LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas lawmakers headed home after overseeing tax cuts and prison system reform but have left behind several pieces of unfinished business to be taken up by appointees to various task forces.
Legislators and lobbyists are already prepping for the next year - and possibly even a special session - after the 90th regular session finished Thursday with a high-profile and high-tension gay rights fight. But notably lost in the legislative shuffle was a shortfall in highway and transportation funding, a murky future of the state’s compromise Medicaid expansion and a handful of social issues.
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department projects about $20.4 billion in needs and $3.6 billion in available revenue over the next 10 years. Director Scott Bennett has said about $1.1 billion worth of highway improvements over the next two years are in jeopardy because of changes in federal funding. The state has cut 61 projects worth about $162 million this year.
Lawmakers balked a bill to divert about $35 million in transportation-related taxes from the state’s general revenue to the department, which was not included in Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s $5.2 billion dollar budget. Instead, Hutchinson has announced a task force to study infrastructure needs that could be taken up in the 2016 budget session or even earlier in a special session.
“Sometimes these things take time,” said department spokesman Randy Ort. “We understand and respect the governor’s position and what he is trying to accomplish.”
Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said the post-session task forces are useful for complicated subjects.
“Governor Hutchinson’s approach is to look at all sides of an issue in order to find the best possible solution, and by providing several points of view within a knowledgeable group of individuals, the best possible solution can be ascertained,” Davis said in a statement.
A separate 16-member task force will study Arkansas’ “private option” Medicaid expansion. Some lawmakers have prematurely celebrated the end of the state initiative, but the task force could recommend an extension or a similar form of expansion.
Although some Republicans ran on a platform of ending the compromise, Democratic leaders said a quick end to the “private option” wasn’t feasible with a tight budget that included middle class and capital gains tax breaks. Senate Minority Leader Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, said that would have blown a hole in the budget through the loss of federal aid.
“It cuts across the budget,” Ingram said. “It has such a tremendous impact across the budget. It would have been impossible to give a tax cut.”
House Minority Leader Eddie Armstrong, D-North Little Rock, said the issue was too robust to completely tackle this session and the task force is needed to ensure a quality resolution.
Republicans scored dozens of wins on social issues, such as a religious freedom bill, a prohibition on municipalities enacting certain anti-discrimination ordinances and several anti-abortion measures.
Still, there were some bills that didn’t make it through and will likely be brought back during the next regular session in 2017.
Jerry Cox, head of the Arkansas Family Council, plans to work with lawmakers on how to revive efforts to require that abortion providers have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and to give the state health department the ability to close a clinic the way it would a restaurant.
He said it’s normal to retry leftover legislation.
“The ones we got passed (this session) were unfinished business from two years ago,” Cox said.
___
Follow Allen Reed on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/Allen_Reed
Please read our comment policy before commenting.