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Governor makes official call for Special Session

Governor makes official call for Special Session

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Governor makes official call for Special Session

Hutchinson brings legislators back to Little Rock to tackle Highway Funding, other issues

ralphhardin@gmail.com Arkansas lawmakers, including local State Senator Keith Ingram and State Representatives Deborah Ferguson and Milton Nicks, will be heading back to Little Rock tomorrow.

Governor Asa Hutchinson has made the official call to legislators for a Special Session of the 90th General Assembly that will convene Thursday, May 19. The key item for the session will be the Governor’s highway funding plan, but other items will be getting attention from legislators as well, including legislation to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of state government by amending the membership, tenure and duties of certain agencies, task forces, committees and commissions.

Each item listed on the call is considered a unique circumstance that warrants immediate action by the legislature, rather than wait until the regularly scheduled General Assembly next January.

Along with the official call, the Governor has announced all items on the Special Session agenda.

“The purpose of this Special Session is to address our state’s immediate highway funding needs without the unnecessary burden of raising taxes on Arkansans,” said Hutchinson. “In addition, the legislature will be asked to approve legislation to promote efficiency and effectiveness of state government operations as well as a few items that warrant immediate action.”

There will likely be some local interest on one particular agenda item, the merging of Crowley’s Ridge Technical Institute into East Arkansas Community College.

Other agenda items are as follows:

• To increase funding for repair, construction and proper maintenance of Arkansas bridges and roads and to address legislative review of proposed rules of the State Highway Commission.

• To promote efficiency and effectiveness in the operations of state government by transferring the Arkansas History Commission to the Department of Arkansas Heritage and amending the membership, tenure, and duties of certain agencies, task forces, committees, and commissions.

• To enhance and streamline the process of identifying and filling board vacancies for certain improvement districts, including levee, drainage, irrigation, watershed and river improvement districts.

• To protect the property rights of an individual in the use of the individual’s name, voice, signature and likeness.

• To address the qualifications of professionals under the Private Security Agency, Private Investigator and School Security Licensing and Credentialing Act.

• To clarify the law regarding workers’ compensation payments under the workers’ compensation law that resulted from initiated measure 1948, No. 4 and to end payments to the Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund.

• To reenact the original date of the sunset of the Arkansas Works Program established by identical Acts 2016 (2nd Ex. Sess.), Nos. 1 and 2.

• To amend the law to enable annual school elections to be held in November, to make technical corrections to the law concerning the annual school elections and to amend the funding structure and other essential administrative provisions concerning certain school elections.

• To amend Ark. Code Ann. § 9-28-217 to permit release of juvenile records to a person, agency or organization engaged in bona fide research or evaluation project determined by the Division of Youth Services of the Department of Human Services to have value for the evaluation or development of policies to advance juvenile justice.

• To amend the criminal offense of sexual indecency with a child.

• To prohibit identification of schools or districts as being in academic distress pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-428 for the 20162017 school year and to prohibit assignment of school ratings pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-152105 for the 2016-2017 school year.

• To amend Ark. Code Ann. § 12-80-104 concerning earthquake resistant design requirements for buildings and other structures.

• To confirm gubernatorial appointees.

By Ralph Hardin

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