Measures that would boost the state's general-revenue budget by $172.8 million to nearly $5.63 billion in the coming fiscal year zipped through the Arkansas House of Representatives and Senate on Thursday.
Under the proposed Revenue Stabilization Act, most of the increased general revenue would go to the Department of Human Services, particularly for the state's Medicaid program that covers more than 900,000 Arkansans.
In an 87-5 vote, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 1137 that would distribute general revenue to state agencies in fiscal 2019 that starts July 1. The bill advances to the Senate, which voted 28-3 to send to the House an identical bill, Senate Bill 122, without any debate.
The budget in the identical measures mirrors Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposal that he presented to lawmakers in January at the start of the Joint Budget Committee's hearings in advance of the fiscal session that started Feb. 12.
Today is the 26th day of the fiscal session. Legislative leaders said they hope to meet briefly this morning and then return Monday to adjourn the fiscal session before meeting in a three-day special session starting Tuesday. Hutchinson hasn't yet issued the call for a special session.
The proposed budget would set aside what Hutchinson considers to be $63.9 million in surplus funds in fiscal 2019.
Of that amount, $47.9 million would be placed in a restricted reserve fund for extraordinary needs in the event of an economic downturn and for future tax cuts. A three-fifths vote of the Joint Budget Committee or Legislative Council would be required to transfer money out of the fund.
The remaining $16.9 million in surplus funds would be earmarked to help match federal highway funds.
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"This is not a conservative budget at all," Rep. Josh Miller, R-Heber Springs, told his fellow representatives.
"We are not fixing the problems that our state faces. We are not fixing the highway problem. We are not fixing other problems," he said.
"The people of this state over the last few election cycles have voted for conservative common-sense governing. They are not getting that," Miller said.
"I'm not in the office on the second floor at this time, so I can't set the budget the way I want to. ... But I refuse to be part of the problem," he said. The governor's office is on the Capitol's second floor.
Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, defended the budget in HB1137 and voted for it.
"Sometimes it looks and sometime it feels like the second floor decides what we are doing and tells us what we are doing," he told his colleagues.
But he said lawmakers heard from county judges and sheriffs about problems with the state reimbursing counties for holding state inmates in county jails.
The proposed budget would increase by $4 million, for a total $18.2 million, the amount for county jail reimbursements in the coming fiscal year.
"Most of us, not all of us, asked for tax cuts, and we've gotten $150 million in tax cuts," Ballinger said, referring to lawmakers in 2015 enacting Hutchinson's plan for a $100 million individual income tax cut and then in 2017 enacting Hutchinson's plan for a $50 million individual income tax cut.
"We helped shape those. We decided on those. We voted on those," Ballinger said.
State agencies -- beyond public higher education institutions -- have fewer employees than they've previously had and "we've actually been able to give raises to state employees during that time," he said.
"We are doing stuff that, sorry to my Democratic colleagues, that is conservative," Ballinger said. "By the way, we are spending less money with this [Revenue Stabilization Act] than we thought we were going to do a year ago. We found ways to save money."
Miller joined Republican Reps. Mickey Gates of Hot Springs, Kim Hammer of Benton and John Payton of Wilburn and Democratic Rep. John Walker of Little Rock in voting against HB1137.
Republican Sens. Alan Clark of Lonsdale, Linda Collins-Smith of Pocahontas and Bryan King of Green Forest voted against SB122.
Under HB1137 and SB122, the Department of Human Services' general-revenue budget would grow by $142.7 million to $1.668 billion in fiscal 2019. That includes a $137.8 million increase, to $1.251 billion, to the Medicaid program and a $7.3 million increase, to $123.9 million, for the Division of Children and Family Services.
Among other things, general revenue for two- and four-year public colleges would increase by $12 million, to $745.6 million, with $9.4 million of the increase to implement the new higher education productivity-based funding formula. The other $2.6 million increase would go to Eastern Arkansas Community College, for a total of $8.4 million. The college merged with Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute.
The measure also would cut general-revenue funding for War Memorial Stadium from $889,085 in the current fiscal year to $447,647 in fiscal 2019, said Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration.
In February 2017, Hutchinson signed legislation to meld the stadium into the state Department of Parks and Tourism, which has hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study on future uses of the stadium.
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Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/09/2018