Capitol Notebook: From Campaigns To Corrections, Lawmakers Kick It In Higher Gear

With potentially a week to go in the current legislative session, lawmakers stepped up their committee and floor action to push through bills dealing with corrections, executions, drug screening, wine and campaign financing.

A bill that would allow regional jails to be created is now headed to the House floor after the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved Senate Bill 618, sponsored by Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock.

Under the measure, the Arkansas Department of Correction would be able to contract with counties and private contractors among others to house state inmates. The concept is used in other states like Mississippi, where minimum security inmates are housed in regional facilities around the Magnolia State.

Sanders said earlier this month that the bill would help house inmates at a lower cost and that he has gotten good feedback on the bill.

DRUG TESTING BILL APPROVED IN COMMITTEE
A House committee on Thursday approved a bill that will create a pilot program to do suspicion-based drug screening and testing of applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

The House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee approved Senate Bill 600, sponsored by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning. Under the legislation, a minimum of 10% of the program’s population statewide as well as all applicants and recipients in the counties bordering Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and any other states bordering Arkansas could face the testing.

Anyone under the age of 18 would be exempt from taking the test, unless the person is a parent who is also an applicant for the federal program. The test would only be used to determine final eligibility for receiving benefits, Johnson’s bill noted. The bill, which has the support of 20 state senators and 19 house members, now heads to the House floor.

DEATH PENALTY METHOD APPROVED IN HOUSE
A bill helping to set the method of execution for inmates convicted of capital murder received broad support Thursday.

The House voted 73-3, with three present, to approve House Bill 1751, sponsored by Rep. Douglas House, R-North Little Rock. He said the bill provided lawmakers a “tough decision” but said a recent court ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court pushed for the need for the bill.

The Arkansas Supreme Court voted 4-3 March 19 that the state’s lethal injection law was constitutional, overturning a ruling by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen.

Under the bill, a three-drug cocktail would be used during executions. House said the bill would give anonymity to retailers that provide the drugs needed for the execution, as well as “immunity from lawsuits as far as the law will allow.”

The bill now heads to the Senate.

ELIMINATING LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR JUVENILES
The House voted 53-29, with one present, against a bill to eliminate life without a possibility of parole of juvenile defenders.

Lawmakers heard from Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, about House Bill 1197. The bill, which passed the House Judiciary Committee earlier in the session, would allow for parole for juveniles after 20 years on non-homicide cases and 30 years on homicide cases.

Leding said the proposal would make the state compliant with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case from Alabama on the issue. Justices found that life in prison without parole for juveniles violated the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Part of the case involved a defendant from Mississippi County, Kuntrell Jackson. Jackson, who was 14 at the time, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the 1999 robbery and murder of a video store clerk in Blytheville, content partner KAIT reported.

Several lawmakers spoke for and against Leding’s bill.

Rep. Rebecca Petty, R-Rogers, whose daughter was found raped and murdered in 1999, called the bill “a kick in the teeth to crime victims.” Rep. Camille Bennett, D-Lonoke said while she understood the difficulty on the issue, she believed “as a Christian, I believe in redemption.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing for Jackson in April 2014. According to the Arkansas Department of Corrections inmate database, Jackson is scheduled to be released from prison April 14, 2015.

CAMPAIGN FINANCES
A bill that would have required the filing of campaign contribution and spending reports online narrowly failed in the House.

The House voted 48-33, with 19 not voting (three votes short of passage) against House Bill 1233, sponsored by Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers.

According to the bill, the Arkansas Ethics Commission would have had approval of the format used to file the records. The bill was also amended to allow candidates to file a paper version of the records, as long as it was notarized by affidavit.

Also, a bill that would seek to close loopholes in state laws involving the coordination of candidates and special interest groups passed the House Thursday.

The House voted 56-14 to approve House Bill 1425, sponsored by Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock. The bill was approved Wednesday afternoon by the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee after some discussion.

The original bill dealt with disclosure and coordination of groups and candidates. However, Tucker told the House the disclosure part of the bill was dropped.

“It will no longer require the disclosure of private donors, but will work on the coordination,” Tucker said. The new bill would only cover radio and television advertising and would not attempt to regulate speech, Tucker said.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

WINE VS. EGGS
The House approved a bill to regulate the importation of wine from states that impose agricultural production standards on Arkansas producers of ag products imported into those states.

The bill, House Bill 1934, was sponsored by Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville. Under the bill, “wine shall not be imported into Arkansas from a state that imposes standards on agricultural products if those standards impose a substantial burden on this state’s agriculture industry as determined by the Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department.”

Douglas told the House that the bill was in response to regulations done by the state of California on Arkansas eggs.

He said the bill would send a message to the Golden State, where wine is made in the northern and coastal areas. However, other lawmakers including Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, said the bill would send the wrong message on the issue of trade.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

PARCC, COMMON CORE
An amended version of a bill delaying the state’s participation in a national education test was approved Thursday. The Senate voted 22-2, with 10 not voting, on House Bill 1241, sponsored by Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle.

Under Lowery’s bill, the state would end its participation in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers at the end of the current school year.

The test has been at the center of controversy among both sides in the Common Core debate. Supporters have said the test measures student achievement, while opponents have said the test strips away local control of schools.

The amended bill, from Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, would set any contract with the testing group for one year at a time.

“The State Board of Education shall not renew its role as a governing state or its participation with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or enter into any contract or agreement in excess of one (1) year related to statewide assessments for public school students after the 2015-2016 school year or any school year thereafter,” Hendren’s amendment noted. “The state board shall take into consideration any recommendations that are made by the Governor’s Council on Common Core Review before entering into any contract or agreement related to statewide assessments for public school students for the 2016-2017 school year.”

The bill now heads back to the House.