Today, the Senate voted against suspending the rules to consider the Trucker Tax Repeal resolution so the issue was dead right? Wrong!
The House Democrats proposed an amendment to the DFA-Disbursing appropriation that would push back the start of the Trucker Tax Exemption to July 2013. The amendment only needed 51 votes to be attached to the appropriation (vs the 67 needed for the resolution). It was passed via a voice vote then something very interesting happened.
Several members of the House called for a roll call vote. A couple of seconds afterwards, a member called for a vote by division. The Speaker of the House ignored the call for a roll call vote and proceeded with the vote by division.
The vote by division is simply members standing and being counted. It is a way to vote and not have it recorded.
Yes, you read that right. Democrats didn't want to go on record as to whether they voted for this amendment or not.
If you want to see if your Representative stood or not, here is a link to the video: http://arkansas-house.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=719
The actual standing vote takes place at about the 19 min mark.
What happened today set a dangerous precedent and should have been outright rejected. The voters in Arkansas wanted the legislature to focus on the budget during the fiscal session. There was a specific way outlined for other issues outside of the normal fiscal avenue to be addressed. What happened today was not the way.
The next couple of days will be interesting to watch.
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, April 4, 2011
Week in Review at the Capitol- April 1st
The legislative session is like a roller coaster, lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, and just when you think you’d rather be gliding along on a merry-go-round, you hop on for another ride.
The final week of the 88th General Assembly took House members on a fast and furious flight through a thunderstorm of debate on the federal healthcare law, state-owned vehicles, congressional redistricting and even monkeys.
To get the coaster rolling, a bill requiring out-of-state online retailers to collect sales tax from Arkansas buyers passed the House and will soon be signed into law. I opposed this measure because it amounts to taking more money out of the pockets of hard-working Arkansans.
The Legislature is not your ordinary rodeo. Midweek, House members wrangled over a $72.6 million state Insurance Department appropriation bill which included $1 million in funding for the federal healthcare overhaul. Concerned about tying the federal healthcare law to a bill that funds an essential state agency, House Republicans made several attempts to remove the $1 million from the budget bill.
Meanwhile, legislation to establish federally mandated insurance exchanges necessary to the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was en route to the House floor. As a result, a deadlock on passing the Insurance Department appropriation surfaced, with a majority refusing to strip the budget bill of $1 million in federal healthcare funding. Fortunately, House members lassoed a compromise on Thursday, agreeing to pull down the bill to implement the insurance exchanges and send the legislation to interim study. Consequently, the Insurance Department appropriation garnered the 75 votes needed to pass the House.
I believe the compromise helps ensure a slow and deliberate process for examining a federal law that will drastically alter our healthcare system. We now have a year to study the impact of the federal healthcare law, giving legislators sufficient time to act responsibly in the upcoming fiscal or general session. Until the Supreme Court rules on the law’s constitutionality or Congress acts, our state should not spend money implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
A congressional redistricting gerrymander slithered its way out of the Arkansas House, despite overwhelming opposition from concerned citizens, Democrats and Republicans alike. The “Pig Trail Gerrymander” or “Fayetteville Finger,” does not respect our state’s regional communities of interest and will devastate the continuity of Northwest and Southern Arkansas. I opposed this partisan power grab by the State Democratic Party and hope our colleagues in the Senate will take a principled stand for the people of Arkansas, reject this unfair and illogical proposal and look at reasonable alternatives.
Members took up some monkey business on Thursday when a bill to restrict Arkansans from owning primates failed in the House Public Health Committee. Proponents say citizens have a right to own a monkey, and noted that some individuals use primates as service animals. As a result, the bill was pulled from consideration and sent to interim study.
The personal use of state-owned vehicles by elected officials and state employees dominated newspaper headlines and coffee shop talk last year. In an effort to assure taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely, the House passed a bill to allow state agencies to furnish state vehicles with GPS devices to collect data for tracking purposes.
A $4.6 billion balanced budget for the 2012 fiscal year cleared the full House this week. The budget bill, known as the Revenue Stabilization Act, deals specifically with general revenue and prioritizes spending for public schools and prisons. I voted against this budget because it increases state spending too much.
We also approved a General Improvement Fund bill that sets aside surplus funds for special projects. The Governor controls $40 million, while the House and Senate each control $5 million. If you can recall, last month House members voted to use their share of the surplus for statewide projects, rather than funding lawmakers’ pet projects.
Over the course of the session and under the shining dome of Capitol Hill, we worked vigorously to cut your taxes, increase government transparency, hold the line on spending and move our state forward economically. As of Thursday, 903 out of 2,234 House and Senate bills had been signed into law.
The 88th General Assembly held the shortest session in two decades. However, because congressional redistricting is not complete, the House and Senate will reconvene on Monday to complete the process. Members will still return for a “sine die” on April 27, which is the final adjournment of the legislative session.
While we have recessed until next year’s fiscal session, I will continue my work to serve as your voice in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Please contact me with any issues, questions or concerns you may have. My email is david.meeks@arkansashouse.org
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Spending, Tax Cuts, and the Future
“The type of people that ran for office this year didn’t show up to learn the system, they showed up to change it...” Rep John Burris
Some facts about the Arkansas Budget:
In 2000, the budget was around 1 billion dollars. The proposed budget for the next fiscal year is 4.5 billion. In that same time frame, Arkansas is ranked as the 5th fastest growing state government.
Read more here: http://americansforprosperity.org/040510-arkansas-government-jobs-update
One of my campaign promises I made to the people of my district is to curb the growth of government. That is one of the reasons I have voted against appropriation bills that include any pay raise or cost of living allowance.
Let me be clear: At this time, I do not want to defund any program or make any cuts. My votes against the appropriations have been because of the increases.
The appropriation bills give the agency the authority to spend that amount if the money is there. To me, one of the best ways to control the growth of government is control the amount you give it the authority to spend. Government will normally find a way to spend the money you give it.
It is important we hold the line on spending this year because in the coming years we will have to deal with tens of millions in increases from Medicaid spending, and the almost $400 million we owe the unemployment trust fund. To see how deep Arkansas is in debt here is the debt clock:
As for tax cuts, this week HB1002, the Capital Gains Tax Cut bill will go before the Senate Tax and Revenue Committee on Wednesday. Here are some links that explain why we need to pass this bill:
The Capital Gains Tax Cut will make us more competitive with the states around us and is the most likely proposal to create jobs.
It is important we make Arkansas a more business friendly state and passing HB1002 will do just that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)