Arkansas Set to Enter Beebe Era (Jeff Hankins Commentary)

I was probably 16 years old before I really thought much about who was governor of Arkansas.
Gov. Frank White had signed the infamous creation science legislation without reading it, and I wrote an editorial in the Pine Bluff High School Pine Cone that appropriately chastised him.
Years later, I would claim White as a friend and one of my favorite people to be around — as so many did on both counts.
But for most of my adult life, more than 21 years, I’ve called either Bill Clinton or Mike Huckabee governor. That’s quite remarkable, and in the age of term limits won’t happen again for any future generation.
The power accumulated by those two governors will probably never be matched again either.
Each of them had the distinction of having appointed every member of every state board and commission.
Each of them also aspired for higher office.
In the days of Dale Bumpers and David Pryor, that meant the U.S. Senate. Now it means president of the United States.
I’m thinking this may not happen again for many years, either.
Arkansans, legislators, lobbyists and business leaders established a certain comfort level with Clinton and Huckabee.
Once established, everyone knew who the players were, what the sacred cows were and the like. Huckabee was certainly an unknown quantity in his early years, but after a few years the faces in the administration became very familiar, and we knew that he would never be particularly cozy with the General Assembly.
Now we have the 45th governor of Arkansas in Mike Beebe.
It’s apparent there’s a comfort level with Beebe that’s unprecedented for an Arkansas governor on his first day.
We can’t be positive about what kind of governor he will be, but his track record is clear — we know what his government interests are and who his friends are because of his years at the Capitol as a state senator and as attorney general. This absence of surprises creates a certain tranquility.
Beebe’s state of the state address was predictable and in line with his campaign themes regarding education, economic development and sales tax cuts.
I see them as pragmatic consensus themes that aren’t inflammatory to anybody.
These also have the makings of an upbeat first legislative session for the new governor, unless the fractured state Senate decides to play hardball over surplus spending and general improvement fund allocations.
Entering a session with an $800 million surplus doesn’t hurt Beebe’s situation.
Even if there are dozens of ideas about how to spend it and Beebe doesn’t get his way, the situation sure beats spending your first year as governor chopping spending.
He really can’t lose, because somebody’s going to be happy about getting the money, and tax relief of some fashion seems sure to happen.
Beebe may have to endure a challenge or crisis before we can size up his transition to the governor’s role.
Huckabee faced crisis on his first day and handled it in a remarkable way that gave him near instant credibility as a capable leader.
Right now, I hear widespread optimism about what Beebe can do for the state and an occasional concern about his coziness with business interests — which isn’t necessarily as bad as liberals think it is.
The celebrations are over, and it’s time to lead state government in a strangely new yet familiar era.
(Jeff Hankins is the publisher of Arkansas Business. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].)