Daily Legislative Update

Thursday, February 12, 2009
32nd Day of the 87th General Assembly

*   *   *   CALLS TO ACTION   *   *   *
MANUFACTURERS SALES TAX EXEMPTION FOR UTILITY USAGE
We secured a House sponsor yesterday and should have a bill filed in a day or so that seeks a full sales tax exemption for all manufacturers’ utility usage. Arkansas is not competitive with its surrounding states on this issue. 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 legislators to make Arkansas more competitive by urging their support for a utility sales tax exemption for manufacturers.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
HB 1362, the agreed bill between management and labor, was not considered yesterday by the House Insurance & Commerce Committee as we expected. A draft amendment was completed and circulated yesterday. This morning there will be a meeting to help legislators, concerned with the portion of the bill that addresses contractors, understand the simple intent of the agreement. There will be representatives from the Home Builders Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Contractors Licensing Board and the Workers’ Compensation Commission on hand to answer questions—all of these groups support the language in our bill as do the Associated General Contractors.  Please encourage your legislators to honor the agreement between management and labor and pass HB 1362 as soon as possible. 

TODAY AT THE CAPITOL
House convenes at 1:30 p.m.
Senate convenes at 11:00 a.m.

Committee Meetings:
JOINT

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

HOUSE

	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
	10:00 AM	Room 130	PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- 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

ISSUES

TOBACCO TAX
HB 1204 by Rep. Gregg Reep and Sen. Tracy Steele received a Do Pass from the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation yesterday. It must now be voted on by the full Senate. 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 was not considered Tuesday by the House Revenue and Taxation Committee and remains on the agenda for this morning.

NURSING HOMES
HB 1232 by Rep. George Overbey and Sen. Barbara Horn is on today’s House calendar. This bill contains an agreement negotiated between the trial lawyers and nursing homes.

CRIMINAL UCC FILINGS
HB 1161 by Rep. Lindsley Smith and Sen. David Johnson is on 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.

AUTHORIZATION FOR ADEQ TO GATHER INFORMATION
HB 1279 by Rep. Keith Ingram is a bill to allow ADEQ to access employer lists to gather required information to satisfy the federal EPA. The State Chamber/AIA agrees with this bill. It received a do pass from the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday and awaits consideration by the full Senate.

STATE CHAMBER/AIA BILL TRACKING 
To date the House has filed 435 bills and the Senate has filed 355 bills.
The State Chamber/AIA is tracking 187 bills and resolutions. 

New bills added to the State Chamber/AIA tracking today:

	HB 1417	Allen Bookout	Authorizes the Public Service Commission to adopt alternative ratemaking mechanisms, deviate from rate/base of return regulation, and include development, construction, and transmission system upgrades in a utility's rates.
	HB 1424	Webb Glover	Requires drilling fluid land application facilities provide a financial mechanism for the proper closure of the facility to the Department of Environmental Quality.
	HJR1006	Shelby	Proposes an amendment to the constitution increasing the term limits of county officials from two to four years and providing for recall procedures for those officials.
	HJR1007	Wills	Proposes an amendment to the constitution removing the requirement that economic development bonds authorized by the General Assembly must go to companies planning to invest over $500,000,000 in capital and hire over 500 new employees.
	HJR1008	Hutchinson	Requires that a State Highway Commissioner reside in the congressional district he or she represents and that discretionary funding be divided equally between the congressional districts and reported annually to the General Assembly.
	HJR1009	Carroll	Proposes an amendment to the constitution repealing the prohibition against an atheist holding office or testifying in court.
	HJR1010	Burris, J.	To amend the constitution regarding equality before the law. (Incomplete resolution)
	HJR1011	Green	Proposes an amendment to the constitution providing that lottery proceeds are subject to appropriation by the General Assembly (previously cash funds held apart from the State Treasury).
	HJR1012	Roebuck	Proposes an amendment to the constitution repealing Amendment 33, which restricts the power of other governmental officers and branches to abolish boards and commissions, transfer powers, remove board members, and other.
	HJR1013	Wills	To amend the constitution relating to economic growth and job creation through state investment in technology-based enterprises. (Incomplete resolution)
	SB 349	Laverty	Increases the research and promotion assessment on rice from 1.35 cents to 2.7 cents per bushel and requires it be paid by the producer rather than the buyer; requires buyer to collect and remit to the Dept. of Finance and Administration.
	SJR 11	Smith, T.	To amend the constitution as it relates to the State Game and Fish Commission. (Incomplete Resolution)

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 13, 2009
JOINT
None listed.

HOUSE

	9:00 AM	ROOM 138	AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- HOUSE	Agenda
	9:00 AM	130	AGING, CHILDREN AND YOUTH, LEGISLATIVE & MILITARY AFFAIRS- HOUSE	Agenda
	9:00 AM	Room 151	STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE	Agenda
	9:00 AM	Room 149	INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE	Agenda
	9:00 AM	ROOM 428	CITY, COUNTY & LOCAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE- HOUSE	Agenda

SENATE
None listed.

 

YESTERDAY AT THE CAPITOL
ISSUES
COURT DECISIONS
SB 33 by Sen. Robert Thompson passed the House yesterday by a vote of 93-1 and will now go to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

FISCAL SESSIONS
The Joint Budget Committee voted yesterday to adopt the February schedule for next year’s fiscal session. Here is a link to an Arkansas Business article with details on the February plan.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Yesterday was the deadline to file proposed constitutional amendments. Rep. Steve Harrelson in his Under the Dome blog provides the following summary of all the proposals that have been filed.

House (13 proposals filed):
HJR1001 (Greenberg): Modifies constitution regarding conduct of special elections
HJR1002 (Ragland): Abolishes the office of Constable
HJR1003 (Maloch): Removes interest rate limits on bonds/loans involving government
HJR1004 (Cheatham): Concerning interest rate limits
HJR1005 (Greenberg): Changes apportionment
HJR1006 (Shelby): Increases terms of county officials to 4 yrs; adds recall procedure
HJR1007 (Wills): Amends Amendment 82 (super-projects)
HJR1008 (Hutchinson): Changes Amendment 42 concerning the Arkansas Hwy Commission
HJR1009 (Carroll): Allows atheists to hold office and testify in court
HJR1010 (J. Burris): Equal Rights Amendment.
HJR1011 (Green): Amends Lottery Amendment
HJR1012 (Roebuck): Modifies Amendment 33 (boards/commissions governing state institutions)
HJR1013 (Wills): Promotes growth and jobs through investment in technology-based enterprises

Senate (11 proposals filed):
SJR1 (Glover): An amendment concerning serving of county officials and JPs
SJR2 (Glover): Repeals annual sessions
SJR3 (Faris): Constitutional right to hunt and fish
SJR4 (Prichard): Changes term limits
SJR5 (Baker): Increases length of terms of some county officials and makes them non-partisan
SJR6 (Broadway): (Broadway): Classifies savings from certain projects as revenue under bond statutes
SJR7 (Malone): Repeals annual sessions
SJR8 (Bryles): An amendment to improve the lives of Arkansans
SJR9 (Bryles): Modifies term limits
SJR10 (Malone): Repeals annual sessions
SJR11 (Smith): Repeals provisions pertaining to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

 

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