Category Archives: Politics

Seeking signatures, not funnel cakes, at Toad Suck Daze

Michael Pakko

Dr. Michael Pakko, right, and Joe Swafford, left, seek signatures at Toad Suck Daze.

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Dr. Michael Pakko doesn’t have a problem getting people’s attention when he stands before Arkansas business leaders to give his annual state economic forecast. Last Saturday was a little harder.

On that day, he was asking voters to sign a petition qualifying his Libertarian Party for next year’s ballot while standing in front of a vendor that was selling funnel cakes and other items at Toad Suck Daze in Conway.

Pakko is chief economist and state economic forecaster at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Arkansas Economic Development Institute.

He’s also the state Libertarian Party chairman, which became harder this year with the passage of Act 164. It increased the number of signatures third parties must collect for ballot access from 10,000 to almost 26,750 in a 90-day period. Continue reading →

Highway tax supporters might keep this in mind

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Supporters of the legislatively referred constitutional amendment that’s most likely to pass in 2020 might want to think about how they’ll distance their proposal from the two that probably won’t.

The one that’s most likely to pass would indefinitely extend a half-cent sales tax for highways. Voters first passed the tax with 58 percent support in 2012 to fund the Connecting Arkansas Program, but it’s due to expire in 2023. Pre-legislative session polling by supporters found an extension had similar support. Gov. Asa Hutchinson made fixing roads a priority this session. The state’s most powerful business groups were big supporters. Lawmakers were hearing from constituents who want the potholes filled.

In response, legislators placed the extension on the 2020 ballot – one of three proposals the Constitution allows them to make.

One problem for highway supporters could be the other two. Continue reading →

One solution: Make them legal, and make them pay for it

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The head of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce hears often from employers who can’t find workers, so here’s his solution: Let those workers come from south of the border, make them pay for a work permit, and use the money to enhance border security.

That plan produces many winners, Randy Zook told me.

First, there are 7.1 million open jobs, but not enough Americans who are available to work, want to work, and/or have the necessary skills. Immigrants can help farmers, construction firms, and employers like the Peco Foods chicken plant in Pocahontas meet their labor requirements. Business and industry would do much of the vetting to ensure immigrants are job seekers, not drug dealers.

Meanwhile, immigrants could pay for a work permit – say $2,500 for two years. That’s a lot, but it beats paying a coyote to make the dangerous journey across the border. Then they’d be legal, though not citizens, and wouldn’t have to worry about being deported. Continue reading →

Sanctuary bill: Prevention, or fixing the unbroken?

LegislatureBy Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

In politics, is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? Or if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it?

With one bill dealing with illegal immigration, Arkansas lawmakers went with the first adage, despite Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s concerns.

On the day the Legislature recessed April 10, the House voted to ban Arkansas municipalities from adopting “sanctuary city” policies.

Act 1076 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, is a response to some cities like Los Angeles and Chicago that have declared themselves sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants.

“Sanctuary cities” is a political term, not a precise legal one, but this bill does describe the policies it seeks to counteract. Among its provisions are these: Cities could not limit municipal employees and officials from cooperating with federal immigration agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They also could not grant to illegal immigrants the right to a lawful presence.

No Arkansas cities have enacted sanctuary policies, so lawmakers are using an “ounce of prevention” to fix something that’s not broken. Continue reading →

Webb chairs Arkansas’ new majority party

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

As of this past election cycle, the Republican Party can be described as the majority party in Arkansas, and its chairman had something to do with that happening.

It may surprise you to learn that Republicans only now are the majority. The party has controlled all congressional seats and statewide offices since 2014 and three-fourths of the Legislature since 2016.

But Democrats still controlled enough local offices to maintain a majority of the total partisan offices in Arkansas. As of 2016, Republicans controlled 621 of the 1,524 total offices, not counting constables and not counting municipal offices, which often aren’t partisan. That’s less than 41 percent.

The flip occurred this past election. The Republican Party of Arkansas says the party controls 754 seats, or 49.48 percent. Eight more offices would be half, but independents occupy some offices, so almost certainly there are more Republicans than Democrats.

It’s been a historic turnaround since 2008, when Republicans controlled only 220 offices, or 14 percent. Continue reading →