What’s left on the Legislature’s plate

By STEVE BRAWNER

Arkansas state lawmakers in February voted to recess April 16, which means this year’s legislative session effectively is more than halfway done. Among the issues packed into the remaining weeks are education, cutting the grocery tax, passing the state budget and, hopefully, no crypto-mining mistakes.

Among the biggest issues remaining to be discussed are two of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ priorities. 

One is the Arkansas ACCESS Act, her plan to remake higher education. It’s the sequel to the 2023 LEARNS Act, which remade pre-K-12 education. 

You’ll recall that LEARNS set the minimum public school teacher salary at $50,000 while giving families access to public school funds for private and homeschooling alternatives. All students will be eligible for those education freedom accounts next fall.

Both LEARNS and ACCESS are lengthy. The final version of LEARNS was 145 pages, while ACCESS is 122.  

ACCESS is not as ambitious as LEARNS, but it would do a lot. It would allow the higher education formula to support noncredit programs that lead to workforce-specific certificates, in addition to the degree programs it currently supports. Among the bill’s many other provisions is one banning professors from compelling students to personally affirm or adopt certain beliefs. 

It’s not moving as fast as LEARNS, which went from bill filing to bill signing in two-and-a-half weeks. ACCESS was introduced February 17. The sponsors, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, will present the bill to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Education Committees Monday, March 10. It won’t have any problem passing.

The other Sanders priority is the Grocery Tax Relief Act. That bill will remove the remaining 1/8th-cent sales tax on non-prepared food. The tax was created through a constitutional amendment championed by Sanders’ father, Gov. Mike Huckabee, primarily to help fund the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. The tax will remain on non-food items. Those agencies also have other revenue streams. 

That bill also is sure to pass.

Lawmakers also will choose which, if any, constitutional amendments they will send to voters. The favorite at the moment is a proposal by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, that would require judicial candidates to declare their political party affiliation or independent status. It has 62 co-sponsors – almost half the Legislature.

The session’s final month will be both encouraging and discouraging. 

It will be discouraging in that lawmakers will race through a lot of remaining legislation and potentially pass bad bills. A good example is the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023, which restricted the ability of local governments to regulate crypto mining facilities.

Sponsors filed the bill late in the last session on March 30, 2023. It passed the Senate, 33-0, on April 6, and the House, 93-1, the next day. 

I’m sure it looked like a pro-technology, pro-economic development bill to legislators who were ready to get out of town. But the result was that noisy, energy-guzzling crypto mines began popping up across Arkansas, disrupting their rural neighbors’ lives and lowering their property values. Last year – after they’d had time to think about it – lawmakers passed legislation restoring some control to local governments, adopting noise reduction standards, and creating a permitting process for those businesses.

In contrast, lawmakers will take a more measured approach to passing appropriations bills and enacting a balanced budget under the state’s Revenue Stabilization Act (RSA).

The appropriations bills will require three-fourths majorities. If history is any guide, the bills generally will be conservative and responsible. They also will not upset the apple cart too much or rely on rosy scenarios.

The RSA is a big reason why. First passed in 1945 and revised each legislative session, it creates a formula for distributing revenues, with lower priorities funded only if money is available. That formula helps keep the state from spending money it doesn’t have.

If only there were a similar mechanism at the federal level, but alas.

Those are among the remaining highlights of this year’s legislative session. The Capitol will be very busy. Then it will be quiet. 

Both situations are good, in their own times.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.