Summary of 2009 Legislative Session

John Reed, the Senate's Information Officer, prepared the below Summary of Legislative Session.

Lottery

The laws governing the new Arkansas lottery will ensure accountability, transparency and fairness.

Legislators took great care in writing the lottery law because they're implementing the will of Arkansas voters, who approved a lottery amendment to the state Constitution in the general election last November.

The bill creates a nine-member Lottery Commission. The governor, the President Pro Tem of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives each appoint three members.

The commission will hire a director and staff, and neither the legislature nor any state agency will micro-manage the day-to-day operations of the lottery.

The purpose is to build in flexibility so the lottery commission can make quick and innovative decisions, to keep the lottery fresh and to meet changing market demands. The end goal is to maximize revenues for scholarships.

The lottery commission's financial activities will be audited regularly and thoroughly by the state.

A legislative oversight committee will make sure revenue goes to scholarships and that games conform to the lottery amendment. For example, video poker and casino gaming will be prohibited.

You have to be 18 or older to buy a lottery ticket.

The bill specifically says that the commission's activities come under the state Freedom of Information Act.

The commission will likely contract with private vendors to print tickets, handle promotions and administer the finances of the lottery.

The commission will determine the frequency of lotteries and the amounts to be paid in prizes, as well as whether or not Arkansas joins with other states for super lotteries with multi-million dollar jackpots.

The legislation prohibits public officials from having any ownership interest in a vendor or a retailer connected to the lottery.

Lottery commissioners and their staff may not leave to take employment with a lottery vendor for at least two years after they resign. The commission and its staff are subject to criminal background checks.

Vendors and lottery retailers may not give any gifts of any value to commissioners and staff.

If sales of lottery tickets are brisk, scholarships would be $6,000 a year for students at four-year universities and $3,000 for students at two-year colleges. Those would be the maximum amounts and would be available if the lottery generated about $126 million or more.

If sales of lottery tickets are slow, scholarships would be $2,500 for students at four-year institutions and $1,250 for those at two-year colleges. Those are the minimum amounts in the sliding scale, and would be in effect if the lottery brought in about $60 million or less in a year. Estimates vary widely as to how much the lottery will generate in Arkansas.

The lottery bills greatly expand a popular scholarship program already in existence, the Academic Challenge Scholarship Program. They include has provisions for non-traditional students, nursing students and part-time students.

To be eligible, a graduating high school student must take the Smart Core curriculum and earn a grade point average of 2.5.
If their grade point average is below 2.5 they can qualify if they score a 19 on the ACT standardized test. In districts in which grade inflation is recorded, students must score a 19 on the ACT. If they do not complete the Smart Core curriculum they must score a 19 on the ACT. Once in college they must maintain a 2.5 grade point average.

Voting Laws
SB 192 makes it illegal to possess 10 or more absentee ballots. Possession of that many absentee ballots creates the presumption of an intent to defraud.
The bill also sets restrictions on who can help someone fill out a ballot. Nobody can help more than six voters in marking and casting their ballots, except a poll worker. During early voting periods the county clerk or a deputy county clerk could help more than six people.

HB 1845 requires every county to hire an election coordinator, who must be certified by the state Board of Election Commissioners.
Counties would pay for the coordinators with savings they accrue because the state will assume some of the costs of holding elections.
Seat Belts
Act 308 allows police officers to pull over motorists solely for the purpose of determining whether they are wearing seat belts.

Previously, the police could ticket a driver for not using a seat belt, but only after stopping the vehicle for other traffic violations.

Cell Phones

Act 197 prohibits anyone under 18 from driving while using a cell phone. It is a secondary offense, which means a police officer could not pull over drivers solely because they were talking on a cell phone.
A first offense would warrant a citation. A second offense would bring a fine of up to $50

Act 181 prohibits texting while driving, for anyone of any age.
Animal Cruelty

The governor has signed the animal cruelty bill and it's Act 33. It makes aggravated animal cruelty a felony for a first offense, if it's done to cats, dogs or horses.

In past years, attempts failed to make animal cruelty a felony, but the attorney general and the bill sponsors have been working to relieve the concerns of ranchers, farmers, hunters, veterinarians and those who ride in rodeos and parades.

One concession was to clarify that only certified law enforcement officers could make arrests under the bill. Past measures would have allowed animal control officers to do so.


Domestic Abuse and Criminal Justice
Act 331 makes it a felony to violate a protective order if it is a second offense. The act defines a repeat offense as one that occurs within five years of the first offense.

It is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $1,000, to violate a protective order the first time.

Act 332 creates the crime of choking and lists it in the category of aggravated assault, a felony.

Act 333 strengthens the penalties for repeat offenders who commit domestic battering.
Third degree domestic battering is a misdemeanor for the first offense, and Act 333 makes a second offense a felony. The act defines a second offense as one that occurs within five years of the first.

Act 333 also makes third degree domestic battering a felony if the victim is pregnant and the violator knows, or should have known, of the pregnancy.

Act 194 adds a new category to first degree domestic battering, which is a felony. It adds battering of a family member who is 60 years old or older, and battering of a child 12 years old or younger.

HB 1473 requires police to take DNA samples from people who have been arrested, not convicted, on suspicion of these crimes: murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the first and second degree.

HB 1058 removes the statute of limitations for rape if DNA evidence has been collected. It had been 15 years.

Partial Birth Abortion


Act 196 makes it a felony to perform a partial-birth abortion. The physician would be penalized, not the mother.
Autism

SB 913 would require health insurance companies to provide up to $50,000 for diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, which include Asperger's syndrome. There are 2,457 children under the age of 10 in Arkansas who have been diagnosed with a form of autism, and it will cost the state an estimated $7.8 million to care for them. SB 913 would save an estimated $3.6 million of those costs.

The increase in the cost of health insurance policies would be an estimated $1.48 per policy per month.

The Senate passed the bill and it failed in its first attempt in the House Insurance and Commerce Committee.
FOI and Whistleblowers

Act 440 allows plaintiffs to seek attorneys' fees in FOI cases. A plaintiff who has substantially prevailed in an FOI case may seek attorneys' fees before the state Claims Commission. This act is a milestone for open, transparent and accountable government. One obstacle for citizens and potential whistle blowers has been the expense of litigation.

Act 771 prohibits retaliation against public employees who exercises their rights under the FOI to seek public documents. This act also protects whistle blowers.
Tax Cuts
Act 436 lowers the state sales tax on groceries by a penny, from 2.875 to 1.875 percent. It reduces state revenues by about $40 million a year. ($30 million from general revenue, the discretionary account, and $10 million from various special revenue accounts).
That means it creates savings for Arkansas consumers of $40 million a year. It takes effect on July 1, 2009.

Act 695 lowers the sales tax on energy used by manufacturers by three-fourths of a cent, from 3.875 to 3.125 percent. It takes effect on July 1, 2009.

The reason the state sales tax is not a nice round number is that the 1/8 (0.125) percent sales tax for conservation will remain, no matter what the legislature does. It's in a constitutional amendment approved by voters.

Act 498 provides income tax credits for renovating historic structures. One goal is to boost economic development in downtown areas.

Act 816 renews incentives and rebates for movie producers who film in Arkansas.

SB 2 repeals the sales tax on mini-warehouses and self storage rentals, beginning July 1, 2011. According to DFA it would reduce state and local sales taxes by $5.6 million a year. The governor's spokesman said Governor Beebe would sign it.
Prisons

The Correction Department always needs additional funds to operate prison units. The inmate population is approaching 15,000. Except for the fact that the Correction Board invokes its Emergency Powers Act every chance it gets, the prison population would surpass 15,000.
HB 1449 appropriates more than $290 million for the department next fiscal year. That will pay for salaries of about 4,700 employees. It also provides $7.5 million to reimburse counties for the costs of housing inmates in county jails when there isn't space for them in state prison units.
The Department has asked for funding to build prison space for 2,000 more beds, but has been told there isn't enough revenue for the state to afford such an expansion.
At the current rate of growth in the inmate population, there will be 17,000 prisoners "behind bars" in 2014. However, there is only room for 15,000 in all state prison units.
Human Services
SB 152 appropriates $4.3 billion for Medicaid, nursing homes, prescription drugs and ARKids First.

Act 435 adds 8,000 more children to the 70,000 that qualify for ARKids First. The act raises the income threshold from 200 to 250 percent of the poverty level.

Child Welfare

With the governor's blessing, DHS is asking for 50 more case workers to speed up investigations of abuse and neglect of children. However, to lower case loads at Children and Family Services will take money and may require funds from the "one time" surplus or from the federal stimulus.
SB 276 appropriates $72 million for the Children and Family Services Division, with $39 million for the foster care program.

Health Care
Act 472 allows physicians to delegate simple procedures to employees who are not licensed. The state Medical Board will determine which procedures a doctor can delegate. The bill specifically says a physician may not delegate anesthesia.
Public Schools

SB 291 appropriates $2.6 billion to public education.
HB 1959 alleviates the concerns of school administrators that as many as 50 to 60 percent of high school seniors would not be able to graduate if they failed the required end-of-course assessments.
The bill changes testing procedures so there is not a "perfect storm" that causes more than half of seniors to fail the assessments.


Teacher Health Insurance

Everyone who participates in the school health insurance plan will get an average of $300 a year in help from the state, thanks to a last-minute amendment tacked on to SB 862.
Funding comes from about $15 million in better than expected growth in the Uniform Rate of Tax (URT) revenue.

Growth had been forecast at 4.5 percent and is coming in a 6.2 percent. The extra $15 million generated by this growth will be appropriated directly to the Employee Benefits Division, so it is applied directly to teacher health insurance, rather than channeling it through the school funding formula.
The teacher health insurance benefits are in SB 862.

Cigarette tax

Act 180 is a 56 cent a pack increase in cigarette taxes, to pay for a statewide trauma system and a host of expanded health care programs. It raises about $77 million a year.
The governor is raising taxes on smokeless tobacco products like snuff, dip and chewing tobacco, by another $10 million.
The revenue will pay for a long list of health care improvements. The cornerstone of the package is funding of a statewide trauma system.
By fiscal year 2011, the trauma system would cost about $28 million a year to operate.

Other aspects of the proposed health care initiative:
* About $10 million a year for community health centers around Arkansas.
* About $5 million a year would go into programs to treat and prevent substance abuse, with an emphasis on helping young people and pregnant women.
* More adults would qualify for dental care under the program. It would enhance research, diagnosis and treatment of numerous types of cancer.
* More children from working class families would be covered by health insurance under an expansion of the ARKids First program. Act 435 adds 8,000 children to the program, which now serves about 70,000 children.
*Area Health Education Centers would benefit from an additional $4 million a year.
*Part of the health initiative would pay for updating medical records and putting them in electronic formats, so physicians and hospitals can more quickly exchange information.
*Also, the proposal would provide more flu shots and more care for children with autism.
Constitutional Amendments
In each regular session the legislature may refer up to three proposed constitutional amendments, subject to voter approval in the next general election.

One proposed amendment guarantees Arkansas citizens the right to fish, hunt, trap and harvest wildlife.
The right to hunt and fish would be subject only to regulations that promote sound wildlife conservation and that are consistent with Amendment 35.
Amendment 35, which was approved in 1944, creates the Game and Fish Commission and authorizes it to manage wildlife resources.

A second proposed amendment gives the state greater flexibility to recruit "superprojects," such as a car manufacturing plant. It changes language in Amendment 82 of the Constitution, which authorizes the state to issue general obligation bonds to recruit industries that invest $500 million or hire more than 500 people.
Those requirements would be deleted, therefore the state could issue bonds to recruit industries of any size.
The bonds would pay for infrastructure improvements, such as drainage and water projects or highways and railroad spurs.