The Legislature's Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday endorsed a bill authorizing the secretary of state's office to spend up to $750,000 to improve its online system for campaign-finance reporting in the fiscal year starting July 1.
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On another matter, the committee rejected an amendment to the state Department of Education appropriation that would have increased funding for the Arkansas Better Chance pre-kindergarten program by $10 million. The extra money would have boosted the program's appropriation to $121 million in the next fiscal year.
Calendar
This is the calendar of public events of the 90th General Assembly for today, the 16th day of the 2016 fi scal session.
COMMITTEES
9 a.m. The Joint Budget Committee meets in the Multi-Agency Complex, Room A.
10 a.m. The Legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force meets in the Multi-Agency Complex, Room B.
SENATE
1 p.m. The Senate convenes.
HOUSE
1:30 p.m. The House convenes.
State law mandates that political candidates file campaign-finance reports that specify who gave them money and how they spent it. The reports can be on paper and need not be submitted electronically. The secretary of state's office, which oversees elections, stores finance reports filed by candidates for all offices other than city, county, township or school positions.
Arkansas has a computer system that allows candidates to report their donations, but some lawmakers say it's unreliable and donations have to be entered one at a time.
Under House Bill 1138 by Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, the secretary of state's office would use money from the State Central Services Fund to upgrade the computer system and develop a better online campaign-finance reporting system. The bill now goes to the House for further action.
Della Rosa, whose bill to require candidates to electronically submit campaign-finance reports failed to clear the House last year, told lawmakers that her HB1138 would get "us a new system." She said she'll focus during the 2017 regular session on legislation mandating electronic filing.
The cost to upgrade will be about $670,000 during the first year, she said, and the secretary of state's office has agreed to fund ongoing maintenance for the system thereafter.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson supports the legislation, said Duncan Baird, the state's budget administrator. The State Central Services Fund pays largely for the operations of the constitutional officers and other core state operations, he said.
Rep. Stephen Meeks, R-Greenbrier, said, "While this may be a nice thing to have, it's not a necessity in my opinion."
But Baird, a former state representative, said the existing campaign-finance reporting system isn't a good one, on the basis of his use of the system.
"It's really just a question ... do we want to upgrade the system and do we think it is appropriate for the the secretary of state to do that?" Baird said. "We do think there is sufficient funding to do that at this time."
Kelly Boyd, chief deputy of Secretary of State Mark Martin, said the new system that the office intends to purchase from GCR Inc. of New Orleans "is a real good system.
"It is user-intuitive. You"ll be able to go in and file reports. It will fix the problems we have now," he said. "This will save money for us in the long run."
Boyd said the office will scan in by hand paper reports filed by candidates.
Earlier in the day, the Joint Budget Committee voted 13-22 to defeat House Democratic leader Michael John Gray's proposed amendment to the Education Department appropriation for grants and aid to school districts and special programs. Twenty-nine votes are required for approval in the 56-member budget committee. The appropriation is Senate Bill 58.
Gray, of Augusta, told lawmakers that funding for the pre-kindergarten program has been stagnant during the past several years, except for a one-time boost of additional money. Last year, the Legislature authorized $3 million in one-time funds from the General Improvement Fund for the Arkansas Better Chance program.
He proposed increasing the program's funding from $111 million to $121 million in fiscal 2017, which starts July 1. The increased funding would come from general revenue.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, told her colleagues that "we know that if kids start behind, they tend to stay behind, so I just think it is an appropriate expenditure of state money."
"I understand there may be opposition to [the proposal]. But if we don't do something quickly, we are going to continue to cry about how bad everything is, how we can't get people trained, how we need to attract industry, and we can't get the proper workforce," said Chesterfield.
Education "begins very, very early in life. It doesn't begin when they get to junior high school or middle school ... or high school," she said.
Baird, the state's budget administrator, said he opposed Gray's amendment.
"If you prioritize one program with special language, it may result in other programs being reduced if there is no additional funding there," he said.
Joint Budget Committee co-Chairman Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, said that "if we spend $10 million more" on the pre-kindergarten program, the Legislature will either have to take $10 million from somebody else or have Hutchinson increase the general-revenue forecast by $10 million.
A Section on 04/28/2016