Governor Discusses End Of Session Atmosphere

Gov. Mike Beebe met with reporters at the end of the week on what was hoped would be the last day of the 88th General Assembly.

Legislators have been unable to conclude Congressional redistricting, a once a decade process to redraw federal House of Representative lines.

Beebe said he has been surprised by the partisan bickering in the House since the numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House are about even.

The Governor said he is eyeing two bills for possible veto, but declined to say which ones they were. He said he wanted to talk to the bills’ sponsors to see if a veto could be avoided.

On the contentious Congressional redistricting issue, Beebe said he would not get involved in negotiations, calling it "the legislature’s purview."

He did say that he would sign into law any Congressional map passed by the legislature as long as his attorneys viewed it as constitutional. When asked if the controversial "Fayetteville to the Fourth" map was constitutional, Beebe said he was told it was, citing the contiguous nature of the counties and the population variances of less than one percent.

On another volatile session issue, Beebe said he would not use his executive power to move forward with creating health insurance exchanges. A measure to start the planning necessary to move that aspect of federal health care reform was parked in interim study.

Beebe said he would not go that route and would respect the "will of the legislature."