Lawmakers Looking to Abolish Lottery Commission

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Senator Jimmy Hickey has filed a bill that would abolish the Arkansas Lottery Commission and put the Arkansas Lottery and its director under the authority of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the governor.

The Arkansas Lottery Commission currently operates as an independent state commission with relatively little oversight. Its nine commissioners were appointed by the governor and members of the Arkansas Legislature. Senator Hickey’s proposal would bring the state lottery under the purview of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, and it would cause the Arkansas Lottery Director to serve at the pleasure of the governor–just as virtually every other state agency director does.

This bill, presumably, is intended to bring more accountability and stability to the Arkansas Lottery. The Arkansas Lottery Commission set an unusual precedent last year when it voted to approve lottery “monitor games” despite objections from Arkansas’ lawmakers. As some legislators said last spring, the Arkansas Legislature created the Lottery Commission, and the Arkansas Legislature can change it. It seems that may be exactly what some lawmakers intend to do.

We will keep an eye on this bill as it develops at the Arkansas Legislature in the coming days. You can read Senator Hickey’s entire proposal here.

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Legislation to Watch in 2015

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The Arkansas Legislature will convene soon, and already lawmakers are filing legislation Arkansans may want to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

  • Lottery Scholarships: Senator Hickey has filed two bills (SB3 and SB5) amending Arkansas’ Academic Challenge Scholarship. Academic Challenge is primarily funded by the Arkansas Lottery. Among other things, Senator Hickey’s proposals would raise the ACT and GPA requirements for scholarship applicants and make scholarship money available for students obtaining technical certificates.
  • Balanced Budget Amendment: Representative Bell has filed a bill (HB1006) calling for an Article V convention for the purpose of adding an balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, states can call a constitutional convention for the purpose of amending the constitution. Since the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, a constitutional convention has never been called. Representative Bell’s proposal would limit the scope of the convention to drafting a balanced budget amendment.
  • Constitutional Convention: Representative House has filed a resolution (HJR1001) calling for an Article V convention for the purpose of “proposing amendments” to the U.S. Constitution. Rep. House’s proposal differs from Rep. Bell’s in that it does not limit the scope of the convention to drafting amendments related to balancing the federal budget.
  • Ethics Legislation: Representative Warwick Sabin and Senator Jon Woods have co-sponsored legislation (HB1002) to “make amendments and clarifications to the ethics laws of the state of Arkansas.” Two years ago Representative Sabin and Senator Woods sponsored the constitutional amendment that eventually became Issue 3–which voters passed last November. Issue 3 changed Arkansas’ ethics laws, established a special committee for the purpose of determining pay scales for elected officials, and lengthened term limits for Arkansas’ legislators. HB1002 is a shell bill right now, meaning it has little more than a title, and will be amended later to flesh it out. This bill will be interesting to watch, because it–presumably–is intended to interpret some of the provisions governing gifts to lawmakers and political candidates under Arkansas’ newest constitutional amendment.

Family Council has no position on any of this legislation at this point; these are simply noteworthy bills voters may want to watch as the legislative session unfolds.

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Unpacking Arkansas’ New Term Limits Law

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Rep. Clemmer and Sen. RapertWhen Arkansans headed to the polls earlier this month, many of them probably did not realize one of the items on the ballot was an extension of term limits for lawmakers.

Up until 1992 there was no limit on the number of years a person could hold office in Arkansas. Then, 22 years ago, Arkansans chose to institute a limit. At most, a person could serve 6 years in the Arkansas House of Representatives (3 terms); 8 years in the Arkansas Senate (2 terms); and 8 years (2 terms) in any constitutional office, like Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and so on. Once you max out the number of years you can serve in an office, you’re done; you can never run for that office again.

This has left many elected officials hopping from office to office. Where once upon a time a person might serve 30 years in the Arkansas House of Representatives, today a lawmaker typically starts in the House; runs for the Arkansas Senate after 4-6 years; serves 8 years in the Senate; and then makes a run at a constitutional office, like Secretary of State, or gets a job in a state department or agency. The result is many of the legislators in the House of Representatives are brand new lawmakers while some of the members of the executive branch have been coming out to the Capitol for 20 years or more.

There is little doubt term limits is popular in Arkansas. When it was proposed in 1992, it received nearly 60% of the vote. Every attempt to change term limits was rejected–until November 4 of this year.

(more…)

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