Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Roebuck Discusses Session; Three Issues Dominant

Three things stood out in the recent legislative session for freshman representative Tommy Roebuck.

The first was the budget, as, he said, the whole process was mind-boggling for a first-timer.

The legislature took its collective seat at the beginning of the session with word from Gov. Mike Huckabee there would be a $20 million shortfall.

Huckabee's statement proved to be wrong, as, toward the end of the session, the shortfall proved to be even greater  $58 million.

With the fiscal problems, Roebuck said, even the joint budget committee was confused at times, as everyone struggled to figure how to fund what needed funding.

It wound up being the longest session ever, but the state will have a balanced budget for the next two years.

The next big issue, Roebuck said, was the teacher pay raises.

Huckabee made a blanket statement before the session saying he would give teachers a $3,000 pay raise next year.

This, though, didn't happen, as the money for the promise wasn't there.

The legislature worked to find ways to give teachers the raise, and in the end, the raise will be based on districts putting up 20 percent of the money with the state picking up the tab for the rest, if Arkansas has an economic growth rate of 5.8 percent per year.

"There are still a lot of questions there," Roebuck said. "The teacher pay raise overshadowed the entire session."

State workers also got a pay raise of 2.6 percent across the board. But, Roebuck said, this wasn't a fair deal as the raise translates into more money for those with large salaries and less for others.

"We need to do better next time," he said. The employees at the bottom of the salary schedule, Roebuck continued, need more than those at the top.

Number three on the list was how to spend the state's portion of the tobacco settlement money.

This, he said, took a lot of time. But, Huckabee had proposed Act 1, which was approved by the voters in the November General Election.

Because of budget problems, though, the House Democrats stuck to their guns and fought for part of the money for short term programs, along with meals on wheels, and a prescription drug plan for senior citizens.

Compromises were made during the final week of the session, with the Democrats obtaining $5 million for the prescription drug plan on a 3:1 match.

In addition, $20 million was found for the meals on wheels program, with senior citizens centers getting some financial help as well.

Roebuck said had he known there would be such a big difference in the projected shortfalls from the first of the session to the end, he would have changed the way he voted on some issues, but not many.

Knowing there would be a shortage, he supported giving tax credits to two industries. One an established industry and the other just getting started.

The business in its initial phases of operation is a steel mill near Osceola, while the other was help for Georgia Pacific near Crossett.

The steel plant, he said, will hire several hundred people and generate tax money.

Roebuck said State Sen. Percy Malone, district 3, will likely be the top man in the next session as chairman of the joint budget committee, and this will be important for this area.

He and Malone worked together during the session, with Roebuck also working with Rep. Sandra Rodgers.

Roebuck was also involved in four cleanup bills for Secretary of State Sharon Priest, along with four or five bills dealing with dentistry.

One of these bills established the office of dental health at health departments. The director of this office must be a dentist with a masters degree in public health, over and above the dental degree.

Roebuck was also involved on a couple of insurance bills and one on homebuilders.

He also co-sponsored several bills, including the 3 percent beer tax, which will give $9 million to the state's pre-school programs, such as ABC, which had been cut at the start of the session for lack of funding.Another educational measure left out at the start because of money problems was the state's scholarship program. Roebuck said the assembly found funding for it, though the limit was dropped from $70,000 to $50,000 for household income.

Retired teachers successfully lobbied for an increase in their retirement pay, getting a 4 percent cost of living adjustment.

Roebuck also supported raising the cost of driver's licenses by $1.50 per year, with the additional money to be used to help the Arkansas State Police with their insurance program for officers.

Another measure Roebuck, a member of the revenue and taxation committee, supported was a 10 percent tax on rental cars, with these monies to be used to help purchase SCAT buses.

"Being on the revenue and taxation committee," he said, "we had to look hard for other revenue sources. This (the car rental tax) was one source we feel won't impact the people of Arkansas much."

A "bed tax" of $5.25 was also passed to help the state's ailing nursing home industry. As Roebuck explained it, 83 percent of nursing home residents are Medicaid patients, with 17 percent being private pay patients.

The bed tax comes from Medicaid in a 3:1 match, meaning for every dollar the state puts in Medicaid puts in three.

The "bed tax", he said, will be paid through private pay patients, with the money to be used for hiring more staff at nursing homes and improving services.

Several nursing homes, he said, were on the brink of going bankrupt.

The nursing home industry presented a bill on tort reform, asking the legislature to set a cap of $250,000 on suits against nursing homes. However, this measure failed.

Changes need to be made to help better orient freshman representatives, Roebuck said. As it stands, a person is elected in November and the session begins the first week in January.

First-time legislators, he said, have to deal with the holidays, then turn around and begin the session.

"They don't know what's going on," he said. "They don't know how to write or present bills. I'd like to see the state set back so they could get a couple of weeks orientation.

"I'll be ready next time, if I win again."

According to Roebuck, the legislators had 500 to 600 bills in the hopper by the time they arrived in January, and dealt with the most bills ever presented.

The bills waiting at the start of the session, he said, came from interim study groups. Roebuck plans on working with such groups between now and the next session to be better prepared in presenting bills of his own.

One problem, he noted, is the loss of experience because of term limits. Rodgers, he said, is one of the many representatives who "termed out" this session and can't run for this office again.

"Lobbyists and bureaucrats have taken the vacuum created by term limits," he said.

Term limits were discussed during the session, but the general consensus was such an issue should be presented by the people, not politicians.

At the very least, Roebuck said, the terms should be extended beyond six years. Most states with term limits allow their representatives an senators to spend 12 years in office.

In Arkansas, the limit is three two-year terms, with the official being a lame duck in the third term.