Reflecting on the legislative session

Unless something monumental falls through on GIF approval, the last couple of days of the session should be pretty uneventful. One potential item that could gum up the works is the appropriation to the Department of Education -- an amendment that includes funding for open enrollment virtual charter schools has been attached and has rankled a few legislators as a "foot in the door" measure against public schools. I'll go ahead and post a few thoughts on the session as a whole. I firmly believe that this session will be known as the session that helped put an end to Lake View. Depending on what happens with the economy in future years, we'll either be praised or blistered for the massive and historical tax cuts enacted this session (largest in Arkansas history).

Most clever appropriations: This has to go to the House for crafting the spending proposals that include funding for volunteer fire departments, senior citizen centers, and domestic violence shelters. Whether these appropriations being routed through various state agencies will fit within the Arkansas Supreme Court's ruling in Wilson v. Weiss as being permissible in light of Amendment 14 of the state constitution is yet to be seen (and I don't know whether it will be challenged), but the appropriations appear valid. In addition, the increase in turnbacks to cities and counties is a great idea, which I favor. Regardless, the thought of individual legislators having legislative authority to dole out funding for special projects to friends/supporters for potential political favors -- whether this is a reality or merely perception -- is repulsive and needed to be remedied.

Most controversial budget amendment: See note above about the Department of Ed. budget. Senate Amendment No. 4 to this appropriation contains special language that revises restrictions for open enrollment virtual charter schools. There is some talk about making a late run at amending the budget to strike the special language (it's currently in Joint Budget). Whether it can be amended and reach final legislative approval in two working days is also worthy of some serious consideration. I'm open to breaking the mold and looking at alternative learning proposals, but I admit that I still need to be sold on virtual schools -- maybe I've just been exposed to too many self-paced online degree news coverage features. I'll continue researching this issue and talking to educators/administrators today. The first google on the issue turns up a link to minutes from a 2006 Distance Learning Coordinating Council meeting. The points made at the end of the meeting by Sens. Broadway and Bisbee frame the issues well. There is a cap on this amendment of 500 students.

Biggest "piling-on" vote: Biggest dogpile of the session goes to the 2007 Tire Safety Act, which prohibited the sale of blem tires. This one got 7 votes in support on the House floor, and that's including someone voting Thyer's machine "yes" while he was out of the chamber -- that's fewer votes than it got in committee. I got an e-mail from the VP of global operations at Cooper Tire headquarters in Ohio warning me not to let this bill pass after it had already failed. I enjoyed typing the response.

I can't cluck too much, because the Senate bill I ran on the House floor placing restrictions on drivers under 18 (from the NTSB) probably gets an honorable mention in this category with 27 "yea" votes. My roommate even piled on the clincher motion. Paid him back, though, with his alternative payday lender bill (27 votes for). Others worthy of mention include the enhanced jury bill (25 votes for), the marriage license increase for legal aid (27 votes for), and the simulataneous service bill to allow service in both county and municipal positions (14 votes for). There were a couple of others getting no more than 16 or 17 votes, but the subject matter escapes me, probably for good reason.

Status of my "campaign promises" As part of my re-election efforts, I made five proposals in 2006 to my constituents that would I call "campaign promises."

First, as majority leader, I wanted to widen our majority in the House. We were in fact able to pick up seats in three districts and entered the legislative session holding 75 of the 100 seats.

Second, I vowed to help Governor Beebe with the repeal of the grocery tax. On the first week of the session, he made his specific proposal in the State of the State Address to halve the grocery tax, and this was successful.

Third, I wanted to move Arkansas in the direction of electronically storing and recording public documents similar to the federal program that is already in place. I teamed up with Pulaski County Clerk Pat O'brien, the Association of Arkansas Counties, and Arkansas Circuit Clerks and filed HB1298 (now Act 734) and HB1299 (now Act 615). The project almost stalled with the vote of HB1299 -- it needed 51 votes and received 52. HB1299 increased the filing fee of deeds and mortgages in order to provide circuit clerks and recorders with the funding necessary to implement technology necessary to scan, store, accept, and record real estate instruments electronically. I'm hopeful that this fund will eventually allow counties to expand the project and store and accept for filing all public records electronically (including voting records). This will save the state money and grief in the event of a tornado or other tragedy that destroys public records similar to what Louisiana recently endured. That way, people will be able to access and print public records from thecomfort of their homes or offices without having to drive across the county to the courthouse, bother the staff, and pay for copies to retrieve a simple document.

Fourth, in light of increasing revenue, I wanted to offer incentives for existing and potential businesses to locate on the Arkansas-side of State Line Avenue. Because Texas does not charge sales tax on energy consumption, this has long been an issue with businesses locating to the Texarkana area. Not only were we able to reduce the sales tax on energy usage, we enacted revenue neutral legislation (now Act 548) in response to the approaching effective date of the 2003 Streamlined Sales Tax Act.

Fifth, after serving on the interim Legislative Task Force on District Courts in 2006, I wanted to help overhaul the District Court system in Arkansas to provide for a true three-tiered court system in the state. SB235 was introduced and was signed into law the day on March 29 as Act 663. District courts are accessed by more people than any other court in Arkansas, and it is the only interaction many people have with our judicial system.

Over time, this movement will consolidate the 219 district and city courts we currently have into a more manageable number consistent with the wishes of the people when we enacted Amendment 80 in 2000 (all the while ensuring that local court will still be held in the same areas that currently exist). Rather than having each legislator fight for the salary of his or her district judge (the current pracitce), the salaries will be equal, as will the caseload for each district. The most important part is that it is "revenue neutral." The funding system that is created by this legislation is fair to both the state and other politicial subdivisions. It allows the cities and counties to keep 100% of all revenue and fines collected from the court, with the exception of the adjustment from the cost-sharing formula. The cost-sharing formula is such that the state and local governments within the county equally share in the salary of the district judge, and the state will be responsible for all benefits.

The legislation implements a pilot program to begin in 2008, and the recommendations of the task force include suggesting that the Arkansas Supreme Court adopt an administrative rule dealing with expanded subject matter jurisdiction. In the event the pilot programs is converted to a statewide program, the goal is full state funding of the district judges. This legislation will put us on the road to creating an equal and uniform three-tiered court system in Arkansas.

Status of other bills I sponsored: In addition to the foregoing, I also had a few other bills signed into law (or to be signed) by Governor Beebe.

HB1531 (passed by the Senate on Friday and awaiting the governor's signature) is designed to stimulate economic activity by promoting tourism and attracting retirees to the Natural State. It creates the Arkansas Retirement Community Program and is patterned after a similar program in Texas that has helped communities like Tyler attract new residents and new economic development. Tyler was qualified as the first Certified Retirement Community in the state of Texas and has been outspoken in its support of the program. I know that several Arkansas cities, including my own, will be applying for certification soon.

Arkansas has long been considered a prime retirement destination for those seeking a home with four true seasons (with an emphasis on Summer!).

Here's how it works:
(1) The legislation creates the Arkansas Retirement Community Program to be maintained under the purview of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development;
(2) The program's main focus is to promote and encourage tourism and retired living in Arkansas communities that have met the criteria for certification;
(3) To be eligible for certification, each community must complete a retiree desirability assessment, to include facts regarding the following:

(i) crime statistics; (ii) tax information; (iii) recreational opportunities; (iv) housing availability; (v) climate; (vi) working opportunities; (vii) healthcare services; (viii) transportation; (ix) continuing education; (x) leisure living; (xi) performing arts; (xii) festivals and events; (xiii) sports at all levels; and (xiv) other services and facilities that are necessary to enable persons to age in the least restrictive environment.

ADED (soon to be known as AEDC) will work in conjunction with the cities in the training of local staff and volunteers and help with ongoing oversight with marketing. The legislation requires recertification every five years. An application fee paid by the applicant city will fund this program through the creation of a fund maintained under the General Revenue Fund Account of the State Apportionment Fund.

HB1130 (now Act 240) codified the Rule Against Perpetuities consisted with the proposal recommended by the Commission on Uniform State Laws. The Rule Against Perpetuities is the principle that no clause in a conveyance, be it a deed or a will or whatever, is valid unless it vests within the life of someone currently living plus twenty-one years, measured from time of conveyance (date of sale, death of testator, etc.). If, under some circumstance, you might not be able to figure out who gets the property by that time, just strike it out as if it wasn't written. It is somewhat complicated, and most lawyers can't remember it a few days after the bar exam. This new law goes a long way in allowing courts to reform mistakes made in instruments conveying a future interest. Currently, the common law rule ties the court's hands from being able to carry out the wishes of the testator/settlor. The Arkansas Constitution prohibits perpetual transfers, but it does not provide language for the Court to reform obvious mistakes in instruments affeting property rights. This Rule is a headache to law students, and a collateral benefit to this one may be that students can now merely refer to the codified statute rather than the 400 year-old common law rule.

HB1362 (now Act 243) revises the recently (2005) enacted "Beneficiary Deed," a statutory creature that is designed to serve as a blue-collar estate planning tool. Upon its enactment, there were some problems noted, particularly objections raised by underwriters who were threatening to stop writing policies in the state. In Spring 2006, the Arkansas Lawyer published a piece by attorney Chris Barrier. This feature outlined the problems with the 2005 law and sets out in detail problems that arise from the use of these instruments. I contacted Mr. Barrier after reading his article, and he had already assembled a group of attorneys across the state to address this problem. This Act is the product of this group's work.

HB2811 (now Act 662) revises the process for authenticating medical records for admission in court and to provide for a labor charge to be assessed for the copying of medical records while reducing the per page maximum cost of copying. This was the result of a compromise reached between two organizations.

HB1531: During the interim, I keep files of newspaper clippings and notes from conversations to remember during the session for potential legislation. Earlier in the session, I pulled a June, 2006 article from the stack written by Daniel Nasaw with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that outlined the voting problems we encountered in the state last year, partially because of current state law. The article noted several county election commissioners that faulted current law for many of the ballot and voting problems associated with the election (particularly the primary runoffs). The main problems with the current law are as follows:

1. Current law mandates that we hold a runoff election three weeks after the primary election (Ark. Code Ann. § 7-7-203);

2. Current early voting laws require that voting must be available to all voters 15 days before any election (Ark. Code Ann. § 7-5-418);

3. Additionally, counties must allow 10 days after the primary election for overseas, absentee and military ballots to arrive and be counted.

If you pull a calendar, you'll see that it is literally impossible to certify the primary election before early voting starts in the runoff. Even without taking No. 3 above into consideration, that gives electioneers six days to certify the election and prepare ballots/software for runoff voting. Throw in the problems we encountered with ES&S, the company retained by the state to supply voting equipment, and you can see why we had the problems we did with improvised (or no) early voting in some counties.

After filing my bill, I was approached by Charlie Daniels and his staff about a similar proposal that tackled the same issue. I then agreed to withdraw HB1532 and sign on to their bill (SB855), which is now in the Senate to concur in an amendment and then on to the governor's office for his signature. This new law will help avert what could be a Florida-style crisis in the future.

Another elections bill that I filed was HB2214 (which is back in the House to concur in a Senate amendment Monday then on to the Governor's office). This bill amends provisions pertaining to Presidential Preferential Primaries, includes a clause on how names are to be printed on ballots, and sets out specific dates for boards of election commissioners.

I was not able to push through all of the bills I filed, and if given the opportunity, I will likely refile some of the bills in 2009 after placing them in interim study -- particularly legislation dealing with renewable energy and alternative fuels. It's also easy to get caught up in issues you had no intention of getting involved with at the beginning of the session (payday lenders, school textbooks, courtroom security, third party ballot access, etc.). With biennial sessions, there are multitudes of issues raised and considered in a short amount of time. Part of the job is also to stop bad bills from becoming law, and I believe we were successful in doing that as well.

Biggest disappointment in not getting legislation passed:
I took on a cause to help retired teachers by seeking to increase the state contribution to their group health insurance premiums. HB1201 (and HB2090, the funding companion) sought to reduce the health insurance premiums paid by participants in the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association. Retired teachers are currently spending close to half of their retirement benefits towards premiums, while members in the state employees' retirement system were paying a small fraction of their retirement benefit towards health insurance. I knew this was an uphill battle going in since the appropriation for this service was not included in any proposed balanced budget for this biennium. The bill failed in committee due to three "nays," and I have every intention of beginning now to make this a reality for the next session. Our retired teachers spent a lifetime of commitment to the children of Arkansas, and we can at least show them a little appreciation by contributing the same amount to their health insurance premiums as we do other retired state employees.

Another item I'm disappointed that we were not able to present to the governor is the level one trauma center legislation. The Conference Committee will apparently be unable to work out a resolution to the funding of the system. The House proposal increased moving traffic violations by $25 each. At least that's a penalty for violation of the law and can be argued as having a connection to traumatic accidents. I see no connection between an increase in liability insurance premiums and traumatic injury. Regardless, this will likely be sent to interim study, where a solution for funding can be devised. Others in this category include the payday lender bill and the animal cruelty bill.

"Wish I could have that one back" vote: If I were afforded one mulligan vote this session, I think I'll just say that my first vote on the national popular vote proposal was the correct one. I changed it on the reconsideration motion knowing that it was dead in the Senate and out of respect for the sponsor. It didn't matter in the long run, and I think most legislators would tell you (at least privately) that there may be a vote or two that they would make differently if given the chance.

Honorable mention for this session goes to the landfill styrofoam recycling bill. I wouldn't have changed my "yes" vote on that bill, but I know much more about that issue now that I didn't know at the time I cast my vote.

Understatement of the session: "Nobody'll notice this little resolution and gesture to Parker." Dozens of editorials, interviews, and worldwide articles later, I almost find this quote humorous. Even my close scholarly friends have told me that they now reconstruct their sentences from phrases like Arkansas's legislature to "the legislature of Arkansas" to keep from having to take a stand on the issue. Friends I haven't seen in years now greet me with a knowing smirk. The new placard on my desk notifies constituents of my new mantra: "I don't file resolutions." Best columns on this issue: Doug Smith and Paul Greenberg; worst: tie between the Benton County Daily Record and the Benton Courier.

Best e-mail campaign: Some groups are finding that the best way to get their message to legislators is through e-mail, particularly after House Management implemented the prohibition of passing notes in to the chamber from outside. She has her supporters and detractors, but the most comprehensive e-mail plans have come under the direction of Debbie Pelley. We've agreed on some issues and disagreed on more, but she has an army of keyboardists prepared to fire off talking points on politically charged issues at a moment's notice: ERA, gay adoption, International Baccalaureate bills, you name it. I've actually gotten to know her and Mark Moore fairly well because of the blogosphere. They run one of the few active blogs on Arkansas political issues: Arkansas Watch.

Toughest committee: This has to go to House Judiciary, which stopped several bills that had a full head of steam entering Rm. 149, beginning on with SB12 (the bill requiring an atty to be appointed for a Pro Se Defendant in violation of the 6th Amendment -- click here for editorial on my stance). The committee, of which I was a member, stopped bills that were traditionally supported by both ends of the political spectrum, including a prohibition against homosexual adoption/foster parenting and the hate crimes bill. For me personally, the committee I've found that is the toughest on legislation is House Education.

Most behind-the-scenes arm twisting: HJR1005 -- the Lottery bill. There were agreements, disagreements, and exchanges between legislators that were coupled with block votes in an attempt to merely get the lottery proposal referred to the Joint Committee on Constitutional Amendments. In the end, it didn't matter, but it was a fun experience merely watching legislators wheel and deal and use procedural maneuvers and worry over what to do on this vote. Supporters were critcized from both the left and the right. I was in a unique position on this issue since the lottery is already legal in half my city (although Austin is getting 100% of the benefits). Folks who want to purchase tickets here are already doing so, and while they're on the Texas-side, they're also buying other items and stuffing money into the already-robust Texas economy.

On Arkansas Government as a whole: I think the session went extremely smooth. We had a new governor that came into office experienced in the legislative process. He enacted virtually everything he wanted and spent time in the legislative chamber individually with members to discuss specific bills. Initially, I think a few legislators felt the Supreme Court looking over our shoulder with the Special Masters convening for hearings on Lake View during the legislative session. However, that was probably a good thing and helped to facilitate a good public school legislative package without overstepping constitutional bounds. It gave me the opportunity to visit with the Attorney General to flesh out the specific contentions raised by the Plaintiff school districts during the time we were considering the funding formula. It appears as though our work will help to put an end to this long running case, but we will still need to tackle to 98% URT collection issue in future sessions. Overall, I'm very pleased with the outcome of the session.