Arkansas House Commentary - Feb 27, 2011: AR Legislature - Deadline to file bills: Monday, March 7

Justin Harris

By Rep. Justin Harris: House members began an eventful week on President's Day and recognized the day as Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas. We passed a resolution to honor the life and legacy of Bates, who worked as a civil rights leader and advisor to the "Little Rock Nine" as they integrated Central High School in 1957.

I am excited to let people know that a bill designed to create a sales tax holiday for the purpose of back to school shopping was approved Wednesday by the Arkansas House with a 90-3 vote. Rep. Matthew Shepherd's House Bill 1369 would exempt items such as clothing and school supplies from state sales tax the first weekend of August every year. Establishing a tax-free weekend for school shopping will allow working families, teachers and school districts to save money and better provide for students. Most surrounding states already have a similar tax-free weekend in effect. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Tax cuts will help transform our state into an economic engine for business growth and private sector job creation. In the coming weeks, the Arkansas House and Senate will negotiate which tax cuts to send to the Governor's office to sign. What's crucial to remember is cutting taxes does not translate into cutting essential services. Any tax cut measure passed by each chamber and approved by the Governor will be spent from the administration's projected 2.5 percent growth in state spending. Instead of increasing state spending, we need to cut taxes and stimulate economic development.

The House State Agencies Committee also considered a bill by Rep. Jon Hubbard, which I co-sponsored, Wednesday which would deny state benefits to illegal immigrants except in emergencies and prenatal care. After hours of debate, the bill failed in committee with a party line vote of eight Democrats voting no and 9 Republicans voting yes.

While a thunderstorm was brewing outside the Capitol on Thursday, inside lawmakers passed a resolution to finish legislative work by April 1 and return for a "sine die" on April 27. A "sine die" is the final adjournment of the legislative session. We have a number of critical issues to tackle in the final five weeks of the session including, highway funding, prison reform and congressional redistricting.

A Senate bill to strengthen Second Amendment rights was passed Thursday in the Arkansas House. The measure prevents cities or counties from taking up guns in case of emergency declared by the governor.

Since commencing the session in January, lawmakers in the Arkansas House of Representatives have filed 607 bills as of Friday afternoon. Only 146 bills from the Legislature have been signed into law by Governor Beebe. The deadline to file bills is Monday, March 7.

As your Representative, I am honored to serve you in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
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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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