State Capitol briefs

Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, presents a bill to create the Voter Protection Act of 2017 on the House floor Wednesday. The measure, House Bill 2137, was defeated.
Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, presents a bill to create the Voter Protection Act of 2017 on the House floor Wednesday. The measure, House Bill 2137, was defeated.

Medicaid-openness bill fails to advance

Legislation requiring both Medicaid providers and government officials to file disclosure forms with the Department of Human Services failed in a House committee Wednesday.

Opponents of the measure, Senate Bill 157, said its intent to increase transparency goes too far -- requiring doctors, nurses and civil servants to disclose their own transactions.

What would have to be disclosed included: any transaction of at least $2,000 between 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 spouses is an officer, director or stockholder owning more than 10 percent of the stock in the business.

The bill exempts transactions for patient services and personal care services from disclosure.

Those requirements would place another administrative burden on Human Services, said opponents who defeated the measure on a voice vote in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, accused the lawmakers of hiding mismanagement in the department.

"If they work for a Medicaid provider, they ought to disclose," King said. "I have never seen a Legislature that wants to hide more than this session right here."

-- John Moritz and Michael Wickline

FOI-panel proposal gains committee OK

Legislation seeking to establish a committee to review disputes over the state's Freedom of Information Act was backed by a House committee Wednesday.

House Bill 1946 would allow those seeking public records, or the government officials holding them, to ask for mediation from a three-member panel. It would help the parties avoid having to go to court, said Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock.

The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the measure on a voice vote. It now heads to the House.

HB1946 previously was approved by the committee but had to be sent back after Tucker said he realized other provisions of the bill he had intended to take out had accidentally been left in.

-- John Moritz

Foreign-laws curb heads to governor

Legislation barring foreign laws from being considered in Arkansas courts received approval from House lawmakers Wednesday, sending the measure to the governor.

In its first tour through the lower chamber, House Bill 1041, by Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro, sparked controversy from opponents who said it was aimed at sharia, or Islamic, law.

As it moved through the Senate, the bill was changed to remove references to the state constitution's language defining marriage as between one man and one woman. It also was changed to ease concerns about how the bill would affect foreign commerce.

In the House on Wednesday, HB1041 prompted no debate or discussion. The amendments were approved 60-9.

-- John Moritz

2 funding measures fall short in House

An appropriations bill containing funding for Arkansas' Medicaid expansion program fell short of the three-fourths vote needed to pass Wednesday in the House.

Senate Bill 196 got 73 ayes, with eight members not voting. The bill can be considered again; it took three tries to get it through the Senate.

Also Wednesday, a vote fell short to approve emergency funds for Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium.

House Bill 1500 did not guarantee funds to the stadium; instead it would allow the governor, with the approval of the Legislative Council, to direct up to $2 million from the General Improvement Fund to the stadium.

-- John Moritz

'In God We Trust' bill clears Senate

State agencies and public schools would have to display the national motto, "In God We Trust," if a private organization donates posters, under a bill approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

House Bill 1980 by Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, passed 20-2. It was approved in the House last week in a 78-1 vote.

The bill specifies that the posters may be displayed in each "elementary and secondary school library and classroom in this state" as well as in public buildings or facilities maintained by state funds.

-- Brian Fanney

Senators OK change for school elections

School board elections would have to be held in May or November under a bill approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

House Bill 1621 by Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, was approved 23-7.

By holding the school board elections during larger elections, more people would vote and they would have greater confidence in their elected officials, said Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock.

But Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, who argued against the bill, said it would be nearly impossible for county clerks without electronic voting machines to implement the law because school boundaries do not follow other boundary lines.

Currently, most school board elections are held in September.

-- Brian Fanney

A Section on 03/30/2017

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