Daily Legislative Update

Monday, February 09, 2009
29th Day of the 87th General Assembly

TODAY AT THE CAPITOL
House convenes at 1:30 p.m.
Senate convenes at 1:30 p.m.

Committee Meetings:
JOINT

11:00 AM

Room 130

PUBLIC RETIREMENT & SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAMS-JOINT

Agenda

HOUSE
None listed.

SENATE

10:00 AM

ROOM 309

TRANSPORTATION, TECHNOLOGY & LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS - SENATE

Agenda

ISSUES
POPULAR VOTE FOR U.S. PRESIDENT
HB 1339 by Representatives Eddie Cooper, Monty Davenport, Linda Tyler and Andrea Lea and Senator Terry Smith, was not considered by the full House on Friday but remains on the House calendar for 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. 

HIGHWAYS
SB 104 by Sen. Bobby Glover 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. This bill is on today’s House floor calendar for final consideration.

STATE CHAMBER/AIA BILL TRACKING 
To date the House has filed 402 bills and the Senate has filed 319 bills.
The State Chamber/AIA is tracking 153 bills and resolutions. 

We did not add any new bills to the State Chamber/AIA tracking today.

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.

THIS WEEK AT THE CAPITOL
Committee Meetings for Tuesday, February 10, 2009
JOINT

	8:00 AM	Room 151	JBC-PERSONNEL	Agenda
	9:00 AM	Room 171	JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE
	Upon Adjournment	Room 171	ENERGY - JOINT	Agenda

HOUSE

	10:00 AM	Room 130	PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE	Agenda
	10:00 AM	Room 428	PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION- HOUSE	Agenda
	10:00 AM	Room 149	JUDICIARY COMMITTEE- HOUSE	Agenda
	10:00 AM	Room 138	EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE	Agenda
	10:00 AM	Room 151	REVENUE & TAXATION- HOUSE	Agenda

SENATE

	10:00 AM	Room 171	INSURANCE & COMMERCE - SENATE	Agenda
	10:00 AM	OSC	STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE	Agenda
	10:00 AM	ROOM 272	CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - SENATE	Agenda

ISSUES
MANUFACTURERS SALES TAX EXEMPTION FOR UTILITY USAGE
Now that the action on other tax issues has been clarified somewhat, the State Chamber/AIA will begin working with potential sponsors and supporters about our priority of moving toward a full sales tax exemption for manufacturers’ utility usage. This is an important economic development issue to make Arkansas competitive with its surrounding states, all of which either have a full exemption or charge a lower sales tax rate than Arkansas.

TOBACCO TAX
HB 1204 by Rep. Gregg Reep and Sen. Tracy Steele has been referred to the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation. This bill would provide funding for a hospital trauma system and other statewide healthcare needs.

FOOD TAX
SB 88 by Sen. Bobby Glover would reduce the sales tax on food and food ingredients by 1%. It has been assigned to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee.

COURT DECISIONS
SB 33 by Sen. Robert Thompson has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. 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. HB 1033 remains on the Senate Judiciary agenda.

AUTHORIZATION FOR ADEQ TO GATHER INFORMATION
HB 1279 by Rep. Keith Ingram is a bill that 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. It has been assigned to the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

LOTTERY
Information about the legislatures approach to implementing the state wide lottery is expected to take center state this week.

LAST WEEK AT THE CAPITOL
ISSUES
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
HB 1362 by Representatives Mike Burris & Rick Green and Senators Jerry Taylor & Joyce Elliott that contains the agreement between the State Chamber/AIA and the AFL-CIO, was presented to the House Insurance and Commerce Committee on Friday. Unfortunately the committee raised concerns about unintended consequences from the language regarding the Contractors Licensing Board. We are working with labor, the Associated General Contractors and the Contractors Licensing Board to amend the language to eliminate concerns. We hope to have this done by the time the House Insurance and Commerce Committee meets again on Wednesday. 

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