Week 9 Legislative Summary

We are now 61 days into the 86th General Assembly, and the deadline for filing legislation passed this week. There were 2,816 bills filed: 1,812 in the House and 1,004 in the Senate. Additionally, there have been 183 resolutions filed (for a total number of filings of 2,999). Barring an extension, we are set to adjourn the session on March 30 with a sine die adjournment date of April 27 for purposes of considering vetoes, correcting errors and oversights, and for completing work on proposed constitutional amendments.

The remainder of the session will focus on budgetary proposals, moving towards the implementation of the Revenue Stabilization Act, and pursuing personal and party legislative goals. This week, we passed out HB1698 by Rep. Robbie Wills (D-Conway), which is designed to revamp a 2005 act allowing cities and counties to band together to form regional transportation authorities and work together on a litany of transportation issues and projects. I'm hopeful that this project will allow Arkansas to participate (and create) an RMA that can complement the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority.

We also took up and passed HB1651 by Rep. John Paul Wells (D-Paris) to allow some out-of-state wines to be sold in Arkansas grocery and convenience stores. It’s an effort to get the state out of a legal jam stemming from prior legislation that allowed Arkansas wines to be sold in grocery and convenience stores. This bill will permit such sales of wine from out-of-state wineries that produce 250,000 gallons or less – an output similar to that of the Arkansas wineries. This bill was somewhat controversial on constitutional issues and on the merits among the various alcoholic beverage retailers, wholesalers, and distributors.

The House also approved HB 2722 by Rep. Scott Sullivan (D-De Queen) to set production goals for bio-diesel: 50 million gallons this year and 85 million gallons in 2008. The ultimate goal is 200 million gallons in 2011. The bill also mandates that diesel fuel sold in the state must contain at least 2 percent bio-diesel by July 1, 2008. The bio-diesel component increases to 5 percent the following year. The bill is intended as an incentive to attract bio-diesel producers to Arkansas and was opposed by businesses within the oil industry. It passed by a vote of 68-21 with 11 members not voting. Here is the roll call:



The governor enacted the last of the tax relief bills this week by signing Act 195 of 2007 into law, removing the poorest of working Arkansans from state income-tax rolls. The law raises the minimum level at which Arkansans must pay state income taxes – to $9,800 in annual income for an individual and $20,000 for a family of four. Those dollar figures coincide with the federal poverty line. About 116,000 Arkansans will be helped by the law. All four tax relief bills have been signed into law, providing $319 million in tax cuts over the next two fiscal years.

In these last three weeks of the session, I will focus on helping enact legislation sponsored by the House Democratic Caucus and will continue to work to complete my personal legislative package. Of the 26 House Bills I sponsored this session, I still have 11 bills to present in the House and six appropriations consisting of higher education issues, hunger relief, teacher retirement, health insurance costs, economic development, judicial issues, renewable energy, alternative fuels, and election reform. Several other bills I sponsored are currently in the Senate awaiting action. I will provide a detailed status report of the legislation I sponsored this session in next week's update.

I was notified today that two of my bills were signed into law by Governor Beebe: HB1130 (now Act 240) codifying the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities, and HB1362 (now Act 243) revising the Beneficiary Deed in Arkansas.

As always, don't hesitate to call or e-mail if I can be of service.