Arkansas House Commentary - Jan 29, 2011: Spending Cuts, Healthcare Reform, and Abortion Issues.

Justin Harris

By Rep. Justin Harris: The halls of the Arkansas State Capitol were buzzing with conversation of spending cuts, healthcare reform, and abortion issues.

The House convened and passed House Bill 1063, the $36 million spending bill that Joint Budget Committee amended last week to remove judicial pay raises totaling $475,000. The full House and Senate approved the General Appropriation Act.

Significantly, the vote to freeze salaries opened a valuable window for House Legislators to begin discussing spending cuts and examining every dollar appropriated by state government.  I expect budget issues to remain at the forefront of our legislative agenda as each party works together to contain state spending and advance Arkansas economically.

The House passed a measure by Rep. Kathy Webb of Little Rock on Wednesday, which would allow individuals to choose to be notified by e-mail rather than regular mail when it is time to renew their vehicle registration.  This could potentially save our state $97,000 annually.

Speaking of saving state money, the full House passed my bill on Tuesday which requires sex offenders to verify their registration at local law enforcement agencies, potentially saving our state over $70,000 in postage annually. House Bill 1007 now heads to the Senate.

The Nick Bacon Remembrance Act, named for the late Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Nick Bacon, was approved by the House. The Act would allow honorably discharged veterans to have their veteran’s status listed on their Arkansas driver’s license.  It was a great privilege to have Nick Bacon’s family as our guests as the bill passed the House.

Midweek, the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee voted 12-7 to prevent House Bill 1053, the Healthcare Freedom Act, from reaching the House floor for a full debate and vote. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, aimed to prevent the individual mandate in the healthcare law from forcing Arkansans to purchase health insurance. Five Republicans and two Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the Healthcare Freedom Act. Individual liberty and freedom of choice take precedent over federally-imposed mandates, and I applaud those committee members who took a principled stand to represent conservative Arkansas values.

What to watch for:

• A Senate Bill aimed at preventing taxpayer dollars from funding abortions as projected in the federal healthcare overhaul is now headed to the Arkansas House. Republican Senator Cecile Bledsoe of Rogers sponsored the legislation, which I fully intend to support as it reaches the House floor.
• My bill, HB1008, that would not allow illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition. We do not allow students from other states to receive the tuition break.  Currently, California is being sued for allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants but not for other students from other states.

As your Representative, I am honored to serve you in the Arkansas House.
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Justin Harris is Arkansas State Representative (R-District 87). Although he directly represents Crawford and Southern Washington Counties, he also represents all Arkansans with his public stands for limited, transparent and responsible government. He is both a fiscal and social conservative and is the owner of Growing God's Kingdom preschool in West Fork, Arkansas.

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