Switch to the mobile version of this page.

Arkansas Times

Arkansas Blog

Archives | RSS

« Hog farm on Big Creek | Beebe vetoes 12-week abortion ban »

Monday, March 4, 2013

Arkansas Politics Westerman's spending cap bill passed over again

Posted by Lindsey Millar on Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 1:22 PM

Arkansas House Majority Leader Rep. Bruce Westerman image

Westerman

House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman's bill to limit general revenue spending is up for a vote in the House today after being passed over on Friday. That means Westerman at least believes he has the votes.

UPDATE: I was wrong. The bill was passed over again.

The bill has been amended several times. Initially, it arbitrarily used 3 percent as a cap, or in hard times, if the three-year average rate of change of GDP was lower, that number. Now, it's based on the rate of change of personal disposable income (here's what that looks like over the last couple of years). I haven't run the numbers to see what it would look like this year, but Westerman said on "Arkansas Week," if we used this year's numbers it would mean a 3.8 percent growth cap.

Host Steve Barnes pressed Westerman on the need of such a bill, when the legislature already controls spending through appropriations and the Revenue Stabilization Act.

"We've got two methods right now," Westerman said. "I'm proposing a third method which allows more control and more input from the General Assembly on what the growth in revenue spending is."

Of course, what the bill actually does is offer small-government lawmakers an out from spending money on programs that need funding. Sure there's an emergency clause, but the measure is obviously designed to slow the growth of government and build up massive surpluses, in order to keep the tax cuts coming.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has nicely encapsulated the damage it could do:

"Because of the recession we are investing less in education, transportation and other services — like child protection and prisons — than we have in prior years. Under HB 1041 future recessions will be even worse. By forcing the state budget to grow by a fixed amount, Arkansans will have fewer options the next time they are out of work or in need of health coverage. Economic downturns require the government to stabilize the economy when private entities decide to hoard their money and stop spending. HB 1041 prevents the state from providing for the general well-being of all Arkansans. Capping state spending now will make it impossible for us to regain the ground lost during recessions like the one we just experienced."

Tags: Bruce Westerman

        
Tweet
Share

Speaking of Bruce Westerman

The terrible 10 of the 89th Arkansas General Assembly

May 9, 2013

They're the worst of the worst. /more/
How the private option flipped the Medicaid expansion debate

May 2, 2013

by David Ramsey

It took a group of clever and obstinate young Republican legislators who refused to go along with Medicaid expansion but weren't ready to close the door on other ideas. They helped force a crafty veteran Democratic governor who was eager to go forward with expansion to consider alternative approaches. Throw in tireless and creative state health officials who happened to have a cozy relationship with their federal It took a group of clever and obstinate young Republican legislators who refused to go along with Medicaid expansion but weren’t ready to close the door on other ideas. They helped force a crafty veteran Democratic governor who was eager to go forward with expansion to consider alternative approaches. Throw in tireless and creative state health officials who happened to have a cozy relationship with their federal counterparts. Probably some luck. And, among everyone involved, it took a slightly crazy, seemingly unjustified optimism that somehow a solution was possible. /more/
The costs of rejecting the "private option" and doing nothing

April 14, 2013

by David Ramsey

What happens if the legislature rejects the “private option,” the new policy framework developed by Arkansas Republicans as a possible third way in the expansion question? /more/
Republican lawmakers weigh "private option" legislation

April 2, 2013

by David Ramsey

After weeks of discussion following the "private option" announcement, the legislature finally has an actual bill to debate. /more/
More »

Comments (12)

Showing 1-12 of 12

Add a comment

Subscribe to this thread:

By Email

With RSS

Showing 1-12 of 12

More by Lindsey Millar

Eat some mudbugs, drink some beer and tour a spooky former orphanage at Preservation Crustaceans

The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas hosts its annual crawfish boil fundraiser, Preservation Crustaceans, on May 2 at the historic St. Joseph’s Center, 6800 Camp Robinson Road in North Little Rock.
- by Lindsey Millar
- Apr 29, 2013
A downtown dream realized for Little Rock Film Festival

Screens straddle the river.
- by Lindsey Millar
- May 16, 2013
More »