Two South Arkansas Democratic senators flipped their votes on Gov. Asa Hutchinson's $97 million tax cut bill on Wednesday, pushing the legislation to the House of Representatives where it is expected to find difficulty toward the same three-fourths votes to be enacted into law.

 

In the first real test for Hutchinson's broad agenda for the 92nd General Assembly, a super-majority of legislators gave the governor a quick 28-5 vote victory on Senate Bill 211 after losing a bruising floor debate a day earlier on retooling the state's top income bracket.

 

Under Hutchinson's abridged 5.9 plan, Arkansas' top marginal rate would drop to 6.6% in the first year of the biennium and down to the preferred 5.9% in the second year.

 

Unlike the  vote held the previous day, when two Republican senators failed to get Hutchinson's bill over the finish line by refusing to vote on the measure, SB 211 won approval with one vote to spare with the help of two Democrats who changed their minds. Sen. Eddie Cheatham, D-Crossett and Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia, reversed from a "nay" to a "yea."

 

Immediately after the vote, Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, asked Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, who presides over the Senate, for a "clincher" vote on SB211, a procedural act in which a full Senate agrees that the just-adopted bill can't be reconsidered unless there is a consensus of the majority. SB 211 now goes to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Joe Jett, R-Success, one of the bill's chief architects.

Arkansas legislative leaders called Monday for an increase in fines for ethics violations and a measure barring elected officials convicted of certain crimes from collecting their retirement benefits, moves intended to clean up the Capitol's image in the wake of widening corruption probes.

 

The top Republicans and Democrats in the predominantly GOP House and Senate announced a package of six bills focused on ethics reform following the probes that have involved several former lawmakers and lobbyists over the past two years.

 

The proposals include  increasing  the maximum fines the state Ethics Commission can levy for a violation from $2,000 to $3,500, and to increase the commission's staffing and funding. It also includes a proposal that would make an elected official ineligible to collect retirement benefits for their position if they're convicted of a felony related to that position. Another proposal unveiled Monday would increase the penalties elected officials would face for personal use of campaign funds. The package also will include a ban on political action committees donating to other PACs, and a prohibition on elected officials having multiple PACs.

A bill that would abolish the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace and move its duties to the Arkansas Insurance Department moved one step closer to the governor's desk Wednesday. Senate Bill 113 by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, passed the House Insurance and Commerce Committee on a voice vote with a few members voting no. It now moves to the full House for consideration after having already passed the Senate. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he supports the bill.

 

AHIM is the state-based entity helping administer the exchange through which individuals purchase private insurance under the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Currently, 62,731 Arkansans have insurance that they purchased through the exchange. The bill would complete the transfer of duties by March 15.

 

The bill arose after an oversight committee studied the issue for 18 months. It was chaired by Sen. Ronald Caldwell, R-Wynne, and Rep. Deborah Ferguson, D-West Memphis. Rapert, Caldwell and Ferguson told legislators the marketplace, an independent, quasi-state entity, has outlived its usefulness, and its regulatory functions are duplicative of work already done by the Arkansas Insurance Department. They said the Insurance Department could do the same work for much less or possibly for no additional cost at all.