More fun with invoices coming later today, but, first, three tangentially related thoughts on reimbursements under the statute: 1. The most common response I’ve heard since starting these posts is that some legislators simply cannot afford to do the job…
Category: Arkansas
Sunlight is the best disinfectant: A look at reimbursements
I wish I could say that exploiting the state reimbursement system is strictly a Republican phenomenon. Between Mark Martin and the legislators exposed as salary padding hypocrites Wednesday, one might even get that impression. The fact of the matter, however,…
Is Ed Garner's (R-Billionaire Lapdog) Political Career Baked?*
Pobre, pobre Ed Garner. He tried so hard, yes he did. But, evidently, he just couldn’t cry enough tears for the rich to get the abhorrent and downright unconstitutional HB 1002 passed. You see, fair reader, the Arkansas Senate and…
The Audacity of "Nope"
Yesterday afternoon, House Republicans prevented the passage of House Bill 1193, the appropriations bill for the Arkansas School for the Deaf, because the bill contained a spending increase. Of $6,389. For the ENTIRE YEAR. Oh, sure, $532.42/month may not sound…
AR-01: "With the buzz cut and the bow tie? This is a nightclub, not a John F. Kennedy cabinet meeting."*
When first-district voters went to the polls last November, they knew many things about Rick Crawford: owner/operator of AgWatch Network (which was like a farm-centric Little Orphan Annie to all the farm-centric Ralphie Parkers in Arkansas), friend of Pat Boone…
Ides of March Gallimaufry
When the soothsayer told Julius Caesar to “beware the ides of March,” she wasn’t talking about him getting stabbed fiftyleven times. Your English teacher lied to you. The soothsayer was cautioning Caesar and anyone else who would listen that some…
No tax cut! Denied!
I have no idea how I missed this. Following the tabling of his proposed tax cut for some used vehicles, Sen. Gilbert Baker (R-30, Conway) went on softcore smut peddler Dave Elswick’s radio show to vent. Along with accusing Rep.…
HB 1887: And Never The Twain Shall Meet
About seven weeks ago, when it was rumored that Rep. Andy Mayberry was going to file a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation, I wrote a post explaining the likely problems with such a bill. Mayberry has now filed…
The streetlights just came on, and my mama's in the street tellin' me to come home
At the end of February, Rep. Stephen Meeks (R-47, Greenbrier) filed HB 1711, “AN ACT TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS NIGHTTIME ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT.” The bill included a number of findings, which are not to be codified, including, inter alia: (1)(A)…
Hey, Johnny, what did that Mexican mean by "a sick horse is going to get us"?
Today was the deadline for filing bills and resolutions for consideration during the 88th General Assembly’s regular session. All told, there were 529 filings Monday (h/t @TolbertReport), bringing the total number of filings in 2011 to 2,358 (h/t LobbyUp). Prior…