The First Week of the Session
The first week of the Arkansas legislative session was as expected. The newly elected were full of excitement, the old timers were working their magic on the newer members. Making alliances and "deals".
New Bills were flying out of bill-drafting like dollar bills out of the US Mint. Of course, first out of the starting gates were the Bills which fund the legislators and their staff operations. It is very interesting how the bureaucracy has such an innate ability to protect itself.
The Governor has declared that Health, Highways and Higher Education are his priorities. As we said in our first post highways lead the priority pack. It should be noted that the legislature has, by court order, to find a way to fund billions in physical improvements for K-12 schools. It wasn't even on the Governor's list. He, the Gov., offered no suggestions on how to fund all this. Needless to say, we were very disappointed that such historic Republican agenda items, like improved government efficiency, smaller government size, less regulation and more economic opportunity were beyond this governor... a Baptist Minister and Republican?
A side note is due here. In the last legislative session and the special session the legislature after it, they (the legislature) voted and the Governor signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of the state, which included increasing the tax on gas and groceries which the poor can hardly afford... a Baptist Minister and Republican?
For those of you who are from another state, Arkansas is short $100 million to fund the Department of Human Services, due to federal cutbacks crime victims mental health care was recently reduced by nearly 50%, homeless shelters are closing or reducing services, Children's Advocacy Centers are having to lay off employees, the Department of Health (DOH) has slashed care for the elderly and rural clients, the DOH breast care program is out of funds and the list goes on and on. Reduction in services to people in need, American Citizens, while making sweetheart deals for the wealthy is never acceptable.
So much for compassionate conservatism.
Eventually, our elected officials will realize this is a State with far more poor people than middle and wealthy. More taxes on the poor, more government that does not directly improve the well-being of our people isn't why they are there. They are there to serve and make our lives better and that includes children, women and poor people not just highway contractors, trucking companies and corporations.
New Bills were flying out of bill-drafting like dollar bills out of the US Mint. Of course, first out of the starting gates were the Bills which fund the legislators and their staff operations. It is very interesting how the bureaucracy has such an innate ability to protect itself.
The Governor has declared that Health, Highways and Higher Education are his priorities. As we said in our first post highways lead the priority pack. It should be noted that the legislature has, by court order, to find a way to fund billions in physical improvements for K-12 schools. It wasn't even on the Governor's list. He, the Gov., offered no suggestions on how to fund all this. Needless to say, we were very disappointed that such historic Republican agenda items, like improved government efficiency, smaller government size, less regulation and more economic opportunity were beyond this governor... a Baptist Minister and Republican?
A side note is due here. In the last legislative session and the special session the legislature after it, they (the legislature) voted and the Governor signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of the state, which included increasing the tax on gas and groceries which the poor can hardly afford... a Baptist Minister and Republican?
For those of you who are from another state, Arkansas is short $100 million to fund the Department of Human Services, due to federal cutbacks crime victims mental health care was recently reduced by nearly 50%, homeless shelters are closing or reducing services, Children's Advocacy Centers are having to lay off employees, the Department of Health (DOH) has slashed care for the elderly and rural clients, the DOH breast care program is out of funds and the list goes on and on. Reduction in services to people in need, American Citizens, while making sweetheart deals for the wealthy is never acceptable.
So much for compassionate conservatism.
Eventually, our elected officials will realize this is a State with far more poor people than middle and wealthy. More taxes on the poor, more government that does not directly improve the well-being of our people isn't why they are there. They are there to serve and make our lives better and that includes children, women and poor people not just highway contractors, trucking companies and corporations.
posted by The Merlin Foundation | 6:35 PM
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