Voters: Better roads, same taxes

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

One thing is clear from two recent polls: Arkansans want better roads, but they don’t want their taxes raised much to pay for them.

The latest poll comes from the Arkansas Good Roads Foundation, a group that supports more highway spending. It released a poll this week where 98 percent of likely voters said roads and bridges are important for economic development and job growth.

But roads and bridges have a problem. Traditionally, they’e been funded by gas and diesel fuel taxes paid at the pump. The 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax (24.4 cents for diesel) hasn’t been raised 1993, while Arkansas’ 21.5-cent gas and 22.5-cent diesel taxes have been the same since 2001. Those taxes were not indexed to inflation, so Arkansans are paying the same 39.9 cents they were paying in 2001. As in most walks of life, 39.9 cents does not buy the same now as it did then.

Adding to the problem is that vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient, so drivers buy less gas and pay less in gas taxes to drive on roads becoming more expensive to construct and maintain. Drivers who can afford gas-electric hybrids pay less, while electric car drivers pay almost nothing.

The whole idea behind the gas tax is that it’s a user fee: The government service is funded by the citizen benefitting from it. But that stopped being the case in 2008, when fuel tax revenues at the federal level stopped being sufficient, and Congress started filling the gap with transfers from the general fund – the one running a $439 billion deficit in 2015.

In other words, the highways we’re driving on are being partially funded by the passengers riding in a child safety seat in back. Then when they become adults, they’ll pay to fix those worn out roads, unless they follow our example and stick their own kids with the bill.

Some highway funding supporters say the simplest fix is just to raise motor fuels taxes for now and figure out how to address the shortfall caused by increasing fuel efficiencies later.

But that’s clearly a no-go with voters. The Good Roads Foundation poll found a gas tax hike had the support of only 32 percent of respondents, with 53 percent opposed – 40 percent strongly so. When pollsters offered more detailed ideas, they found that 53 percent would support a 2-cent-per-gallon increase. After that, the numbers dropped fast: Only 32 percent would support 5 cents, and only 17 percent would support 10 cents.

Those numbers confirm the results of a poll released a couple of months ago by the Arkansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which is always against all tax increases. That poll found that while half of Arkansans believe that the condition of the state’s roads is “a major problem that deserves attention,” 64 percent oppose raising fuel taxes to address it.

What 63 percent of Arkansas do support, according to the Good Roads Foundation poll, is shifting new and used car sales tax receipts to highways. That money currently goes into general revenues, where it pays for everything else – schools, prisons, and health care services, mostly. Obviously, more money for highways means less money for those things.

A group appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to sort through all this, the Governor’s Working Group on Highway Funding, is sending him a menu of options. Most members would like to increase highway funding however they can. But Hutchinson has made it clear he will support no plan that increases overall government revenues or taxes. Earlier this year, one of the members of that working group, Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, proposed a bill that would have done what those 63 percent of Arkansans said they supported: transfer car sales tax revenues to highways. At the time, Hutchinson was opposed, but money doesn’t grow on trees, and maybe something can be worked out.

Seventy percent of Arkansas highway construction dollars come from the federal government. This week, Congress did what it has not been able to do in a long time: produce a long-term highway funding bill. If passed, it will provide an additional $50 million for Arkansas each of the next five years.

To qualify for all of it, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department must find matching money somewhere – which is the problem it already has. At least it’s not a new one.

To reduce prison growth, remember Texas

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

There’s much that policymakers don’t agree about these days, but something like a consensus is emerging about one issue: criminal sentencing reform.

Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, moderates, President Obama, people who don’t like President Obama – many of them agree the United States imprisons too many people, and they even agree why that’s bad. Liberals agree with conservatives that locking up 2.3 million people nationwide is a waste of money. Many conservatives agree with liberals that it’s a waste of lives.

So we might actually get somewhere on this one.

Here’s the extent of the problem in Arkansas, as explained Monday by the Council of State Governments Justice Center to the Legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force. The Council is a national nonprofit organization. The task force is a group of Arkansas legislators, law enforcers, attorneys and judges who are considering reforms.

From 2012-14, Arkansas had the country’s fastest growing prison population. In 2013, the state imprisoned 14,825 people. Then a parolee, Darrell Dennis, kidnapped and murdered a man, and reforms were enacted that kept many parolees of all types in prison. Two years later, the population is now 17,977.

And that’s a problem, because Arkansas only has a prison capacity of 15,416. The excess typically has been farmed out to county jails, and now the state is renting space in a Texas jail that has room for them. More about Texas in a minute.

The Council of State Governments’ Andy Barbee told the task force that Arkansas’ spending on corrections has ballooned from $300 million in 2004 to $512 million in 2015. At that rate, Arkansas will have 25,448 inmates by 2025 and will need to spend $680 million to house the excess, or it could also spend $602 million to build more prisons.

Those cost estimates assume present trends will continue, which they might not. As noted by Ken Casady, a Saline County prosecuting attorney and task force member, the 3,000-inmate increase since 2013 might simply be a one-time spike caused by the parole reforms after the Darrell Dennis case.

Still, prison costs undoubtedly are rising rapidly while other costs, such as health care, are increasing, too. There’s also a task force to study that issue, as well as one looking under the state’s couch cushions for more money for highways. I wish they could have found some before a pothole on I-40 bent my rim and lost my hubcap Sunday.

Following the task force meeting was a panel discussion at the Clinton School of Public Service. It was organized by The Coalition for Public Safety, whose partners range across the political spectrum from the NAACP and the ACLU to conservative groups including Americans for Tax Reform and Freedom Works.

Its funders include Republican backers Charles and David Koch, who’ve been investing a lot of money and political capital on this issue lately. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, in fact, spoke at one of their shindigs in New Orleans last month about Arkansas’ beginning reform efforts.

The panel included former Rep. Jerry Madden, one of the architects of Texas’ successful prison reform package passed in 2007. Madden, who described himself multiple times as a conservative, said he had no experience with criminal justice when the Texas speaker of the House asked him to take charge with a simple eight-word directive: “Don’t build new prisons. They cost too much.”

At the time, Texas had on the table a half-a-billion-dollar prison construction project. Instead, the ultimate law-and-order, remember-the-Alamo state enacted reforms and spent a quarter of a billion dollars on community supervision. Madden said the state stopped wasting money on efforts that don’t work and spent more on things that did, like addiction programs. He said that while violent criminals should be incarcerated, other solutions can be found for “knuckleheads” – minor drug offenders, hot check writers, etc. In other words, the people we’re mad at, not scared of. Those people need a behavior change, not a lengthy prison sentence.

Now, Texas’ crime rate is the lowest it has been since the 1960s. Arkansas’ crime rate is dropping, too, though not as fast. But unlike Arkansas, Texas’ prison population is falling to the point that it’s actually closed three of its prisons.

The consensus developing among policymakers will have to filter down to the public. No political candidate wants to be accused of being soft on crime. But no one should be. Most of us agree the bad guys should be locked up. The knuckleheads? Remember Texas.

Steve Brawner is an independent journalist in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.

Rookie still trying to shine light on campaigns

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, is a rookie, and she admits she made some rookie mistakes.

During this past legislative session, her self-described rookie-ness got in her way as she tried to pass a bill that would have required legislative and statewide candidates to file campaign finance reports online in a searchable database. It failed in the House, 48-33, with 19 not voting, and never made it to the Senate.

Arkansas is one of 17 states where legislators have the option of electronically filing those reports, or to file by paper. At least 31 states require electronic reports.

Why does it matter? Filing reports by paper makes it harder for voters to follow the money trail. They can see the reports online at the secretary of state’s website, votenaturally.com, but only in document form. They can’t do a search to learn who is donating to more than one candidate, and how much.

True, it’s possible to print out every legislative report and wade through the information. But that would take an enormous amount of time that few people have – not we in the media who also must cover other news, and certainly not the average Joe citizen.

That information is important – certainly more important than what’s on candidates’ websites. The type of donors who give to multiple candidates are doing so because they want something. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something.

I could be naive, but I think most elected officials at the Capitol imperfectly are trying to do mostly the right thing most of the time – just like the rest of us when we’re put into gray-area situations with conflicting influences. But no matter how noble they are, they can’t ignore the people whose donations made it possible for them to be elected.

Because campaigning is a for-profit enterprise, money will flow to political candidates like water flows downhill. The most effective reform is to shine as much light as possible on the process. That way, voters can determine for themselves which elected officials are navigating an imperfect system appropriately, and which ones are being overly influenced by donors.

Back to the rookie. Della Rosa said one of the mistakes she made this past legislative session was idealistically focusing only on how the system would benefit the public when lobbying her fellow legislators, which is not the best way to change someone’s personal behavior. If she’s re-elected in 2016, she’ll push a complete redo of the system that will make campaigning easier for them.

Filing campaign finance reports is a huge pain in the neck. It’s very easy to make an honest mistake, and then an elected official finds his or her name in a headline alongside the words “ethics violation.” The current electronic filing system is kind of glitchy. So Della Rosa is promising an e-filing system that will be easier to navigate and will prompt and warn candidates to keep them out of undeserved trouble.

Implementation costs have averaged $500,000 to $2 million per state, but perhaps Arkansas could purchase a system already used elsewhere. Yes, that’s an expense, but it would be worth it to be able to follow the money.

Della Rosa outlined her proposal Nov. 19 before a legislative subcommittee that certainly seemed ready to embrace it. At least, no one was willing to speak publicly against more transparency. Sen. John Cooper, R-Jonesboro, another rookie legislator, was particularly ready to march alongside her.

One of the objections legislators raised earlier this year was that some candidates live in areas without adequate broadband internet access. So she brought along Shelby Johnson, director of the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems Office, who said the entire state is covered by satellite internet service and that a large part of it is covered by other services, particularly wireless. In other words, no one must travel that far to find internet service capable of uploading a simple document.

By 2017, another two years will have passed where some legislators who weren’t comfortable with the internet will become more so, or will be replaced by someone who is. No doubt some legislative opponents don’t particularly want their campaign donors known, but fear of change is often the biggest hurdle any salesperson must overcome. If Della Rosa is still in office, she’ll be able to make an offer that will be hard to refuse – a system that benefits both voters and candidates.

A day of thanks

It would have been easy on Oct. 3, 1863, for President Lincoln – or anyone else – not to be thankful. The nation (or nations, depending on one’s perspective) was still mired in a terrible Civil War, and while the Union had enjoyed victories that summer in Gettysburg and Vicksburg, much bloody fighting remained. Earlier that year, Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, had been injured in a carriage “accident” caused by an assailant sabotaging the driver’s seat. Their beloved son, Willie, had died the previous year at age 11.

It was in that context that Lincoln presented a proclamation written by his secretary of state, William Seward, declaring the fourth Thursday of November “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

The proclamation – really a prayer – is a remarkable look-on-the-bright-side document. Written by Secretary of State William Seward, it describes a bountiful harvest, an expansion of American territory, and a growing population. It doesn’t ignore the horrors of the Civil War. But it does point out that Union forces had enjoyed success on the battlefield, that the United States was at peace with foreign nations, and that “order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict.”

This was not the first time Americans had set aside a day to give thanks. Eighty-four years earlier, the year the Constitution was ratified, President Washington had declared that Nov. 26, 1789, would be such a day. In the years following, states had set aside their own days of thanksgiving, but Lincoln’s proclamation made the practice national and, as it turned out, permanent

As bad as things sometimes have been lately, they have not been as bad as they were in the 1860s. And so, in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, let’s consider the blessings of life in 2015.

The American democratic experiment remains flawed but vibrant. The president and Congress remain unable to accomplish too much too fast, just as the system was designed. Almost two dozen candidates from a variety of backgrounds have offered themselves as presidential candidates in our competitive two-party system. Ultimately, they will gain power by ballots, not bullets.

Meanwhile, Americans remain personally free most of the time. With relatively few exceptions, they can speak and worship how they choose without fear, unlike in some parts of the world. Through honest, hard work, a person can rise from the humblest of circumstances to do great things, as Lincoln did.

While many Americans continue to struggle to make a living, the Great Recession has ended. The national unemployment rate has dropped to 5 percent, half what it was six years ago, and the economy is stable enough that the Federal Reserve is expected to increase interest rates soon.

By many quality-of-life measurements, it’s better to live in America in the 21st century than it has been to be almost anywhere else in world history. Americans who earn $32,000 a year may not feel like they are part of the “1 percent,” but globally they are, according to an interactive feature, www.globalrichlist.net, operated by CARE. Life expectancy has reached 78.8 years, the highest ever recorded in this country. For most of us, food will be plentiful this Thanksgiving, and when we turn on the faucet, clean water will appear. A free public education remains available for almost every American child. Because of recent technological advancements, it’s possible to connect with friends and strangers thousands of miles away, and new advancements promise safer driverless cars and medical treatments and cures in the not-too-distant future.

It’s no wonder that so many – immigrants and refugees alike – try so hard to reach these shores.

In Arkansas, the unemployment rate is 5.1 percent, slightly above the national average. The state budget runs a surplus as usual. The state’s 600,000 acres of lakes, 10,000 miles of streams, and 17.2 million acres of forests attract residents and visitors alike. Just as “harmony has prevailed everywhere” in Lincoln’s day, most Arkansans are nice most of the time today.

Times have changed since 1863, but this much has not: Our ability to choose what we think about this time of year. We have 364 days to dwell on our problems. The fourth Thursday of November is a day for giving thanks, again.

A chance for a second chance

By Steve Brawner
© 2015 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

A graduation ceremony for rehabilitating inmates may not be the ideal place to sell a Subaru, but that’s only one of two reasons Robert Long is attending.

“I’m doing a little prospecting here,” he said. “I know there’s people from all different walks of life. I was just at work. I wanted to be able to make it up here to see some of the guys that I was locked up with and let them see that I’m doing good, kinda spread that joy and that hope.

“So I brought a new 2016 Legacy with me, too, so everyone can look at it because it’s a beautiful car, and it attracts a lot of attention.”

Long was released from Arkansas Community Correction custody Sept. 28. Before that, he completed 240 hours of classes offered by The Exodus Project (exodus.life) on the campus of Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock.

Founded by Paul Chapman and ABC President Dr. Fitz Hill, the ministry began seven-and-a-half years ago, but its current form took shape in February. It focuses on ethics and character based on biblical teachings, career development, and helping inmates recover and build a long-term plan for their lives. Participants are encouraged to ask themselves difficult questions in order to change their mindsets.

Fifteen begin each class, and 100 are expected to complete the program this year. Most participants are recovering addicts.

The theme of the ceremony Nov. 6 was “Out for Life.” Graduates wearing brown prison uniforms exchanged emotional hugs with a line of instructors and then received their diplomas from Gov. Asa Hutchinson – who as a former U.S. attorney once worked to put people in jail.

Arkansas prisons are so overcrowded that the state’s county jails can’t hold the excess, and so now the state is sending inmates to Texas. Last year, policymakers considered building a $100 million prison that immediately would have been filled to capacity – in large part by returning inmates. Arkansas releases 10,000 inmates every year – in the past, with nothing but a bus ticket and $100 – and the recidivism rate is more than 40 percent.

We can’t keep building $100 million prisons or relying on Texas. With prodding by Hutchinson, the Legislature this year funded a transitional facility to help 500 inmates re-enter society and stay out of jail, but that’s not enough. This summer, Hutchinson hosted a summit to inspire churches and other faith-based groups to do more to help inmates return to society but not to their old ways of life.

That’s what The Exodus Project is hopefully doing for Robert Long. Describing himself as once a “hopeless drug addict,” he completed the program and then moved into the ministry’s transitional home in Little Rock. At Subaru of Little Rock, he said he sold 11 units in his first month and earned $2,000 in commission on a recent Saturday. He brought promotional material in addition to the car to the graduation ceremony.

Beneath his short-sleeve blue dealership shirt is an impressive physique. He goes to the gym every morning before work to give him the high he’s sought from drugs in his past. I tell him he doesn’t look like a drug addict.

“A lot of people say that about me, you know, and I think that’s been one of the things that’s got me into trouble, too,” he said. “When you look at me in the face, you don’t really know what you’re dealing with. I can put up a pretty good facade even when I’m in the midst of my addiction. But the truth of the matter is I have transformed. You’re looking at a different man.”

Long’s job at the dealership will be one of the keys to his success. The Exodus Project is a Christian ministry, but co-founder Chapman said church involvement and education aren’t enough. The unemployment rate for ex-offenders is 47 percent. That’s a lot of idle hands.

“If we don’t move the needle on full-time employment, everything else (will) struggle to make a true difference,” Chapman said.

At the graduation, Hutchinson asked employers to wait later in the employment process before asking job applicants the disqualifying “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” question. By delaying that question, someone like Robert Long won’t be eliminated before he has an opportunity to interview and impress.

“Let’s get beyond the checking of the box,” Hutchinson said. “Let’s give someone a chance to have a second chance.”