AR Legislative Council – Charitable, Penal, and Correctional Institutions Subcommittee – June 30, 2009

Posted on June 30th, 2009

Date & Time: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Location: Room 272, State Capitol
Agenda: http://tr.im/qkz3
Attachments: None

Here is an interesting Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: http://tr.im/qkyp That report is kind of dated since it was published in 2004 and uses 2001 data.

Here is an interesting article in Psychology Today about crime rates, recidivism, and rehabilitation: http://tr.im/ql83

Here are the stances that will predictably be taken on Arkansas Prisons:

• Liberals – What we got he-ah is failyah to rehabilitate
  
• Democrats – What we got he-ah is failyah to exculpate
  
• Republicans – What we got he-ah is failyah to administrate
  
• Conservatives – What we got he-ah is failyah to incarcerate
  
• Bureaucrats – What we got he-ah is failyah to appropriate
  
• Prisoners – What we got he-ah is failyah to exonerate

1:34 pm – Opening remarks made by chairman Bobby Glover.

1:35 pm – Mr. Larry Norris, Director of the Department of Correction is currently reporting on the pending investigations within the Department of Correction. He is pointing out the accredations and improvements going on in the department. He acknowledges lapses of judgement and complacency, but says that is not the rule, but exceptions.

1:36 pm – Mr Norris is currently discussing the prisoners found in feces and in need of medical attention. 17 disciplined, 2 terminated and others were given lesser punishments.

1:39 pm – Senator Glover is pointing out to Mr. Norris that the governor and legislators will not stand for the state to get a black eye over the prison management and return to federal oversight that occured in the past.

1:40 pm – Representive Gaskill is questioning if too many people are being sentenced to the prisions. Mr. Norris said that occurs to a minor degree but for the most part, those that are there need to be.

1:42 pm – Rep. Dismang is pointing out that the Lt. involved in this incident had discipline problems in the past and asked why psychological evaluations where not done at least at the supervisory level. Mr. Norris responses that it had been tried in the past and had been relatively unsuccessful in identifying problems.

1:44 pm – Rep. Harrelson is pointing out the complaints legislators regularly recieve and asking if the prisons have logs of rounds and checks being made like occurs in hospitals. Mr. Norris points out that the rounds are made and logged for the isolation area. Rep Harrelson asked about “best practices” and if there is a manual is published. Mr. Norris responds that the accreditation manuals and policy are published. He states that the policies are not the problem, but the application of the policies is the source of the failure.

1:48 pm – Rep Davy Carter is asking why the legislature was not informed about this, especially since it happened during the time we were in session. Mr. Norris says that “we have not reported to the legislature on a daily basis.” Senator Glover says, “Well, we might change that.” He followed up that we might need to be informed of investigations going on. Apparently the Corrections Board and the Governor was notified. Mr. Glover said it is bad that we had to hear about this when it came out in the press.

1:52 pm – Rep Carter points out that he requested and obtained the minutes of the board meeting, and there is not one mention of this event in the minutes. He wants to know if that is standard procedure to receive reports from the Department of Corrections but not to discuss these issues in the public format of the Board of Corrections. He asks if it is not the responsiblity of the Board of Corrections to handle these situations and begin to address them. Rep. Carter goes on to point out that he finds it hard to believe that the warden did not know things like lap dances were going on. To make matters worse, it appears that the board members were not doing their job to address issues of this magnitude.

1:57 pm – Senator Glover informs us that the Chairman of the Board of Corrections was requested to be here, but apparently he had other responsiblities that he had to attend to.

1:58 pm – Rep. Pennartz is questioning if the inmate had been recently been visited or diagnosed by a mental health professional. Mr. Norris does not know the frequency, but knows that he had been seen by a mental health professional. Rep. Pennartz if asking if the policies for accreditation were followed concerning mental health issues. Mr. Norris does not know if the policies were followed.

2:01 pm – Rep. Burris is asking about the board meetings and the responsiblity of the Board of Corrections. He has the last five board meetings and there is no mention. He wants to know the policy / protocol for notifying the Board. Mr. Norris says that it may be a phone call or an email. Mr. Burris is asking if all incidents are reported and if there is a rating system. Mr. Norris said that all incidents are sent to the Board and the Governor. Rep. Burris asks if incidents are discussed at the board meetings. Mr. Norris said that he thinks it is generally discussed among themselves.

2:05 pm – Rep. Pam Adcock is asking about the mental health policies and who those things are implimented and followed upon. Mr. Norris said that it is documented just like a medical record.

[Side note from me: Not even our Quorum Courts can "discuss among themselves" their business without informing press there meetings.]

2:08 pm – Rep. Dismang is following up on an apparent conflict in testimony. He needed clarification on if all issues are reported to the Board of Corrections and the Governor’s office. Mr. Norris said that they are all reported and more serious issues are also reported directly.

2:10 pm – Rep. Kidd is asking why the inmate involved was orginally incarcerated. Mr. Norris did not have that information. Rep. Kidd asked why the inmate was placed in solitary. Mr. Norris says that he was disturbing other inmates and displaying erratic behavior. Mr. Kidd complimented Mr. Norris and expressed belief that the situation where a mountain was being made out of a mole hill.

2:13 pm – Mr. Norris is now reporting on the prison escape. He is giving the details of how the escape was accomplished. The car avaliable was placed there under the guise of a “tobacco deal”. Apparently complacency during a shift-change allowed the inmates to walk out. Several new procedures have been put in place. There have been 6 people fired and several suspensions and other disciplinary actions.

2:16 pm – Rep. Harrelson is asking about the security of the uniform shop. He followed up with biometric checkpoints. Mr. Norris said that the it had been tried but did not work. Rep. Harrelson ask about funding. Mr. Norris said that we are better than some surrounding states, “but you get what you pay for.”

2:24 pm – Rep. Dismang is pointing out that it seems that the problems of lack of integrity. Mr. Norris agreed in one case, but he feels that others were simple complacency. Mr. Norris says you can’t legislated integrity and you can’t measure it to judge the suitablity of new employees.

2:27 pm – Rep. Lea is asking about the use of trustees. Mr. Norris says that they are very important

2:28 pm – Rep. Burris is asking if the escape was discussed at the board meeting. Mr. Norris says he discussed it with several of the members at the board meeting. Rep Burris asks if it was done in the formal part of the board meeting. Mr. Norris says it was not. Apparently the discussions were held informally one on one apart from the board meetings.

2:31 pm – Rep. Glover said he would make sure that the Chair or the Vice Chair are avaliable for the next meeting. The vice chair was here and headed to the podium for questioning, but was sent back and said that inquiry would be handled next time. I personally wish we could have questioned the Vice Chair before they have time polish their talking points.

2:34 pm – Senator Luker is not asking about the growth in the prison population and funding issues. Mr. Luker is saying that there is more failures of the legislature for funding than failures of the prison system. “Perhaps we need to be investigating ourselves.” He, looking at a brochure of prison demographics, goes on to point out how long some of our sentences are for particular offenses.

2:38 pm – Kim Hendren is pointing out that he had discussed with the chair the problems with the prison board. He points out that the legislature is repeatedly facing the issue of Board not doing their jobs. Senator Hendren requested that all of the Board of Corrections attend the next meeting. I think he is expressing bi-partisian feelings among the legislature. [My feelings are that the legislators displeasure seems to be focused on the Board of Correction, rather than the Governor or Mr. Norris the Director of the Department of Correction, albeit Mr. Norris may be being indirectly targeted.]

2:44 pm – Senator Farris is requesting that the committee use it’s supeona power to get the members of the Board of Corrections before this committee for inquiry.

2:46 pm – Senator Pritchard is wearing a class ring from LSU. Can’t we impeach State Senators for that?

2:48 pm – Mr. David Guntharp, the Director of the Department of Community Correction is presenting a Rehabilitiation Programs Update. Recidivism rates are currently at the lowest they have been in the last nine years.

2:51 pm – At a three-year post release, 2005 recidivism rates increased from 7.4% the first three months to 41.4% in three years, a overall 34% increase.

2:56 pm – Sen. Glover is disappointed in the number of legislators that remained in the committe to start dealing with what he believes to be the root of some of the prison population problem.

3:04 pm – Senator Glover seems to be concerned that we need to concentrate on prevention. I am not sure he and I agree on the method that would be best policies, but we do agree where to start.

3:15 pm – Have been looking for the Department of Correction Recidivism Study. The one we are currently looking at is the latest availiable – 2005. It is not yet online. If it ever gets posted to the web, you will find it here: http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/publications.html

3:18 pm – We are currently reviewing a presentation about community correction. I really wish we had these items online so I could post links for you. If I can get an electronic copy, I will post a link.

3:23 pm – Community supervision caseload has increased from 32,691 to 53,602 since 1997.

3:25 pm – 35% of the offenders under parole supervision who were sent back to prison in 1997, that number has dropped to 15% today. This is attributed to more supervision workers in the field. The probation has gone from 0.25% to 5.23%

3:32 pm – Drug Courts only have a 5.7% recidivism rate, however as much as 35% wash out before completing the program.

3:34 pm – Uh oh, someone said “Drug Court” and Senator Pritchard is here. Looks like we will be here for a couple of more hours. He has longer drug court sermons than the expositional preachers in my church.

3:37 pm – National research shows that participants in drug court treatment programs have lower re-arrests and re-convictions than comparison groups, and lower recidivism rates while in the programs.

3:39 pm – All drug court programs have reported a positive net savings from reductions in recidivism and avoided costs to potential victims, weighed against the costs of staffing drug courts. These statistics will need to monitored to make sure these programs remain tough and tightly monitored.

3:49 pm – Committee adjourned.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Agriculture, Forestry, & Economic Development – June 29, 2009

Posted on June 29th, 2009

Date & Time: Monday, June 29, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Location: Room 171, State Capitol
Agenda: http://tr.im/qc5T
Attachments: None

1:39 pm – Staff report complete. Staffer will be hiking naked on the Appalachain Trail…. or in Argentina. Either way, he will not be availiable next week.

1:41 pm – Richard Bell, the Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department, is presenting the update on Arkansas agriculture.

1:43 pm – The Arkansas Agriculture Department is a fairly new department within the state government.

1:44 pm – The dairy situation in Arkansas has now reached an emergency situation. The grant subsidies have been funded for the year for a cost of 9.1 million dollars. The amount is about $5 per hundred weight.

1:45 pm – Mr. Bell is discussing compressed natural gas distribution grants. The goal is to establish two fueling stations along Interstate 40. There are draft changes to account for other alternative fuels. Feed stock grants have been established for a cost of three million dollars.

1:48 pm – Biodiesel is having difficulty being competitive due to high soybean prices even though oil prices are sufficiently high enough for it to be potentially competitive. The biodiesel industry is struggling currently.

1:51 pm – The removal of the sale tax on farmers markets have really helped grow and enlarge the number of farmers markets.

1:53 pm – The Department of Agriculture is promoting the growing of specialty crops and produce such as sweet potatos. Walmart and Delmonte have been very cooperative in use of locally grown produce.

1:55 pm – Patrick Ralston has informed me that he will not be Argentina, however he has yet to confirm or deny that he will be hiking naked on the Appalachian Trail.

1:57 pm – The Agriculture Department is where the state survey plats are managed within the state government. Mr. Bell wondered if that should continue to be a free service.

1:59 pm – I am surprised that almost every department in state government, including the Department of Agricultures, is talking about the “temporary” positions that are being created to provide extra “help” for administering current programs funded by the “Recovery and Reinvestment Act” AKA the Obama Stimulus Plan.

2:02 pm – Arkansas is second in the nation in aquaculture. We are the only state that can ship baitfish anywhere in the US due to our inspection program.

2:04 pm – The crop agriculture in 2008 in Arkansas has done better than ever, but livestock agriculture in Arkansas has suffered. In 2009 crop agriculture may be down due to wet spring and lower planting rates of winter wheat. Feed cost will continue to impact livestock agriculture negatively and the down economy has created a slow buying market. Mr. Bell predicts some reduction in production of boiler chickens and pork.

2:08 pm – Mr Bell reports that there have been great changes in world agriculture since 2005. There are two reasons, 1) biofuels and 2) China purchases of soybeans. 31% of corn are being used for biofuels, that is 26,000,000 acres. To meet the additional demands of Chinese buying will require an additional 50,000,000 acres of soybeans.

2:12 pm – Mr. Bell completed his report, one of the most thorough I have ever heard. Good report. Representative Pennartz is asking questions about the speciality crops. Apparently most of these crops are consumed in Arkansas.

2:13 pm – There is currently about 8,000,000 acres in Arkansas availiable for farming in Arkansas with very little room for expansion. There is only about 33,000,000 acres in the conservation reserve program in the nation. Therefore, to meet current biofuel law requirements the cost of feedstocks are going to continue to rise, potentially drastically.

2:20 pm – Representative Ragland is asking Mr. Bell about the National Animal ID “listening” hearings. Mr. Bell said that he does not believe that mandatory requirements are going to happen. He said that grant programs to promote the voluntary enrollment is down so the enrollment is down. Mr. Bell apparently supports the National Animal ID Program and is disappointed that the grants are not renewed.

2:23 pm – There is an interim study currently going on concerning Apiary bills presented in the last session.

2:27 pm – Chairman Ragland is currently discussion potential meetings for the Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development Committee. This committee attempts to move it’s meetings around the state so that people that would not normal get to see a committee in action can participate.

2:30 pm – Rep. Hoyt mentions that the current studies concerning the Levee Districts impact the interests of this committee and that members on this committee should probably participate in those studies currently occuring.

2:31 pm – Committee adjourned.

UPDATE – Bureau of Legislative Research Staffer Patrick Ralston has denied that he would be hiking naked on the Appalacian Trail, he has however confirmed an upcoming vacation.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee On Highway Finance – June 25, 2009

Posted on June 25th, 2009

Date & Time: Tuesday, June 25, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Location: Room 151, State Capitol
Agenda: http://tr.im/pJxW
Attachments: TBD

10:07 am – Opening statements from Chairman and Vice Chairman. Vice Chairman Allen Maxwell drew our attention to an article in the June 2009 issue of “Governing” Magazine.

10:10 am – A representative from the Association of Arkansas Counties is currently discussing county government tax levies.

10:19 am – The property tax millage distribution between cities and counties is being discussed. I anticipate the Municipal League representative is choking on his coffee right now. Apparently the cities get 1/2 of the millage of the ratio of the city population to the overall county population. There seems to be a lot of interest in looking into that situtation further.

10:23 am – Mr. Michael Brown, Legislative Analyst in the Policy Analysis and Research Services division of the Bureau of Legislative Research is presenting a cross state comparision of Arkansas’s highway financing and infrastructure quality.

10:26 am – Arkansas has about the same number of highway miles but only half the population of Tennessee.

10:28 am – The cost of highway construction tracked pretty close to inflation for the last half century until Hurricane Katrina, where costs jumped drastically. Imagine that, when the government dumps tons of subsidy into an industry it causes inflation. I wonder what will happen to the cost of college tuition once the lottery money starts coming in?

10:31 am – BLR’s report says that Arkansas’s average highway funding has increased, in real terms, since 1982 an average of 3.10%. In a seven state sample that includes Arkansas and the six surrounding states, Arkansas’s per capita highway funding ranks fourth and its funding per highway mile ranks last.

10:34 am – Based upon IRI (International Roughness Index) data, there is not a significant correlation between road quality index and amount of funding.

10:36 am – A comparison of road quality among the seven states in the sample indicates that Arkansas’s road quality is among the best in the region. Arkansas ranks third among the surrounding states in overall road quality as measured by the International Roughness Index. Arkansas is below the national average in the percentage of roads that are rated “Mediocre” or “Poor,” indicating that Arkansas’s road quality if also better than the national average.

10:44 am – Dr. Wayne Miller, Professor with the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is presenting research proposals and options availiable to the Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance.

10:50 am – Here is a list of Proposed Possibilities:

1. Estimate the economic contribution of proposed highway construction and maintenance spending on the Arkansas economy.
   
2. Estimate the economic contribution of proposed highway construction and maintenance spending for local (regional) projects to show impact of proposed highway spending.
   
3. Estimate value of highway investments (using existing studies) on safety, travel time, motor fuel costs, consumer costs, lost time, and productivity.
   
4. Topics to address: 1) cost of deferring highway spending, 2) impact of severance tax funding, 3) sustainablity of funding for AHTD, 4) increase in property values due to highway investments, 5) and limitations imposed by weight restrictions.
   
5. Good transportation infrastructure and impact on tourism.
   
6. Provide the above information in the context of the current state of the highway system and highway funding system in the state, including funding gap analysis.
   
7. Corridor analysis of highway construction projects.

10:57 am – If you think that all that sounds like “new-speak” for spending taxpayer dollars to convince taxpayers why it is okay for government to rape and pillage your paycheck for yet more taxes, then you would probably be correct.

11:02 am – Committee members have broken all pretense of objective study. They actually said that we need to get and develop information that can be put into a thirty second television ad “to convince the public to support whatever solution we come up with“.

11:08 am – I cannot believe that this group is actually talking about “selling” the solution before they have even come up with a solution. Meanwhile, they are intentionally avoiding all discussion about the the efficient distribution of the funds by population or objective measures of highway quality statewide.

11:10 am – There appears to be a consensus of the committee that 1) there must be more tax funds raised, 2) that the fair and efficient distribution of highway dollars will NOT be discussed, and 3) that this is a critical-sky-is-falling situation that needed to happen as quickly as possible.

11:19 am – See the 7 points above at 10:50 am? That cost you the taxpayer $50,000. [Update: Apparently the research they want to do will cost that much, that price was not the cost of the proposal.]

10:20 am – It seems that the the PRIMARY concern of the committee and the topic that the discussion keeps returning to is that we need to do the work to convince the public to support (second time I have heard this) “whatever proposal we come up with.”

10:24 am – Some discussion of the effect of the movement to electric cars from liquid fuels. This has infrastructure impacts, but it seems that there is opposition to increased “per gallon” fuel taxes and instead seems to be some committee support of a “per mile” taxing method.

11:30 am – Dan Flowers is addressing the committee right now. He is apparently concerned about the apparent conflicting information provided by the Bureau of Legislative Research and the need analysis presented by Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

11:33 am – Mr. Mike Wilson is suggesting evaluating an internet tax as a method of highway finance. Hahahahahahaha! You guys are going to love that!

11:49 am – This committee is currently presenting motions to change it’s charge. I don’t know why I even bother. This committee was established to find a fair and sustainable funding method for highway finance. We don’t need to establish needs. Everybody knows there are regional needs. We don’t need it to be a publicity board for “selling” a tax to the public. The Bureau of Legislative Research presented that in general Arkansas highways are above average, Dan Flowers demostrates that there are indeed needs. If there is no conflict in those two things, and I believe there is not, then that means that what we have is regional needs, but don’t need large scale statewide investments. The voters in this state will support highway funding if the fairness in distribution is addresses. The two most populous areas of the state are not going to vote for another tax for highways under any circumstances if they are going to get 1/5th to 1/10th of the funding amount as other areas in the state.

11:55 am – Committee adjourned.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

House Higher Education Permanent Subcommittee – June 23, 2009

Posted on June 23rd, 2009

Date & Time: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Location: Arkansas Hall, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Agenda: http://tr.im/py1w
Attachments: none

10:30 am – Retention, Remediation, and Graduation Rates will be the major topic of discussion for today’s meetings.

10:36 am – Henderson is currently providing a presentation concerning Arkansas College Preparatory Academy.

10:38 am – Dr. Charles Welch, President of Henderson State University, is discussing the typical Arkansas family, where many of those graduating Arkansas High Schools have never had a family member to attend college, few have fathers who have graduated high school.

10:41 am – Only two counties in Southwest Arkansas have Baccalaureate degree attainment rate that is higher than the state average. Those are Clark and Garland counties at 19.8% and 18.0%. Several counties (Lafayette, Little River, Montgomery, and Sevier) are in single digits. Only ten counties of 75 meet or exceed the state average.

10:43 am – Dr. Welch is shared that for colleges to seek to raise the state degree attainment rate, there are disincentives, primarily because the colleges will have to remediate the students.

10:45 am – Colleges need to start making contact with students at an earlier stage, first generation students and families need more contact time to understand the importance of higher education. There also needs to be more contact with two year institutions. The transferability of course credits from college to college in Arkansas is important for students that start in two year institutions who want to seek a four year degree as cost effectively as possible.

10:50 am – Dr. Welch made the point that our colleges and community colleges need to make sure that they do a better job of taking the services to the students. Making access to higher education more convenient and easy to work into normal daily life is a key to increasing degree attainment rates in Arkansas. He pointed out that an employee of the college found it easier to pay for courses from a college in Wisconsin that could have been taken for free from Henderson, simply because of the web based convenience met the employees schedule needs.

10:55 am – Dr. Welch says that we need to start looking at higher education as an investment. He cited the statistic that the average Baccalaureate Degree holder has an education debt load of about $19,000.00, then said that he was here to tell us that $19,000.00 is a better investment than that $30,000.00 pick-up truck that students wouldn’t even blink at. According to him, there is no reason to decry how expensive college is when buying decisions like that are being made.

10:59 am – Mr. Donnie Whitten, Superintendent of Arkadelphia School District, is discussing the creation of the Arkadelphia College Preparatory Academy recognizing the startup supporters and contributors.

11:08 am – Mr. Whitten is currently discussing the “Explore Data” and asking why Arkansas does not better utilize that information. The Explore Data is collected from ACT type tests that occur for self identified college bound students in the 8th grade. This test data can identify students who want to go to college but do not currently meet the benchmark score to be on track to succeed.

11:14 am – Local universities, public schools, Dawson Education Service Cooperative, business partners, community leaders, parents, and elected officials are collaborating to address college remediation, retention, and graduation rates beginning at the middle school level using date from EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT. These partners are Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Ouachita Technical College, Arkadelphia Public Schools, Dawson Education Service Cooperative, South Arkansas Math and Science Center, HSU/OBU ROTC, Ross Foundation, Southern Bancorp, Clark County Strategic Plan Education Sub-Committee, Local State Representative, State ERZ, and the State Education Commissioner.

11:21 am – Ms. Paulette Blacknall, Director of the Southwest Arkansas Education Renewal Zone, stated that the Arkadelphia College Preparatory Academy (APCA) will become much more “competitive” as the program is expanded beyond the pilot program to outside of the Arkadelphia School District to other surrounding school districts.

11:23 am – Ms. Blacknall says that classes at the ACPA are co-taught with one public school teacher/licensed teacher and one university faculty. There are strong expectations of students with actual statements of commitment from the students and the parents. The handbook rules are rigid with expectations of attendance, tardiness, unacceptable behaviors, and identification. There are uniform requirements.

11:33 am – Mr. Donnie Whitten discussed the start-up of the ACPA.

11:47 am – Dr. Wesley Kluck, Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Ouachita Baptist University is discussing the Clark County Strategic Plan. He is covering the history, implementation, and areas of interests. Those areas of interest are Economic Development, Housing, Leadership, Education, Tourism, and Healthcare.

12:03 pm – Ms. Mary Elizabeth Eldridge, Director of Programs for the Ross Foundation discussing involvement and cooperation with Southern Bankcorp to start ACPA and other community programs.

12:58 pm – Steve Breedlove presented the initial discussion of Interim Study Proposal 2009-003 (formerly HB1251) – AN ACT TO CREATE A LOAN PROGRAM FOR OUT-OF-STATE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND TO PROVIDE FOR FORGIVENESS OF LOANS FOR PROFESSIONALS WHO PRACTICE IN ARKANSAS FOR NO LESS THAN FIVE (5) YEARS.

1:01 pm – The purpose is to provide incentives for mostly medical professionals to return to Arkansas and practice in towns of 15,000 or less. Apparently Missouri and Kansas are actively recruiting for there medical and dental schools and giving incentives for them to stay and practice in those states.

1:10 pm – Dr. Calvin Johnson, Dean of the School of Education at the University of Pine Bluff discussing issues related to Education Renewal Zones. Dr. Johnson created the legislation that established the Education Renewal Zones (ERZ). Apparently, all Arkansas high schools are not served by Education Renewal Zones. The ERZs are affiliated with the 10 state universities.

1:26 pm – Senator Jimmy Jeffress asked why the ERZs are not associated with the Educational Cooperatives so that all schools would be associated with an ERZ. I was unable to determine a relevant response. Senator Jeffress brings up a good point that should probably have a follow up.

1:34 pm – Dr. Jim Purcell, Director of Arkansas Department of Higher Education, is making a presentation related to Concurrent Enrollment in Arkansas. 23% of concurrent enrollment is English, and 15% of concurrent enrollment is Mathematics. Other major areas are vocational technical and business courses.

1:55 pm – Concurrent credit creates a big opportunity to meet some of the goals of increasing the degree attainment rates. Dr. Purcell discussed audit and areas where Arkansas concurrent system is being improved. Apparently the teachers union is very opposed to concurrent enrollment. Their current claim is that concurrent enrollment lacks rigor compared to Advanced Placement courses. Dr Purcell stated that there a real need for quality concurrent enrollment courses in addition to AP.

2:01 pm – Due to working on emergency power and no air conditioner (all power off on the Henderson Campus), the remaining agenda is tabled. Meeting adjourned.

Filed under Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Arkansas Legislative Council – June 19, 2009

Posted on June 19th, 2009

Date & Time: Friday, June 19, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Location: Room 171, State Capitol Little Rock, Arkansas
Agenda: http://tr.im/p3dc
Attachments: http://tr.im/p3cK

9:03 am – Called to order, Roll call, approved minutes of May 15, 2009 meeting.

9:05 am – Richard Wilson, Assistant Director Research Services of Bureau of Legislative Research is presenting the May 2009 Monthly Revenue Report. See http://tr.im/p3cK for Attachment Exhibit D. Revenues are off, but ahead of budget predictions. Cigarette Taxes are currently on target to generate an extra 70 to 100 million in additional revenue. Severence Tax is dismal.

9:12 am – Reports of the standing committees are currently being presented. You can see most of these reports in the attachements link above. Attachment F.10 which is the ALC/REVIEW Committee is one of the few that has much important information, nothing remarkable even there.

9:17 am – Report from the Charitable, Penal, & Correctional Institutions included information about the firing of five workers at the Cummins Unit. There is an article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette this morning.

9:20 am – Greg Butts, Director of Arkansas State Parks reported on the preventive maintenance expenditures.

9:23 am – Currently reviewing the report of the number fo aircraft currently owned by Arkansas state agencies. Military Department declined to reveal based upon security. That sounds reasonable to me.

9:26 am – Meeting adjourned.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Revenue & Tax Committee – June 18, 2009

Posted on June 18th, 2009

Date & Time: Wednesday, June 18, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Location: Room 151, State Capitol Little Rock, Arkansas
Agenda: http://tr.im/oXf3
Attachments: none

1:39 pm – Meeting has not started yet. Committee room is quite full. The committee will be adopting interim study proposals today.

1:42 pm – Committee called to order.

1:44 pm – Most of all the interim study proposals are bills that failed to pass during the last session.

1:45 pm – Senator Teague moved that ALL proposals be approved for interim study. Motion passed.

1:47 pm – Rep. Mike Burris is currently presenting Interim Study Proposal 2009-54. It is based upon his bill HB1802 of 2009 to provide that the sales of machinery or equipment and related attachments used for the harvesting of timber shall be exempt from the sales and use tax. The revenue impact is $880,000 in annual state sales tax loss and and a $5,000 local sales tax loss. The timber industry currently does not have some of the same exemptions that other agricultural interests have. This proposal may go beyond current farm exemptions.

1:59 pm – Apparently IPS 2009-054 only deals with harvesting equipment and does not cover other areas of the timber farming. Sen. Terry Smith wonders if something may be missing from the study.

2:01 pm – Rep. Pennartz and Rep. Burris are currently discussing the effects of dynamic scoring to support the need and effects of this proposal! I am surprised to hear that kind of discussion coming from Democrats since they are dead set against using dynamic scoring as a standard practice.

2:04 pm – Senator Malone, the chairman, is suggesting a study to evaluate the competing exemptions in surrounding states. Senator Teague, the original sponsor of agricultural tax exemptions while he was in the house, is discussing the need to study the entire list of agricultural exemptions.

2:11 pm – Rep. Garner is asking why the timber industry was specifically not exempted by legislation. There is very little institutional memory due to term limits. Nobody has a definite answer. I suspect it is because the amount of the tax cut was too big to be able to pass, and since the timber industry has less representation in the legislature, then they were the ones cut out of the bill. Senator Capps believes some of it was because we were seeking to match the exemptions in surrounding states.

2:15 pm – The timber industry did not have an association in 1987 when this exemption was passed, so they did not have a lobbyists at the time it passed. I would say that about explains it.

2:24 pm – This tax is making Arkansas timber harvesters less competitive compared to competitors out of state. The cost of the tax is almost equal to the amount of the down payment. This often requires the short term financing of the tax itself.

2:38 pm – ISP 2009-54 adopted for study. Committee adjourned

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Washington County Republican Women Troop Care Packages

Posted on June 15th, 2009

The Washington County Republican Women are sending items to the 362 Psychological Company out of Fayetteville. That unit is now training in New Jersey and will be leaving for Iraq in July. Kim DeRose, the Family Group Readiness Leader, and wife of one of the soldiers, spoke at the May meeting and requested particular items to bring to the June meeting on June 24th at 11:30 am at the Fayetteville Clarion

Items to bring:

• Books
• DVD Movies
• Phone Card Minutes
• Food (beef jerky is a favorite)
• Playing Cards
• Puzzle Books
• Board Games

Kim DeRose will take these items to them when she goes to see her husband before they ship out.

Note from Mark Martin:

According to friends who have recently returned, most hygene items (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.) while still needed are not as rare as in the beginning except at a few duty assignments. It is quality stuff for women (Pantene Conditioner, Neutrogena) that seems to be the most missed. It also seems that baby wipes, chapstick, and sun block is still in almost universal short supply.

As far as food items go, apparently in addition to beef jerky, another favorite is Flaming Hot Cheetos but generally Granola, Trail Mix, Nuts, Dried Fruits, and Powerbars are not just treats but also help them maintain energy and focus for their mission. Also, if you really want to make them happy – hook them up with some energy drinks like Monster, Redbull, Rockstar, Crunk, or Venom. Protein Powder, Creatine, and Multivitamins are also good ideas.

You can pick up MP3 Players for less than $25. You don’t know how insanely you would rock if you could afford to send a few. Other ideas in this category in additon to movie DVDs is Music CDs, but don’t forget video games for PSP, XBox360, PS2, PS3, or Nintendo DS.

If you want to see what soldiers are generally asking for, or if you want to send items to a specific soldier you can click here: AnySoldier.com

Shhhhhh: Don’t tell anyone I told you (although it is perfectly legal to send, it is just not P.C.) but a big ol’ box of cigars (include a cutter), some poker chips, and several decks of cards would generally mean that you are a lot cooler than everyone else sending their lame boxes of ivory soap and prell.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Public Health, Welfare, and Labor Committee – June 15, 2009

Posted on June 15th, 2009

Date & Time: Wednesday, June 15, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Location: Room 130, State Capitol Little Rock, Arkansas
Agenda: http://tr.im/oze6
Attachments: none

1:34 pm – The review of the minutes from the May 26, 2009 meeting have been read and approved.

1:35 pm – Ron Fuller, Local Council for LogistiCare, is currently reporting on LogistiCare & Medicaid Transportation contracts with the State of Arkansas.

1:39 pm – Linda Powell, Arkansas Operations Manager for LogistiCare, is currently giving the committee an overview about the company and what they do.

1:41 pm – You can read about LogistiCare here: http://tr.im/oztU

1:50 pm – Gregg Bryars, Vice President of Operations for LogistiCare, is currently discussing their internal performance metrics and goals and has three focuses that they have 1) Quality of Service, 2) Quality of Safety, and 3) Quality of Relationships.

1:53 pm – They had created “report cards” for these metrics. The state system was scoring at about 70% when they started. They are nearing their goal of greater than 90%.

1:59 pm – Rep. Gaskill complimented the company on the fact that fraud has drastically been cut since this company took over.

2:01 pm – Rep. English asked what the total amount of the contract was for. It is $11.3 million.

2:04 pm – Rep. Ray Kidd is asking how the charges are determined. LogistiCare is not paid on a per trip basis. Sub-contractors are paid based upon the level of special services and distance. The level of services is reported by the member requesting services.

2:14 pm – Today sure is Monday. Some days it is amazing how many times legislators ask questions that have already been answered because they were not paying attention. Today is one of those days. Understandable if you have ever sit through some of these meetings, I have often struggled to pay the kind of attention that I should.

2:26 pm – Chairman Reep is inquiring with DHS about the department’s perception of the performance of LogistiCare. The only issue seems to be a clarification of “the 30 mile rule.”

2:29 pm – Rep. Adcock is inquiring with DHS about the cost to Medicaid. It is about $5 per member per month regardless of the number of trips paid to the “broker” but the subcontractor is paid by the broker by an internal contract.

2:43 pm – The super secret members only bathroom in the state capitol has “Sunshine Scent” air freshener. Apparently sunshine smells like a combination of OFF!, Roses, and Lemon, Who Knew?

2:46 pm – Currently listening to comments from the public about problems that individuals have with LogistiCare. Did you guys know that the chairmen of our legislative committees often will allow you to come comment when these contracts are being reviewed by the legislature.

3:06 pm – Committee Adjourned.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Test Live Blogging From Tilt

Posted on June 14th, 2009

7:28 – This is a test. This blog, OffTheMarble.com, is conducting a test of the Emergency Insurrection System. This is only a test.

7:38 – This is a test of the Emergency Insurrection System. The bloggers of your area in voluntary opposition to Federal, State, and Local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an actual insurrection. If this had been an actual insurrection, the blog information you just read would have been followed by subversive information, news, or instructions. This blog, OffTheMarble.com, serves the great right wing conspiracy. This concludes this test of the Emergency Insurrection System.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »

Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Summary & Planned Actions

Posted on June 12th, 2009

The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee will be performing and intensive review of Tobacco Settlement Proceeds funding distribution and programs.

Overview:

The Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act, as established by Initiated Measure 1 of 2000, was enacted to direct how Arkansas would spend its portion of a settlement between the Attorney General of the Unitied States and five major tobacco-producing companies since the settlement did not specifiy how states were to spend their share of the settlement. The Act created teh Tobacco Settlement Program Fund and required Fund deposits to be spent on the following four programs.

1. Prevention and Cessation Program: The goal of the program is to reduce the initiation of tobacco use and the resulting negative health and economic impact.
   
2. Targeted State Needs Program: The goal of the program is to improve the healthcare systems in Arkansas and the access to healthcare delivery systems, thereby resolving critical deficiencies that negatively impacct the health of the citizens of the state.


3. Arkansas Biosciences Institute Program: The goal of the program is to develop new tobacco-related medical and agricultural research initiatives to improve the access to new technologies, improve the health of Arkansans, and stabilize the economic security of Arkansas.


4. Medicaid Expansion Program: The goal of the program is to expand access to healthcare through targeted Medicaid expansions, thereby improving the health of eligible Arkansans.

The Act also enables the Tobacco Settlement Commission to spend tobacco settlement funds for the cost of monitoring the program. The Commission receives its funding from the interest earned in the Tobacco Settlement Program Fund.

Objectives:

Our objectives for evaluating the distribution of funds set forth in the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act are as follows:

1. Determine Tobacco Settlement Funds have been allocated properly according to the percentages set forth in Arkansas Code.


2. Compile and analyze expenditures over a 5-year period to identify anomalies. For example, perform more in depth review of programs with expenditures that appear unusual in relation to other programs.


3. Determine how programs have fulfilled their stated missions.


4. Compile grants awarded and determine the effectiveness of monitoring and reporting procedures for those grants.


5. Search for duplicative programs.


6. Check fund balances.


7. Review status of bonds and when bonds were paid off.

The Joint Subcommittee of the Public Health Committees will also be conducting a review related to the Tobacco Settlement Programs. There will be al top to bottom review of all agencies and organizations that recieve tobacco settlement money. The subcommittee will perform complete performance reviews including but not limited to strategic plans, mission statements, goals, organizational structures, performance metrics, and evaluate and require at their budget coordinate explicitly with the mission, goals and objectives of the organization.

Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments »