One of the great tools for state political junkies in the electronic age is the Arkansas General Assembly’s website availability of all the bills filed by lawmakers.

The site - www.arkleg.

state.ar.us - allows users to peruse the various bills filed by the state’s 100 representatives and 35 senators. It also allows for tracking those bills through the sometimes convoluted lawmaking process happening under the Capitol’s dome in Little Rock.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette also publishes daily roundups of new bills fi led, and that’s a useful resource for finding bill numbers that can be entered into the state website to get the full text of bills.

It’s helpful to see what lawmakers are up to, because not every bill gets media attention. Some are destined to die before they get much of a hearing before any committee. But fi led bills are a practical way to gauge what’s important to the lawmaker representing your interests in the Legislature.

Among lesser known proposals filed by Northwest Arkansas lawmakers is House Bill 1348 by Rep.

Randy Alexander of Springdale would declare the “fundamental rights and liberties granted to Arkansas citizens found in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and other amendments and the Declaration of Right, Arkansas constitution, Article 2, are fundamental rights that transcend jurisdiction.” His bill is designed to make sure no foreign judgments against Americans can be enforced unless they don’t conflict with state and national law.

It sounds to me like Alexander is worried about the U.N. coming to get our guns, but maybe he has other things in mind.

Alexander is also the author of House Bill 1352, which I call the Justin Harris Protection Act of 2013.

Harris, you may remember, is the Republican state lawmaker who runs a Christian day care in West Fork. He accepts state funding from the Arkansas Better Chance Program.

He’s had to fight complaints that he uses public funding to spread the word of God, which is constitutionally a no-no.

Alexander wants to clear Harris’ path to lead kids to the Promised Land.

His bill would authorize Better Chance funding for a faith-based early childhood program as long as that program is selected by the parent of the child rather than a state agency.

I don’t expect Alexander’s shell game will satisfy those who oppose state-funded religious instruction.

Our lawmakers also go international. Rep. Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs has filed House Resolution 1004 to recognizing the contributions made by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and declaring it is in the best interest of the state to promote relationships with the Azerbaijani people. State Sen. Cecile Bledsoe of Rogers filed Senate Resolution 2 to commend the nation of Israel for its cordial and mutually benefi ial relationship with the United States and the state of Arkansas and “support Israel in its legal, historical, moral, and God-given right of self-governance and self-defense upon the entirety of its own lands, recognizing that Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others, and that peace can be afforded the region only through a whole and united Israel.”

Take that, Palestine.

New state lawmaker Dan Douglas of Bentonville, a former member of the Benton County Quorum Court, is helping his old buddies out a bit. He has House Bill 1278 to create more exemptions from county bidding requirements. His House Bill 1279 would allow county governments that must clean up unsanitary conditions to add the costs of the cleanup to the property tax bills of the property owner. It would bar county tax collectors from accepting payment for property taxes unless the cleanup costs are paid at the same time. He’d also authorize county judges to sell any real estate or personal property of the county as long as the sale is approved by Quorum Court resolution.

Harris has jumped in on the pro-life train with House Bill 1098, which would expand the state’s child maltreatment law, which now covers kids from birth to age 18, to include unborn children from the time a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Medical professionals would be required to notify the child abuse hotline of suspected abuse of the unborn child by the pregnant mother through the use of marijuana, alcohol, a narcotic or over-the-counter drugs not prescribed by a physician.

There is, of course, no shortage of topics. I can’t say it’s as much fun as following a football or basketball team, but the outcome probably affects our lives a lot more than those games. It’s a healthy thing to pay a little attention.

GREG HARTON IS OPINION PAGE EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 02/18/2013