Arkansas Senate Report: Museums, taxes and corrections reform

Editor’s note: Arkansas Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, provided the following commentary on the previous week of the 88th Arkansas General Assembly.

This past week at the Capitol was slowed somewhat by another wintery blast of weather (can you remember the last time school was called off this often?). There were few highlights even worth mentioning in my opinion, and I am looking forward to the days when there is much to report on, and many measures that will be beneficial for the state and the citizens.

KILLING A BILL
Probably one of the most interesting points came on a Senate Bill I discussed last week prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions. It passed the Senate 27-8 and was referred to the Public Health Committee in the House.

After some discussion and misinformation, a “poison pill” amendment was placed on the bill effectively killing the bill as it currently stands.

I find it interesting here in that many claim to be “pro-life” candidates during the campaign, yet find every opportunity or excuse to vote against pro-life legislation.

PERSONAL ISSUES
On a personal note, I have sponsored and filed several bills and expect to file more in the next few weeks. You will be happy to know that about 100 fewer bills overall have been filed in this Session than in the 2009 Session. I attribute this to the number of new legislators in the Capitol, and I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing.

For the Marshal’s Museum, we passed a resolution signifying complete support of the ongoing efforts and which hopefully will help them in their fund-raising efforts.

I am also investigating ways to allow Arkansans to register to vote online. I have petitioned the staff of the Secretary of State in this effort because I believe this generation and those following will be much more apt to vote and be engaged in the process if we make it as easy to be involved as possible. And yes, I am looking at the negative impacts as well and am going to negate those in every way possible.

There is a great organization that I have become involved with on a small level in the River Valley area, and it is The ARC of the River Valley. Director Patti Logan leads a group of staff and volunteers who work with and provide opportunities for those who have developmental disabilities of all ages. Because of what I have seen there, I filed a bill that came out of the Senate State Agencies Committee this week that requires all State Agencies to use respectful language when their rules mention those who have disabilities. Many times words that were commonplace years ago are still in their rules, and I think it is not only time to update those, but also the right thing to do.

CUTTING MANUFACTURING TAXES
Because of the large manufacturing base in Fort Smith and the many, many jobs associated with that base, I campaigned on the need for a larger cut on the taxes for manufacturers as it related to the utilities that go into the finished products. We simply must be more business-friendly as it relates to the jobs we have and the jobs we hope to attract in this economy.

Expect to see a bill filed this week that will deal with this issue.

Along those lines, I have been an advocate at the discussions with leaders of both the House and the Senate in looking for ways to cut more taxes, as the Governor mentioned several times prior to the Session. We simply have to find more cuts in spending and reductions in government growth for us to be prosperous in the future. This bill will truly be an economic driver and an asset to our Region and State in their job recruitment efforts.

CORRECTION REFORMS
We are expecting the draft bill of the Corrections Reforms legislation to be released this week which will attempt to put into law all of the recommendations of the Working Group I was a member of this past year.

While not a perfect piece of legislation, I think these reforms will go a long way in allowing us to increase public safety, reduce corrections costs, and begin the process of real conservative reforms in a system that has grown in scope and cost.

There have been several law enforcement groups that have come out with endorsements of the recommendations, but one group that has not is the Prosecutors. It will be interesting to see their reactions to the bill and hear their opinions on how we should do things if they do not agree with the legislation.

CONTACT ME
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email or phone if you have an issue or problem with state government. The direct phone to the Senate is (501) 682-5733, and my e-mail is [email protected]

I look forward to hearing from you.