Capitol Notebook: PO Votes Could Be Tuesday, Indie Commission Approves Salary Recommendations

A Senate bill at the heart of debate on the Private Option issue heads to a key House committee Tuesday, while a bill to provide federal funding for the program did not come up for a House vote on Monday.

“It will be the first one out of the block,” Rep. Kelley Linck, chairman of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, said of Senate Bill 96.

At a 10 a.m. meeting, the committee will take up the bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs.

The bill would set a Dec. 31, 2016 ending date for the Private Option, with a 16-member task force having jurisdiction to study the issue.

“The purpose of the task force is to recommend an alternative healthcare coverage model and legislative framework to ensure the continued availability of healthcare services for vulnerable populations covered by the Health Care Independence Program established by the Health Care Independence Act of 2013 … upon program termination; and explore and recommend options to modernize Medicaid programs serving the indigent, aged and disabled,” the bill noted.

The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee voted 6-1 Wednesday to send the bill to the full Senate. The state Senate voted 27-7 Thursday to approve the bill, sending it to the House.

However, the state House did not take up Senate Bill 101 Monday.

The bill, sponsored by the Joint Budget Committee, would fund the Department of Human Services-Division of Medical Services program for fiscal year 2016.

The vast majority of the $8.041 billion budget – nearly $6.5 billion – would go toward the Hospital/Medical Services aspect of the program, which includes aspects of the Private Option.

The Senate voted 29-2 Thursday to approve the bill, which covers funding from July 1 until June 30, 2016.

FLOOR ACTION
The House voted 83-4, with six voting present, to approve House Bill 1076 Monday involving so-called “webcam abortions.”

Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, who sponsored the bill, said she is hopeful the bill will help to build bridges between both sides of the abortion debate.

“It goes to show that no matter what your opinion is, you can support this,” Mayberry said of the bill.

Mayberry told legislators that the bill would keep chemical abortions legal up to nine weeks, but would make sure that a doctor is there when the procedure occurs.

Rep. Deborah Ferguson, D-West Memphis, told legislators she is pro-choice but noted that the procedure should be “safe, legal and rare.”

Mayberry said she was very excited about the passage of the bill, which now heads to the Senate. Late Monday, Mayberry thanked Ferguson for her support on the bill and mentioned her support on the telemedicine aspect of the bill.

A companion bill, Senate Bill 53 sponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, is expected to be heard Wednesday by the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.

The House voted 95-0 Monday to approve Andi’s Law.

The bill, named after the daughter of Rep. Rebecca Petty, R-Rogers, would allow family members of capital murder victims to be able to view the execution of the person convicted of the crime.

According to published reports, Petty’s daughter, Andi Brewer who was 12 at the time, was found raped and murdered in Polk County in 1999.

The person convicted of the murder, Karl D. Roberts, is on death row at Varner Supermax prison, a listing on the Arkansas Department of Correction website showed Monday.

Several lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill.

Rep. Grant Hodges, R-Rogers, who voted for the bill, said the bill was not “about spectator sport, but giving the family closure.”

For Petty, the passage of the bill had deeper meaning.

“Today Arkansas crime victims very deservingly began to get their voices back. I will continue to work hard to make their voices loudly heard,” she said.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

SALARY RECOMMENDATIONS
An independent commission on Monday also made recommendations for the salaries of state officials.

The Independent Citizens Commission met Monday and issued the following recommendations for officials.

· Governor – from $87,759 to $141,000.
· Lt. Governor – Remain the same at $42,315.
· Attorney General – from $73,132 to $130,000.
· Secretary of State – from $54,848 to $90,000.
· Treasurer – from $54,848 to $85,000.
· Auditor – from $54,848 to $85,000.
· Land Commissioner – from $54,848 to $85,000.
· Speaker of State House – from $17,771 to $45,000.
· Senate President Pro Tempore – from $17,771 to $45,000.
· Member of the General Assembly – from $15,869 to $39,400.
· Chief Justice of Arkansas Supreme Court – from $161,601 to $180,000.
· Justice of the Supreme Court – from $149,589 to $166,500.
· Chief Judge of Arkansas Court of Appeals – from $147,286 to $164,000.
· Judge on the Court Appeals – from $144,982 to $161,500.
· Circuit Judge – from $140,372 to $160,000.
· District Judge – from $125,495 to $140,000.

The commission met late last week to tentatively approve the recommendations.

The commission now moves to a phase to receive comments from the public.

NEW BILLS
A bill that would add church employees to the list of people required to report child abuse to state officials was filed Monday.

House Bill 1218, filed by Rep. John Baine, D-El Dorado, would amend the state’s mandated reporter law.

The law would be amended to include “an employee of a religious organization, including without limitation, a synagogue, church, mosque or temple, who is engaged in performing his or her employment duties with the religious organization.”

The current law also includes “a clergy member, which includes a minister, priest, rabbi, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or other similar functionary of a religious organization or an individual reasonably believed to be so by the person consulting him or her.”

The law already on the books requires at least 40 different people, ranging from doctors and judges to police and teachers, to report child abuse to authorities as soon as they have reason to suspect it has happened, the law noted.

Baine said he would not run his bill through committee for at least a week, perhaps two weeks, in order to give legislators enough time to study the bill and offer suggestions.

Baine said the current state law is impressive, but “I want to fill in some gaps.”

The bill has not been referred to a committee as of Monday morning.

A bill to exempt certain customer and critical infrastructure records of municipally owned utility systems from the state’s Freedom of Information Act was also filed Monday.

Senate Bill 197, sponsored by Sen. John Cooper, R-Jonesboro and Rep. Joe Jett, D-Success, cited recent state and federal court rulings as reasoning for the law.

Under the bill, which has not been sent to committee, a customer’s home and mobile telephone number, personal email address, home and business addresses and customer usage data would be protected under FOI law.

The bill also has 10 cosponsors in the Senate and 36 cosponsors in the House.

TUESDAY SCHEDULE
The following are a list of committee meetings scheduled Tuesday in the Arkansas General Assembly:

Joint Committees
9 a.m. – Joint Budget Committee, Room A, MAC.

House Committees
10 a.m. – Education Committee, Room 138.
10 a.m. – Judiciary Committee, Room 149.
10 a.m. – Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, Room 130.
10 a.m. – Revenue and Taxation Committee, Room 151.

Senate Committees
10 a.m. – Insurance and Commerce, Room 171.
10 a.m. – State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, OSC.