Primary, Fiscal Session Bills Clear House Committee, Stall With Senate Panel

A bill that would change the date of Arkansas’ presidential and party primaries, as well as the judicial general election, moved through a state House committee Tuesday, but companion bill in the Senate didn’t fare so well.

In the first day of an expected three-day special session, the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee approved House Bill 1006, sponsored by Rep. Andy Davis, R-Little Rock.

Under the bill, voters would go to the polls on the first Tuesday in March to determine the Republican and Democratic nominees for President as well as federal, state and county offices around the state. The filing period, under the bill, would be from noon Nov. 2 until noon on Nov. 9.

The bill, which has 29 co-sponsors in the state House and state Senate, would also set a March 22 runoff date for candidates who do not receive the mandatory 50.1% of the vote.

Supporters of the plan have said the change – from the customary late May date on the political calendar – puts Arkansas on the national stage in determining who will be in the White House. Opponents note the change would truncate the state’s political calendar, pushing candidates to campaign during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Davis told the committee that he has received support for his proposal.

“I have talked with my non-political friends … and they have said they are in favor of it,” Davis said.

Davis also said the change would give voters a say earlier in the process, making the state a key part of the campaign.

Rep. Camille Bennett, D-Lonoke, asked Davis about how candidates and the general public would be notified of the change after many years of the primary being in May.

Davis said most candidates would already know about the changes, while state and national media would publicize the calendar.

The House bill now goes to the floor.

A similar bill, Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, was filed Tuesday and sent to the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Committee members did not pass the bill out of the Senate panel. It tied 4-4 along party lines, leaving several options with the short timetable of the special session.

It could be reconsidered tomorrow or a majority of Senate members could “pull the bill out of committee” – a rarely used and controversial procedural motion that the Senate allows for. With a supermajority of Republicans in the State Senate, the bill would have a strong chance of passage.

Stubblefield tells Talk Business & Politics that he does plan to attempt to have the bill pulled out of committee and onto the Senate floor on Wednesday.

FISCAL SESSION
The House State Agencies committee also approved a bill that would change the date of the state’s fiscal session.

The bill, House Bill 1008, was sponsored by Rep. Charlotte Vining Douglas, R-Alma. Under the bill, the 30-day fiscal session would start April 13 in Little Rock.

Lawmakers would be able to pre-file bills for the session starting March 14, while the state’s education adequacy study would have to be done by March 1.

Also, officials with the Department of Finance and Administration would have until Feb. 1 to turn in financial numbers to prepare for the 2017 fiscal year.

Currently, the session is set to start Feb. 8.

GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION
Both a House and a Senate committee approved bills Tuesday that would seek to consolidate several state agencies into departments.

The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee approved House Bill 1001, sponsored by Rep. David Branscum, R-Marshall, while the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs.

Under both bills, the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority and the Department of Rural Services would be transferred to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; the Arkansas Building Authority would be transferred to the Department of Finance and Administration; and the Division of Land Surveys of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture would be transferred to the Arkansas Geographic Information Office.

The House bill will head to the House floor, while the Senate bill would move onto the Senate.

OTHER BILLS
The committee voted against a bill that would have kept the presidential and other primaries in May.

House Bill 1002, sponsored by Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, failed by a voice vote.

The bill would have set a May 3, 2016 primary and a May 24, 2016 runoff date for federal, state and county primaries. Also, the bill would have required the House and Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committees to “study the effects and benefits of holding the preferential primary election and the general primary election in May.”

The bill would have set a May primary date for the state, starting with the 2018 election cycle.

A couple of transportation committees also approved bills Tuesday.

The bills – House Bill 1005, sponsored by Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro was approved by the House Public Transportation Committee, while Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Sen. John Cooper, R-Jonesboro –was approved by the Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs committee.

Both bills would allow agricultural vehicles to travel on U.S. 63 in Craighead and Poinsett counties once the highway is designated I-555.

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE
The following is the schedule of committee and commission meetings set for Wednesday during the special session.

HOUSE
1:30 p.m. – House Management, 4th floor conference room.
1:30 p.m. – House Public Transportation, Room B, MAC
2:30 p.m. – House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, Room 138.
2:30 p.m. – House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, Room 151.

SENATE
1:00 p.m. – Senate Judiciary, Room 171.
1:00 p.m. – Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs, Room 272.
1:30 p.m. – Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, OSC
1:30 p.m. – Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, Room 309.

COMMISSIONS AND OTHER EVENTS
9:00 a.m. – State Auditor Andrea Lea, House Chamber.
10:00 a.m. – Electronic Recording Commission, Room 207.
1:30 p.m. – Legislative Criminal Oversight Task Force, Room A, MAC.

The House and Senate will convene at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Capitol.