Category Archives: State government

Taxing cigarettes – both kinds

Jim Hendren, tobacco tax

Sen. Jim Hendren is considering if tobacco taxes should be raised and if e-cigarette taxes should be enacted.

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

What do these five numbers mean to you: $795 million; $230 million; $1.15; 0; and 1.5 million?

This year, they might mean a tax increase on cigarettes, both the old-fashioned kind and the e-cigarette kind. Or at least, they might should.

The first two numbers compare what tobacco products cost Arkansas taxpayers through the Medicaid program, $795 million, vs. what tobacco taxes raise, $230 million.

The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement says Medicaid spends $795 million annually to treat tobacco-related illnesses among adults ages 30 to 65. That number doesn’t include older Arkansans, young people, or pregnancy-related health issues.

However, the state’s tobacco taxes only raised about $230 million in 2017. That’s about $565 million less than what Medicaid is spending.  Continue reading →

Abortion debate continues inside, outside Capitol

March for Life

Here’s part of the crowd at the March for Life Sunday. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. French Hill were among the speakers.

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

One issue will draw a large crowd to the Capitol steps on a near-freezing Sunday afternoon along with a smaller but fired up rally to represent the other side the day before. And it’s not Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s plan to combine state government agencies.

That issue is abortion, which was legalized nationwide by the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision 46 years ago.

Clearly, Arkansas’ Republican leadership is pro-life. The March for Life Jan. 20 featured brief remarks by Hutchinson, Sen. Tom Cotton, and U.S. Rep. French Hill. Most of Arkansas’ other statewide officials also participated, as did a number of state legislators.

Pamela Merritt, co-founder of Reproaction, and Philander Smith student and activist Maria Meneses were among the speakers at the Rally for Reproductive Justice.

Hutchinson pointed out that Arkansas ranks second in Americans United for Life’s “Life List” that ranks states based on their abortion laws, behind only Arizona. At least six abortion-related bills have been filed or will be filed this legislative session.

Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, has filed two of them. Senate Bill 2 would ban abortions when the child has or may have Down syndrome. Senate Bill 3 would require abortion providers to report complications to the state Department of Health, which would annually publish a report online. Senate Bill 149 by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, would outlaw abortions in Arkansas if the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade.

Arkansas Right to Life is pushing two bills.  Continue reading →

Capitol corruption determined by culture

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

Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, spent his 10-minute address Monday talking about one issue: legislative corruption.

The Air Force colonel and ex-F-15 fighter pilot made his remarks on the opening day of the 2019 legislative session after being sworn in as Arkansas Senate president pro tempore.

Three days earlier, his former colleague, ex-Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, became the seventh ex-legislator charged with wrongdoing. Five of the others have been convicted, and two are in prison. The sixth, former Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, Hendren’s cousin, has been indicted. Continue reading →

Would you rather rank your choices on the ballot?

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

A lot can happen in two years, but in November 2020 Arkansans could vote on reforming the act of voting itself.

That will be the case if ranked choice voting supporters can craft a proposal, get it past the attorney general, raise money, collect signatures, and survive the usual court challenges.

Otherwise known as “instant runoffs,” ranked choice voting lets voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than simply checking the box next to one. Arkansas already uses this system for overseas ballots. Continue reading →

These legislators will make things interesting

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

Legislators from across Arkansas will gather at the Capitol next week to begin three months of controlled chaos that thankfully occur only once every two years.

Some of the 135 lawmakers will be particularly interesting to watch.

Before listing them, for any left-out legislator who happens to read this column, notice I wrote “some” and “interesting.” Sometimes important work doesn’t create headlines. Sometimes, you’re doing something I just don’t know about yet. And sometimes it’s just not your year.

In no particular order, starting with the Senate … Continue reading →