Arkansas delegates in House 2-2 on bill

WASHINGTON - Arkansas’ U.S. House delegation was evenly split Wednesday on whether to approve a $1.1 trillion spending package to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.


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http://www.arkansas…">House OKs $1.1 trillion spending bill

The House voted 359-67 to approve the bill, which funds the government through the end of September and avoids a shutdown this weekend. Republican U.S. Reps. Steve Womack and Tim Griffin voted yes. Republican U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford and Tom Cotton voted no.

The bill is made up of 12 annual spending bills combined as an “omnibus” spending package.

Womack told reporters after the vote that the bill wasn’t perfect, but it was a necessary compromise to keep the government open.

“At the end of the day, we need a functioning government,” he said.

The bill completes a budget deal passed in December that set spending levels for the current fiscal year, 2014, and the 2015 fiscal year. Womack said this will allow lawmakers to pass normal spending bills for the first time since President Barack Obama’s first year in office.

Womack said arguments over the right direction for the country and federal spending levels will “continue long after this particular vote.”

The former Rogers mayor said passing the bill and resuming the proper appropriation process for the first time since 2009 “is a very important first step in restoring the public’s confidence in our ability to govern.”

Griffin said he voted for the bill because it sets the government’s discretionary spending level below what House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan proposed and also below the amount set by President George W. Bush’s fiscal 2008 budget when adjusted for inflation.

“It may not be as low as I want it, but we rolled [spending] back,” the Little Rock resident said by phone after the vote. “Like most of these bills there were reasons I could say to vote against it and reasons to vote for it. I felt like a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. And then I started thinking, what’s the alternative bill here? There’s not one.”

Griffin said he also supported the bill because it funds the Avionics Modernization Program to update existing C-130s at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.

“That’s a big deal to Little Rock Air Force Base and its also the right thing for our national security,” he said.

Cotton said in a news release that he opposed the measure because it spends too much and because it cuts some military pensions and a program called Payment in Lieu of Taxes that supplements budgets of rural counties with a large amount of federal land that cannot be taxed. The Dardanelle resident said Crawford, Franklin, Garland, Johnson, Montgomery, Newton, Polk, Scott and Yell Counties benefit from the program.

“I cannot support this budget-busting $1.1 trillion spending bill, which piles another $45 billion onto our $17 trillion national debt in violation of the spending caps that took effect just months ago,” he said. “Arkansans should not settle for the short end of the stick, more deficit spending, and potentially higher local taxes.”

The legislation includes a provision from the December budget agreement that cuts military pension cost-of-living increases for working-age retirees, but exempts disabled veterans and surviving spouses from the cut.

Crawford said he couldn’t support a bill that used veterans’ cost-of-living increase to pay for other parts of government.

“If we don’t change the way we’re spending … we’re going to continue to see this kind of game played over and over again,” Crawford said by phone after the vote. “You have to draw the line somewhere.”

The Jonesboro resident also said he was frustrated that House members voted less than 48 hours after the 1,582 page bill became public.

When they took control of the House in 2010, Republicans promised bills would be posted online for 72 hours before a vote. The House and Senate are not scheduled to meet next week, which Crawford said was the reason the vote proceeded anyway.

“They were more concerned with getting it done before the break so they rushed it through,” Crawford said.

The legislation is expected to get a Senate vote by the end of the week. Both Arkansas senators plan to vote for it.

Sen. John Boozman sees the bill as an important first step to returning spending authority back to Congress, his spokesman Patrick Creamer said.

“There are spending decisions and policy provisions that reflect Arkansas values and funding that will help the state,” Creamer said.

Mark Pryor who is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, in a Monday news release, called the bill a compromise.

“I was proud to help craft a bill that strengthens rural America, supports our farmers and producers, and invests in our families,” he said. “This bill reaffirms what I’ve said all along - working together is the only way to secure our nation’s economic future.”

Cotton is challenging Pryor for his seat the Senate. Pryor campaign manager Jeff Weaver quickly criticized Cotton’s vote against the bill.

“Cotton proved yet again that he’d rather add to the partisan gridlock in Washington and please his special interest backers than do right by Arkansans,” he said in a news release.

Cotton’s campaign spokesman David Ray said Pryor promised to restore the military retirement benefits.

“Pryor has failed to deliver on his promises, and blamed Tom Cotton to cover his tracks. This time, Arkansas’s veterans will unfortunately pay the price for Senator Pryor’s loyalty to Barack Obama,” Ray said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/16/2014

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