Hamilton-type property value inflation (as shown by the sale of Governor Huckabee's place -- and that's not the only one). Lake Greeson is attractive to many because its lack of development. The town does have some manufacturing jobs, including Diamond City Trailer, Inc., which manufacters boat trailers (including mine). Other large employers consist of the hatchery, the hospital, the school system, the diamond mine, and the Corps of Engineers. I'm partial to the area because of my family roots there (on both sides).