Duke Frederick Lecture Series at RMCC

My friend, Representative Bill Abernathy , had arranged a productive afternoon for us yesterday. We began with a meeting of some of those who are interested in seeing funding and construction on I 49. The Joint Performance and Review Committee will be in Mena the end of November for a meeting and one of the topics will be I 49 and how to get some forward progress on it. Along with my colleagues who represent the I 49 corridor I sponsored a Joint Resolution encouraging Congress, the President, and everyone else to commit to building I 49 between Texarkana and Fort Smith.

After that meeting we met with some of the Wickes and Van Cove school board members and administration as we discussed helping them with any issues they might have as they explore ways to keep their schools viable. As a long term educator and Chairman of the House Education Committee Bill is certainly the lead person on this. I represent both the Wickes and Van Cove school districts and I am committed to helping them. I do have concerns with those Umpire students who consolidated with Wickes a couple of years ago.

Lastly Representative Abernathy and I were the speakers at the Duke Frederick Lecture at Rich Mountain Community College. There was a good crowd and I am confident that Bill and I "wowed" them with our talks - at least they were gracious to us. We did have some good questions during the discussion. I spoke mainly on the revenue picture and my concerns about how dollars will flow into the state coffers in the coming months.

All in all it was a productive afternoon in Polk County. Looking at my calendar I don't believe I will be back up that way until deer season opens and I go to deer camp and I am looking forward to deer camp.

Beautiful Weather

What a great weekend. The days were beautiful and the nights with the moon full were magnificent. I have never been able to comprehend those who claim that the beauty just happened by accident - that there is no creator. I believe that God created everything and that he continues to care for his creation.

It was a good weekend for bicycling. I rode both Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed it very much. We took the family out for fish last night, Shelly, Grandmother, Mother-in-Law, Aunt Judy, Debbie and I. The fish was good and the hushpuppies were better.

Saturday - Chores and some Politicing

Started the day at the Hickory House for breakfast where I learned much from those gathered around the table (the biscuits and gravy weren't bad either). Then I went and vacuumed and washed my truck. Home then to haul off a bunch of trash for my sweet wife - I actually wound up making several trash runs today.

Today was the mass flu shot clinic in Nashville. Debbie went at 8:00 a.m. and turned around and came home, apparently there were people everywhere. I did get my shot sometime between 11:00 and 12:00, by then there wasn't a line and I was able to just walk right in. The Health Department folks told me they had already given about a thousand shots by then.

After that I worked on the parking lot at the office, there were leaves all over it. My yard man is sick and I have been having to do it. I do not like yard work. I rode the bicycle 22 miles and then cleaned up and headed to the Cove Fire Department for some visiting and watching kids enjoy the Halloween festivities.

I hope to be less productive tomorrow, maybe just Sunday School and Church and a bicycle ride.

Week In Review

State Capitol Week in Review

LITTLE ROCK – About 260,000 veterans of the Armed Forces live in Arkansas and 50,136 veterans or their spouses receive disability compensation or pension payments.

Veterans Day, a state holiday will be commemorated next week in numerous locations across the state as Arkansans gather to honor the men and women who have served their country. According to the American Legion, an organization of veterans created by Congress in 1919, fewer than 10 percent of Americans are veterans.

Congress and the federal government have authority for the vast majority of military and veterans affairs. It is an extension of the policy that the federal government, rather than individual state governments, have sole authority over the conduct of our nation's foreign policy. In its dealings with the rest of the world, the United States acts as a single nation and not as a group of different states with different interests.

However, state government provides some services for veterans. The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs administers benefit programs, and acts as an advocate for veterans seeking eligibility for services.

Also, the state maintains two nursing care facilities for veterans. The one in Little Rock was founded in 1980 and the one in Fayetteville took in its first resident in 2004.

The federal government maintains veterans hospitals at Fayetteville, Little Rock and North Little Rock. Last year the Fayetteville VA hospital admitted 14,824 patients and the two in central Arkansas admitted 10,574 patients.

The three hospitals combined had more than a million outpatient visits. There also are 11 VA outpatient clinic locations throughout Arkansas.

The Veterans Administration hospitals provide post-conflict care for men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, known as Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2008 the hospitals in Arkansas provided treatment for 5,393 veterans from those conflicts - 2,273 in Fayetteville and 3,120 in central Arkansas.

Nationwide about 2.9 million veterans receive a monthly disability compensation for medical problems resulting from their military service. About 316,000 wartime veterans get a VA pension because they have low incomes and few or no assets. About 528,000 family members of veterans receive a monthly payment as survivors of disabled veterans or pension recipients.

In Arkansas 36,468 veterans receive a monthly disability check. Another 5,134 receive a VA pension check and 8,534 survivors of disabled veterans receive a compensation or pension check. In all, 50,136 Arkansans receive some form of disability compensation.

The VA, a federal agency, manages 128 national veterans cemeteries, including three in Arkansas at Little Rock, Fayetteville and Fort Smith. Last year 801 veterans were buried in them.

In 1997 the legislature established an 82-acre cemetery in North Little Rock that is maintained by the state Department of Veterans Affairs. Last year 378 veterans were buried there. The North Little Rock cemetery also has niches in a columbarium for entombments from cremations. The eligibility criteria and costs are the same as for regular sized graves, but the plaques are smaller and cannot fit as long an inscription.

Week In Review

State Capitol Week in Review

LITTLE ROCK – State government's budget for the current fiscal year has been cut 2.2 percent because tax revenue has slowed during the current economic recession.

The cuts amount to almost $100 million. After the cuts, the state's general revenue fund for this fiscal year will total an estimated $4.4 billion.

Funding for prisons, State Police operations and community health clinics will be affected, as will funding of colleges and universities. However, public education from kindergarten through grade 12 will not be. Public school districts will continue to receive funding as budgeted because the state Education Department will use reserves to maintain current funding levels.

Schools are protected from budget cuts because of a mandate in the state Constitution that the state provide all children in Arkansas with an adequate education. The state Supreme Court clarified the preeminence of that constitutional mandate in the Lake View school funding case. That case lasted 15 years and finally ended in 2007.

The budget cuts were anticipated by many legislators after September's dismal revenue report. State revenue for the month was down 14 percent from September of 2008, a decline of more than $76 million.

The state fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. One reason for cutting the budget now, relatively early in the fiscal year, is to give state agencies more time to absorb their impact. For example, budget officials don't expect layoffs of state employees will be necessary as long as current job vacancies are left unfilled.

The Department of Correction, which operates state prisons, will have to postpone the expansion of a unit in Malvern. The Health Department will reduce anticipated funding of community health centers and purchases of ambulances for a new statewide trauma system.

A spokesman for the Human Services Department said no programs would be pared back, but the department would have to leave vacant job positions unfilled. Employees all across state government will have their travel expenses reduced or eliminated until the economy recovers. Institutions of higher education will consider tuition increases to make up for the loss of state aid.

The legislature will consider budgets for state agencies when the General Assembly convenes in February for the first fiscal session in Arkansas history. If the economy does not rebound by then legislators will face difficult decisions. During the fiscal session in February the legislature will adopt state agency budgets for Fiscal Year 2011, which begins July 1, 2010.

County Jails

The budget cuts come at a bad time for county officials seeking higher reimbursements from the state Correction Department for housing inmates. Earlier this month more than 1,700 state inmates were being held in county jails because there wasn't enough space to hold them in state prison units.

The state pays counties $28 a day per prisoner. Some county officials say the reimbursements are not enough to cover costs, and when they're forced to hold state inmates it creates serious budget problems for their local jails.

Ink, Lodi, Patmos, Southeast Fire Depts & More

As I stopped by my office this morning to put the final touches on the Sunday School lesson I am teaching I took a moment to look at my calendar. I did make it Murfreesboro for the grand opening of the Pike County Jail. It is a magnificent facility and the citizens of Pike County should be proud to have it. Sheriff Pep Glenn and his team are working hard to get the final touches on the jail so that they can get it open. It also will house the new courtroom and I am confident that will be a win for all parties involved.

Looking at my calendar I was reminded that I missed fire departments fundraisers/BBQ's/Fish Frys at Ink, Lodi, Southeast and Patmos. As those of you who read regularly know I love to go to fire department functions - I love to visit and I love to "politic" all those who support their departments. Mom's birthday kept me from making any of the events yesterday. I had every intention of making the Ink fish fry - they were celebrating their 30th anniversary. If I had gone that far north it would have been hard to make the others. One thing that I am confident of is that there will be other opportunities to visit with those departments that I missed this weekend.

Mom's Birthday Party

Mom will soon have a birthday so David (my brother) drove in with Helen, Luke and John and together with Debbie, Larry and Tana, and Shelly we hosted a birthday party for her this afternoon. We had a small crowd of mostly family and a few friends. The ladies at the Extension Homemakers House provided snacks, cake and punch making for a good time of fellowship. Several stories were told involving Mom that caused us all to laugh and reminisce about our good times and how blessed our lives have been. We love you Mom.

Area Agency on Aging & Southwest Arts at Hope School

My friends at the Area Agency on Aging of Southwest Arkansas invited me to the 29th Annual Meeting and allowed me to be the Keynote Speaker for the luncheon. We talked about this weeks reduction in the forecast by Governor Beebe and how I thought that would affect their programs. I suggested that this cut would likely not hurt but that future cuts would be painful. I talked about my grandmothers and how aware I was of the issues and concerns of the aging and those who are tasked with helping take care of them. The Area Agencies on Aging do good work with not enough funds. I really enjoyed the meeting - in spite of driving down there and back home in the pouring rain.

On the way home I was able to stop and visit at UACCH with Chancellor Thomason. We discussed his construction projects and the impact of the forecast cuts on UACCH. From there I dropped by the Hempstead County Health Unit to inquire about flu shots, tour their facility and just generally check on things. There is a large percentage of our population in rural Arkansas that depend on the local health units for the majority of their health care and I believe in the work that the local health units do.

Before leaving Hope and heading back to Nashville for my First Responder class last night I had the opportunity to join Mayor Ramsey, Representative Powers, Superintendent Kenneth Muldrew, Mark Keith from the Chamber and others at the Yerger School as we honored and celebrated the after school program between the school, the young people and the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council. In my remarks I told them that I believed in them and that I believe the youth of our country are our great hope for the future.

It was a busy day but I enjoyed it.

Parker Westbrook Night

Parker Westbrook making his closing remarks

Johhny Sharp and Larry Jones - The Cooks

Jimmie Lou Fisher discusses Parker
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel

Long time political activist and historian, Parker Westbrook, was honored here last night in an event sponsored by the Howard County Democratic Central Committee. By my estimate more than 100 people, including many political types - office holders, former office holders and candidates, attended and enjoyed rib eye steaks and lunch room rolls (my favorite). Johnny Sharp and Larry Jones cooked the steaks and I appreciate them taking off from work to cook. My steak was just right and very good. LaJeanna Jones, Chairperson of the Democratic Committee, put in a lot of hours and worked very hard as did a lot of the Committee members - thanks.

General McDaniel gave a nice talk about Parker and their relationship as did Jimmie Lou Fisher. Senator David Pryor for whom Parker had worked had some good things and stories to tell about Parker. I was Master of Ceremonies and tried to keep the event moving along and we did get out earlier than I had hoped. The great surprise of the evening was that Parker only talked about ten minutes when his turn came. In any event it was a good evening for Parker and for the Howard County Democrats and I think it was a good place to be for those candidates seeking statewide or local offices.

Congressman Ross & President Clinton in Hot Springs

As usual I forgot to take my camera so the above photo is from my Blackberry phone. Debbie and I were in Hot Springs at the Convention Center Saturday evening for a Congressman Mike Ross fundraiser. His special guest was President Bill Clinton. It was an enjoyable evening, there were many old friends in the crowd. I saw quite a few of my constituents and legislative acquaintances from all over the state. After we listened to Congressman Ross and President Clinton we left and went across the street to enjoy steaks with some friends. It was not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening. The only downside was that we did not get to watch the Hogs during our drive up.