Daily Legislative Update
Thursday, February 05, 2009
25th Day of the 87th General Assembly
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
HB 1362 was filed yesterday by Rep. Mike Burris. This bill contains the agreement on workers’ compensation issues negotiated by the State Chamber/AIA and the AFL-CIO. It has been assigned to the House Insurance and Commerce Committee, where it is expected to be heard on Friday morning. There will be an amendment to the bill to add Rep. Rick Green and Senators Jerry Taylor and Joyce Elliott as co-sponsors. The amendment will also fix some typographical errors and add a code cross reference.
We worked with leaders of labor most of the day yesterday to get control of the other bills filed to date that impact workers’ compensation.
Sen. Joyce Elliott told the AFL-CIO president and the State Chamber/AIA Executive Vice President that she would not run SB 237 if the AFL-CIO could not convince the firefighters union to withdraw the bill.
We are going to assist Rep. Garry Smith by providing information to his constituent with the hope of Rep. Smith not having to run HB 1187.
We worked with leaders of the Municipal League and Rep. Tommy Baker yesterday about HB 1314. This bill does not make a substantive change in workers’ comp laws, but it is a workers’ comp bill and if we are going to effectively negotiate with labor we must honor that process. We told the Municipal League president that we would put this bill in the negotiation process for 2011 and should have no problems helping them pass the bill in the next regular session.
Rep. Garry Smith has withdrawn his name as a sponsor of HB 1266 and Rep. Barbara Nix has taken over as the lead sponsor. We received a draft copy of an amendment to the bill yesterday afternoon. It is being reviewed to see if the impact on workers’ comp has been removed.
TODAY AT THE CAPITOL
House convenes at 1:30 p.m.
Senate convenes at 11:00 a.m.
Committee Meetings:
JOINT
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8:00 AM |
Room 151 |
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9:00 AM |
Room 171 |
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HOUSE
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10:00 AM |
Room 149 |
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10:00 AM |
Room 138 |
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10:00 AM |
Room 428 |
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10:00 AM |
Room151 |
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10:00 AM |
Room 130 |
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SENATE
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10:00 AM |
Room 171 |
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10:00 AM |
OSC |
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10:00 AM |
ROOM 309 |
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ISSUES
POPULAR VOTE FOR U.S. PRESIDENT
HB 1339 by Representatives Eddie Cooper, Monty Davenport, Linda Tyler and Andrea Lea, and Senator Terry Smith, received a Do Pass recommendation yesterday from the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee. It could be considered by the full House as early as today. This bill would require Arkansas’s delegation of presidential electors in a presidential election to be appointed based on the nationwide popular vote total, rather than the popular vote in Arkansas. We are concerned that the loss of the electoral voting system would greatly reduce Arkansas’s impact on electing the President of the United States.
PACKAGING MATERIALS EXEMPTION
HB 1084 by Rep. Lindsley Smith would limit the use of the “sale for resale” exemption for packaging materials sold to a manufacturer, to packaging made of biodegradable or recyclable materials. The State Chamber/AIA is opposed to this bill, which remains on the deferred list of today’s House Revenue and Tax Committee agenda.
HIGHWAYS
SB 104 by Sen. Bobby Glover is on today’s House Transportation Committee agenda. This bill would extend the State Highway Commission’s window of time to issue bonds for interstate improvement from the end of 2013 to the end of 2015. The State Chamber/AIA supported the original interstate bond program in 1999 and its renewal in 2007.
STATE CHAMBER/AIA BILL TRACKING
To date, the House has filed 382 bills and the Senate has filed 314 bills.
The State Chamber/AIA is tracking 147 bills and resolutions.
New bills added to State Chamber/AIA tracking today:
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Exempts workers' individual or group policy benefits from the reductions that are based on previously received benefits; amends disability claims liability and eligibility measures; requires contractors to provide certified copies of coverage. |
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Changes the list of reference compendia that are named as standards for determining whether insurance policies must cover cancer drugs. |
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Exempts from state income tax those heads of household or qualifying widows or widowers with two or more dependents whose gross income does not exceed $17,200. |
Please visit our tracking site here for the complete, searchable list of bills being tracked. The full text of each bill is also available at the site.
TOMORROW AT THE CAPITOL
Committee Meetings for Friday, February 6, 2009
JOINT
None listed.
HOUSE
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9:00 AM |
130 |
AGING, CHILDREN AND YOUTH, LEGISLATIVE & MILITARY AFFAIRS- HOUSE |
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9:00 AM |
Room 149 |
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9:00 AM |
Room 151 |
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9:00 AM |
ROOM 138 |
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SENATE
None listed.
YESTERDAY AT THE CAPITOL
ISSUES
COURT DECISIONS
SB 33 by Sen. Robert Thompson received a do pass recommendation from the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday and will now go before the full Senate. It would remove the prohibition against citing unpublished decisions of the Court of Appeals as precedent. SB 33 would only affect un-published opinions on a going forward basis. SB 33 could be impacted by the passage of HB 1033 by Rep. Steve Harrelson, which makes changes in how court cases are reported.
AUTHORIZATION FOR ADEQ TO GATHER INFORMATION
HB 1279 by Rep. Keith Ingram is a bill that was presented by ADEQ to the ESD Advisory Council. It would allow ADEQ to access employer lists to gather required information to satisfy the federal EPA. The State Chamber/AIA agrees with this bill, as did the ESD Advisory Council on which members of the State Chamber/AIA Unemployment Insurance Committee sit along with members of the AFL-CIO and the public. HB 1279 received a do pass recommendation from the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday and will now go before the full House.
TOBACCO TAX
HB 1204 by Rep. Gregg Reep and Sen. Tracy Steele received a do pass from the House Rules Committee yesterday. The full House may consider the bill as early as today. This is the proposal to increase the taxes on tobacco to fund a hospital trauma system and other health care initiatives. The State Chamber/AIA favors the development of a hospital trauma system and has no position on HB 1204.
FOOD TAX
SB 88 by Sen. Bobby Glover received a Do Pass recommendation yesterday from the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. This bill would reduce the sales tax on food and food ingredients by 1 percent. It could be considered today by the full Senate.
CONTACT INFORMATION
State Senators: 501-682-2902
State Representatives: 501-682-6211
State Chamber/AIA Staff
Randy Zook, President/CEO: rzook@arkansasstatechamber.com
Kenny Hall, Executive Vice President: khall@arkansasstatechamber.com
Angela DeLille, Director of Governmental Affairs:
adelille@arkansasstatechamber.com
State Chamber/AIA phone: (501) 372-2222
State Chamber/AIA web site: www.arkansasstatechamber.com
