LITTLE ROCK — It happens every two years in Arkansas: Legislators gather to address fiscal matters but end up looking over bills that have nothing to do with how the state will raise money and pay its bills down the road.
Lawmakers from both parties and both chambers float bills that having nothing to do with dollars and cents. Legislative leaders say they work to avoid a "slippery slope" that this year would have them argue about feral hogs, gun-toting school employees and education benchmarks.
"We're here to deal with the budget," said House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot.
One bill not related to money appears headed to a vote. The House and Senate have cleared a path for legislation that would call off a special election for the lieutenant governor's post given up Feb 1. by Republican Mark Darr because of ethics violations.
Legislators who proposed non-fiscal bills this year say the issues they raise are important enough to receive a full hearing now, not next January when lawmakers gather for the 2015 general session.
State Rep. Randy Alexander, R-Fayetteville, wants to delay the start of education benchmarks under the Common Core program.
"[I'm] absolutely convinced that it will hurt the education of children of Arkansas," Alexander said. "If I believe that, why would I wait another year to act?"
And Rep. Homer Lenderman, D-Brookland, said he wanted to gauge interest in how the state should tag or kill feral hogs, which are a nuisance in some areas of the state.
"I introduced it to raise some awareness, but I thought it would probably get more support," Lenderman said. "It's something we certainly need to look at. Anyhow, I would have liked to see it done [this session]."
On the Senate side, Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Benton, filed a bill that would have let non-classroom employees carry guns in schools.
Non-fiscal bills put members of the chambers' rules committees on the spot, as they have to determine whether an idea should go forward. The key, Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, said, is whether during the fiscal session is the best time to bring it up.
"It's really easy to sit down there and make yourself look good, [but] embarrass your colleagues who have a really specific purpose here," Burris said in a Rules Committee meeting.. "We're here for one specific reason and it's to determine whether or not it's a fiscal bill. Not whether or not it's a good idea."
Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2008 setting up annual sessions, with those in even-numbered years dedicated to the state's budget.
The first fiscal session in 2010 drew a request for a legislative review of proposed college tuition increases. The second, in 2012, included legislation about establishing waste, fraud and abuse prevention programs for Medicaid and changing felony sex offenders' parole eligibility.
Each died.
This year's proposals, except for the one involving the lieutenant governor's post, appear likely headed to the same fate.
The House Rules Committee chair, Rep. Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith, said in the committee's hearing last Tuesday that no more meetings would be scheduled, effectively ending the opportunity for House members to introduce non-funding legislation in the fiscal session.
Carter said tabling this year's bills was a signal that the chamber would not examine bills that aren't tied to the state's budget.
"It's not that those things don't have merit, but there are 100 members in the House and 35 in the Senate, and every single person has something that's important to them," he said. "It's just a slippery slope."