Government Accountability

What is going on in our State Capital? Over the last month or so, the Arkansas Legislature has begun to work on many issues in their committees that will be addressed by the General Assembly when they are next in session. I would like to address two of these issues at the moment.

The first issue is what some have termed “the tunnel to nowhere.” Recently, some space became available in a building a short distance from the State Capital building, called the Big Mac Building. The Joint Committee of Legislative Facilities is discussing using the opening space for the Bureau of Legislative Research, including: committee meeting rooms and office space for about 100 employees. Many of the employees that would be relocated to the Big Mac building are now scattered all over the capital complex, this move would bring them all in one place, which would better serve the people of Arkansas. You may be asking, “What’s wrong with that?” Well moving all those state employees to one location is a great idea, but there is one detail that is not a good idea. The building is, according to some sources, is about a minute or two walking distance from the Capital building. The Legislature is looking to build a tunnel to connect the two buildings, which again is only a few minutes’ walk apart. According to early estimates, it would cost $1.8 million to build this tunnel, but of course we all know that when the government starts to build anything, it will end up taking longer to build than the scheduled deadline and be over budget. Why do we need this tunnel? If the Legislators need to go to the Big Mac building in bad weather, they can use umbrellas like every other person. The supporters of the tunnel say that the tunnel is important for the movement of files. I just don’t understand why they couldn’t wrap the files in plastic bags, put them in plastic totes, and then carry them or roll them out on carts to the building. If elected as your Representative I would make sure that your taxpayer money is only spent on absolutely necessary projects.

The next issue has to do with HR1034, which sets the rules governing the Arkansas House of Representatives. With the new amendment that was voted on during the last election, which says that the General Assembly will meet every year instead of every other year, there were some changes that needed to be made to the House rules. Most of the changes were minor, like limiting what bills could be filed during the fiscal session of the General Assembly. There was one change in the bill is one that changes the limit of campaign contributions legislators can receive. At this time, legislators cannot receive contributions starting 30 days before a legislative session to 30 days after. This is to keep legislators from being influenced by lobbyists. Under this new bill, they have completely done away with this rule, so now there is no law against lobbyists writing a check to a legislator’s campaign in order for to get the legislator to vote how the lobbyist wants. Is this how you want your government to work? I sure don’t, and if elected I would fight to keep such a bill from passing. The Representatives and Senators should be influenced by the people who sent them there, who are their bosses, not by some lobbyist who has some money to throw their way. If you give me the honor of representing you in Little Rock, I would fight to keep the legislative process pure, and accountable to the people of Arkansas.