Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ross Discusses '99 Legislation Session

When the Arkansas General Assembly gathered in January, it was for an historic session.

This was the first time term limits would come into play for those in the Arkansas House of Representatives, with 57 members taking office for the first time.

State Sen. Mike Ross, serving his final term in office, shared this information with the Gurdon Rotary Club, telling the members this is the most new members for the House since Arkansas became a state.

The most senior member of the House had but four years experience. With the assembly meeting every two years for about 90 days at a time, this amounted to about 180 days experience.

This part of the state, Ross said, was fortunate because State Rep. Percy Malone, with four years seniority, was named co-chairman of the joint budget committee and helped this area with several projects.

A lot of the new members, he said, thought they were bringing new ideas to the session, but learned the ideas had been put forth before the assembly before.

Still, Ross said, it was a meaningful session.

However, next year, a full third of the Arkansas Senate will be lost because of term limits, with Ross one of the members being ousted.

He told of some of the major items accomplished during the session, including the authorization of a $575 million highway bond issue.

This measure, which was passed by the voters of the state earlier this summer, will allow for more than 300 miles of interstate highway to be repaired and/or replaced.

When the interstates were originally built, he said, they were constructed to handle 70,000 pounds. However, most other states allowed semi-trucks to carry 80,000 pounds on their roads.

In order to keep up and compete, Arkansas had to allow the additional 10,000 pounds to the truckers. This, though break the interstates down quicker than they otherwise would have.

When the interstates are rebuilt, he said, the new construction will be to handle the 80,000 weight.

Arkansas, Ross said, taxes fuel by the gallon. But, today's cars get better mileage, meaning less gasoline is purchased.

While the fuel taxes have also continued to rise, they have risen on par with the better mileage. This, though, doesn't allow for inflation, so the state has been falling behind in being able to do highway construction.

For years, Arkansas has worked highway construction on a pay-as-you-go method, and has not been able to go in debt to get this work done.

With the bond issue, though, the state can basically borrow against future federal highway money to get the work done now.

A gas tax passed by the assembly, he said, will be instituted over the next two years and can only be used to help pay for the repair of city streets and county roads.

Ross talked about changes made in the juvenile justice system.

He said Arkansas needs to insure safe schools for its students.

Most parents believe their children are going to safe schools, but so did parents in Littleton, Colo. and Jonesboro.

Many people, Ross said, were upset when the Jonesboro suspects were tried as juveniles. This was done because they were under the age of 14 at the time and state law, then, required they be treated as juveniles.

When these two boys reach the age of 18, they can leave the juvenile facility they are being held in with a clean record.

Because of this, Ross said, legislators passed a law to create blended sentences.

Now, when a juvenile offender commits a serious crime and turns 18, they can be tried again to see how they have been rehabilitated. Should the court decide, the offender can be sentenced up to 40 more years in prison.

This, Ross said, should serve as a deterrent to youthful offenders.

He also spent a good deal of time working on with the Division of Youth Services.

Much abuse had been discovered being directed toward the young people housed at DYS facilities, both physical and sexual abuse.

DYS, Ross said, is nothing more than a prison for children, and these are the offenders who should be the easiest to reform.

But, by being physically and sexually abused, these children were being turned into hardened criminals.

The assembly created a juvenile ombudsman program, thereby giving the young people in custody an outlet for their complaints.

The ombudsman does not work for the DYS, but is independent of the system and can act on verifiable complaints.

With the regulations passed in the sessions, the DYS will receive security audits, sanitation inspections and enhanced training and educational standards for those working at the facilities.

Prisoners on death row are in an accredited facility, Ross said, while the children in DYS housing weren't. This needed to be changed.

Children in DYS structures will be separated according to age and offenses.

Education was another issue tackled by the legislators.

Regulations were passed requiring the Arkansas Department of Education to publish report cards on all schools in the state and make this information available to interested parents.

This will allow the parents to see how well the school district their children are in is doing.

Obtaining an academic challenge scholarship was made easier as the rules and regulations were changed concerning it. The income level for student eligibility was doubled from $35,000 per household to $70,000.

Still, students must maintain a B average and take the right courses to be eligible for this scholarship.

This, Ross said, was done to help keep students in Arkansas after they graduate from high school. Studies show once students leave the state to go to college, they don't return.

This, he added, is an incentive to keep them here and working in the state.

The assembly submitted three bills the public will vote on in the November General Election for 2000.

One of these measures will be to create a more equitable system for property taxation, limiting increases on assessments and freezing taxes at a set amount when a property owner reaches 65.

A $300 tax credit for homeowners is included in this bill, to help equalize personal and real property rates.

The second measure is to amend the judicial articles, removing party politics from judicial races. Should it pass, those seeking judgeships will no longer run as Democrats or Republicans, but as independent candidates based on merit instead of party.

Prosecuting attorney terms would be doubled from two to four years as well.

The final issue would, if passed, give cities and counties the opportunity to borrow money for short term financing for no more than five years.

In closing, Ross said he's had a great 10 years as senator and enjoyed being able to help real