Category Archives: State government

Obamacare ruling: Next 20 years more important than next two

Seema Verna

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verna hands a waiver to Gov. Asa Hutchinson allowing the state to require Arkansas Works recipients to work. Hutchinson opposes Obamacare but has championed the Arkansas Works program created as a result of the law.

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

How significant was the federal judge’s ruling last week that Obamacare is unconstitutional? We might not know for another two years, but the bigger question is, what happens in the next 20?

The judge ruled in a lawsuit that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional because the U.S. Supreme Court’s original reasoning could no longer stand.

Back in 2013, the Supremes ruled the individual mandate to buy health insurance is constitutional because the penalty for not doing so is a “tax.”

In December, Congress repealed the penalty when it passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. A Texas-led coalition of 20 states, including Arkansas under Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, sued arguing that without the penalty, there’s no tax, which means Obamacare itself is no longer constitutional.

Texas Judge Reed O’Connor agreed, though he did not issue an injunction, which means nothing happens while the ruling is under appeal. Now the case winds its way through the system, perhaps ending at the Supreme Court. Continue reading →

How one video changed a life

Project Zero

Chrystal and Adam Baker adopted their son, Donté, after seeing his story as told by KTHV Channel 11’s Dawn Scott.

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

How powerful can a short video be? Powerful enough to change a boy’s life – and a family’s.

In March 2015, Chrystal and Adam Baker were living a normal life in Alexander. She was an IT professional and he was a Game and Fish officer, and they were raising their blended family of four children. They had talked about adoption but had never taken any concrete steps.

Then Chrystal saw a Facebook video of a recurring television news series, “A Place to Call Home,” produced by KTHV Channel 11’s Dawn Scott. It featured 13-year-old Donté, who’d been in foster care four years. It was his birthday, and the gift he wanted was a family.

Chrystal told Adam he needed to watch it. He said he already had and told her to start the paperwork.

“I cry every time I watch it and when I think about it. … I knew he was ours,” she said.

Chrystal texted a neighbor who had adopted two teens from foster care and who suggested they contact The CALL, a Christian organization that recruits foster and adoptive parents. She “immediately” called the local chapter. Continue reading →

Beebe defends his fellow governor

Mike Beebe

Govs. Mike Beebe, left, and Mike Huckabee share memories at the 20th anniversary celebration of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.

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

Former Govs. Mike Huckabee and Mike Beebe have similar names but different personalities and outlooks, but one area where they agree is this: Being governor is “the best job in the world.”

That’s how Huckabee described it during a joint appearance Monday during a 20-year celebration of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Beebe immediately agreed.

It was more than a reunion of two former governors. When Huckabee was in office, Beebe was the most powerful state senator, and they worked together to pass bills such as the legislation creating ARKids First, which provides health insurance to lower-income children.

Also on hand were two of the state’s four other still-living governors: current Gov. Asa Hutchinson, whom Beebe defeated in 2010, and Jim Guy Tucker. The other two are Bill Clinton and David Pryor. Continue reading →

Don’t be like Kansas and Oklahoma

Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Works, Jeremy Hutchinson, Mickey Gates, Jim HendrenBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

By the time this upcoming legislative session is over, taxes in Arkansas undoubtedly will have been cut. The question is, how much will lawmakers learn from Oklahoma’s and Kansas’ mistakes?

Kansas made big tax cuts without corresponding spending cuts thanks to Gov. Sam Brownback’s allegiance to the theory that cutting taxes would stimulate the economy and generate more revenues. Oklahoma cut taxes while relying on oil and gas revenues that fell as those markets tanked.

The result is that Kansas’ budget has been a disaster for years. In fact, it’s Exhibit A when policymakers talk about how not to cut taxes. Finally, in 2017 the Legislature passed more than $1.2 billion in tax increases and then overrode a veto by Brownback, who was determined to keep digging a hole. In November, the longtime Republican state elected a Democrat, Laura Kelly, as governor.

A little closer to home, Oklahoma cut taxes and then dealt with budget issues so severe that almost one in five schools were holding classes four days a week. This year, the governor and Legislature passed a $430 million tax increase to fund education just before teachers staged a nine-day walkout.

One lesson learned is, if you vote for a tax cut today but don’t cut spending enough, then you might really be  voting for a tax increase down the road – or at least, forcing someone else to vote for one.  Continue reading →

This could make the legislative session even crazier

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

Things get crazy when 135 legislators gather at the Capitol to consider thousands of bills in three months’ time. Sometimes something happens that makes things crazier.

This upcoming legislative session, it could be the same issue that’s caused much of the craziness the past almost six years: Arkansas Works. This time, there’s a special reason why.  Continue reading →