Between the lines: Can the governor have it all?

Hutchinson continues racking up legislative victories

Gov. Asa Hutchinson got what he called "a $1 billion highway program" out of the Arkansas Legislature this week.

As lawmakers gathered for the third time this year, they approved budget shifts enough to fund Hutchinson' no-tax program.

Most of that money -- $200 million a year over the next five years -- will come from the federal government, taken from federal highway taxes paid in by drivers everywhere.

What the Legislature did, at Hutchinson's request, was make available nearly $50 million or more in each of the next five years to meet the required match for the available federal dollars.

Delighted that lawmakers had conceded to his proposal, Hutchinson called it a "unique solution for a unique challenge we had in this state."

His solution tapped what had been called rainy-day funds, surplus funds and interest earnings, transferring them to meet some of the state's immediate highway needs. That means those particular dollars won't be available for other needs that might arise, say for some economic investment or a state emergency.

Highways are the priority, it seems, regardless of risk.

Notably, lawmakers did not resolve longer-term highway funding, although some of the senators certainly tried.

A competing highway plan sponsored by a handful of state senators did tie up the Hutchinson plan briefly. Those senators locked the governor's plan up in the Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee last week. But the Senate voted to move the Hutchinson-backed bill out of that panel and to another so it could get to the Senate floor for a vote.

The Senate voted 21-10 for House Bill 1009, which had passed the House last week on a 75-15 vote. Three senators didn't vote and one voted present. Similarly, seven House members did not vote and three others voted present.

The numbers were enough to give Hutchinson what he wanted and presumably set up a five-year program, if the money flows as projected to the surplus and investment accounts.

Yet to be resolved is any long-term plan for highways, although the senators who tried to address the issue in this special session are talking about trying again to get a highway tax proposal to voters, perhaps by citizen-run ballot initiative.

Arkansans have voted so many tax-averse legislators into office that the people will apparently have to take this matter into their own hands, if they are to get any other dedicated revenue for highways.

Otherwise, this practice of raiding other funds for highway improvements will continue. Eventually, the impact will be felt elsewhere in the budget, when these fallback funds aren't available for other essential needs.


As it turned out, lawmakers did even more of Hutchinson's bidding in the three days they were in Little Rock.

Hutchinson asked for and got changes to several Arkansas committees, boards and commissions, all in the name of "efficiency."

Most notable were bills to alter the Governor's Mansion Commission and to move the Arkansas History Commission from the Department of Parks and Tourism to the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Hutchinson has said the Mansion Commission changes came from lawmakers, but they nevertheless give the governor effective control of the mansion decision-making since most of the members will serve at the governor's pleasure. Plus, the commission has been directly relieved of some of its review responsibilities. And, remember, he put the item in the call for the special session.

Naturally, some of the people who have been involved in mansion decorating and use decisions aren't particularly pleased with the change.

Similarly, state historians, both professionals and hobbyists, aren't thrilled with what happened to the Arkansas History Commission.

They let lawmakers know their displeasure, but the Legislature followed the governor's "efficiency" plan and transferred the authority of the seven-member board to one person, the director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, Stacy Hurst. The commission, or what's left of it, will be renamed as the "Arkansas State Archives" and become a "division" of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, piling a lot of new responsibility on Hurst that had been managed by the volunteers on the board.

Lawmakers also passed the Frank Broyles Publicity Rights Protection Act, a measure Hutchinson vetoed in the 2015 regular legislative session as too restrictive.

State Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, and Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, offered a revamped bill that Hutchinson agreed to include in the call for this latest special session and it passed both chambers handily. It is intended to protect publicity rights even after an individual's death.

Consideration of that particular bill apparently had a lot to do with the fact that this could be Woods' last session and he wanted to get it passed on his watch. He's not seeking re-election.

There were more bills packed into the brief session. How and why they got in the call isn't completely clear, but they passed. The ramifications will be known in time.

Commentary on 05/25/2016

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