Capitol Notebook: Private Option Votes Head To House Floor Thursday

Thursday may be shaping up to be a very crucial day in the legislature as three bills involving the Private Option are expected to be addressed at the state Capitol.

“We plan to run them both tomorrow (Thursday),” House Speaker Jeremy Gillam said of Senate Bill 96 and Senate Bill 101.

The House took no action Wednesday on Senate Bill 96, which would end the Private Option as of Dec. 31, 2016 and set up a 16-member task force to study the overall healthcare issue.

Senate Bill 101 would fund the private option through June 30, 2016, which is the end of the state’s 2016 budget year.

The bills, which are key parts of the Private Option debate, have been debated at the Capitol since a Jan. 22 speech by Gov. Asa Hutchinson on the issue.

Another measure that could factor in the debate was added late Wednesday as a House member filed a bill to end the program on and after June 30, 2016.

Rep. Josh Miller, R-Heber Springs, filed House Bill 1262. The bill is expected to be heard at a 10 a.m. Thursday meeting of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor committee.

In the bill, Miller called for the June 30 termination date as well as a 16-member task force to study the issue.

The bill also noted that “subdivision (b) (1) of this section does not prohibit federal funding for the payment of expenses incurred before Dec. 31, 2015 by persons participating in the Health Care Independence Program who were determined as more effectively covered through the traditional Arkansas Medicaid program.”

As of Wednesday night, the bill had 12 sponsors in the House and one sponsor in the Senate.

Gillam had spoken to reporters Wednesday afternoon before Miller filed his bill.

Senate Bill 96 will need 51 votes to pass the House, while Senate Bill 101 will need 75 votes due to it being an appropriations bill, Gillam said.

As for the bills, members are in favor of doing something with the healthcare issue, Gillam said, noting there is some “challenge as to looking at a favorable proposal.”

COMMITTEES
A bill that would get rid of the dual status of a state holiday honoring both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Confederate general Robert E. Lee did not go through committee Wednesday.

However, another bill that would seek to do the same thing could receive a hearing soon.

The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee did not hear House Bill 1119, sponsored by Rep. Fred Love, D-Little Rock.

Love did not present the bill Wednesday. The committee chairman, Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, did not discuss specifics but said that he and Love were working “to get the overall goal accomplished.”

Bell sponsored a similar bill, House Bill 1113, earlier in the session. That bill was defeated in committee Jan. 27.

Bell did say that he would bring his bill back to committee at a 10 a.m., Feb. 11 hearing at the Capitol.

The committee did approve a bill sponsored by Bell that would protect the rights of government employees who may seek public information.

The bill, House Bill 1163, would amend current state law.

“It shall be unlawful for any public employer to discipline, to threaten to discipline, to reprimand either orally or in writing, to place any notation in a public employee’s personnel file disciplining or reprimanding the public employee, or to otherwise discriminate against a public employee because the public employee exercised the right to communicate with an elected public official or exercised a right or privilege under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25-19-101 et seq., as granted 27 under this subchapter,” the bill read.

While not discussing names or where it happened, Bell said he had received complaints from people around the state who have faced similar types of issues.

“The bill shows that people do not give up the same rights to free speech and requiring documents just because they are a public employee,” Bell said after the hearing.

The bill now moves to the House.

The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee also approved an amendment to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s tax cut proposal Wednesday.

The bill, which was approved by both the House and Senate, had different amendments dealing with the state’s capital gains tax rate.

A Senate amendment set the rate at 30%, while a House amendment set the rate at 40%. The latest amendment incorporates the House 40% threshold. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.

If approved, the bill will head down the hall to the Governor’s office for signature.

WHAT’S UP NEXT?
The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee could take up Senate Bill 7 Thursday.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, would get rid of the Arkansas Lottery Commission and move the commission’s work to the Department of Finance and Administration.

Also, the House Education Committee is expected to take up House Bill 1077.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, would amend the state’s concealed carry law to allow staff members at colleges, universities and community colleges to be able to possess a concealed weapon.

“A licensee may possess a concealed handgun in the buildings or on the grounds, whether owned or leased by the public university, public college or public community college, of the public university, public college or public community college where he or she is employed unless otherwise prohibited by Arkansas Code 5-73-306 if he or she is a staff member,” the bill read.

The bill would not change parts of the current law, which ban the storage of a handgun in a student dorm or residence hall.

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

Joint Committees
7:30 a.m. – Joint Budget Committee-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. – 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. – State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, Room 309.

The Senate convenes at 11:30 a.m., while the House convenes at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.