Category Archives: Legislature

How to disagree about the NFL anthem controversy

Inspirational, Legislature, Politics, State government
Jim Hendren Joyce Elliott
Sens. Joyce Elliott and Jim Hendren as he flew her in his plane to Paragould, where they would disagree agreeably about the NFL anthem controversy.

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Jim Hendren and Joyce Elliott come from very different places, which is a big reason why they disagree on many issues including the NFL anthem controversy. But that was OK as they flew together in his small plane to speak about that subject to the Paragould Rotary Club.

How different are their backgrounds? He’s a conservative Republican state senator from Sulphur Springs in Northwest Arkansas. She’s a liberal Democratic state senator from Little Rock. He’s an engineer who owns a plastics company. She’s a retired schoolteacher. He’s the son of a longtime state legislator and nephew of the current governor. She’s the daughter of a single mother who struggled to keep food on the table. He flew F-15 fighter planes, now serves with the Air National Guard, and has deployed several times to the Middle East to fight ISIS. She and her siblings fought their own battle growing up in segregated schools in Willisville in southwestern Arkansas. Soon after forced integration, they were the only black students in an all-white school.

And yet Hendren calls her “one of my best friends in the Senate.” She says, “He’s one of my very best friends as well.” Continue reading How to disagree about the NFL anthem controversy →

In legislative corruption case, which will be the next puzzle piece to fit?

Legislature, Politics, State government

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge met with reporters Wednesday, the main purpose being to try to put to bed a four-year-long story about her 2007 departure from the Department of Human Services. The more interesting tidbit was the bigger story that won’t go away – the continuing investigation into legislative corruption.

First, let’s sum up the part about Rutledge’s work history, because you’re going to hear about it occasionally during her re-election campaign. In 2007, she was working as a foster care attorney for the Department of Human Services. In December, she left to work for Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign without giving her two weeks notice. She reasoned that campaigns happen fast so she couldn’t spare the two weeks, but it left the short-staffed agency in a bind. There were some hard feelings, and her supervisors placed her on a “do not rehire” list. Her file was changed to say she was discharged for “gross misconduct,” which is simply not true. She clearly resigned voluntarily.

The issue came up in 2014 during her first campaign for attorney general. It resurfaced recently when the Democratic Party of Arkansas sued in order to release the unreleased parts of her personnel file. A judge on Monday ordered it to be done. She preemptively released eight pages Wednesday.

Her opponents are Democrat Mike Lee and Libertarian Kerry Hicks. Unless something else surfaces, base your vote on something other than this.

The more interesting part of Wednesday’s meeting occurred in its first few minutes, when Deputy Attorney General Lloyd Warford discussed the office’s work alongside an ongoing federal investigation into legislative corruption.

Continue reading In legislative corruption case, which will be the next puzzle piece to fit? →

No permanent ethics fix in part-time Legislature

Legislature, Politics, State government

Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Works, Jeremy Hutchinson, Mickey GatesBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, is an insurance agent who sits on the Insurance and Commerce Committee, so he’s able to offer insight and understanding when insurance legislation is considered. Also, he might be personally affected by it.

So which is more important: Expertise or objectivity? That’s a particularly tough question to answer in a part-time Legislature. Continue reading No permanent ethics fix in part-time Legislature →

The 3 percent rules

Legislature, Politics, State government

Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Works, Jeremy HutchinsonBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

“Ninety-nine percent of this body are good, honest people,” said Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, and I think his estimate is not far-fetched. But only 97 percent of the members of the 2013-14 Arkansas Legislature are not going to prison, and that percentage could shrink before all is said and done.

Sample, who was quoted in the Democrat-Gazette, was responding to the latest news to come from federal authorities’ corruption investigation. In federal court June 7, lobbyist Rusty Cranford pleaded guilty to bribery charges regarding two former legislators who themselves have pleaded or been found guilty, former Sens. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, and Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff.

Those two are awaiting sentencing along with two others from that 2013-14 session, former Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, and former Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale. A fifth ex-legislator, Rep. Eddie Cooper, D-Melbourne, who served from 2005 to the beginning of 2011, has also pleaded guilty to financial wrongdoings. All of it is related to the state’s General Improvement Fund, a grant program directing state dollars to specific local projects at the behest of individual legislators.

None of that is news. The news was that Cranford told the court that another legislator had accepted $500,000 in bribes.  Continue reading The 3 percent rules →