{"id":36,"date":"2013-01-18T03:43:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T03:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/2013\/01\/18\/89th-general-assembly-recap-week-1\/"},"modified":"2017-06-20T16:16:16","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T16:16:16","slug":"89th-general-assembly-recap-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/2013\/01\/18\/89th-general-assembly-recap-week-1\/","title":{"rendered":"89th General Assembly Recap – Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nThe first week of the
\nGeneral Assembly is in the books and while little actual legislation was
\ndiscussed a number of interesting bills were filed that could likely figure in
\ndebate later in the session. Those bills are listed below and include a number
\nof potential state constitutional amendments, possible spending caps and a bill
\nthat would prohibit single-use plastic bags.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nThe first week saw Governor
\nBeebe offer his final State of the State address to a regular session of the
\nGeneral Assembly. After nearly three decades as either a state legislator,
\nattorney general or governor, Mike Beebe will end his time in state government
\nnext year.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nThe Governor’s address
\noutlined his priorities for the 89th General Assembly, which included acceptance
\nof federal funding to expand Medicaid coverage to around 250,000 Arkansans,
\nminimizing cuts to the current Medicaid system by dedicating surplus
\nfunds, reducing the sales tax on groceries and funding education
\nprograms.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nGovernor Beebe also hinted
\nat the possibility the state could land a billion dollar superproject in 2013.
\nIf it occurs, it would be the largest economic development project, by far, in
\nthe state’s history. Undoubtedly, to seal the deal for such a major project it
\nwould require incentives that will necessitate approval by the legislature. The
\nsession could last into early April and the bill filing deadline is early March
\nso surely the project would be announced by then in order for a bill to be filed
\nand considered by the General Assembly. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nAlso in big news this week,
\nSpeaker of the House Davy Carter (R, Cabot) announced committee leadership
\npositions. Two major leadership positions went to Northwest Arkansas
\nRepublicans. Speaker Carter appointed Duncan Baird (R, Lowell) to chair the
\npowerful Joint Budget Committee. Representative Baird is a third termer with a
\nbackground in accounting and banking. The Chamber ran a profile of
\nRepresentative Baird in 2011, which you can view HERE<\/a>.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nThe second key appointment
\nwas Fayetteville\/Washington County Representative Charlie Collins who will lead
\nthe House Revenue and Tax Committee. Representative Collins’ campaign focused
\non tax policy so this appointment fits well with his interests and background.
\nCollins is in his second term and when he is not working as a state legislator
\nhe is partners in an executive search firm.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nOther Northwest Arkansans
\nappointed to committee leadership positions
\nare Jonathan Barnett (R,
\nSiloam Springs) who will chair Public Transportation again in the 89th General
\nAssembly and Mary Lou Slinkard (R, Gravette) who will chair House
\nTechnology.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOverall, Speaker Carter took
\na bipartisan approach and choose 7 Republicans and 4 Democrats as committee
\nchairs. Eight Democrats were appointed as vice chair along with three
\nRepublicans.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\ntermers.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLike every legislative
\nsession, it is going to be an interesting one so please visit www.rogerslowellvotes.com<\/a> to
\nfind information on important issues and stay informed in
\n2013! <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first week of the General Assembly is in the books and while little actual legislation was discussed a number of interesting bills were filed that could likely figure in debate later in the session. Those bills are listed below and include a number of potential state constitutional amendments, possible spending caps and a bill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[32,47,48,49,43,37],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chambernews","tag-arkansas-general-assembly","tag-charlie-collins","tag-davy-carter","tag-duncan-baird","tag-northwest-arkansas","tag-state-legislature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8RhO8-A","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/impactpossible.com\/voice\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}