Bills Worth Watching – Part 2

Monday is the deadline for state lawmakers to file potential legislation for consideration. The rush to file brings a flurry of new bills into the system in the waning days before the deadline closes.

To follow up from our Thursday report of bills worth watching, we offer you the second installment with a promise of several more to come during the next few days. Here are a few noteworthy bills to keep an eye on and why:

SB 750 by Sen. Jim Luker (D-Wynne) is the Governor’s prison and sentencing reform measure. As we’ve previously profiled, this bill is a monster – 167 pages in total – but most of the drama has been resolved with news that the state’s prosecutors are now supporting the proposal (a formal endorsement was made Friday). SB 750 will have some bumps and bruises along the way, but expect the bill to enter committee discussion in the Senate Judiciary panel as early as Monday. Gov. Beebe may be signing this bill within the next 10 days.

SB 747 by Sen. Larry Teague (D-Nashville) is a shell bill waiting for more details to be filled in. The bill is part of the Arkansas Insurance Department’s efforts to implement federal health care reform. Expect controversy tied to this bill and others that will come from the Insurance Department as this is the clarion call of several freshmen Republican legislators.  As a matter of fact, State Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Bigelow) has already put a hold on the department’s budget, even though the money to implement two primary mandates is funded fully by a federal grant.

HB 1902 and HJR 1001 are tandem bills dealing with House Speaker Robert Moore’s (D-Arkansas City) effort to improve highway funding. HB 1902 calls for a trucking association-supported nickel increase in the diesel fuel tax to extend an interstate bond program, subject to voter approval. HJR 1001 by former Highway Commissioner Rep. Jonathan Barnett (R-Siloam Springs) is still in its shell form, but will ultimately be a voter-referred half-cent sales tax increase for four-lane highways throughout the state.

HB 1891 by Rep. Duncan Baird (R-Lowell) also addresses highway funding. It takes a blue ribbon panel on highway financing recommendation to move state general revenues from auto-related sales and services into a dedicated roads fund. Gov. Beebe has expressed strong opposition to the notion, but it has support from Highway Commission Chairman Madison Murphy.

HB 1842 is also a Rep. Jonathan Barnett bill. It would amend the Regional Mobility Authority Act of the last two sessions, which allows for the formation of local entities to fund transportation projects through project-specific tax hikes. HB 1842 adds new projects to the mix, such as bike trails, waterways and light-rail options. This bill is one of several aimed at enhancing a connection of tourism destinations and downtown redevelopment projects that we reported on weeks ago.

HB 1884 by Rep. Mike Patterson (D-Piggott) is a vaguely worded shell bill to "assist manufacturing and promote economic development." There is no additional language in the bill, but we are reminded that two sessions ago, Patterson had a bill that was amended from a vague title like this to include language allowing Arkansas to create incentives to attract wind turbine manufacturer LM Glasfiber (now LM Windpower) to the state.

There are quite a few other bills to profile in the last-minute flurry to file and we’ll bring you more insight on a near-daily basis going forward through early next week. If you want to look up any of these bills for yourself, here is a link to the search engine for bills on the Arkansas Legislature’s web site.