Hutchinson: Mansion shift Legislature's

Residence’s panel needed tighter rein, spokesman says

Legislation to give the governor more control over his home was driven by lawmakers, the governor's spokesman said Monday.


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Gov. Asa Hutchinson's spokesman, J.R. Davis, explained why bills pertaining to the Governor's Mansion were included in the short special session that ended Monday.

Davis also said the governor has been aware that the Governor's Mansion Commission was not in compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act and needed to be reined in.

Davis spoke in response to questions about a component of identical so-called efficiency bills that had final passage in the House and Senate on Monday. Hutchinson later signed the bills. The legislation made changes to a number of state committees, boards and agencies, including the Governor's Mansion Commission. The law takes effect July 1.

"They've never had any rules," Davis said of the commission. "They've never done anything they're supposed to do. They've never complied with [the state's Freedom of Information Act]. There's a lot of issues with the mansion commission. That's what this stems from. There needs to be some restructuring, if you will."

The legislation gives the governor increased power over the commission. Eight members will now serve at the pleasure of the governor; some had five-year terms.

The legislation added a ninth member to the commission, the director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, who before the legislation was passed was an ex-officio member and couldn't vote.

The bills give Hutchinson sole authority to accept gifts, grants and donations; previously the commission had to approve them as well. Under the legislation, the commission will no longer make rules concerning improvements and repairs to the mansion.

Davis said, to his knowledge, no formal meeting minutes exist for 2015. Mansion Administrator Don Bingham provided minutes for 2016 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

"There wasn't anything like that until the [attorney general's] office got involved with it," Davis said. "From that, it was clear that there needed to be some restructuring."

Reached by phone Monday, Charlene Reed, a commission member, said members of the attorney general's office had been to meetings and were consulted about writing bylaws for the commission.

She said she is not against the potential change in law.

"I've been on it 17 years. My view is we are more of an advisory commission to the first lady and governor of the mansion," she said. "We set some policy, but most of the decorating and all, that is for the association, which is the financial arm of the Governor's Mansion. It really does not bother me. I hope we could work well with any first lady and governor on what goes on there."

Stacy Hurst, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, said she hasn't always been notified of meetings or been aware of agendas.

"My observation was [that] there was a pretty relaxed approach," she said. "That's not a criticism necessarily, but I think it's always been done that way."

No other commission member responded to a request for comment Monday.

Davis said the changes were driven by lawmakers -- despite the issues occurring at the governor's home.

"I know when the governor and the first lady actually moved in to the mansion, they asked for the rules, because they wanted to follow these rules for the mansion, and again, none existed," Davis said. "Especially for a piece of history like the mansion, you would assume rules would exist for the commission. None do. That needed to be fixed, and that's where we are now."

On Friday, Hutchinson told reporters that he would have to review the legislation to recall why the change was proposed. He said there weren't problems with individual commissioners.

House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, said he and Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain Home, worked separately on legislation changing the Governor's Mansion Commission before joining forces.

"What started it on my end was I was going to get rid of the mansion advisory council," he said.

Gillam said he and Irvin "had different ideas," handed the governor's office the bill that they were reviewing, and said, "If you see any massive, huge problems with anything that we are looking at, let us know."

He said Irvin had the idea of having the commissions serve at the governor's pleasure.

"I didn't see a huge problem with it," he said.

Gillam said the governor should have some control of the commission that oversees the residence.

On Monday, when asked whether or not he or his family have run into any conflicts with mansion's current commission, Hutchinson said he thinks the mansion's commission adds "a lot of value."

"It's important to have a citizen review of the condition of the mansion. That's the original statutory purpose of the commission, is to have citizens look at the mansion and see what the needs are there," he said.

When asked about potential conflicts between the commission and the first lady, Hurst said she didn't think it would be appropriate for her to comment.

Of potential conflicts, Reed said, "I think when you have three decorators, there's going to be differences of opinion, but I think she is trying her best to work with everybody." The commission's members include three decorators.

Davis did not make first lady Susan Hutchinson available for an interview.

When asked if or when he would exercise his newly enacted authority to replace members of the commission, Hutchinson said he has no specific action in mind.

"I have not made any plans to remove anybody at this point," he said. "That might change. We might look at it, but I have not thought through what I would do with the mansion commission."

In addition to changing the role of the Governor's Mansion Commission, the identical 105-page efficiency bills consolidate the power of the seven-member board that oversees the History Commission into the director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. It renames the commission the Arkansas State Archives.

The bills reduce the number of legislative committees and, in some cases, change how people are appointed to serve.

They eliminated a requirement made during the 2015 regular session that the Children and Family Services Division to print and distribute copies of all documentation from its computer system to parties in child-welfare lawsuits. Parties may still request and receive the information.

The Bureau of Legislative Research said the legislation won't save the state money, though there are "potential minimal savings due to the elimination of payments to members of task forces scheduled to expire."

Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline and Spencer Willems of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 05/24/2016

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