NWA EDITORIAL: The people rule

Unless Robin Lundstrum disagrees with them

Gov. Asa Hutchinson this week demonstrated again why he's our kind of Republican -- conservative in his leadership and reasonable in his application of good ol' Arkansas common sense.

Throw in a dose of respect for the state's voters and it's easy to recognize Hutchinson rises above the average Arkansas GOP lawmaker in the House or Senate.

What’s the point?

State Rep. Robin Lundstrum’s aggressive effort to overturn voters’ setting of the state’s minimum wage is wrong.

Which brings us to Robin Lundstrum, the GOP representative for Springdale, Siloam Springs and vicinity, and other members of the House Judiciary Committee who not only have little respect for last November's minimum wage vote in the general election, but are also comfortable using sneaky legislative maneuvering to accomplish their goals.

Lundstrum appears comfortably ensconced in her post, having spent nearly $100,000 to defeat Democratic challenger Kelly Unger in last year's election to earn a third term in the House. She won handily with 70 percent of those casting ballots giving her their votes. She was unopposed in the general election in her first two campaigns.

We suppose such numbers can give politicians a certain boldness, and Lundstrum is showing some aggressive tactics in the Legislature. Just the other day Lundstrum, who is a real estate manager, tried the almost unheard of "do not pass" motion in the House Insurance and Commerce Committee on Rep. Jimmy Gazaway's bill to establish some very minimum standards of habitability for rental properties in Arkansas. Although the bill is in the midst of amendment, the basic principle is rooted in common decency: Landlords ought to provide rental units that deliver livable conditions, such as heat, sewer, water, roofs that don't leak, etc. Why is that so contentious?

But Lundstrum launched her "do not pass" attack without warning. Gazaway wasn't even present in the committee at the time. Other members of the committee called Lundstrum out for demonstrating a lack of fairness in blindsiding a fellow representative's effort, especially since delays in the bill came as a result of Gazaway's efforts to answer committee members' questions and meet with the Arkansas Realtors Association, who oppose his bill in its original form.

"None of us would want that done to us," Rep. Laurie Rushing of Hot Springs, a Republican and real estate broker, said.

Lundstrum dropped her motion, but only after Gazaway arrived to the committee meeting.

All that came just a day after Lundstrum and the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor surprised many at the state Capitol in an sparsely attended evening session by quickly recommending Lundstrum's bills to overturn some of the minimum wage changes voters made through citizen initiative in last November's election.

In that election, Arkansas voters approved a pay raise for anyone working for minimum wage in Arkansas. It went into effect at the first of the year, increasing the minimum wage from $8.50 to $9.25. The measure increases the wage again in 2020 to $10 an hour and in 2021 to $11 per hour. Last November, 605,784 Arkansas voters (68.5 percent) favored the minimum wage increase while 279,046 (31.5 percent) opposed it.

For many political figures, the public's vote in favor of an initiated act settles the question. No so with Lundstrum, who has argued she knows the voters' intentions did not include what she says will be the harsh effects of the minimum wage law on certain employers. Lundstrum argues the new wage should not apply to businesses with fewer than 25 employees. Her legislation would also exempt workers between the ages of 16 and 19 from receiving the higher wages and certain nonprofit groups would be relieved of the burden of the new wage requirements, too.

Here's the thing: All of the arguments about the impact on employers of all types were made prior to the public's vote. Opponents of the ballot measure argued, or could have argued, their points to the Arkansas voter. Indeed, they did in many cases, and Arkansans still decided to pass a new minimum wage law. Now those opponents are trying to thwart the effort in part. And in just eight minutes in a Tuesday night committee session, Lundstrum's bills to effect changes received the committee's backing. Few people apparently were aware the bills even had a chance of being up for debate at that meeting.

Even state Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Berryville, who himself proposed a different set of changes to the minimum wage law earlier in the session, recognized the shortcomings of process. In a message on Twitter, he said, "The problem is not when we have committee hearings, but the fact that we hear bills without any real notice. In fact, holding hearings after business hours may be great for the public, but only if they have notice."

Here's what happens in Little Rock sometimes: Lawmakers look around the committee room and evaluate who is in the audience. If critics of a bill are in short supply, that might be a great time to run the bill if all one is interested in is a legislative victory, as opposed to fair debate.

The House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor had just been referred Lundstrum's bills on Monday. To see them so quickly moved through committee is disconcerting, especially when Lundstrum and others on the committee had to know a fair hearing would attract plenty of discussion and requests to be heard. A lawmaker interested in listening to the people of Arkansas would respect that. Lundstrum & Co. were happy to plunge ahead.

Now, back to our admiration for the governor: The day after Lundstrum's surprise attack on the minimum wage, Hutchinson spoke to Little Rock's Political Animals Club. He said he acknowledge the will of the people and opposed Lundstrum's efforts to change the minimum wage law.

Hutchinson didn't support the ballot measure. "But having said the concern about it, this is an act of the will of the people of Arkansas, and I do not believe it should be changed by a legislative act," he said. "I think that's an important message."

Lundstrum said she was undeterred by Hutchinson's remarks. And, she observed, opinions are like belly buttons; everyone's got one.

And we have ours: Lundstrum is wrong in both her tactics and her desire to overturn the will of the people on nothing more than supplanting her own judgment for that of the Arkansas voters.

We'd recommend Lundstrum and others willing to embrace her approach take a closer look at the seal of the great state of Arkansas. It says "Regnant Populus."

Translation: The people rule.

That ought to be good enough for Lundstrum and other state legislators.

Commentary on 03/17/2019

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