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…
Tag: State Lawmaking
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…
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…
Make The Veto Worth The Paper It's Written On
We interrupt your regularly scheduled bashing of Arkansas Republicans and their ridiculous ideas for a moment of praise for one Republican lawmaker. First, an observation. I have two kids — a twelve-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. Despite the gender…
HB 1292: BHR dice que "muchas gracias" a estos legisladores valientes.
Last Wednesday, the House Committee on State Agencies voted down HB 1292, which would have denied state benefits or services to any undocumented residents except in life-saving situations. The bills flaws — denying prenatal care to pregnant women whose children,…
This Week In Facepalm: Reps. Edwards, Steel, and Vines
Lost in the drama of the Democrat co-sponsors trying to have their names removed from unconstitutional HB 1002 last week was an accounting of which Democrats actually voted for the bill. There were nine such votes, to wit: John Catlett*…
Rep. Hubbard, Your Village Is On Line 2. They Miss You.
You know that old saw about how “it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”? Representative Jon Hubbard (R-Jonesboro) doesn’t buy into that idea one bit. Today, during the discussions on…
Econ 101: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
Rep. Ed Garner’s hypothesis, plainly stated, is this: we will encourage more companies to come here and create more jobs, making everyone’s life better in the long run, if we just remove the capital gains tax on new investments. Implicit…