What happens in Arkansas after the election?

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Legislature, legislative session previewAfter the elections end Nov. 3, state lawmakers’ attention will shift to the 2027 legislative session, which begins in January.

Legislators presumably will gather under Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ leadership – “presumably” meaning “almost certainly,” since Sanders is the heavy favorite to win re-election. 

Likewise, there’s not a lot of drama in the state legislative races. Republicans control about 80% of both the House and Senate, and after Tuesday, the percentages won’t be much different. As reported by Talk Business & Politics, only 37 of the 100 House seats and only five of the 35 Senate seats were even contested in this year’s general election. Most of those races are in safe districts where one party has a clear majority.

Sanders has been in office for four years, which means the absolute peak of her powers inevitably has passed. She still will be the state’s dominant political figure, but governors over time lose some of their luster. Newness wears off, and their human characteristics grow a little more glaring and tiresome to some people over time. They also lose some of the fire in the belly and get distracted thinking about their next thing – which, for Sanders, now age 44, could be a lot of things.

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Should Arkansas pay for its own natural disasters?

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tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 trillion, $970 billion, Social Security cutWill Arkansas and other states soon cover more of the costs of responding to natural disasters? They could if the Federal Emergency Management Agency enacts a plan its administrator described at a national conference in Little Rock recently.

FEMA’s Cameron Hamilton discussed the plan at the National Emergency Management Association’s annual conference Oct. 20. Politico obtained a recording of the private event and reported what it learned.

Hamilton told the emergency management officials that states should have enough financial reserves to start recovery efforts immediately after a disaster rather than wait for a federal declaration. Changes could occur in the next six months. He said he hoped for a future when fewer declarations would be needed because states could respond on their own.

Hamilton also said the Trump administration would create a “national mutual aid” process where states would help each other. He said the administration would seek to remove some of the environmental and historical preservation requirements that add bureaucracy to recovery efforts.  Continue reading →

Ballot measures simple, except for Issue 3

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesArkansas lawmakers referred to voters three simple ballot measures – and one complicated one.

Issues 1, 2 and 4 are simple and easy to understand. Issue 3 is the complicated one.

Issue 1 would amend the Arkansas Constitution’s provision that “any” citizen may vote to say instead that “only” citizens may vote. 

Supporters say it’s clearer and more exclusive. They say it would help prevent what has happened in some other states and Washington, D.C., where noncitizens can vote in local elections. 

The opposite viewpoint would be that the “any” language is working fine and that noncitizen voting is rare. We should be wary of changing the Constitution for nonexistent problems. It could lead to bad unforeseen consequences, although it’s hard to see what those would be in this case.  Continue reading →

Citizen initiatives divide secretary of state candidates

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesIssues come and go and political parties often change their positions. But one concern that’s constant is the integrity of the election process itself, and that’s why the secretary of state’s race is important.

Last week, the three statewide candidates for the office that’s in charge of administering Arkansas elections faced off in a debate on Arkansas TV.  Those were Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton; Democrat Kelly Grappe; and Libertarian Michael Pakko. You can watch the debate at www.arkansastv.gov or at the station’s YouTube channel.

The candidates bring impressive biographies to the contest. Hammer has been a state legislator for 16 years and has been a pastor and hospice minister. Grappe has been an executive with Alltel and Verizon and a grassroots political organizer. Pakko is a state economist and the longtime Libertarian Party chair. 

The top issue was Arkansas’ initiative process, where citizens can attempt to bypass the Legislature and pass constitutional amendments and initiated acts. Courts and the secretary of state’s office have invalidated many of those in recent years because of technical errors in the signature collection process. Continue reading →

Governor’s debate had some feisty moments

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesThe Arkansas TV governor’s debate started with a joke about an old controversy and ended with a brief but civil handshake. There were some feisty moments in between.

The debate covered Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ LEARNS educational reform law, the death penalty, Medicaid expansion and other topics. With Sanders on stage were Democratic candidate Sen. Fred Love, D-Mabelvale, and Libertarian candidate Colt Shelby.

You can watch it on YouTube on Arkansas TV’s channel and elsewhere. 

The joke came from Shelby in the debate’s first moments. Glancing in Sanders’ direction, he acted as if he would lean on his lectern and then said, “Oh, I’d better not do that. I hear these are pretty expensive these days.”

In case you’ve forgotten, he was referring to a controversy from a couple of years ago about a $19,000 lectern her office had purchased.

Shelby maintained his pointed criticisms throughout the debate. Sanders more or less stuck to the script, which is not a criticism, except by passionately defending Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward when Shelby said he traveled too much. She said he’s a reserve Marine serving his country. 

In the middle stood Love, who at one point said, “I’m glad I’m between these two.” Continue reading →