Capitol Notebook: Committee Hears Testimony On Constitutional Amendments

The fact that a governor may cross the bridge at Memphis should not preclude him or her from doing their job, the state’s lieutenant governor told a House committee Monday.

Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., testified Monday before the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee during a meeting at the capitol.

Griffin, who was elected last November, spoke in favor of House Joint Resolution 1024, sponsored by Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley.

Mayberry has sponsored three proposed constitutional amendments involving the lieutenant governor’s office. Her husband ran in the GOP primary last year for the post on a platform of abolishing the office.

House Joint Resolution 1024 would allow the governor and lieutenant governor to run jointly on the same ticket starting with the 2022 election, while House Joint Resolution 1025 would cover the selection, powers and duties of the office. House Joint Resolution 1026 would seek to abolish the office as of Jan. 1, 2019.

Under state law, the lieutenant governor serves as president of the state Senate and acting governor when the governor is out of state, impeached or incapacitated.

On the joint ticket issue, Griffin said 26 states currently use the practice of picking governors and lieutenant governors together.

Griffin also said the lieutenant governor has become governor twice in the past 20 years in the state. Then-Lt. Governor Jim Guy Tucker became governor when Bill Clinton became president in 1993. Also, Mike Huckabee, who succeeded Tucker as lieutenant governor after a 1993 special election, became governor when Tucker resigned in the aftermath of the Whitewater scandal.

Griffin also told the committee he would not “accept or recommend” for a pay increase before a commission studying the issue.

After the committee meeting, Griffin released a statement reiterating his support.

“When the governor and lieutenant governor work as a team, Arkansans benefit. While they are in office, the governor can rely on the lieutenant governor as a trusted advisor and to oversee projects and execute tasks,” Griffin said. “Arkansans also benefit in the unlikely event that the lieutenant governor must step into the role as permanent governor, as has happened twice in the last two decades. A lieutenant governor will be better prepared to take over as governor because of the knowledge gained working with the governor.”

Griffin said he was recently appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to chair a task force reviewing the state’s participation in Common Core, as well as participates in senior staff meetings.

NEXT STEP
Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, who chairs the committee, said the committee will work this week to narrow the amendments down on the House side.

Lawmakers filed over 40 proposed amendments (currently 25 in the House and 16 in the Senate) during the filing period that ended in mid-February.

Bell told the committee that the vast majority were so-called shell bills. Those bills were placed on a deferred list Monday, with the rest being reviewed this week.

The House committee will meet Wednesday afternoon to cull the remaining 11 on the House side to either five or six.

A joint committee on constitutional amendments will start meeting March 16 to pare the amendments down to be presented to the legislature.

FLOOR ACTION
The House voted 73-17 Monday to approve a bill that would allow people who have concealed carry permits to be able to carry concealed weapons into certain polling places.

House Bill 1432, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, D-Warren, will head to the Senate. Wardlaw told the House he had received some calls from constituents in his district on the issue.

Wardlaw said the ban had an impact on people in his district because there were several “country stores,” which permit concealed carry weapons, in his district that serve as polling places.

Another bill was also sent to the Senate on Monday.

The House voted 80-3 to approve House Bill 1495, sponsored by Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville. The bill would allow school boards to have an option of putting advertising on school buses as long as it meets state requirements.

If approved, the money raised from the advertisements could only be used for school transportation needs including paying for trips, Douglas told the House.

The Senate also reversed course Monday by approving a bill to modify the eligibility requirements for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship.

Senators approved Senate Bill 5 by a 22-12 margin after the bill narrowly failed Thursday by a 17-9 vote. Under the bill from Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, a student would have to have a minimum 19 ACT score to receive the scholarship.

The funding for the scholarship comes through proceeds from the state’s lottery.

The bill now heads back to the House.

TUESDAY SCHEDULE
The following committee and caucus meetings are scheduled for Tuesday in the Arkansas General Assembly:

Joint Committees
7:30 a.m. – Joint Budget Committee-Personnel, Room B, MAC.
9:00 a.m. – Joint Budget Committee, Room A, MAC.

House Committees
10:00 a.m. – Education, Room 138.
10:00 a.m. – Judiciary, Room 149.
10:00 a.m. – Public Health, Welfare and Labor, Room 130.
10:00 a.m. – Public Transportation, Room B, MAC.
10:00 a.m. – Revenue and Taxation, Room 151.
1:00 p.m. – Advanced Communications and Information Technology, Room 151.

Senate Committees
10:00 a.m. – Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, Room 309.
10:00 a.m. – Insurance and Commerce, Room 171.
10:00 a.m. – State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, OSC.

Caucus Meetings
8:00 a.m. – House Freshmen Caucus, Room 138.
12:00 p.m. – Arkansas Conservative Caucus, Room 272.

The House and Senate will convene at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.