Governor gets bill on college merger
The Senate voted 26-5 Monday to approve House Bill 1543 by Rep. Steve Hollowell, R-Forrest City, that would allow Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute to merge with East Arkansas Community College.
The boards of directors for both institutions would have to authorize the merger. The bill goes to the governor. Lawmakers have several times tried and failed to merge the two institutions since 2001.
The Senate's approval came after Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, attempted to return the bill to the Senate Education Committee for a public hearing. That attempt fell four votes short of the 18 required for approval in the 35-member Senate. Last week, five of the committee's eight members recommended Senate approval of the measure in lieu of holding a public hearing.
-- Michael R. Wickline
Loans-by-lobbyists curb clears Senate
The Senate voted 34-0 to approve Senate Bill 7 by Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, that would prohibit lobbyists from making any advance or loan to state elected officials.
SB7 wouldn't apply to an advance or a loan made in the ordinary course of business by a financial institution or business that regularly extends credit. The bill now goes to the House.
A lobbying firm founded by former Rep. Bruce Hawkins, D-Morrilton, lent $30,000 on April 20, 2015, to Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith. Files repaid the loan in October 2015.
Files, a contractor who chairs the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, said at that time that his J3 Partners construction company needed a loan, and "we worked out a loan and signed a note, and it was a regular business transaction at that time."
-- Michael R. Wickline
Bill on disclosure for Medicaid OK'd
The Senate voted 23-6 to approve Senate Bill 175 by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, that would require Medicaid providers and government officials to file disclosure statements with the state Department of Human Services each year.
Under SB175, providers and officials would be required to disclose transactions from the previous year of at least $2,000 in total between any two of the following entities: a Medicaid provider; a government official; the spouse of a provider or government official; and the business in which the Medicaid provider or government official or their spouse is an officer, director or stockholder owning more than 10 percent of the stock in the business.
Transactions for patient services and personal care services would be among the items exempted from disclosure under the bill. The bill would define a Medicaid provider as a person, business or entity that received payments or funding from the Arkansas Medicaid program in the previous calendar year and received $25,000 or more in payments or funding in the previous year or is a hospital, insurance company, nursing home, behavioral treatment center, substance abuse treatment center or substance abuse crisis center.
-- Michael R. Wickline
Gendered-abortion ban OK'd by Senate
The Senate voted 30-3 to approve House Bill 1434 by Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, that would ban abortions in which the motive is sex selection. The bill goes to the House for consideration of a Senate-approved amendment.
Collins has said such restrictions are in place in China and India, where sex-selection practices are more common, and in Arkansas it is "almost impossible to be a massive issue."
-- Michael R. Wickline
Senate vote favors foreign-laws limits
The Senate voted 22-9 to approve House Bill 1041 by Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro, that aims to bar the use of foreign laws in state courts.
The text of the bill says it's aimed at protecting Arkansans from the application of foreign laws if the latter would result in any violation of eight fundamental rights, liberties and privileges guaranteed by the state and federal constitutions, including "the right to marry, as 'marriage' is defined by the Arkansas Constitution, to the extent that the definition of marriage doesn't conflict with federal law or a holding by the U.S. Supreme Court."
Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, said foreign companies would be hesitant to contract with Arkansas companies if the bill became law.
But Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, said he doesn't believe that any state with a similar law has seen a negative impact.
-- Michael R. Wickline
UAMS quotas' end backed on 2nd try
House lawmakers resurrected legislation to remove a requirement that the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences reserve admission slots by congressional district, and narrowly voted to pass the bill Monday.
After voting to reconsider House Bill 2207, the chamber voted 57 to 36 in favor of the proposal, which now heads to the Senate.
The bill by Rep. Justin Boyd, R-Fort Smith, failed to pass on Friday.
Supporters said the bill will allow UAMS to accept only the most qualified students, but opponents -- including a series of Democrats who spoke against the bill being reconsidered -- said it would hurt students in rural Arkansas, where doctors are in need.
"They'll come here and eat up those spaces," said Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, referring to out-of-state students he said would fill the spots.
Many of the students supported by the current requirement are black, Walker said.
-- John Moritz
Campaign finance filing bill passes
A proposal to require noncandidate groups file their campaign finances electronically was sent to the governor's desk by a vote of the House on Monday.
The lower chamber voted to concur on Senate amendments to House Bill 1010, which would require the online electronic filing of reports by exploratory committees, political action committees and independent expenditure groups. Those groups now have the option of submitting paper copies, faxes or electronic reports to the secretary of state's office.
The bill sponsored by Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, is similar to legislation -- now Act 318 -- by Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, which applied to candidate contribution reports.
-- John Moritz
House approves March primaries
The House, voting 73-10, approved making permanent the move to an early March election primary, after a sponsor of the measure cited high voter turnout in 2016.
House Bill 1707 now goes to the Senate, where similar legislation has twice failed this session.
The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne, said voter turnout during last year's March primary had increased significantly from the 2012 primary, which was held in May.
Arkansas has traditionally held a primary in May, although it was moved to February in 2008.
-- John Moritz
U.S. charter bids for 2 bans revived
House lawmakers voted to revive two proposed resolutions in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to outlaw gay marriage and abortion, with the promise the proposals would be reworded in committee.
The body had previously defeated each measure, Senate Joint Resolution 7 and 9, which call for conventions of the states to be held. Such a convention, defined under Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution, has never been called.
The lower chamber voted to give the resolutions another try, after being promised they would be written to call on Congress to consider the amendments instead.
-- John Moritz
Votes not enough on workers' comp
The sponsor of legislation to change parts of a voter-enacted workers' compensation law said he will try again after his bill fell a single vote shy of the required two-thirds majority Monday.
House Bill 1953 by Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, failed by a vote of 66 to 14, with more than a dozen members not voting. The bill needed 67 votes to pass.
The measure would change Initiated Act 4 of 1948. One change would allow employers or insurance carriers to recoup money spent on workers' compensation benefits if the money came from a successful lawsuit against a third party that causes the worker's injury.
-- John Moritz
A Section on 03/21/2017