GOP sees Beebe’s budget as cuttable

Plan said lighter by $21 million

— The Republican leader of the state House of Representatives announced Wednesday that his party’s state budget plan would be about $21 million smaller than Gov. Mike Beebe’s, giving some agencies 3 percent less than what Beebe proposed.

Rep. John Burris of Harrison filed House Concurrent Resolution 1008 on Monday to allow a budget alternative to the $4.72 billion general-revenue budget for fiscal 2013 that Beebe proposed in January. The Legislature’s Budget Committee, in developing its version, is using the governor’s proposal as a base.

The main funding mechanism for the general-revenue part of the state budget is a law called the Revenue Stabilization Act, enacted annually. It says how much general revenue will be distributed to state agencies, which use the revenue to pay for their activities.

Negotiations between governors and legislative leaders over that legislation have usually gone on behind the scenes, usually among members of the dominant political party, which historically has been the Democratic Party. The talks go on throughout a legislative session until a more or less settled version emerges near the session’s end, presented as ready for ratification by the full House and Senate.

Some of the lawmakers not included in the behind-thescenes dialogues sometimes complained about being excluded. It even happened to some members of the dominant party.

The current legislative session, which began Monday, is the 2012 fiscal session. During a fiscal session, a lawmaker who wants to introduce a nonappropriation bill is required to get the Legislature to adopt a resolution by a two-thirds vote allowing the bill to be introduced. The two-thirds is 67 votes in the 100-member House and 24 in the 35-member Senate.

House Speaker Robert S. Moore Jr., D-Arkansas City, said he didn’t ask for a vote on the resolution authorizing creation of the Budget Committee’s version of the budget bill because he didn’t have enough support to pass it.

“We’re trying to find a common ground we can all get together on,” Moore said. “I don’t know if we will, but I’d like to explore all possibilities before we bring it to the floor.”

Moore said a lot of communication is going on between the governor, who is a Democrat, and lawmakers of both parties. When asked if communication would be necessary if he had the votes, Moore said, “No.”

Burris said any attempt to vote on the Budget Committee’s proposal before he hears from the governor about the Republican plan will be blocked. Neither party has enough members in the Legislature to pass its version on a party-line vote.

“We don’t have to vote to allow introduction on a budget that we are not comfortable with where it stands. The hope would be that we get comfortable and then vote for introduction,” Burris said. “This is the way the process should work, and it’s also an incentive to reach agreement so we can have a bipartisan budget and a nice, easy session.”

The Republicans’ plan would not affect increases proposed by Beebe for school funding of kindergarten through high school or for some colleges where Beebe proposed an increase.

The plan funds only $100 million of Beebe’s proposed $114 million general-revenue increase for Medicaid. Burris said the remaining $14 million would come out of the current state surplus.

Agencies that would receive a 3 percent cut are the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Arkansas Heritage, the Agriculture Department, the Labor Department, the Department of Higher Education, the Department of Economic Development, the Department of Parks and Tourism, the Department of Environmental Quality and about 50 smaller agencies listed under the single budget heading of miscellaneous agencies. These include the Fair Housing Commission and the Assessment Coordination Department.

The cuts for the departments of Education and Higher Education would be to agency administration, not classrooms or facilities, Burris said.

The plan also would hold the Department of Community Correction’s budget flat, instead of the $508,981 cut proposed by Beebe.

Burris said the agencies were not randomly chosen. The cuts would result in 0.451 agency heads and lawmakers to see whether the cuts are feasible. He met with Burris and other Republicans Wednesday.

“We told them we’d look into their ideas. He was very noncommittal one way or another beyond that,” De-Cample said.

Burris said it would be up to the agency heads to find where they could operate with less money in their budgets.

There is no cut that he will insist upon, he said.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Gilbert Baker, RConway, described the cuts proposed by Burris as “one of several proposals being discussed.”

Baker said he doesn’t necessarily support or oppose the cuts.

“I have got my own ideas about what the budget should look like,” Baker said.

Baker said he thinks any issues will be resolved before lawmakers start considering percent less than the governor’s proposal.

A similar resolution for an alternative budget was filed by Sens. Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, and Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home. It is Senate Concurrent Resolution 3.

“The governor’s done his job; he’s prepared a very conservative budget. Now it’s time for us to do our job and look for ways for savings,” Burris said.

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor needs time to speak to the multiple versions of the budget.

Baker called it “a process of active negotiations. I would never call it a trick. Sure, maybe a tactic, definitely not a trick.”

Republicans are aiming at changing how the Revenue Stabilization Act is made, he said.

“In the past, Revenue Stabilization is something that is put together by leadership toward the end of the session. It is usually a very short time frame,” Baker said, “We’re going to have a little more open process of discussion relating to [the Revenue Stabilization Act].”

“I’m optimistic. I think we are going to negotiate, come to terms, get out of here in three weeks and have a good budget,” he said.

GENERAL APPROPRIATION BILL

In a 34-0 vote, the Senate sent to Beebe a bill that would appropriate about $39 million for core operation of the state government for fiscal 2013 without providing pay raises for the state’s elected officials for the third consecutive year.

The 2009 General Assembly was the last one to grant pay increases to the elected officials, said Kim Arnall, assistant director for fiscal services for the Bureau of Legislative Research. Lawmakers have been reluctant to grant themselves a raise if they didn’t provide one for state employees. This fiscal year is the first one since fiscal 1989 in which most state employees haven’t received an across-the-board raise, according to the state Office of Personnel Management.

The bill is House Bill 1005, the General Appropriation Bill for the core operations of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government. State government as a whole is $24 billion a year.

Article V, Section 40 of Arkansas’ Constitution says the General Appropriation Bill must be enacted ahead of any other fiscal 2013 appropriation bill.

Under HB1005, the salaries of the elected officials would remain: governor, $86,890; lieutenant governor, $41,896; attorney general, $72,408; secretary of state, and treasurer, auditor and land commissioner, $54,305; the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore, $17,771 each, the other 133 lawmakers, $15,869 each; chief justice, $156,864; the other six justices, $145,204 each; the Court of Appeals’ chief judge, $142,969; the other 11 appeals judges, $140,732 each. Among other things, the bill would cover the salaries of 13 district judges, effective Jan. 1, 2013, in addition to 25 existing district judges, in accordance with legislation enacted in 2011, according to the Bureau of Legislative Research.

SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

The Budget Committee recommended drafting legislation for eight supplemental appropriation requests by the governor.

Beebe has asked the Legislature to provide $30.5 million to supplement several agencies’ spending the rest of this fiscal year. The state has a surplus of about $72.1 million.

The supplementals include:

$560,759 for nine positions with the Department of Correction and the cost of operating the 64-bed Roosevelt Road Barracks, $9 million for holiday compensation for Correction Department employees and $2 million to reimburse county jails that house state prisoners.

$3.38 million for the Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Services Division to bring the State Hospital into compliance with standards of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The money would go for a drug-distribution system, information technology, a video-monitoring system and consulting services.

$10 million for the Merit Adjustment Fund for career service payments, payroll and the 27th payroll period in fiscal 2012. The 27th period occurs about every 10 years because of having a payday every two weeks.

$130,000 to replenish the Governor’s Emergency Proclamation appropriation. The governor has used $130,000 from the fund to address shortfalls in the fund used to pay salaries for trial court administrative assistants.

An appropriation bill grants authority to spend money but does not provide the agency with the money that is to be spent. The money may be provided through separate funding legislation.

PLANS TO END

The House voted 94-0 to approve House Concurrent Resolution 1011 to allow for the Legislature to recess March 2 and to authorize the Senate president pro tempore and House speaker to reconvene it at any time before noon March 9 to consider vetoes, correct errors or oversights or to adjourn the Legislature at any time before then.

Calendar

This is the calendar of public events of the 88th General Assembly for today, the fourth day of the 2012 fiscal session.

JOINT

9 a.m., Budget Committee, Room A, Multi-Agency Complex.

HOUSE

10:30 a.m., the House convenes.

SENATE

10:30 a.m., the Senate convenes.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/16/2012

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