Daily Legislative Update
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
31st Day of the 87th General Assembly
* * * CALLS TO ACTION * * *
MANUFACTURERS SALES TAX EXEMPTION FOR UTILITY USAGE
We continue working to get a bill filed that seeks a full sales tax exemption for all manufacturers’ utility usage. This is necessary to make Arkansas competitive with our surrounding states. Mississippi is the only state bordering Arkansas that charges sales taxes on utility usage by manufacturers but their rate is only 1.5% while Arkansas currently charges 4%. Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas do not apply a sales tax to manufacturers’ utility costs. Please encourage your legislator to make Arkansas more competitive by urging their support for a utility sales tax exemption for manufacturers.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
HB 1362 is the bill that contains the agreement between the State Chamber/AIA. We ran into opposition last Friday on this bill from legislators who had heard from small contractors back home—mostly residential contractors. The intent of the section in the agreed bill that caused concern was only to improve the accepted forms of proof of insurance by contractors. Unfortunately the wording had a minor flaw and there were some misunderstandings related to an Act from the 2007 session. An amendment has been drafted to address concerns about HB 1362’s impact on the selected contractors and we will circulate the amendment today among interested legislators. Thanks to the Contractors Licensing Board and the Associated General Contractors for helping with the language. It would be helpful to remind your legislators about the importance of having a workers’ compensation agreement with labor and urge their support of the agreed bill.
TODAY AT THE CAPITOL
House convenes at 1:30 p.m.
Senate convenes at 1:30 p.m.
Committee Meetings:
JOINT
|
8:00 AM |
Room 272 |
JBC-SPECIAL LANGUAGE |
Agenda |
|
|
9:00 AM |
Room 171 |
JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE |
Agenda |
|
HOUSE
|
10:00 AM |
Room 151 |
STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 149 |
INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
130 |
AGING, CHILDREN AND YOUTH, LEGISLATIVE & MILITARY AFFAIRS- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
ROOM 138 |
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
ROOM 428 |
CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
12:00 PM |
428 |
HOUSE RULES |
Agenda |
|
SENATE
|
10:00 AM |
Room 272 |
PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room OSC |
REVENUE & TAX - SENATE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 207 |
EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 171 |
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - SENATE |
Agenda |
|
ISSUES
COURT DECISIONS
SB 33 by Sen. Robert Thompson received a do pass from the House Judiciary Committee yesterday and will now go before the full House. 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 received a do pass from the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday and will now be voted on by the full Senate.
TOBACCO TAX
HB 1204 by Rep. Gregg Reep and Sen. Tracy Steele is on this morning’s Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation agenda. This bill would provide funding for a hospital trauma system and other statewide healthcare needs.
FISCAL SESSIONS
The Joint Budget Committee is scheduled to vote this morning on procedures for next year’s fiscal session. State agencies and others are anxious to have the Committee’s final word on how the fiscal sessions will function. Also, yesterday Sen. Percy Malone filed a constitutional amendment to refer the annual session measure back to the voters in 2010.
STATE CHAMBER/AIA BILL TRACKING
To date the House has filed 414 bills and the Senate has filed 341 bills.
The State Chamber/AIA is tracking 175 bills and resolutions.
New bills added to the State Chamber/AIA tracking today:
|
HB 1411 |
Shelby |
Authorizes the Department of Health to grant funds to emergency medical care and ambulance providers, trauma rehabilitation services, and to hospitals to assist qualification as trauma centers; more. (Same as SB 315) |
|
HJR1003 |
Maloch |
Proposes an amendment to the constitution removing the interest rate limits on bonds issued by governmental units and loans made to governmental units. |
|
HJR1004 |
Cheatham |
Proposes an amendment to the constitution concerning interest rate limits. (incomplete resolution)ds. |
|
HJR1005 |
Greenberg |
Proposes an amendment to the constitution creating the Apportionment Commission to reapportion the state for senators and representatives, to be either approved by the Board of Apportionment or resolved by the Supreme Court. |
|
SB 333 |
Altes |
Creates an income tax credit of ten dollars for each eight hours of accrued annual leave or sick leave donated to the catastrophic leave bank program. |
|
SB 336 |
Hendren |
Requires valuation of real property to be based on its mark-to-market valuation for purposes of property tax; defines mark-to-market as an accounting methodology of assigning a value based on the current market price. |
|
SB 338 |
Bryles |
Places restrictions on advertising of alcoholic beverages by manufacturers, distributors and retailers. |
|
SB 339 |
Luker |
Allows a party to a proceeding aggrieved by an order of the Public Service Commission regarding the assessment or equalization of property to directly seek a review of the order at the Court of Appeals. |
|
SJR 7 |
Malone, P. |
Proposes an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution to repeal the requirement for a budget session of the General Assembly in even-numbered years and to make appropriations valid for two fiscal years. |
|
SJR 8 |
Bryles |
Proposes an amendment to the Constitution to improve the lives of Arkansans. (incomplete resolution). |
|
SJR 9 |
Bryles |
Proposes an amendment to the constitution concerning term limits for members of the General Assembly. (incomplete resolution) |
|
SJR 10 |
Malone, P. |
Proposes an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution to repeal the requirement for a budget session of the General Assembly in even-numbered years, to make appropriations valid for two fiscal years, and to make conforming amendments. |
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 Thursday, February 12, 2009
JOINT
|
8:00 AM |
Room 151 |
JBC-PERSONNEL |
|
|
|
9:00 AM |
Room 171 |
JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE |
|
|
HOUSE
|
10:00 AM |
Room 130 |
PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 138 |
EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 151 |
REVENUE & TAXATION- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 149 |
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 428 |
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION- HOUSE |
Agenda |
|
SENATE
|
10:00 AM |
ROOM 309 |
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - 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 |
|
|
10:00 AM |
Room 171 |
INSURANCE & COMMERCE - SENATE |
Agenda |
|
ISSUES
FOOD TAX
SB 88 by Sen. Bobby Glover would reduce the sales tax on food and food ingredients by 1%. It was not considered yesterday by the House Revenue and Taxation Committee and remains on the agenda for tomorrow.
YESTERDAY AT THE CAPITOL
ISSUES
NURSING HOMES
HB 1232 by Rep. George Overbey and Sen. Barbara Horn is a bill that contains an agreement negotiated between the trial lawyers and nursing homes. The bill received a do pass as amended from the House Public Health Committee yesterday and is on today’s House calendar under Member’s Own Bill-Own Amendment. Since the tort reform laws were passed in 2003, the Committee to Save Arkansas Jobs/State Chamber/AIA and the Trial Lawyers Association have operated under an agreement that neither would push any new legislation related to tort reform. After HB 1232 was filed the trial lawyers considered it a violation of the agreement but they worked with the nursing homes and reached an agreement.
CRIMINAL UCC FILINGS
HB 1161 by Rep. Lindsley Smith and Sen. David Johnson received a do pass as amended from the House Judiciary Committee yesterday. It is on the Member’s Own Bill-Own Amendment section of today’s House calendar. This bill would create the offense of fraudulent filing of a uniform commercial code financing statement, a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense, Class D felony for a subsequent offense, and provides for civil causes of action. This is a Judicial Council bill which is similar to legislation that has been enacted in other states to deal with the growing problem of fraudulent filing of Uniform Commercial Code financing statements. The action must be taken with the purpose to defraud or harass knowing that it is baseless in order to be prohibited conduct.
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
