The Tolbert Report

I wrote a few weeks back that it would be good to have a boring fiscal session. So far, I have gotten my wish. Which is good, but has given me very little to blog about. Today the legislature had a little splash of excitement. Well, not really but for a political junkie like me it was at least a couple things worth noting.

The Senate today failed to pass a largely procedural resolution that would have allowed them to consider the Revenue Stabilization Act during the session. They will eventually have to consider the bill but in a technical sense the bill requires approval of two-thirds (24 of the 35 Senators) to allow the non-budget bill to be considered. Once this resolution received the two-thirds vote of both chambers, it then needs only a simple majority to pass. In this way, approving the resolution is similar to the cloture vote to end debate in the U.S. Senate, which requires 60 votes instead of a simple majority.

So why all the gamesmanship over a procedural vote? The explanation of the Senators voting present is that they want to see the bill before approving the resolution. Sounds fair. But my sources also tell me that some Senators want to see axactly what happened to their General Improvement Funds that were cut before letting the process pass this first hurdle.  The vote today was the best chance to hold up the bill and shake down a few dollars for their district.

Some interesting discussion also took place down the hall in the Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee. Apparently, the Committee narrowly approved recommending some additional rules clarifying who is in charge of the security of the lottery.

UPDATE - The excitement was short lived. On Thursday, the Senators were satisfied after a sneak peak at next year’s budget details and approved allowing a vote on the Revenue Stabilization Act with 32 votes out of 35. And the House decided against consideration of additional lottery legislation.