Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday set an ambitious agenda for the Arkansas Legislature as it convened for this year's fiscal session.
It was Hutchinson's final State of the State Address to a joint session of the House and Senate. He used the occasion to reflect briefly on his time in office, citing major accomplishments since he became governor in 2015.
It had the ring of a speech for, say, a presidential aspirant trying to introduce himself to those who don't yet know his record.
Hutchinson is at least pondering a bid for the presidency and will need just such a speech if he tries to be the Trump alternative for 2024.
But it was also about what he wants to do in this, his last year as governor -- assuming the Legislature goes along with his ideas.
Some current legislators, or at least some grandstanding members, seem determined to take this session, which is supposed to be limited to fiscal matters, into more controversial territory.
That includes, of course, the seemingly ever-present effort to mimic Texas' controversial approach to abortion law.
An opening day effort before a House committee fortunately stalled, which may signal there won't be enough legislators to provide the two-thirds approval from both chambers to get a non-appropriations bill considered in a fiscal session.
If so, that's good news for Hutchinson's packed agenda.
In his remarks Monday, Hutchinson said he wants the session to be remembered for "our support of law enforcement" and set out several ways the Legislature can reward officers at all levels.
He said law enforcement is underfunded, underpaid and underappreciated.
Besides building significant pay increases for State Police into the budget he's recommending to lawmakers, Hutchinson proposed a one-time, state-funded payment of $5,000 to every city and county certified law enforcement officer in Arkansas.
Notably, the state will increase pay for entry-level state troopers from $42,357 to $54,000 a year under Hutchinson's proposed budget.
He also encouraged cities and counties to step up to pay their officers more.
He's also recommending $10 million for a public safety equipment program created in 2021.
There are no funds in the program now but the state has $5 million in pending grant requests for equipment like body cameras and bullet-resistant vests. Hutchinson's recommendation would fund the existing requests and another $5 million in the future.
The governor is also advocating between $60 million and $100 million for a 498-inmate expansion of the Department of Corrections' North Central Unit in Calico Rock.
The governor will, of course, need the Legislature to go along with his ideas, including this recommendation to build new prison space.
That's always a controversial issue and will be this year as well.
Protestors in the gallery chanted "no more cages" as he announced that recommendation, which he said was necessary to remedy the backlog of state prisoners held in county jails.
The backlog is a real problem, one that confounds counties all over the state. It's a problem that resurfaces frequently, usually prompting the Legislature to increase how much it pays counties to hold a state prisoner awaiting transfer or adding money to that particular state budget line item to enable more reimbursements, or both.
Providing additional prison space is intended to address expected growth-related increases in the prison population.
The nagging question is whether there's a better solution than incarceration for dealing with more offenders.
Nevertheless, more prison space is the course Hutchinson has chosen while the state has money to build it.
All of these one-time expenditures that Hutchinson is recommending would come from a record state surplus, which the governor said his finance team conservatively estimates at $500 million for fiscal 2022.
Just getting the budget reviewed and passed, including the various law enforcement-related proposals, would be enough of an agenda for a fiscal session.
But Hutchinson also touted several transportation goals, including devoting state dollars to get electric charging stations in place across the state.
Arkansas will receive money from the federal infrastructure initiative over the next five years for such stations, but Hutchinson said the state's program needs to be accelerated.
Hutchinson said Arkansas is in position to lead the nation because of private-sector investments already under way here in transportation and mobility.
He also told lawmakers he is creating an Arkansas Council on Future Mobility to identify state laws and regulations that present a barrier to future modes of transportation, including electric and autonomous vehicles.
The panel will make recommendations to the Legislature in 2023 with the goal of helping companies working on these issues to find a home in Arkansas.
Hutchinson will leave office at the end of this year, so he'll have to rely on lawmakers to carry this last initiative forward.