Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Roebuck pleased with first session in House

State Rep. Johnnie Roebuck has just completed her first legislative session as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, and overall she said she pleased with the way it went.

Roebuck said the fact that the state had more than $800 million in surplus funds made the session much easier as legislators cut taxes and funded other projects around the state.

It was a good time to be a freshman, she said.

One thing that helped Roebuck going into the session was already knowing many of the members through her husband, former State Rep. Tommy Roebuck. However, she gives most of the credit to Sen. Percy Malone who acted as her mentor throughout the session.

I could not have done it without him, she said. I think we really worked together as a team.

Roebuck said she is proud of the two major pieces of legislation she was able to get signed into law. She said getting the bills passed took having regular meetings with all of the people affected by the policies and a lot of hard work.

The first of the two pieces of legislation is the Health Facilities Infection Disclosure Act. This act will require health facilities to report incidences of infections so that patients can be better informed.

That came from some of my constituents in District 20 who asked for that, she said.

To ensure the bill included all of the necessary components, she worked with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas Childrens Hospital.

Roebuck is also proud that a bill which will form the Arkansas Professional Licensing Board made it through both chambers. The board will work with educators and help strengthen the profession of teaching.

There are a lot of issues on the table, she said.

Through this act, a code of ethics for educators will be developed and submitted to the Arkansas Department of Education for approval.

Roebuck is a professor at Henderson State University and a certified public school teacher.

Education was a major topic during the session, Roebuck said. The legislature was under pressure from the Arkansas Supreme Court to ensure that the states school facilities were adequate. An appropriation of $456 million was made to help funds school facility improvements.

Everyone had their facility plans in, she said. Now we think we can do the things the school requested.

Schools also received a raise in their per pupil finding, Roebuck said, however the legislature was mostly concerned with ensuring the facilities improvements were funded.

I think it was fair, she said of the per pupil increase. This (session) was a priority for facilities.

Roebuck had hoped to get a bill passed which would have established a recycling program in Arkansas for plastic containers. She said 11 other states already have such a program.

It would have not only helped with little problems, but it would have helped with economic development, she said.

Some of the things that help District 20 more specifically come from the states general improvement fund. Roebuck said the rules changed this year as to how the money is distributed.

In years past, legislators were able to file bills seeking appropriations for specific local projects. This year, however, a state supreme court ruling mandated that all general improvement spending must benefit the entire state.

For example, instead of requesting money for a specific fire department, money was appropriated for all fire departments in the state and then divided based upon the number of residents served.

Through the appropriation, the Gurdon Fire Department will be receiving $3,616, and other rural fire departments in southern Clark County will receive $2,335 each.

Fire departments in Nevada County, including the Prescott Fire Department, will receive $2,109.

Libraries across the state will receive a flat budget increase of 30 percent no matter the librarys size.

This was a one time opportunity, Roebuck said of having the surplus money. We just have to hope that our economy just gets better and better.