Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Senate Looks Back At Accomplishments

Members of the Arkansas Senate will work on numerous state government issues and make important budget decisions in the year 2000.

During budget hearings next fall legislators will review in detail spending requests of all state agencies. State general revenue spending will total more than $3.1 billion during the current fiscal year.

Another important budget issue facing legislators will be the decision on how to receive and spend money owed to the state in the settlement of a lawsuit against tobacco companies. The state is expecting to get about $1.62 billion over the next 25 years. The payments are to compensate the state for the costs of treating people with tobacco-related illnesses.

Current members of the General Assembly cannot obligate future legislators to spend future payments as we would wish to see it spent. However, we can make wise decisions on how to spend initial payments from cigarette manufacturers so that future lawmakers have a strong foundation on which to build.

Important elections will be held in 2000. In the Arkansas Senate, 17 positions will be up for election. In 13 of those races the incumbents cannot seek re-election, because the term limits amendment is forcing their departure from the Senate. In the other four Senate districts the incumbents are finishing their first terms, and can seek re-election if they choose.

All 100 positions in the state House of Representatives will be decided, as they are every two years. In the 2000 elections, 24 House members are prohibited from seeking re-election, because of term limits.

At least three proposed constitutional amendments will be on the November ballot. They were referred by the legislature. One would reform the property tax system to provide relief for senior citizens, to provide tax credits against property tax payments and to limit annual increases in property assessments.

Another proposal would change the judicial system, making all judicial campaigns non- partisan. It would convert state and local courts into circuit courts and district courts. It would extend the terms of prosecutors from two to four years. The third amendment would give cities and counties authority to borrow money for up to five years.

It is very likely that voters will determine the outcome of several other proposed amendments. Citizens' groups are gathering signatures for an amendment to abolish property taxes completely. If such a proposal is put before voters, it would be of utmost importance, because property taxes pay for schools, libraries and local government.

The school year that begins next fall will be significant, because it probably will be the first time that charter schools operate in Arkansas. Lawmakers enacted a more flexible charter school law in the 1999 legislative session and as a result, the state Education Department has received 13 applications.

Schools in southwest and northwest Arkansas, as well as in Pulaski County, will have to meet the needs of a growing population of immigrants who don't speak English as a first language.

The Highway and Transportation Department will issue bonds in 2000 to pay for improvements to interstate highways. University Hospital in Little Rock, the site of the state's only medical school, will continue trying to solve budget problems that threaten the jobs of hundreds of employees.