Capitol Notebook: Prisons, Lottery, Taxes On Agenda Wednesday

On a day dominated by Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s prison reform proposals, lawmakers “scratched off” more on their agenda, including another step toward making major changes to the Arkansas Lottery.

The House Rules Committee approved Senate Bill 7 during a noon meeting at the capitol. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, would abolish the Arkansas Lottery Commission and move the lottery’s function to the Department of Finance and Administration.

The state’s voters approved the creation of the lottery during the 2008 general election.

Since then, legislators have questioned the lottery’s ability to fund scholarships for college students. Supporters of the bill said the change would help prevent a possible revenue decrease for the scholarships, content partner KUAR reported Wednesday.

Under the bill, the commission’s role would instead be handled by a 12-member legislative committee made up of House and Senate members.

The bill passed by a 34-0 margin in the Senate on Feb. 11. The bill is expected to go before the House Monday.

PRISONS
Meanwhile, details emerged with the governor’s plan on prison reform.

During an 11:30 a.m. press conference, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the $64 million bill would address issues in the state’s parole system, create a reentry program and alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders.

Hutchinson told the media that there are more than 18,000 inmates in the state’s prisons, with another 2,500 or so state prisoners being housed in county jails.

“It’s really backed up our system, and it cries out for immediate relief and a long-term solution,” Hutchinson said.

Several bills are expected to be filed Thursday in regards to the issue.

FLOOR ACTION
The House voted 86-3, with one present, to approve a bill that its sponsor said would give people the right to braid hair in the state.

Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, said House Bill 1177 would allow people who are skilled in the hair care field to practice the art without facing certain governmental regulations.

A person wanting to braid hair in the state must complete 1,500 hours of training “without even learning how to braid hair” costing nearly $20,000 to go through the training, Ballinger told the House.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

The House voted 95-2 to approve House Bill 1134 – the budget for Arkansas Tech University. The $187.2 million budget would cover the operations of the Russellville-based university from July 1 until June 30, 2016.

The House approved a bill to fund the operations of the Bureau of Legislative Research and the Arkansas Legislative Council.

The 94-0 vote on Senate Bill 40 would fund the $17.2 million needed to employ 130 full-time and 31 part-time employees for the legislative agency and the group that conducts legislative business when the legislature is out of session.

Both bills now head to the Senate.

The House also approved a series of general improvement fund appropriations bills.

The House voted 93-1, with one present, to approve Senate Bill 276, which covers the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; Senate Bill 277, which covers the Secretary of State’s office, and Senate Bill 285 for the Arkansas Department of Education.

Under the AEDC bill, at least $50 million would be transferred to the Economic Development Incentive Quick Action Closing Fund for incentives to attract new businesses.

At least $37.5 million would be appropriated for incentives, while another $20 million would be set aside for economic development projects.

Nearly $7 million would be appropriated for Amendment 82 projects with another $3 million set aside for workforce training initiatives around the state.

The funding bill for the Secretary of State’s office would include nearly $15.5 million to do several construction-related projects at the Capitol in Little Rock.

Among them are:

• $6.5 million for heating and air upgrades to the north end of the building;
• $3.5 million for stone restoration and cleaning on the east side of the building;
• $2.5 million for roof and window repair at the building;
• $1.5 million for making the building environmentally friendly.
• $538,112 for asphalt resurfacing, replacing damaged sidewalks and curbs, adding lighting to several areas, upgrading the irrigation system and landscaping;
• $483,000 to renovate drains and storm water systems on the grounds.
• $500,000 for maintenance of restrooms;
• Nearly $320,000 for plumbing and electrical panel work.

The request also included $30 million to replace voting machine equipment around the state, the bill noted.

The state Department of Education request was for $5 million to help implement a computer science initiative in the state.

The initiative has been a goal of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s administration.

Hutchinson said last month that the initiative would make computer science classes available in every high school in the state. The classes would teach coding and programming to the students.

The bill passed by a 99-0 margin in the House Feb. 5 and is expected to go to the Senate Thursday.

Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, who is a co-chair of the Joint Budget Committee, told lawmakers that the funding of the AEDC, Secretary of State and Education bills would come from the governor’s share of general improvement monies once revenue stabilization was done.

The Senate voted 34-0 Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 156.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, would “criminalize the distribution of images or recordings of a sexual nature to harass, frighten, intimidate, threaten or abuse a family or household member or person from a dating relationship.”

Under the bill, a person convicted of breaking the law would face a Class A misdemeanor. In Arkansas, a person typically can receive up to a year in jail on a Class A misdemeanor offense.

NEW BILLS
A bill to create a so-called “Health Care Compact” was also introduced.

Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, filed House Bill 1396 Wednesday. The bill, which was referred to the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor committee, would allow Arkansas to participate with several other states in the compact as well as participate in the Interstate Advisory Health Care Commission.

“The commission may study issues of healthcare regulation that are of particular concern to the member states,” Meeks’ bill noted. “The commission may make non-binding recommendations to the member states. The legislatures of the member states may consider these recommendations in determining the appropriate healthcare policies in their respective states.”

The commission’s goal would also be to “collect information and data to assist the member states in their regulation of healthcare, including assessing the performance of various state healthcare programs and compiling information on the prices of healthcare.”

A state representative also introduced a bill to reinstate the capital gains rates that were in effect prior to a tax cut bill becoming law earlier this year.

Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado filed House Bill 1402 Wednesday.

“If a taxpayer has a net capital gain for tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2015, 50% of the gain is exempt from state income tax,” the bill reads.

The bill would also amend state law on the computation of capital gains and losses.

“The amount of net capital gains in excess of $10,000,000 from a gain realized on or after Jan. 1, 2014, is exempt from the state income tax,” the bill notes.

The tax cut bill was signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The bill was geared toward individuals making $21,000 to $75,000 a year.

However, the bill was amended to include a 40% exemption rate on capital gains.

THURSDAY SCHEDULE
The following is a list of meetings scheduled for Thursday in the Arkansas General Assembly:

JOINT COMMITTEES
7:30 a.m. – JBC-Special Language, Room B, MAC.
9:00 a.m. – Joint Budget Committee, Room A, MAC.

HOUSE COMMITTEES
10 a.m. – Education, Room 138.
10 a.m. – Judiciary, Room 149.
10 a.m. – Public Health, Welfare and Labor, Room 130.
10 a.m. – Public Transportation, Room B, MAC.

SENATE COMMITTEES
10 a.m. – Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, Room 309.
10 a.m. – City, County and Local Affairs, Room 272.
10 a.m. – Insurance & Commerce, Room 171.
10 a.m. – State Agencies & Governmental Affairs, OSC.

TALK POLITICS ROUNDTABLE
KATV’S Janelle Lilley joined the Talk Business & Politics team of John Burris, Michael Cook and Roby Brock to talk about a number of hot legislative topics on this week’s roundtable.

Those topics included: a SEC Presidential primary, Asa Hutchinson’s prison reform package, tax cuts, and the remaining big topics for the legislature to deal with.

Watch the full roundtable in the video below.