Category Archives: State government

Dennis Milligan has $400 million. Some might be yours.

By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

It’s not every day that a man tells you he has $400 million to get rid of, and he needs your help to do it. That happened to me at the State Capitol Feb. 21.

The man was Dennis Milligan, the Arkansas state auditor. The $400 million is the total value of all the unclaimed properties the state is trying to return to its rightful owners through “The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt.” 

One in four Arkansans have property in the state’s possession. The auditor’s office has more than a million properties to dispense. The properties come from a variety of sources – an inheritance, a deserted bank account, a safety deposit box that somebody forgot about, etc. If a final paycheck never made it to somebody, banks are obligated to turn the money over to the auditor’s office. 

One woman got $1.4 million

“I gave a lady $1.4 million in Hot Springs the other day that her dad had left her through stocks that she didn’t even know about,” he said. “And that’s not the norm, but there’s plenty of $80, $150, $200. And again, it comes from old utility deposits. I’ve got Rolex watches. I’ve got war medals in our vault that again were taken out of safety deposit boxes and ultimately ended up in my hands.” Continue reading →

Looks like LEARNS, everything else can be an emergency

By Steve Brawner, © 2023 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

We can assume two things following the recent Arkansas Supreme Court ruling on the LEARNS Act lawsuit. 

First, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education reform legislation will be the law of the land sooner rather than later. 

Second, the Legislature will continue voting on emergency clauses simultaneously with bills – even though the state Constitution requires two votes “upon separate roll call.”

We may need a constitutional amendment so clear no one can argue it. One might be cooking. We’ll get to that shortly.

For background, the Supreme Court’s 5-2 ruling June 15 lifted a temporary restraining order issued by Circuit Court Judge Herbert Wright. Some Marvell-Elaine School District residents had sued the state after it entered into a “transformation contract” with a charter school organization to manage the district under the LEARNS Act. Continue reading →

Should the law make hospitals allow visitors during COVID?

By Steve Brawner, © 2021 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Should hospitals allow patient visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic? Should the government require them to do so?

For some Arkansas state legislators, the answer to both is “yes.”

House Bill 1061 by Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, would create the No Patient Left Alone Act requiring medical providers to let at least one person be present with patients each day at reasonable times.

Mayberry introduced the bill because many hospitals are severely limiting patient visitors during the pandemic. It has 11 co-sponsors in the House and six in the Senate.

Here’s the thing about being a journalist sometimes: You talk to a smart, persuasive person offering one side of the argument and decide they make sense. Then you talk to a smart, persuasive person on the other side. And then you rub your forehead and mutter, “I’m so confused.” Often, both sides have good arguments. Continue reading →

Why the governor can propose a tax cut

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

You know what Benjamin Franklin said about nothing in this world being certain except death and taxes? In Arkansas come legislative session time, you probably could add “tax cut proposals” to the list.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has led the Legislature in cutting income taxes this past three sessions, and he’s announced his proposals for the upcoming one. As a result of legislation passed in 2019, the income tax rate for the highest bracket will fall from 6.9% to 5.9%. He wants to reduce it further to 4.9% for new Arkansas residents for five years.

He also wants to reduce the sales tax on used vehicles from 6.5% to 3.5% for those costing between $4,000 and $10,000. There is no tax for vehicles sold for less than $4,000.

That second one seems like a fair and commonsense proposal. People paying for a vehicle that price are just trying to get a dependable ride to work or to school.

The first proposal? I don’t see it passing. Continue reading →

Does Issue 3 fix the broken process?

By Steve Brawner, © 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Arkansas state legislators are proposing a constitutional amendment that would make it harder for citizens to pass constitutional amendments in the future. And yes, the process is broken. The question is, will this fix it?

Issue 3, which is on this year’s ballot, also would make it harder for citizens to pass initiated acts, which are voter-created state laws, and also referenda, where voters can overturn a law already passed by legislators.

Let’s start with what clearly needs fixing.

First, the Arkansas Constitution is amended too often – 100 times since it was adopted in 1874 versus 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution since it was adopted in 1789 – and too easily. Sometimes it’s amended to create policy changes that should be made in less permanent ways, such as a law. Well-funded special interests and private businesses can write for themselves a permanent place in our state’s most important document.

Also, the current process is dominated by lawsuits that result in the Arkansas Supreme Court blocking proposals close to the election. This often occurs because of some technical issue regarding the voter signatures that citizen groups must collect to qualify for the ballot. For a constitutional amendment this year, for example, the groups had to collect 89,151 signatures.

The ruling often occurs too late for the proposal to be removed from the ballot. This year, voters will see a referendum to prevent optometrists from performing eye surgeries, but their votes won’t be counted.

Those are good reasons to reform the process. Here’s one that’s not as good: Some, including legislators, just don’t like how the people have voted lately. Examples include an amendment authorizing casinos, an amendment legalizing medical marijuana, and an initiated act increasing the state’s minimum wage. Continue reading →