Saturday, July 13, 2013
ROGERS — Local state legislators broke down the recent legislative session and talked about some new proposals at a forum sponsored by the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday.
At A Glance
Quotables
Legislators made the following statements at Friday’s legislative forum in Rogers:
Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs
“It needs to be a sacrifice to serve. It’s important that we’re out there in the real world working real jobs.”
“I feel like everyone in the state of Arkansas is represented in the statehouse. I wish everyone believed like me, but I think it’s good that they don’t.”
“It’s shocking inside those marble walls how much gray area there is.”
Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers
“We’re really excited about the possibilities of CNG (compressed natural gas) and for schools and cities to convert buses to CNG. We’re in the process of working out how that will look and what that will be.”
“The salary of our governor and many of our constitutional officers is too low. The state representatives and senators? I don’t know about that.”
Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell
In discussing term limits:
“You almost lose your first session because you’re learning about everything. It’s not a perfect system, but I think it works overall.”
“You bring people in with experience from somewhere else — business or city and county government. Every two years, there are a lot of new people in the Legislature. There are some good things that come out of that.”
Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville
“The private option is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Who know where that’s going to be in the future. We just tried to make lemonade out of lemons.”
“It’s been said the most dangerous time in Arkansas is when the Legislature is in session. A lot of the bills we considered were nonsense.”
Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell, said the sharply divided House of Representatives made him wonder in November if legislators would be able to get anything done.
The 2013 session was the first time Republicans have been in control of the Legislature since 1874. The margin was 21 Republicans to 14 Democrats in the Senate and 51 Republicans to 48 Democrats in the House of Representatives. All of the legislators present at Friday’s forum are Republicans.
“People came together across party aisles,” Baird said. “They worked together when they could to move things forward. The highlight of this session was seeing people agree to move things forward.”
Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, was a first-term legislator this year. He said lawmakers “did a whole lot of nothing” during the first couple of weeks in session. He was in a group of 15 senators and 40 representatives who took seats for the first time this year, thanks to term limits approved by Arkansas voters in 1992.
Michael Lindsey with the Chamber of Commerce asked the legislators how they felt about Arkansas’ term limits.
Freshman Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, said he thinks term limits are like “cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
“What business will go out there with 40 percent of your work force new each year?” Douglas asked.
Douglas believes the lack of experience hurts the legislative process and strengthens bureaucrats and lobbyists.
Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, said she doesn't support extending term limits, but does want to see renewed focus on salaries for elected officials. Both issues will be decided by Arkansas voters in a constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 2014 ballot.
The amendment would extend term limits to 16 years and appoint an independent commission to set salaries for elected officials.
The officials also discussed whether a legislature that meets for 60 days every two years, excluding budget sessions, can adequately meet the needs of the state. Hester said he thinks there is plenty of time to get things done if fewer bills were presented. He said he is considering presenting a bill in the next session that will limit the number of bills legislators can file.
“It’s very important that you can prepare, but I don’t have time to read 75 bills in one night,” Hester said. “I voted ‘no’ way more than anyone else. If I didn’t have time do due diligence, I voted ‘no.’”
Baird said he thinks a longer session would invite more bills and more ways to spend state money without creating a better system.
Baird continued that a special session might be in order to review the prison and parole system.
“We’re not doing a good job of managing the prison system and people out on parole,” Baird said. “People are dying and getting hurt because of it. I haven’t heard talk of a special session, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Several of the legislators mentioned continued highway improvements and tax cuts. The Legislature cut income tax last session, as well as approved income tax relief to active duty military in the state.