Talk Politics

Covering Arkansas Politics

New Group Formed To Contest Nelson Severance Tax Proposal

Sheffield Nelson’s effort to raise Arkansas’ severance tax on natural gas to 7% has formal opposition.

Keet Plans Debt Retirement Fundraiser With Big Names

Last year’s main challenger to Gov. Mike Beebe (D), Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Keet, still has a hefty campaign debt, but he’s doing something about it.

Supporters, Opponents Gearing Up For Highway Bond Election

A Nov. 8 special election to potentially renew the state’s GARVEE bond highway program is only about 3 weeks away. You haven’t seen a lot of high-profile attention on either side of the issue, but several activities are in the works.

If approved, the bond issue would allow the state to authorize $575 million in bonds for interstate maintenance and repairs. The revenue stream to pay back the bonds would come from GARVEE revenue and an existing four-cent diesel fuel tax. GARVEE stands for "Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle," a pledge of future funds from the federal government for Arkansas highways.

Griffin Jobs Conference Theme: Uncertainty

More than 60 central Arkansas business leaders shared the stage with Second District Congressman Tim Griffin (R) on Wednesday in an effort to remedy the biggest proclaimed hurdle facing businesses today: uncertainty.

Rep. Rice Sends Letter Asking For Speaker Votes

We’ve known for months that the likely showdown for the next Speaker of the House for the 2013 session will be between Democratic Rep. Darrin Williams (D-Little Rock) and Republican Rep. Terry Rice (R-Waldron).

Arkansas Medicaid Director Resigns

The director of Arkansas’ Medicaid program, Gene Gessow, has resigned according to a spokesperson for Gov. Mike Beebe. Gessow is leaving for family reasons, says Matt Decample in the Governor’s office.

Arkansas has been exploring major changes to its Medicaid program at the direction of Beebe, who has warned that the state faces a major financial crisis with the program as early as July 2012 if reforms are not enacted.

At the center of Beebe’s controversial proposal is an effort to create medical care groups for certain divisions of health care that would allow for bundled payments versus the current "fee-for-services" method of payment that has threatened Medicaid’s finances. Yesterday, the first working group of stakeholders met to hammer out potential direction on Medicaid reform.

Decample said that the Governor understood Gessow’s personal reasons for leaving, but his departure won’t threaten Beebe’s efforts to push forward with Medicaid reform.

"It’s not going to slow us down. There’s still a team in place over there (at the Department of Human Services)," Decample said.

The search for a replacement will be conducted by DHS director John Selig in consultation with the Governor, Decample added.

Amy Webb, spokesperson for DHS, emphasized that Gessow was not asked to resign, but that his personal situation dictated a need for his departure. Webb said that Marilyn Strickland, chief operating officer with the Medicaid division, would serve as interim Medicaid director while a search is conducted.

"He (Gessow) was a visionary," Webb said. "We’ll be looking for someone of that caliber."

Heavier Lifting On Medicaid Overhaul Begins

We’ve reported widely on Gov. Mike Beebe’s (D) efforts to overhaul the state’s Medicaid system, which he’s warned will face a fiscal crisis by July 2012.

Rep. Clark Hall To Enter First District Congressional Race

Rep. Clark Hall (D-Marvell) will challenge Cong. Rick Crawford (R) in the First Congressional District in 2012.

Pryor Unveils Six-part Jobs Plan

U.S. Senator Mark Pryor (D) unveiled his version of a jobs bill in Little Rock on Friday.

Pryor, Boozman Disagree On Stimulus Effect

Arkansas’ two U.S. Senators have two different takes on the effect the stimulus had on the nation’s economy.

Lottery Vp Fired For ‘lost Confidence’

The Arkansas Times and several other news outlets report that Arkansas Lottery VP Ernestine Middleton was fired from her position due to a lack of confidence in her job performance.

Womack Bill Seeks Online Sales Tax Solution

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, has teamed up with Democratic Congressman Jackie Speier on Wednesday (Oct. 12) to announce their push of legislation that would give states more authority to require online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes.

Drug Court Funding Gets Band-aid Until Fiscal Session

After a late summer funding shortfall threatened their financial stability, Arkansas’ drug courts may make it until the 2012 fiscal session.

Griffin Raises $225,000 In Third Quarter

Second District Congressman Tim Griffin (R) has turned in another solid quarter of fundraising in his re-election bid.

Gene Jeffress Makes It Official In The Fourth (updated)

Term-limited State Sen. Gene Jeffress (D-Louann) has been saying publicly he would jump in the Fourth District Congressional race, which is now an open seat thanks to retiring Rep. Mike Ross (D). Jeffress has yet to put a visible campaign structure together or reach out to the media in a formal fashion, but his brother, State Sen. Jimmy Jeffress (D-Crossett), issued this statement on his Facebook page today.

Arkansas’ ‘fifth Congressman’ Dies

Ray Reid, the chief of staff for U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt (R) who was often known as Arkansas’ “Fifth Congressman,” has died.

He was 89. Reid, who passed away on Saturday, is survived by his wife, Jean, and three daughters.

Reid served more than 23 years as chief of staff to Hammerschmidt and U.S. Reps. Tim Hutchinson (R) and Asa Hutchinson (R) during their service as Arkansas’ 3rd District Congressmen.

Prior to joining Hammerschmidt’s office as chief of staff, Reid retired from the U.S. Army as a full colonel. During Reid’s more than 30 years in the Army, he worked in various departments in the Pentagon, including a stint as liaison between the Pentagon and Congress.

“Ray Reid was certainly valuable to my entire service to the 3rd District,” Hammerschmidt tells our content partner, The City Wire. “In my opinion, he was the best administrative assistant in the House on Capitol Hill in those days. … I’m very grateful to him for 23 years of public service.”

‘PART OF THE GENIUS’

Hammerschmidt said early in his Congressional career that a staffer suggested the recently retired Reid would be a good chief of staff.

“He (staffer) told me he (Reid) was a retired colonel, and I said, ‘I don’t need one of those, because I’ve been one of those,’” joked Hammerschmidt, who was an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II.

The Hammerschmidt-Reid team is credited by several as producing one of the best constituent services programs in Congressional history.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, who now serves the 3rd District, said he did not personally know Reid but is aware he was “part of the genius” of the work that came out of Hammerschmidt’s office.

“I can tell you that a Congressman is only as successful as his staff, and that begins with the chief,” Womack noted.

GUIDING FORCE

Rep. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, was part of the management team at the Northwest Arkansas Council during Reid’s time with Hammerschmidt.

“Ray was the guiding force to John Paul Hammerschmidt’s constituent service record. John Paul, as we all know, was the very best elected official at taking care of constituent problems and their requests for help,” Lindsey explained. “Ray put together a process and trained the staff to ensure all that happened. John Paul told Ray what he wanted to happen with constituent service, and Ray had to create that. … Ray had to instill that spirit of constituent service.”

Lindsey said Reid also knew how to open just the right doors during efforts to authorize and fund construction of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and Interstate 540 between Alma and Fayetteville.

“Ray would be the one to make the calls to the appropriate chief of staff” for the appropriate committee and “get you an appointment,” Lindsey said. “Sometimes the only reason you could get in the door was because Ray had made the calls. … But the thing is, Ray made the calls on behalf of John Paul.”

Reid also could dish out tough love when constituents would ask for something impossible or inappropriate.

“I can tell you that sometimes he would say, ‘Uvalde, this idea isn’t going to hunt.’ So, he would be very frank with you if he had to,” Lindsey said.

FIFTH CONGRESSMAN

“Anything good that’s happened for this part of the state … Ray Reid somewhere had his hand on it,” said Billy Dooly, former president of the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce. “People don’t realize how much he did for Arkansas and this (Congressional) district, but it was more than we’ll ever know and that’s why he was often called our ‘Fifth Congressman.’”

Dooly worked with Reid in several different phases of their lives. First, Dooly was a young Army officer assigned to the Pentagon and frequently reported to Reid. When Dooly became chamber president, they worked together while Reid was Hammerschmidt’s chief of staff.

And in the late 1990s, Hammerschmidt was appointed by then Gov. Mike Huckabee to draft a report on Arkansas’ highway needs. Reid served as Hammerschmidt’s aide during that process, and, because the funding and construction of Interstate 49 was a top chamber priority, Dooly and Reid again worked together.

“That was yet another contribution he made to our state,” Hammerschmidt said of the highway report. “Ray really loved Arkansas.”

When Hammerschmidt’s work with the highway report ended, Dooly helped convince the I-49 Coalition to hire Reid as a consultant.

“In the Pentagon and in his Army time, he was a soldier’s soldier. Ray was respected by everyone on the Washington scene, at all levels,” Dooly said when asked to summarize his thoughts about Reid.

MENTOR, GENTLEMAN

David Olive said Reid was instrumental during the January 1997 transition when Olive became chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith.

“He was just a magnificent mentor and a gentleman,” Olive said.

Olive, the founder of Catalyst Partners, a Washington D.C.-based government relations and public affairs firm, said Reid is still remembered as tops in providing constituent service. Olive said Reid would “read every single letter” to a constituent written by a staffer to ensure the grammar was correct, the name was spelled correctly and the most recent info was in the letter.

“That office might send out 1,000 to 1,500 letters a week, but to the person who received a letter, it was the only letter they received from their Congressman. And Ray knew that,” Olive explained.

BIG LESSONS

Olive said Reid provided three “big lessons” during the early 1997 transition.

• Oversight

“He stepped back from his role as an active day-to-day leader and moved into a mentor role with great ease. … He allowed us to learn, but protected us from things that had been tried before but didn’t work.”

• Avoid partisanship

“He literally knew everybody. He had been in some of the biggest issues when they (Republicans) were in the minority, and he was there when the (House Speaker) Newt Gingrich era took over the House. But there was never an arrogant or partisan attitude with him or among the staff. … Also, there were very few disputes in his career that were of a personal nature. If he disagreed with you, you knew it was on philosophy or maybe on protocol, but it was never personal.”

• Seek long-term relationships

“Obviously there are some things you have to do on a short-term basis, but it’s always better to consider the long-term. And we learned from that (Reid mentoring) approach that better policy, better legislation often comes when you build a larger and stronger base” of support.

Olive also said the office of U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., still employs the “Ray Reid rule.” The rule requires staffers to leave the office by 5 p.m. on a Friday — barring any special legislative action.

“Mr. Reid insisted that people have a life outside the office,” Olive explained. “It was designed to keep people from burning out, and it has definitely been practiced and handed down for many, many years.”

Olive said the rule is “indicative of how Ray looked after the young idealistic kids who would come to Washington, because it’s so easy to get caught up in 18 hour days.”

FUNERAL PLANS

Hammerschmidt said he spoke with Jean, Reid’s wife, and the plans are for a funeral ceremony in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday (Oct. 15).

Following that, Reid is scheduled to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. However, Jean told Hammerschmidt there is a waiting list for burials and it could be several weeks before a military graveside service is conducted.

Hammerschmidt used the delay to exemplify his thoughts about Reid.

“I told someone today that if Ray was here he could get himself moved to the front of the (burial) line.”

Michael Tilley with our content partner, The City Wire, is the author of this report. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].