By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
What’s it like to be a Democrat in the Arkansas Legislature, when the other side outnumbers you three to one? Basically, you can play in the sandbox, and sometimes the big kids will let you help build the castle – especially when they need one of your shovels. But you’re still not one of the big kids.
In other words, your participation is real but limited. Here are a few recent examples, working our way back in time.
– On Thursday, March 14, Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, announced he was filing Senate Bill 571, which would cut taxes for lower- and middle-income Arkansans while raising cigarette and e-cigarette taxes. He did this in a crowded conference room with both Democrats and Republicans standing behind him. In fact, the way it worked out in the people-shuffling, the Democrats were standing closest to him. Hendren is the kind of lawmaker who reaches across the aisle anyway, but he’ll particularly need Democrats’ support to pass this bill.
– One Democrat who spoke during that press conference was Sen. Will Bond, D-Little Rock. A day earlier, Bond had presented his own e-cigarette bill before a Senate committee. An attorney, Bond gave an effective presentation about the proliferation of vaping products among young people.
The bill went nowhere, of course. It was a major piece of legislation, he’s a Democrat, and there’s a Republican alternative.
– On that same day, March 13, Democrats held a press conference at their party’s headquarters. It’s an aging structure that contrasts with the Republicans’ newly expanded facility down the street. Their purpose was to criticize bills by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, that had passed out of committee the evening before that would weaken the state’s minimum wage law passed by voters in November.
This is a great issue for Democrats. As a party, they support the minimum wage increase, and they can argue that some Republicans are trying to overturn the voters’ will. The press conference was led by Michael John Gray, the party’s chairman and a former legislator who was defeated last November. TV cameras were there; so was I, to write a story for one of my clients.
But as Democrats were holding their press conference, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a speech across town that he opposes the legislation. Then the state Republican Party also announced its opposition. That was probably the end of those bills, which were unlikely to pass anyway. I don’t know how the TV stations played it, but in my story, the Democrats were at the bottom.
– On March 12, Democrats joined with Republicans as Hutchinson signed Act 416 by Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron. It will raise $95 million annually for state highways, and additional money for local roads, by increasing fuel taxes and by dedicating some casino revenues to highways.
It passed 25-8 in the Senate with the support of eight Democrats, and 71-26 in the House with 23 Democrats voting yes. Do the math, and at first glance the legislation – a priority of the governor’s – wouldn’t have passed without the Democrats’ support. I gave Gray a chance to make that point at the bill signing, but he declined, saying (correctly) that if the governor had really needed the votes, enough Republicans would have said yes.
– Finally, on March 11, the House voted 90-0 for House Bill 1552 by Rep. Megan Godfrey, D-Springdale. It would let undocumented immigrants participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – the Dreamers brought to America as children – earn a nursing license.
If it passes the Senate, it would be a major win on a consequential issue for a freshman lawmaker in the minority party. Getting 90 votes in the House was a good start.
Still to come: the vote on funding Arkansas Works, the state program that purchases private health insurance for lower-income Arkansans. It needs three-fourths support. It can’t pass without Democrats. It will, with them.
So that’s life when your party is one-fourth of the Legislature. You’re in the sandbox, and sometimes you get to play – with the big kids.
Those who truly understand the Gospel Story and are firmly committed to it know what it’s like to be a permanent minority in this upside down world. The ways of the world regularly contradict the ways of the Gospel Story. The role of the faithful is to be the salt and light of the world, knowing that they will be on the losing side most of the time. In their role they must avoid self-righteousness and look for ways to love those against whom they struggle. You can live a good life in the minority if you stay true to your principles in such a way that you make a positive difference in the lives you touch and never forget that you, too, stand in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.