Date: April 9, 2009
Contact: House Information Office, 501-682-7771
For Immediate Release
87th General Assembly in recess after 88 days
LITTLE ROCK – Lawmakers have recessed the 87th General Assembly in Little Rock after 88 calendar days with the adoption of the state’s spending plan for the next fiscal year.
The passage of the Revenue Stabilization Act is always one of the last items approved. This year’s primary funding bill sets priorities for $4.4 billion in general revenue to be disbursed to state agencies and programs over the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. The recession dictated much of this year’s session, especially on revenues.
Lawmakers, with the Supreme Court’s edict to make sure public schools remain the state’s top priority, were able to slightly increase funding for K-12 education. Public schools are getting $1.9 billion for the next fiscal year; the Department of Human Services, $1 billion; colleges and universities, $587 million, and the Department of Correction, $287 million. Those needs generally get about 90 percent of state revenue.
Invited by legislative leaders of both chambers to address members, Gov. Mike Beebe in his remarks in the House praised all lawmakers’ work but singled out Speaker of the House Robbie Wills for his leadership and noted the heavy lifting done by the Joint Budget Committee and its co-chairman, Rep. Bruce Maloch of Magnolia. He lamented the difficult decisions faced by lawmakers, especially in bad economic times, when they have to say no to worthy projects.
Speaker Wills closed the session with a rundown of the session’s work. In addressing the House on opening day, Jan. 12, Wills recalled the wooden contraption called a “Do Nothing” and implored lawmakers to work hard and accomplish good things this session. They did, he said on closing day.
Lawmakers in the waning days also approved the General Improvement Fund, which consists of a $300 million surplus of leftover state agency money and earned interest from state accounts. More than one-third of the surplus, or about $100 million, will go to plug holes discovered in the budget late this session. The fund also includes $50 million in a quick-closing account used by the governor to bring jobs to the state. Another $9 million will be used to shore up the State Police retirement system fund.
The House and Senate will get about $30 million each for projects of statewide need, including those at colleges and universities. Funds also will be disbursed to rural fire departments, senior citizen centers, domestic-violence shelters and economic development projects. Those funds will be routed through state agencies on an application basis. The governor gets $65 million for other statewide projects at his discretion.
One of the first major acts approved by the 87th General Assembly was a reduction in the state sales tax on groceries from 3 percent to 2 percent. Arkansas is one of the few states that came into its legislative session this year with a surplus and opened it with a tax cut.
Formal adjournment is set for May 1. Unless there are vetoes to consider or corrections to be made, formal adjournment takes only a matter of minutes and a bang of the Speaker’s gavel will end the session.
Lawmakers also closed the session with a full slate of constitutional amendments for the November 2010 general election. Up to three can be referred, and lawmakers came up with three.
They are: a constitutional right to hunt, fish and trap; amending the state’s super-project economic development plan to issue general-obligation bonds to lure employers of any size, subject to the General Assembly’s approval; and a rewriting of the state’s credit and usury limits. Readers can expect much debate on all three of those issues in the coming months.
The House also gave final passage to Senate Bill 2 to repeal the state sales tax on mini-warehouses and self-storage services. The bill goes to the governor.
The House also gave final approval to amendments to a bill, by Rep. Randy Stewart of Kirby, to keep secret the names of Arkansans who have state licenses to carry concealed weapons. Those names – and specific home addresses -- have been public information since the concealed-carry law was approved in 1995 but seldom requested and never published (except for a brief time on a publication’s Internet home page). The original bill struggled in the Senate after being approved in the House by a large margin.
Both sides compromised. While the records will still be public information and subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, only the licensee’s name and zip code will be provided under the amended bill, which now goes to the governor.
The House also gave final approval to HB 1930, by Rep. Pam Adcock of Little Rock, requiring insurance companies to offer coverage for hearing aids of no less than $1,400 per ear every three years. That bill is now Act 1179.
The House also gave final approval to HB 1058, by Rep. Dawn Creekmore of East End, to remove the statute of limitations for rape if DNA evidence is found and collected at the scene of the crime. The bill goes to the governor.
The Senate, meanwhile, gave final approval to HB 1649, by Rep. Ray Kidd of Jonesboro, and HB 1830, by Rep. Butch Wilkins of Bono. Called the Private Protection Act, HB 1649 lowers the threshold for felony charges to be filed against someone who steals property in an area declared to be in a state of emergency. Felony charges generally apply to thefts of property valued at $2,500 and up, but that value would drop to $500 for thefts in the disaster area. The bill goes to the governor.
HB 1830 requires a person convicted of fleeing to serve at least two days in jail and for his or her driver’s license to be suspended for at least six months. It also goes to the governor.
