Who says the news is all bad when the Arkansas Legislature is in session? Sometimes the news is promising. Or at least getting there. Almost.
For example, it's encouraging that Bart Hester, a state senator from Cave Springs, is holding his FOIA bill in committee. (For now.) This state's Freedom of Information Act is a shining example for other states, and Arkansas doesn't exactly have a history of being a shining example where the law is concerned. We're still trying to get over the Faugress years.
Those of us who prefer an open government--and that should be everyone in a state in which Regnat populus--are very much concerned about this Senate Bill 373, this year's ne'er-do-well legislation. Bart Hester might tell you that he's just trying to protect colleges and universities from getting trounced by opposing attorneys in the courtroom. But others, especially experts on the FOIA in Arkansas, will tell you SB373 could shield any embarrassing document from public examination. Just wave the paperwork under an attorney's nose, and presto! Attorney-client privilege. It's a recipe for not disaster, but gutting this state's fine piece of law in the FOIA.
Bart Hester says he's holding the bill in committee for further discussion: "I just want to slow down, understand where we are, and hopefully come to an agreement."
Yes, let's slow down. And take another look at SB373 when we have more time. Like after we're dead.
Is your local school district a General one, or maybe it's at the Collaborative level? Surely you knew that the school district down the road, is a Level 4 Directed one. (And you should hear about the Level 5 Intensive education outfit across the state.)
Don't understand any of that? Join the club. And that may be the point.
There's an effort underway in the Ledge this year, through Senate Bill 647, that would assign different levels to schools and do away with the "academic distress" label. Just as with A-F grading, folks know what "academic distress" means. And this bill would do away with it.
The bill would also give officials more options to remedy failing schools, and greater flexibility, etc. But any good its supporters in the education establishment say it'll do would be overshadowed by the damage it could do by confusing the public. Folks understand if their school district is an A-plus district. And they understand if it's labeled as being in academic distress.
It took a long time--many years, many generations--to simplify Arkansas' school grading system. Let's not go back to the bad old days. SB647 goes to the House now. Where this language can be cut out. And thrown away.
Like vampires, these blood-sucking high-cost lenders keep coming back. Somebody get some garlic and holy water.
Years after the state finally got rid of the payday lenders, other outfits looking to pick on the same demographic keep looking for ways to get around the law. (Have you crossed into Louisiana lately? They must have payday lenders on every block, if advertising on the side of the highways is any indication.)
For some reason that needs clarifying, this state's House of Representatives didn't pass a bill that would have reined in these new high-cost lenders. For prime example, CashMax, with a few operations scattered here and there. The bill, Senate Bill 658, would have fees counted as interest for small installment loans. So the rest of us can see these operations for what they are.
CashMax charges up to 280 percent interest on loans--as calculated by the company under the federal Truth in Lending Act. The state's constitution caps interest rates at 17 percent.
The bill failed to pass, even though it got 50 votes. It needs more in the House.
Here's the opposition to protecting the least among us, at least from one state representative named Michelle Gray of Melbourne: "I've been that college student that needed a new set of tires and where else could I go?" Etc., etc., etc.
So she's saying there's a market for this?
There's a market for payday lending, too. As well as meth. And other things the state is inclined to not endorse, market or no market.
Our betters should be in the business of protecting the least of these. That includes those who often find themselves trapped in a downward cycle of high-interest loans.
The state law that allowed for juveniles to be sentenced to mandatory life sentences for certain crimes is now off the books. With the governor's signature (and an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court), there can no longer be mandatory life sentences for kids.
That's not to say that there can't be life sentences for those who deserve it, as determined by a judge and jury. It's just that those sentences can't be mandatory. Let a judge and a jury--that is, people--decide each case. This change has been a long time coming. And now it's official.
See? It's not all bad news at the Capitol. It only seems that way.
Editorial on 03/24/2017