Legislative Odds & Ends

Monday was one of the busiest days of the 88th Arkansas General Assembly as 304 House bills were filed and 192 Senate bills met the deadline. In total, there are 2,234 bills being debated this session and that doesn’t include any resolutions, which do eat up committee and floor time.

Today, the Governor’s prison bill cleared a Senate Judiciary Committee with ease. As indicated in a previous post, this bill may be signed into law by next week. FYI, Kelly MacNeil with our content partner, KUAR-FM 89 News, highlights a prisoner who could have been helped at some point if the changes under consideration were enacted.

Inmate Randy Phillips is nine years into a twenty-six year sentence for armed robbery at Malvern. He used a weapon in a robbery, making him a violent criminal, so he’s not exactly the poster child for the proposed changes. But he’s not far off, either. Phillips says drugs were at the root of all his crimes.

"It was actually armed robbery, commercial burglary and escape," said Phillips. "I walked out of the Garland County jail. And the reason why? I was needing more cocaine."

Phillips says he needed to be locked up in order to get clean. He says it saved his life. But when told about the drug court programs, he sounds a little wistful.

"From going through the court procedures, looking back, it’d have been nice if there was things offered," Phillips said. "Because I needed rehab. I’m not a violent person, I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. What I did is considered a violent charge. But as far as me hurting anyone, I would never hurt anyone."

Also on Monday, a group of GOP House freshmen who have been voting in bloc to stop any increases in appropriations bills acquiesced allowing the measures to move forward.

In his recent appearance on Talk Business, we asked Rep. Davy Carter (R-Cabot) if he thought the House freshmen were being naive, obstructionist or principled. His answer is in the video clip below.