Capitol Notebook: Budget To Be Revealed, Tax Cut Debate Expected In House Committee

The third week of the Arkansas General Assembly starts Monday, with legislators expected to act on several issues including the Governor’s budget, tax cuts, the private option and the state’s lottery.

The following is a breakdown of the week ahead:

MONDAY
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor committee is expected to take up the bill dealing with the Private Option.

Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette, introduced Senate Bill 96 late Thursday, several hours after Gov. Asa Hutchinson gave a speech at the University of Arkansas for Medical Services in Little Rock. The speech touched on health care in general and the private option, specifically.

Under the Hutchinson plan, he is asking legislators to renew funding for the private option until Dec. 31 of next year. A 16-member task force would look at the program’s future and have a Dec. 31, 2015 deadline to complete a report with recommendations.

Hutchinson said in the speech that the issue must be addressed.

“This debate that we are going through is not unusual in American politics: Do the benefits that we recognize exist outweigh the costs? While the question was basic, a divide was created in our state,” Hutchinson said. “Over the course of the past two years, our state has been wrapped around the political axle. The phrase Private Option itself has become politically toxic, so much so that it’s almost impossible to have a constructive conversation about healthcare reform without passions rising and folks taking sides. Ladies and gentlemen, debate is good. Conviction is good. But let’s remember what we are trying to do here — and that is to build a healthy Arkansas. Not to politicize a phrase to the point where its very utterance becomes an invitation to fight. My goal is to broaden the debate to the larger Medicaid budget.”

The committee, which will meet in Room 272 at the capitol after the Senate adjourns Monday, is also expected to take up Senate Bill 53, sponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View.

The bill, similar to a House bill, is an “act to regulate the use of certain drugs used to induce an abortion, to define certain terms, to provide for disciplinary proceedings for abortions performed in violation of this act, to provide a civil cause for action for violations of this act; to require physician reporting and for other purposes.”

The House bill – House Bill 1076, sponsored by Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley – is expected to go before the House Public Health committee Wednesday.

TAX CUTS & BUDGET
The House is expected to take up Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s tax cut proposal, Senate Bill 6, as early as Tuesday.

The state Senate voted 30-3 Thursday to approve the measure after it was approved by the Senate Revenue and Taxation Wednesday by a voice vote.

If approved by the House and signed into law by Hutchinson, the plan would cut taxes by 0.1 percent this year for people making $4,300 to $20,999.

The bill also cuts taxes from six percent to five percent for people making between $21,000 to $35,099; and seven to six percent for people making $35,100 to $75,000 in 2016.

The committee also approved an amendment by Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, that would change the state exemption rate on capital gains from 50 to 30 percent.

The committee’s chairman, Democrat Joe Jett of Success, said late last week that the bill should go before the committee by Thursday. Over the weekend, capitol sources said it will probably run Tuesday shortly after Hutchinson’s budget plan is released. The Joint Budget Committee meets ahead of House Revenue and Tax.

LOTTERY
The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee is also scheduled to take up a bill that would abolish the state’s Lottery Commission.

Senate Bill 7, sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, would get rid of the commission and require the lottery to be run by the Department of Finance and Administration.

An earlier bill would have placed the program under the auspices of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. However, the bill was amended last week after Hutchinson said he felt DFA would be a better fit.