Category Archives: State government

Lawsuit limits trailing in courts, poll

Elections, Politics, State government

Lake View, Supreme Court, Issue 1By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

There’s an expression sometimes used in politics: Go big or go home. With Issue 1, the tort reform amendment, the Arkansas Legislature went very big. And at the moment, that amendment is in serious danger of being sent home either by the courts or by the voters.

The wide-ranging measure would make major changes to the state’s legal system. It would limit “non-economic” (pain and suffering) lawsuit awards to $500,000. It would limit punitive damage awards meant to punish and deter wrongdoing to $500,000 or three times compensatory damage awards, whichever is greater. There wouldn’t be a limit if the defendant intentionally caused the harm. The amendment also would limit attorneys’ contingency fees to one-third the net amount awarded their clients. And it would enable the Legislature to override rules made for the state’s courts by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Legislators referred the measure to the ballot during the 2017 session. Powerful groups support it, including the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, the Arkansas Hospital Association and the Arkansas Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes. Naturally, the trial lawyers oppose it.

Huge amounts of money are at stake for both sides. Therefore, huge amounts will be spent on this issue both for and against. Continue reading Lawsuit limits trailing in courts, poll →

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 →

Will 3 percent vote for almost no government?

Elections, Independents and third parties, Politics, State government
Mark West
Mark West is running for governor as a Libertarian.

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

For Mark West, victory in the Arkansas governor’s race realistically will be measured using two numbers: 50 and 3.

He says if his votes keep Gov. Asa Hutchinson under 50 percent, that would be a measurable number that shows his third party campaign kind of caught on. Achieving that goal seems unlikely.

The more important number is 3 percent. If he wins that amount, his Libertarian Party won’t be a “new” party under Arkansas law in 2020, and it won’t have to expend its limited resources collecting 10,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. The party’s 2014 candidate for governor, Frank Gilbert, won 1.92 percent.

How limited are those resources? Hutchinson as of the last campaign finance reporting deadline Aug. 15 had raised $4.3 million for his campaign. The Democratic challenger, Jared Henderson, had raised about $324,000. West has raised $6,000 to date. Continue reading Will 3 percent vote for almost no government? →

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? →