Governor appoints Waldrip to UA Board

Governor Beebe today named Mark Waldrip of Moro to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. "Mark credits his personal and professional success to the U of A, and he has worked to give back to his alma mater in every way he can," Beebe said. "He is a widely respected businessman in East Arkansas and will represent the First Congressional District well on the Board."

Waldrip, 54, has served on the State Plant Board since 1997 and on the Arkansas Agriculture Board since 2005. A 1977 U of A grad in Agricultural Economics and Business, Waldrip went on to build one of the largest seed companies in the region. He is currently a member of the Arkansas Executive Forum at the Walton Business School in Fayetteville. Waldrip's wife and four children have all attended the University of Arkansas as well. The appointment replaces Tim Hunt of Paragould, and expires March 1, 2020.

48 days out

And I have been swamped -- too swamped to even hammer out a four-minute post to this site for a couple of days. Lots of races are heating up, including mine. I'm in the process of opening up a HQ in Ashdown and am sending out my five year-old to campaign in spots to cover for me. Child labor laws are being bent.

Doe’s Eat Place Expected to Reopen on April 15 Despite Grease Fire

From Jeff Thatcher's periodic Chamber newsletter: Doe’s Eat Place, the legendary Little Rock restaurant frequented by local, state and national politicians, lobbyists and general connoisseurs of fine steak, tamales, gumbo and other delicacies, was struck by a grease fire in the eatery’s kitchen late Friday evening, March 19.

Beebe announces 15 appointments

Governor Beebe announced the appointment of Tom Kennedy of Little Rock to the Arkansas Tech University Board of Trustees today. The appointment expires January 14, 2015, and he replaces Fritz Kronberger. Other appointments to Arkansas boards and commissions are on the jump.

Health care bill passes House 219-212; Halter, Lincoln send out releases

219 Democrats pushed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through the House last night, while 34 Dems and all 178 Republicans voted against it. In Arkansas, Congressmen Berry, Boozman and Ross voted against it while Snyder voted for it. In the wake of the vote, Sen. Lincoln sent out a press release praising the vote, stating:

Even with its imperfections, this bill represents the most morally and fiscally responsible approach to health reform. I have fought for health care reform to reduce costs for small business owners and the self-employed so they can reinvest the savings in their companies and hire more workers.

I am pleased that we will now force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, preserve Medicare for future generations and reduce the deficit by more than one trillion dollars over the next 20 years. I now look forward to ensuring that Arkansans benefit the most from health insurance reform.

I expect the misinformation campaign about the new law to continue and I also expect many of the attacks will be targeted against me, starting with my position on additional changes contained in a procedure called Budget Reconciliation. I cannot support the Reconciliation package devised by the House which includes matters unrelated to health care and employs a legislative process that wasn't subject to the same transparency and thorough debate that we used in the Senate.

Primary challenger Bill Halter put out his own release stating "I urge Senator Lincoln to join me in putting Arkansans first by supporting passage of this bill as soon as possible."His statement, in part:

[Halter] applauded the U.S. House of Representatives in passing health care reform and encouraged the Senate and Senator Lincoln to immediately pass the reconciliation bill.

“Washington is broken and it's past time to put the needs of Arkansans ahead of special interests,” said Halter. “While this bill is not perfect, and it could have been improved with more decisive action by Senator Lincoln, it will prevent people from being denied health care insurance due to pre-existing conditions and it will begin to provide more than 450,000 uninsured Arkansans the health care they need. At the same time, the legislation will rein in health care costs and will reduce our national debt. And it helps our seniors who need it most by ending the donut hole in prescription drug coverage and improving Medicare solvency.”

Mike Ross's full release on his no vote is on the jump. Folks at the Clinton School will get thoughts from the left this morning from MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow, who's scheduled to speaker there at 9:00 this morning. It's free if you're in the vicinity in downtown Little Rock.

Stay of execution for Jack Harold Jones

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has sent word to the Attorney General’s Office that a ruling regarding the stay of execution for Jack Harold Jones issued by Judge Leon Holmes will not be forthcoming before tonight’s scheduled execution. Governor Beebe has now ordered the Department of Correction to stop any additional preparations for the execution, pending further rulings and/or orders by the courts, citing a 1987 ruling by the 8th Circuit.

Check Presentation

Harvest Texarkana received $50,000 for hunger relief this morning as part of the distribution of funds to the food banks across the state. Almost half of the 35,000 in this nine county region who use this food bank report having to choose between food and utilities or medicine. The funds will be used to help transport food from local restaurants to the warehouse and to students and other individuals. Here I am pictured with board members Steve Morriss, Chris Ross, Executive Director Jill Whittington, Board President Brandon Cognurn, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Executive Director Rhonda Sanders.

Filing period closes at noon today

Today's the day where most filed candidates will click refresh a time or two on the Secretary of State's website to find out about the last minute filings. Scott Wallace will file as a Republican for the 2nd District congressional seat today at 10:30. I'm filling in for Rep. Bubba Powers to speak to the Hempstead County retired teachers today so he can run up and file for his last term. Others who are expected to file today include Rep. Davy Carter (for re-election) and Conrad Reynolds, Jim Holt, Gil Baker, and Randy Alexander, all as Republicans for the U.S. Senate seat. The filing period also closes for county and local races at noon.

Mobile blogging the speaker's race

We're voting for the next speaker right now in the House chamber. I'll post the results momentarily.

Update: Results:
Rep. Johnnie Roebuck (D-Arkadelphia): 37
Rep. Robert Moore (D-Arkansas City): 63

Robert Moore will be the next speaker of the House.



-- Post From My iPhone

Halter to challenge Lincoln in the Democratic primary May 18

Lt. Governor Bill Halter jumped in the race for U.S. Senate this morning by sending out an e-mail blast. This move, anticipated by many, will also open up another race for Lt. Governor. Expect Sen. Shane Broadway to consider/announce for that. I'm en route to Little Rock now for the first day of filing and will update from the Capitol.