Category Archives: Legislature

Why five legislators are going to jail

Legislature, Politics, State government

Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas WorksFour of the 135 members of the 2013-14 Arkansas Legislature probably are going to jail, along with a fifth who served earlier. More might join them before the FBI is finished. Let’s consider why this is happening, beyond the standard explanation that, “All politicians are crooks,” which is not true.

The four ex-legislators – Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale; Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale; Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith; and Rep. Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff – have been found guilty (Woods) or pleaded guilty (the others) to various financial crimes, a common denominator being misuse of the state’s General Improvement Fund for their own benefit. 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 including misuse of the fund.

The GIF is a grant program directing state dollars to specific local projects at the behest of individual legislators. The process has changed many times because of political machinations or court rulings, the latest last year. Its latest incarnation sent grants to planning districts that rubber-stamped legislators’ wishes.

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Trump change helps Arkansas Obamacare program continue

Health care, Legislature, State government
Seema Verna
Seema Verna hands the work requirement waiver to Gov. Asa Hutchinson at the Capitol.

The presidential administration that tried to repeal Obamacare in 2017 just made it easier for some Arkansas legislators to vote to continue part of it.

I guess that’s ironic. But that’s how politics works sometimes.

On Monday, Arkansas was visited by Seema Verna, President Trump’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator. She granted a waiver letting the state require some Arkansas Works beneficiaries to work.  Continue reading Trump change helps Arkansas Obamacare program continue →

What’s the purpose of college?

Education, Legislature, State government

The answer to “What’s the purpose of college?” is longer than the 280 characters Twitter allows per tweet. But you can at least start a conversation in that amount of space.

Such a conversation was started last week when Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, tweeted a picture of a University of Arkansas at Little Rock billboard featuring a dance major. He commented that higher education doesn’t need extra funding if this is how it would be spent. Instead of dance, the university should be encouraging computer science degrees and math teachers, he wrote.

The tweet drew a response from Savvy Shields. If you don’t recognize her name, you certainly recognize the title: Miss America 2017, and before that, Miss Arkansas. The art major disagreed, arguing that the arts can inspire people and change society. Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Berryville, tweeted in support of Hester’s position, and then there was a minor social media firestorm that since has been forgotten.

College: Job skills or life skills?

Now that the Twitter argument has slipped into the recesses of cyberspace, the question remains: “What’s the purpose of college?”

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A blue wave is coming. How big, and how wet will Arkansas get?

Elections, Legislature, Politics, U.S. Congress

Alabama, blue waveHistory – both the recent and not-so-recent kinds – suggests a blue wave is coming. The only questions for this column are, how big will it be, and how wet will Arkansas get?

The recent kind of history is that, since President Trump was elected, Democrats nationwide have flipped 35 state legislative seats that were occupied by Republicans. In contrast, Republicans have flipped four seats that were occupied by Democrats.

The latest occurred Tuesday in Missouri, where a 27-year-old Democrat, Mike Revis, was elected in a district outside St. Louis that Trump won by 28 points in 2016. Revis defeated a pro-life, pro-gun Republican.

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