Gov. Asa Hutchinson's senior adviser, Marjorie Greenberg, will depart the governor's office to work as the Arkansas Health Care Association's director of research and policy, association Executive Director Rachel Davis said Friday.
Davis declined to comment about when Greenberg will begin work for the association and why the association hired Greenberg.
Established in 1951, the Arkansas Health Care Association is the state's largest organization of long-term-care providers -- including nursing homes -- and it represents 95 percent of the licensed providers in Arkansas, according to its website. The association says its responsibilities are to educate, inform and represent members and their operations before government agencies, other trade associations and related industries.
Hutchinson had no comment about Greenberg's plan to take the job at the Arkansas Health Care Association, said Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis. Greenberg could not be reached for comment by telephone on Friday.
Greenberg is the wife of attorney and former state Rep. Dan Greenberg, R-Little Rock.
Earlier this year, Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge signed off on language for a proposed constitutional amendment submitted by Dan Greenberg to her office. The amendment -- backed by the Arkansas Health Care Association -- would limit damages against health care providers and has qualified for the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Dan Greenberg said the ballot committee promoting the proposed amendment -- Health Care Access for Arkansans -- is one of his clients.
The proposed amendment seeks to limit the amount of money that individuals, and their lawyers, can receive in suits against health care providers. It would require the state Legislature to enact a cap on noneconomic damages -- such as pain and suffering -- at $250,000. Lawyers working such cases would also be limited to receiving fees of a third or less of the money paid to a client.
State law bars employees in the governor's office from registering as lobbyists for a year after they depart the office, according to Graham Sloan, director of the state Ethics Commission.
Marjorie Greenberg is the latest Hutchinson aide to leave the Republican governor's office during the past four months. She earned $84,676 a year working in the governor's office.
Hutchinson's chief of staff, Michael Lamoureux, a former state lawmaker, departed in May to work as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.; Deputy Chief of Staff Jon Gilmore left in June to start his own political consulting firm; and senior adviser Betty Guhman changed jobs in July to be interim director of the Youth Services Division.
Hutchinson filled the chief of staff job with Alison Williams, who formerly was Hutchinson's director of state and federal relations in Washington.
J.R. Davis said Friday that the governor hasn't yet filled Williams' previous job in the nation's capital.
After the departure of Gilmore as his deputy chief of staff, the governor created two deputy chief of staff positions.
He promoted his director of constituent services, Ateca Williams, to deputy chief of staff for internal operations. He has yet to announce whom he'll appoint as deputy chief of staff for external operations, though some lawmakers speculate that he'll appoint state Rep. Bill Gossage, R-Ozark. Gossage has declined to comment about the speculation.
Hutchinson has promoted aide Phyllis Bell -- the wife of state Rep. Nate Bell, an independent from Mena -- to fill the vacancy created by Guhman changing jobs.
Hutchinson is serving his second year as Arkansas' governor after his election to the post in November 2014. He is a former congressman, federal homeland security undersecretary, director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. attorney. Hutchinson has yet to announce a re-election bid in 2018, although he is widely expected to do so.
Dan Greenberg's father, Paul Greenberg, is an editorial writer and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 08/13/2016