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TERRIBLE BILLS One week into the 89th General Assembly and already there has been more harmful legislation proposed than we can count on two hands. Below, the worst of the worst. Because Republicans control the state House and Senate all of these are likely to pass. Keep up with our running list at arktimes.com/badbills. CHANGE THE FUNCTION OF THE LEGISLATURE. A pernicious anti-government bill filed by Majority Leader Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Hot Springs) that caps state spending increases by 3 percent a year, or, if the three-year spending average has been less than 3 percent, that lower figure. It’s unnecessary; the legislature already controls spending. But it could hamper future legislatures in times of economic prosperity. There’d be no room for the likes of economic development, raises for public employees or fulfilling funding requests from higher education.
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THIS WEEK’S CHANCE OF PASSING MEDICAID EXPANSION: 51 PERCENT Introducing the Expand-o-meter, our guesstimate of the state of the debate, which we’ll update frequently as new developments come along at arktimes.com/expansion. When the Republicans took the majority in November, it seemed to spell doom for the prospects of expanding Medicaid. After all, many Republicans had centered their campaign on anti-Obamacare rhetoric. House Majority Leader Rep. Bruce Westerman said in a House Republican address, “As the states now have protection from being forced to expand the program, our view is that supporting Medicaid expansion is really embracing President Obama’s law.” Yikes. But events of the last two months have mostly been good news for proponents of expansion. • Relatively moderate Rep. Davy Carter was elected Speaker of the House with Democratic support and a small group of Republicans. He and Senate President Pro Tem Michael Lamoureux have been striking a cautiously open tone, in stark contrast to the campaign rhetoric of their caucus. • The RAND Corp. released a study this month projecting that the state would add thousands of jobs, save thousands of lives, and add a half-billion dollars annually in economic stimulus to the state GDP. • On the other hand, the feds announced that states must expand all the way up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level if they want the Affordable Care Act’s generous matching rates — not a surprise but a setback for moderate Republicans who had pushed the partial expansion idea. Carter and Lamoureux both said the all-or-nothing verdict made passing expansion significantly more difficult. The feds did give the OK to co-pays, another idea dear to Republican hearts, and while it’s unlikely the feds will budge on partial expansion, you never know.
DRUG TESTS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson (R-Little Rock), in the news lately for using campaign money to pay a mistress, started his image rehabilitation tour with this bill, which requires drug testing of all unemployment compensation applicants and random drug testing thereafter of beneficiaries. This is right-wing cookie-cutter legislation that’s been demonstrated elsewhere to be ineffective and costly. A Little Rock attorney has already promised to sue the state on Fourth Amendment grounds of the bill passes. GUNS IN CHURCH. Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) is back again with a bill that would allow concealed handguns in churches. Like all private property owners, churches would be allowed to prohibit guns, though, of course, they’d be doing so at their own peril. A church without an arsenal is a target, don’t you know? MORE CHARTER SCHOOLS. Republicans abhor government bureaucracy unless it serves their purposes. This bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Mark Biviano (R-Searcy) and Sen. Bruce Holland (R-Greenwood), strips the state Board of Education its oversight of charter schools in favor of a newly created five-member charter school commission. The Board of Education has been generally fair and receptive to the establishment and continuation of charter schools; the Billionaire Boys Club — rich charter school advocates from the Walton, Murphy, Stephens and Hussman families — clearly doesn’t think it has done enough. 20-WEEK ABORTION BAN. This proposal, sponsored by Rep. Andy Mayberry and Sen. Bart Hester with 56 co-sponsors, is yet another move by Republicans to control women’s bodies. Billed as the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” the bill would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks, a time when a fetus can begin to feel pain, according to the authors of the bill. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists says that doesn’t happen until at least 24 weeks. Legal consensus holds that restricting abortions before viability — defined by medical experts as 23 or 24 weeks — is unconstitutional. Nonetheless, a number of states have recently passed similar measures. A challenge to an Arizona 20-week ban is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It’s expected to overturn the law. VOTER ID. Sen. Bryan King has proposed two voter ID bills — one that would require voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polls and another that would refer a constitutional amendment, which would enshrine voter ID law into the state constitution, to voters. According to a database of alleged election fraud compiled by News21, there have only been six cases of alleged election fraud in Arkansas since 2000, and none of the alleged fraud would’ve been prevented by King’s proposed law. There’s no evidence that in-person voter fraud exists by any real measure anywhere (impersonating someone at the polls isn’t a very efficient way to steal an election after all). There is, however, plenty of evidence that voter ID laws suppress votes, especially minorities, the poor and the elderly.
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INSIDER, CONT. it to mean he’ll eventually restore the religious programs and that they’ll continue as overtly evangelical outreaches. The Liberty Institute said in a news release that it, not Murry, will conduct an investigation “regarding equal access for visitors to the school and make a report and recommendation to the district on or before Feb. 12, 2013.” A news release distributed about the decision quotes Murry as saying, “The district respects the religious liberty of all students and citizens and will work diligently to follow the Constitution and take the appropriate steps necessary to investigate this issue further and follow the law.” It will be interesting to see if equal access includes friendly visits by atheists, humanists, Buddhists and the ACLU.
Where was Andi? When the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments last week on the important case over the Arkansas school transfer law, news accounts noted that parents seeking the ability to transfer from Malvern to the whiter Magnet Cove School District were represented primarily by Jess Askew of the Williams and Anderson law firm in Little Rock. Not present in St. Louis was Andi Davis of Hot Springs, the original attorney in the lawsuit, which led to invalidation of the school transfer statute by federal Judge Robert Dawson on account of the law’s prohibition of transfers that have segregative effects. Davis’ absence was noted in news accounts because Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, whose office is defending the law, had recently confessed an affair with Davis in 2011. Her presence on the opposite side of the case gave rise to questions, though he’s insisted no conflict existed and they never discussed the case. Where was Davis? She told the Times she no longer represents the Malvern parents in the case. In an e-mail, she said: “I sat down with Mr. Askew as well as my clients and we decided it would be best that I withdraw and that I not attend any of the oral arguments. It is difficult because I love this case and I have fought for 4 years to get where we are now. But, the case and clients are more important than my desire to be a part of it so I think it’s better that the issue not become lost in my drama.” The federal court record of the case does not currently reflect a formal withdrawal motion, however, though her attorney also said he understood her plans were to withdraw. www.arktimes.com
JANUARY 23, 2013
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