Category Archives: State government

Rise of the whippersnappers

Maybe it’s a coincidence, and perhaps it doesn’t matter, but it’s hard not to notice how many leaders in the Arkansas Legislature are in their 30s.

The House last week elected Rep. Jeremy Gilliam, R-Judsonia, 37, as its presumed incoming speaker. He will replace Rep. Davy Carter, R-Cabot, who is about to turn 39.

On the Senate side, the incoming president pro tem, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, is 34. He will replace Sen. Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, 37.

Dismang rose to prominence as an architect of the Medicaid private option, one of Arkansas’ most significant and controversial pieces of legislation in a long time. Other legislative architects were Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, 37, and Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, 28. Meanwhile, House Democrats are led by Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, who is 35.

Why is this happening? In interviews, Gov. Mike Beebe, first elected to the Legislature at the age of 36, and legislators credited term limits for opening up leadership positions to younger people. In Beebe’s day, the Legislature was controlled by a few old-guard legislators who had been there forever. Younger members had to wait their turn.

Could there be other factors in the rise of these whippersnappers? Maybe 30-somethings can thrive in a job that Leding told me “is absolutely exhausting, physically mentally.” Perhaps a young and idealistic legislator is more likely to create and pass an out-of-the-box idea like the private option, and not be discouraged because things haven’t been done that way before. Maybe young people better understand social media and other aspects of contemporary politics. Maybe these legislators entered office at about the same time and formed alliances with people their own age. Dismang said younger legislators may have an extra motivation to excel. After all, when he’s carrying out his duties, he’s leaving behind his wife and young children. “If I’m going to be in Little Rock working, I’m going to make the most of that,” he said.

All of that would imply this is a trend, but Beebe rejects that. He said the high number of young legislators is an “anomaly,” that there just happens to be many exceptional young legislators at the moment, and term limits have allowed them to shine.

“Whether you’re an older guy or a younger guy, you’re on equal footing, and the talent is going to be what ends up creating the leadership, not the experience, because nobody’s got any experience,” he said.

He believes term limits eventually will lower the number of 30-something legislators because few in that age bracket will want to start political careers that will end so quickly. He thinks it will be more of an activity for retirees.

Lamoureux said that simple geography played a part in his selection as Senate president pro tem. As a resident of Russellville, he can drive back and forth from the Capitol more easily than legislators who might live three hours from Little Rock. He minimized the power of his office, explaining, “They may let us have those positions, but by no stretch of the imagination are we barking out orders.”

Nobody with whom I spoke believes an age of 30-something domination is upon us, nor should it be. A diversity of life experiences is the goal.

“I guess I haven’t thought about it all that much,” Lamoureux said. “I go back to, when we were making decisions, who was in my office? It was really just a wide range of people.”

Maybe so, but they were in his office.

Medical weed’s November fate still hazy

Medical marijuana is legal in 20 states plus Washington, D.C. Whether or not it becomes legal in Arkansas this year depends on if it makes the ballot and who shows up at the polls.

Two competing proposals have been certified by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. One group of supporters is actively collecting signatures, while the other is trying to raise money.

Melissa Fults, campaign director of Arkansans for Compassionate Care, said 464 volunteers have collected about 10,000 signatures and will become more active now that the weather is prettier. They must collect 62,507 signatures – eight percent of voters in the last gubernatorial election – by July 7. That’s a lot, in a short amount of time.

The other proposal, submitted by Arkansans for Responsible Medicine, will rely on paid canvassers if it can raise the money, said organizer David Couch.

The groups are trying to build on the momentum from 2012, when the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act almost passed with 48.56 percent of the vote and 507,757 Arkansans saying yes.

Still, this a nonpresidential election, which means the electorate will be smaller, older, more settled and more conservative – as opposed to 2012, when lots more young people voted in the big election. Couch said the thinking among many advocates is that it’s better to hold your fire – and save your money – until you have the best chance to win. That would be 2016.

Fults disagrees. The national mood seems to be shifting in favor of the idea. It’s hard to ignore those cancer patients asserting how marijuana helps them tolerate their disease. People, especially older ones, seem less hesitant when signing petitions than they did before, she said. She also thinks a competitive governor’s race this year will drive up turnout.

Fults, a 59-year-old dairy goat farmer from outside Little Rock, became involved in the cause after a family member was injured in a debilitating accident. She said the opiates he was taking were turning him into a “zombie” and literally were killing him. Marijuana, taken in pill form, has allowed him to live a normal life.

You can argue that she’s wrong about the policy. You can’t tell her she’s wrong about her family member.

History shows that medical marijuana can pass in a nonpresidential election. According to the website ProCon.org, of the 11 states that have legalized medical marijuana through a ballot initiative instead of a legislative act, five originally did so in nonpresidential years. Four of those, however, did so in the 1990s.

Even if Arkansans vote to legalize, there remains the thorny issue that, under federal law, possession of any amount of marijuana for any reason is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a year in prison. Even if medical marijuana is legal in Arkansas, it’s still illegal in America.

This is working in states that have legalized partly because the Obama administration, as it has a habit of doing, is selectively enforcing the law, which is not the way the system is supposed to work. Instead, Congress should pass a bill letting states decide for themselves if they will legalize medical marijuana. Then the president should sign the bill into law. Then Arkansas should legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

That would require Congress and the president to resolve a difficult issue in a statesmanlike way that increases freedom and reduces the federal government’s power.

Recent history would suggest that, if you believe that’s going to happen any time soon, you must be smoking something.

Mayberry seeks post he wants to abolish

mayberry-andy

Would you vote for a candidate who wants to abolish the office he’s seeking? That’s what Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-East End, is asking voters to do.

Mayberry’s platform includes the usual planks – education, economic development, etc. He also wants to present ideas for streamlining government after talking to frontline state agency employees to learn areas of waste and duplication.

On the campaign trail, Mayberry has been asked if the lieutenant governor itself is part of that waste and duplication. The office’s only constitutional responsibilities are to preside over the Senate (a mostly ceremonial duty), to ascend to the governor’s office if the elected governor dies or is incapacitated, (which another officeholder does in some states) and to serve as governor when the governor leaves the state (which is unnecessary with modern communication technology).

The issue gained relevance in recent months when former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr was forced to resign over financial improprieties. The Legislature recently voted not to spend millions of dollars for a special election to replace him, which means Arkansas won’t have a lieutenant governor from Feb. 1 until Darr’s successor takes office next January.

That begs the question: If Arkansas taxpayers can go 11 months without a lieutenant governor, why should they pay $400,000 every year to support one and his or her staff afterwards?

When asked such by voters, Mayberry told me, “It’s very difficult, with a straight face, to give them an honest defense of why, yes, it’s absolutely necessary. We need an office that’s going to sit vacant for a year.”

For such an unnecessary position, the lieutenant governor’s race has drawn its share of candidates. Also campaigning are two other Republicans: U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin and state Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers; a Democrat, John Burkhalter; and a Libertarian, Christopher Olson.

The office’s attraction is understandable. With few duties, it is whatever the officeholder makes it. Former Lt. Governor Bill Halter used its visibility to push the lottery through the Legislature, while Darr’s pet project was an online checkbook to give Arkansans a clearer view of the state’s finances. The officeholder has an impressive title and remains in the public eye at taxpayer expense. In recent years, two lieutenant governors, Jim Guy Tucker and Mike Huckabee, became governor.

Mayberry’s plan if elected is to spend two years looking for government waste and then present his findings at the 2017 legislative session. He believes he would have more success cutting state government if he also worked to cut his own job. At that 2017 session, he’ll try to push through a constitutional amendment that, if approved by the voters, would abolish the office at the end of his first and only term and make the secretary of state next in line to be governor. Mayberry’s wife, Julie, who is running unopposed for his legislative seat, could introduce the bill, he said.

In the meantime, he promises a smaller staff. Four employees worked there under Darr. The lowest paid employee earned more than $50,000 a year plus the state’s generous benefits package. When I worked in the office from 2003-06, there were three employees, plus usually an intern, and we were bloated back then. In fact, as “communications director,” I was definitely part of the bloat. The office could get by with one person to answer the phone and schedule appearances.

I say either make the office relevant or get it rid of it completely. Mayberry hopes to do both – first make it relevant, and then get rid of it.

Storm over, but highway needs remain

Scott Bennett

Director Scott Bennett of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department explained to legislators this past week why his agency was overwhelmed by the recent winter storms that turned Interstate 55 in northeast Arkansas into a parking lot. Bennett said the department lacked the resources to respond to the storm.

The traffic tie-up is already a memory now that the weather is a little warmer. But the lack of resources – that’s going to continue.

While some other state responsibilities – schools, especially – have been well funded in recent years, the same can’t be said for highways. In fact, Bennett told the state’s consulting engineers in a late February speech that while state revenues have been growing at 4.5 percent a year, the Highway Department’s have been flat for decades. In fact, it collected less state revenue this year than last, and less last year than the year before that.

The primary revenue sources for highway construction are federal gasoline and diesel taxes, while state fuel taxes primarily pay for maintenance. These are known as “user fees,” the idea being that the more you drive, the more taxes you pay. If you choose to stay at home or maybe travel via mule, you don’t pay the taxes.

But fuel taxes aren’t what they used to be, so there’s less money for highways. The federal rates of 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel haven’t risen since 1993. That means Americans are paying a smaller percentage of their income to drive on the same roads – effectively a tax cut. Meanwhile, since cars have become more fuel-efficient, we’re buying fewer gallons of fuel. Again, fewer gallons equals less taxes.

Looking ahead, the problem will worsen as more cars are powered by alternative fuels. Drivers of hybrid vehicles use less gas and therefore pay less taxes than the rest of us. Those who can afford electric cars use the roads almost free of charge.

Because too few dollars are funding too many services, the federal Highway Trust Fund is set to go broke later this year, leaving no federal money for highways, unless Congress acts. One would think Congress wouldn’t let that happen, but just in case there’s a stalemate, the department started cutting projects this past week.

Meanwhile, construction costs have not stood still. (Oil is a primary ingredient of asphalt, after all.) Bennett told the engineers that, 35 years ago, $100 million would widen 143 miles of a rural highway from two lanes to five lanes. Today, it would widen 15.

True, Arkansas voters recently approved two highway initiatives. In 2011, they said yes to the Interstate Rehabilitation Program, a $1.2 billion bond program to repair 450 interstate miles. In 2012, they voted to raise the sales tax by a half cent for the Connecting Arkansas Program, which will finance projects across the state.

Together, those programs will maintain or improve 630 miles of highways. Unfortunately, that’s only 3.8 percent of Arkansas’ 16,400 miles, the 12th largest system in the country.

Where do we go from here? There’s no political will to raise the gas tax. A 2013 state bill would have dedicated new and used car sales tax revenues to highways, but it stalled because of opposition from other groups receiving government money. In recent years, Congress has shifted other government funds to highways. It’s kept the system afloat, but it’s adding to the national debt, and it means we’re financing highways less through user fees and more from the federal government’s big, complicated, leaky pot.

This is all working because the roads haven’t fallen apart yet, but they can’t be neglected forever. As Bennett told the engineers, “We’re in danger of being the first generation to leave our transportation system worse off than we found it if we don’t do something to continue to invest in it.”

Choices have to be made. On the other hand, maybe it’s time to buy a good mule.

Editor’s Note: The slides from Bennett’s Powerpoint presentation can be viewed here.

For Rep. Josh Miller, private option policy wasn’t personal

miller-joshShould a lawmaker who has received a lot of needed government assistance vote to extend government assistance to others? That’s a question Rep. Josh Miller, R-Heber Springs, has had to answer recently.

Miller, 32, has been a consistent opponent of the private option, which uses Medicaid dollars to buy private insurance for lower-income Arkansans. It was created mostly by Republicans in the Legislature who were trying to make the best of Obamcare. Other Republicans oppose it, just as they oppose Obamacare itself. It passed in 2013 and then was extended this year after one heck of a debate.

Why is Miller’s vote worth more attention than the 23 other House members who voted against it on the final vote?

A broken neck changed Miller’s life

A decade ago when he was 22, Miller was drinking with a buddy, climbed into his pickup truck and, minutes later, careened off the side of the road and into a ravine. He does not remember who was driving. He remembers his father, Larry, telling him in a hospital weeks after the accident that he had broken his neck but that the Lord had spared his life so far and things would be OK. Larry was a credible source of comfort considering he has been in a wheelchair as a result of a muscular condition all of Miller’s life.

The accident left Miller paralyzed from the neck down, though he has some use of his arms. Because he did not have insurance, Medicaid paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars of his medical care. He and his family also paid a share of the medical bills. Medicaid and Medicare have since paid for other care, including ongoing help from a personal assistant. Continue reading →