In its bid to keep majority control of the state House of Representatives, the state House Republican Caucus wants to improve workforce development, place certain limits on lawsuits and possibly trim unemployment benefits.
These aims are part of House Republican Caucus' 12-pronged agenda that's heavily focused on workforce development and making the state more business-friendly, said House Republican leader Ken Bragg of Sheridan.
"It's just a basis to form legislation around" in the 2015 session and can be used by Republican candidates in their campaigns in the next two months, Bragg said.
No legislation has been drafted yet to implement this agenda, called JOBS, he said.
In contrast, the House Democratic Caucus isn't proposing its own agenda because "we are not following their lead, per se," said House Democratic leader Eddie Armstrong of North Little Rock.
The House Democrats are focused on protecting the private option that uses federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans, expanding pre-kindergarten education, and improving workforce and career readiness, he said.
The House Republican Caucus' plan doesn't include the private option because "it's an existing issue" and new legislation won't have to be developed for it, Bragg said.
The private option has deeply divided Republicans in both the state House and the state Senate during the past two years.
The expansion of the Medicaid program, approved by the Legislature last year, extends coverage to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level -- $16,105 for an individual or $32,913 for a family of four. More than 170,000 Arkansans have been enrolled in private health insurance through the program.
The House is now composed of 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and one Green Party member.
Nearly two years ago, the House Republicans stripped control of the state House of Representatives from the House Democrats for the first time in 138 years.
Among other things, the House Republican Caucus' JOBS plan calls for:
• Overhauling unemployment benefits.
• Changing state law to discourage and limit frivolous lawsuits.
• Streamlining career and technical education with the needs of the workforce to give Arkansans more access to high-wage, high-skill and high-demand jobs.
• Increasing collaboration in job training programs between the two-year colleges and private industry.
• Tax cuts for both individuals and businesses. Bragg said a tax cut package will be developed later.
Bragg said the "concept" of discouraging and limiting frivolous lawsuits is designed to help small businesses that can't afford the cost of lawsuits.
Bragg also said the state's $360 million debt to the federal government for unemployment benefits paid out during the recession will be paid off in November. "In order to avoid this situation again, some changes need to be made to ensure the long term solvency of the fund" and ultimately establish a trust-fund balance of $500 million, he said.
"This can be done by adjusting the average weekly benefit to be more in line with the median of surrounding states," he said. Arkansas' average weekly unemployment benefit is $289.75, and the median in surrounding states is $245.59, he said.
"Another option would be to adjust the duration of benefits," Bragg said. The maximum duration for benefits is now 25 weeks in Arkansas, and the median is 15.3 weeks in surrounding states, he said.
When asked about these possible changes, state Rep. Joe Jett, D-Success, said Tuesday that he's not familiar with them.
Metro on 09/17/2014