Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ross Says: Off-Year Is Important

While 1998 is an off-year for the Arkansas Legislature, Sen. Mike Ross said it will be a busy year nonetheless.

Ross said '98 will be a year when committees work to plan the agenda for 1999's session of the General Assembly.

For him, it will be working toward his final session as well. Ross's term ends Jan. 1, 2001. Because of term limits, he will never again be allowed to be a state senator.

Though the 1999 session will be bittersweet for Ross, there are important issues the assembly will have to deal with. These, he said include welfare reform, prisons and the state's highway systems.

Welfare reform, Ross said, needs fine tuning. The current legislation states a person can only be on welfare for two years out of their entire life.

However, there are times when people find themselves out of work for extended periods of time and need help. Under the new law, though, some people could find themselves "out in the cold" if they've used their time on welfare.

Ross said it is important to make sure the needs of children in such families are met. As chairman of the Senate Children and Youth Committee, he will be working to be sure children in these families are taken care of.

Fuel efficiency is causing problems for the state's highway department, Ross said.

Gasoline in Arkansas is taxed by the gallon. These tax revenues are, in turn, used to build and maintain the state's highway and interstate road system.

But, Ross said, today's vehicles are getting better and better mileage, thereby using less gas and generating less money for repairs and the replacement of roads.

"Our roads are going bad," he said. "Eighty percent of the traffic is on 50 percent of the roads, according to the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. We're looking at repairing these roads first."

Arkansas, he continued, is a rural state with a highway system comparable to California. However, as Ross pointed out, Arkansas doesn't have the tax base California has.

"This needs to be looked at more," he said of the situation, "but I'm not in favor of raising the gasoline tax."

Prisons, the third major issue discussed, will always be a problem. "People are wanting criminals to serve longer sentences," he said, "and this means more beds are needed. Another problem is with the health care they get while in prison, they are living longer. We have an aging prison population."

Ross also discussed the possibility of seeking a higher office. But, there will be no race between he and Jay Dickey, 4th Congressional District Representative, this year.

While Ross could legally run for the office, he said the people of his district elected him to represent them in the state senate and it would not be right for him to leave this office now. "I feel responsible to stay until my term has ended," Ross said. "When the term is over in 2000, I'll look hard at the 4th District Congressional race regardless of who's holding the office.

"It's been a long time since we've had anyone in Congress from Prescott."

And, the '99 session of the Arkansas General Assembly is an important one for other reasons. Many holding office when elected in the last election will no longer be on hand to serve because of term limits. This means those with experience and a little tenure will have more authority because of their knowledge. These representatives will be chairing the committees and making decisions which will affect all Arkansans for years to come.