Hutchinson signs Lockheed bond bills

‘We are in the ballgame’ for military-vehicle contract, he says

Gov. Asa Hutchinson greets Rep. David Fielding, D-Magnolia, after signing a bill to help land a military-vehicle contract. At left is Sen. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson greets Rep. David Fielding, D-Magnolia, after signing a bill to help land a military-vehicle contract. At left is Sen. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law legislation authorizing the state to issue an $87.1 million bond to help Lockheed Martin win a federal contract and expand its workforce by nearly 600 employees.

He said the Maryland-based company, which is competing against two other firms that are based in Indiana and Michigan, has a good chance of winning the Defense Department contract.

Lockheed Martin wants to build joint light tactical vehicles near East Camden to replace the line of vehicles known as Humvees made by Indiana-based AM General LLC.

"I think it wise to make sure that the public understands that we would not even have a chance if the [Arkansas] Legislature had not convened and taken these steps to provide competitive pricing. We wouldn't even be in the ballgame," Hutchinson said at a news conference at the state Capitol a day after the Legislature adjourned a three-day special session.

"Now we are in the ballgame in a very competitive way. We'll just have to wait and see how the process works from the Defense Department. I believe our federal delegation had it right [in] that they are fully convinced this will be decided on its merits, as it should be," the governor said.

"I hope we'll win," Hutchinson said.

The Republican governor Friday also signed into law bills merging four state agencies into three other agencies, moving the state's 2016 primary elections from May 24 to March 1 and shifting the start of the fiscal session from February until April. He also signed legislation changing the state's driving-while-intoxicated law to ensure that the state doesn't lose nearly $60 million in federal highway funds.

"It was a good session," the governor said at the news conference.

"I appreciate personally the responsiveness of the Legislature in making an extra effort to be here, to stay here and get the job done and do it in such a quick and thorough fashion," Hutchinson said. Earlier this year, the Legislature met in an 82-day regular session.

With about a dozen lawmakers standing around him, the governor signed two identical bills authorizing the $87.1 million bond issue allowed under Amendment 82 to the Arkansas Constitution.

They are Senate Bill 6 by Sen. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan, and House Bill 1003 by Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado. They sailed through the Republican-dominated Legislature in the special session with only a few votes against them from Republican state senators.

State officials say the project would create nearly 600 jobs in Calhoun County and help retain more than 550 existing jobs.

AGENCY MERGERS

Hutchinson also signed SB1 by Senate Republican leader Jim Hendren of Sulphur Springs and HB1001 by Rep. David Branscum, R-Marshall, to merge four state agencies into three other agencies, estimating the savings will be more than $10 million over five years.

"Small things matter when you are looking out after the taxpayers' money," he said, adding that the legislation cleared the Legislature with no votes against it.

SB1 and HB1001 fold the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority and the Department of Rural Services into the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, effective July 1.

The Arkansas Building Authority will be consolidated into the Department of Finance and Administration, and the Land Survey Division will move into the Arkansas Geographic Information Office.

After the news conference, Economic Development Commission spokesman Scott Hardin said the assistant director position and grants analyst position at the new Rural Services Division won't be filled. The division will report to commission Deputy Director Amy Fecher, the former director of the Rural Services Department, he said.

Decisions will be made in the next couple of weeks about eliminating positions at the Science and Technology Authority, he said. The authority's director, Tim Atkinson, will start his new job at the state Department of Higher Education on Monday, Atkinson said.

Shelby Johnson, geographic information officer for the Arkansas Geographic Information Office, said that "we will study the budget, workload, and personnel over the next few months to find efficiencies" in the Land Surveys Division.

"Any personnel change would be through attrition," Johnson said.

Tim Leathers, deputy director of the finance department, said finance department officials will be making decisions about eliminating positions through attrition at the Arkansas Building Authority during the next few months.

2016 PRIMARIES

The governor signed SB8 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, to move the 2016 primary elections from May 24 to March 1 to allow Arkansas to participate with several other Southern states in what its supporters call the SEC presidential primary in 2016.

He also signed SB5 by Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, to start the fiscal session in April rather than February in 2016.

Other states that plan to hold a March 1 primary include Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia.

The SEC is the Southeastern Conference, which is an intercollegiate athletic conference that includes many Southern states.

In the regular session, legislation to shift Arkansas' presidential primary from May to March 1 sailed through the Senate but died in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Hutchinson said he supported that bill to separate the presidential primary election from the other primary elections, but lawmakers didn't think it was wise because it would cost the state about $2 million more to do so.

Before the special session, Hutchinson asked lawmakers to move both the presidential primary and other primary elections from May to March 1 to avoid the additional cost of separate primaries.

Moving the 2016 fiscal session from February to April is aimed at allowing lawmakers to spend more time campaigning and less time at the state Capitol in the weeks immediately before the primary.

To help clear the way for the legislation to clear the Legislature by Thursday, Senate Republican and Democratic leaders agreed that after the 2016 vote, the primaries will automatically move back to May unless they pass a law changing that.

"I think in the end this will be good for Arkansans because they will have an incredible opportunity and an exciting opportunity to engage in the debate that we will see every night unfold over all the television stations and all the media outlets," Hutchinson said

"In terms of the selection of our next president, Arkansas will have a unique opportunity to participate in that," he said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, and former Arkansas first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat, are seeking their parties' presidential nominations in 2016 after losing in 2008.

DWI CHANGE

Hutchinson also signed SB4 by Sen. David Johnson, D-Little Rock, which makes an alcohol-related DWI a "strict liability" offense.

Under strict liability, the state wouldn't have to prove that a driver intended to be intoxicated or was even aware of being impaired.

The change would not affect people who only are under the influence of prescription drugs.

The change was prompted by a recent state Supreme Court ruling that voided the DWI conviction of a Northwest Arkansas man who drove while under the influence of prescription medication.

Metro on 05/30/2015

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