Category Archives: State government

Why did Key replace Kurrus?

Education, Politics, State government, Uncategorized
Johnny Key, left, and Baker Kurrus speak to reporters Tuesday.
Johnny Key, left, and Baker Kurrus speak to reporters Tuesday.

By Steve Brawner
© 2016 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Reporters have biases, and I’ll admit to mine: Two of the government officials I like the most are Johnny Key, the state’s education commissioner, and Baker Kurrus, the soon-to-be-former Little Rock School District superintendent.

The two have been linked together for the past year. Key is a former state senator, not an educator, which a lot of unhappy people noted when Gov. Asa Hutchinson picked him for the state’s leading public schools post. Because the State Board of Education had taken over the Little Rock School District, Key became its de facto school board when he became commissioner, and he appointed Kurrus as superintendent.

Kurrus is also not an educator – which, again, a lot of unhappy people noted when Key appointed him – though he had served for a while on the Little Rock School Board. He’s an attorney and a businessman, as well as a competent, passionate, driven individual. He went to work organizing things, talking to people, and showing that he cared. He brought hope, and people warmed up to him.

Earlier this month, Key decided not to renew Kurrus’ one-year contract, which clearly disappointed and surprised Kurrus. His replacement is Mike Poore, who currently is superintendent of the Bentonville School District and led a large, urban district out of academic trouble when he was working in Colorado.

In an interview in his office Tuesday, Key said the Kurrus hiring was always supposed to be temporary, though “temporary” was never defined. He said that while the state took over the district because of academics, there were fiscal and foundational problems that needed to be addressed first, and Kurrus was uniquely able to do that because of his organizational skills.

Key’s decision surprised and angered a lot of people and put the governor in a tough spot with some of the Little Rock legislators.

I also was surprised. I watched Key as a well-liked legislator carefully, even unnecessarily, build a coalition to pass a school choice plan.

How could such an accomplished bridge builder act so arbitrarily? In a press conference with Kurrus last Tuesday and during the interview the following Tuesday, Key explained that Kurrus had accomplished his mission of righting the ship, but now it’s time to focus on the academic distress that caused the state takeover in the first place. Poore has experience that Kurrus lacks. In between on Friday afternoon, Key issued a statement admitting he had erred in how he went about making the change.

In our interview, Key explained this is the time of year when superintendents are replaced. Little Rock has five years to get out of academic distress, and one of those years is gone. He didn’t want to wait another year and believes Poore is better suited to move Little Rock out of, and well past, academic distress.

“The broader issue was, Baker’s got us where we need to be right now. Who can come in and take us to that next level?” he said.

Some people aren’t buying it. They’re saying this is about the two men disagreeing about charter schools, which, in some cases, involve a private entity operating a school funded with taxpayer dollars. In Little Rock, two of these in particular are popular: eStem and the LISA Academy. Kurrus has publicly worried those schools will take students from the Little Rock School District, further disadvantaging it. Key tends to believe competition makes schools better, as do certain school reform types such as the Walton Family Foundation.

Some are saying that Kurrus publicly questioned charter schools, but Key and his big business overlords like charter schools, so Kurrus was shown the door. Everything has to be a conspiracy these days.

Key told me in his office that the two did disagree about charter schools, but it was not a “determining factor” and that the charter disagreement was a “minimal” consideration. When I pressed him on what “minimal” meant, he held his thumb and pointer finger an inch apart and repeated that it wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Poore had the skill set he wanted.

Remember, I’m biased towards Key and Kurrus. It’s possible that Key was spinning me, of course. But if he were, I would think he would have said “none” instead of “minimal.”

Key said it was time for an academic type to fix a school district in academic distress. That part is easy to understand, even if suddenly replacing a man who was succeeding isn’t.

The real goal of the private option: Changing U.S. health care

Health care, Legislature, Politics, State government

CapitolBy Steve Brawner
© 2016 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Arkansas is the land of the Hogs. When it comes to health care reform, it’s also offered itself up as a guinea pig.

Here’s why. The American health care system was a mess long before President Obama was elected. Costs were skyrocketing, and people were denied insurance based on pre-existing conditions, or they lost their insurance if they got sick. It’s long been unjust and unsustainable.

Along came the Affordable Care Act, which created Obamacare. Among its provisions was expanding Medicaid coverage for Americans with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicaid is a federal-state partnership that serves the poor, the aged and the disabled.

When the Supreme Court said states could choose if they participated in that expansion, many Republican-led states said no. In 2013, a group of Arkansas Republican legislators along with Gov. Mike Beebe’s administration instead said, “We’ll take that money, but instead of expanding Medicaid, we’ll purchase private health insurance.” The Obama administration agreed, and thus was created the “private option.”

It’s been a huge controversy that split Republicans between those who support it and those who see it as an unsustainable expansion of Obamacare.

Why would some Republicans support it? For one, a quarter of a million Arkansans now have health insurance because of it. Taking it away would be a state-changing event – for them, of course, but also for hospitals who would have to provide a lot of free care, and for the state, which would lose a lot of federal government money.

However, there’s another reason some Republicans support the idea: They’re trying to reform the entire health care system – which, as noted previously, has been messed up a long time.

Many Republicans have long advocated a “premium assistance” model for certain needy populations – basically, giving them money for insurance instead of putting them on a government program. But as state Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, explained, the idea hasn’t been tried. If they could demonstrate in Arkansas that the idea could work, then they could change the entire national health care system starting in Arkansas.

What have been the results? There are more people on the program than were anticipated, and it hasn’t been managed well by the Department of Human Services. Coverage has been bought with taxpayer dollars for people without Arkansas addresses or, in some cases, a pulse. But a lot of poor people are covered, hospitals are saving money on uncompensated care, and costs per beneficiary have been lower than expected. The addition of a quarter of a million poor people to the insurance market has attracted providers to Arkansas, increasing competition and the choices available to us all.

As the experiment has continued, new elements have been included. Supporters hope to help people transition into self-sufficiency rather than trapping them in a big government program.
Hutchinson’s Arkansas Works program, which is the private option with a new name and some new wrinkles, includes work training referrals and a $19 per month contribution from better-off beneficiaries. He’d like to do more, but the Obama administration won’t let him. But next year, there will be a new administration.

So Arkansas has offered itself up as sort of the guinea pig in this experiment to see if the premium assistance model works. Since then, a number of other states have followed Arkansas’ lead and tried their own experiments. During hearings this past year, Arkansas legislators heard about some of those results, which could lead to changes here. States are the laboratories of democracy, and laboratories work best when they share what they learn.

Lawmakers hope the changes Arkansas has demonstrated could have other far-reaching effects. Sanders thinks the premium assistance model could be used effectively with the Veterans Administration – which, goodness knows, needs help. Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, thinks that, long-term, the model would work even for the biggest government health care program, Medicare.

There are those who say none of this will fix the health care system. Opponents from the right say government messes everything up. Opponents on the left say health care should not be a profit-earning enterprise, so the United States should do as other Western countries have done and just put the government in charge of paying the bills.

Sanders said something on which everyone should agree: This is an ongoing process. Health care isn’t going to be reformed. It’s going to be reforming, always. It must be.

Related: The debt, the private option and the painter

The larger debate: How Arkansas works

Health care, Legislature, Politics, State government, Uncategorized

arkansasFlagBy Steve Brawner
© 2016 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

This debate at the Capitol over health care is difficult to write about day to day because things change quickly. So let’s talk about what it might mean for the future.

First, the background. Legislators are debating the private option, which uses federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for Arkansans with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. It came about as a result of the Affordable Care Act, which created Obamacare. As of the end of January, 267,590 adults were eligible. It has helped Arkansas reduce its number of uninsured adults and gotten hospitals paid more often for their services – probably saving some of them, in fact.

However, some Republican legislators say it’s an unsustainable expansion of Obamacare leading to more government dependence and a bigger national debt. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is trying to make the program more agreeable to them by requiring more from recipients while changing the name to Arkansas Works. For many, it’s still not agreeable enough.

During the recent legislative session, Arkansas Works passed, but just short of the three-fourths majority needed for any kind of state spending. Arkansas Works is part of the larger Medicaid budget, which also funds nursing homes and other programs. So at least five members of the House and two in the Senate who voted against Arkansas Works must now vote to fund the entire Medicaid budget, including Arkansas Works.

This has been a huge debate. There’s been talk about how close to the cliff the state would get. The opponents haven’t wanted to fund Medicaid with Arkansas Works, and the supporters haven’t wanted to fund Medicaid without it.

The three-fourths requirement for funding is a high bar. It means that any nine senators can block anything.

So in the future, will they? If some nine senators don’t support the Common Core next year, will they threaten to withhold funding for public schools? What if nine senators want to spend more money on programs for poor people and threaten to withhold their votes for something else?

In fact, the Arkansas Constitution gives one-fourth of either House the ability to shut down the entire state government. It requires that, before anything else is funded, funding must be secured for general appropriations, which includes legislative reimbursements and such. So it’s possible for that one-fourth minority to refuse to fund general appropriations, and then nothing happens. In fact, as part of the political brinksmanship being played at the Capitol, House Democrats did just that while saying that Arkansas Works must be settled first.

Nine senators can exert their will over potentially the other 126 legislators. That’s a powerful weapon. But it’s perfectly legal and constitutional.

Is it the wave of the future? If so, it would require a complete change in the culture of the Capitol, which is a remarkably collegial place where legislators generally like each other, regardless of party. Arkansas Democrats and Arkansas Republicans, after all, are much more alike than Massachusetts Democrats and Alabama Republicans. In a body dominated by Republicans, the Senate chair of the powerful Joint Budget Committee is the universally popular Sen. Larry Teague, a Democrat from Nashville. That kind of thing wouldn’t happen in Congress. Moreover, legislators don’t want to be seen as obstructionist because they want to pass their own legislation.

Legally, nine senators can block anything, but culturally, they would pay a heavy price if they did. When cultures shift, the law remains. On the other hand, laws are always interpreted through the lens of culture.

Ultimately, Arkansas Works probably will be funded. On Tuesday, supporters pushed through the Joint Budget Committee an amendment that would end the program at the end of the year. The governor has said he will veto the amendment but not the bill, and the Legislature won’t be able to override. Voila! Arkansas Works passes without anyone having to convince two of those senators to go on the record voting for it.

Where will this lead? The Legislature is supposed to fund with a three-fourths majority, not a simple majority. It might get Arkansas Works funded, but it probably will draw a legal challenge.

Got all that? While the debate today is about Arkansas Works, the larger debate is about how Arkansas works.

Related: Arkansas Works and the private option: What’s all the fuss about?

Why governor thinks the private option is the best option

Legislature, Politics, State government

Gov. Asa Hutchinson
Gov. Asa Hutchinson
By Steve Brawner
© 2016 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The question came to mind as Gov. Asa Hutchinson addressed reporters Tuesday: “Governor, when you were a young man fighting to make the Republican Party more than a tiny minority concentrated in the state’s northwest corner, did you ever think it would eventually dominate state politics, and you would lead it, and your most important priority, for a time, would be saving a government health care program?”

The question was not asked. It wasn’t the time or place. Hutchinson makes himself available to reporters and respectfully tries to answer questions. But he’s not a soul-barer.

At issue is Arkansas Works, Hutchinson’s version of the private option. That’s the program created in 2013 after the Supreme Court ruled states under Obamacare could choose whether or not to expand Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level. Arkansas bucked the trend of other Republican states by accepting the money, but instead of expanding Medicaid, it used it to buy private insurance for that population. As of the end of January, 267,590 Arkansans were eligible.

In the recent special session, Arkansas Works passed 70-30 in the House and 25-10 in the Senate, with support from majorities of Republicans and Democrats in each chamber. But while those votes made it the law of the land, it still must be funded during the Legislature’s current fiscal session. Those majorities fell a little short of the 75 percent needed in each chamber to fund the Department of Human Services’ Medical Services Division, which includes Arkansas Works and other Medicaid programs, including nursing home care.

Opponents, all Republicans, say the private option/Arkansas Works is another health care entitlement for able-bodied adults that neither the state nor an indebted nation can afford. The talk around the Capitol has been whether they will successfully hold up the entire Medical Services Division budget to stop Arkansas Works.

Going into Thursday, the program had enough votes in the House for funding, but none of the 10 Senate opponents had publicly said they were budging. On Thursday, a plan was hatched where legislators would fund Medicaid without Arkansas Works, but Hutchinson would veto just that part of it, and legislators wouldn’t override the veto. But that idea failed, at least temporarily, to advance out of the Joint Budget Committee. So we’re still stuck.

It’s too much to say Hutchinson’s governorship depends on this government health care program, but it is really important to him – important enough that he’s never going to allow 10 senators to stop him. Over the next five years, Arkansas Works is projected to bring $9 billion into the state’s health care economy at the same time the state will lose $5 billion because of other aspects of Obamacare. The state has 19 hospitals that are considered financially vulnerable. Dropping the program would add $1 billion to the amount of uncompensated care they and other providers would provide their uninsured patients.

It also would have a $757 million impact on the state budget, which was one reason why Hutchinson spoke before reporters Tuesday. He wants to call legislators back into special session after this current one to increase funding for highways. The state needs to find about $50 million a year to become eligible for $200 million in federal funding. Hutchinson said that without Medicaid dollars, the state can’t find the matching money for those highway dollars – without raising taxes, which he won’t do.

Like all Republicans, Hutchinson takes pains to declare he opposes Obamacare, even as he depends on Obamacare money. He’s been accused by some of being hypocritical.

He says he’s playing the cards he was dealt. He’d prefer the federal government send those Medicaid dollars to the states as a block grant – still federal government money, by the way – and let the states use that money as they choose without all the strings attached.

Currently, the federal government under President Obama won’t do that. However, you may have noticed we’re in the middle of a presidential election. Maybe the next president will be more open to that idea. That being the case, Arkansas had better stay in the game, Hutchinson says.

That means putting his office on the line, and grappling with members of the party he helped build, so he can save a government health care program that depends on an idea he doesn’t support. Does that make sense? In politics, sometimes yeah.

Related: Arkansas Works and the private option: What’s all the fuss about?