Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and Little Rock Public Radio.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this edition of Arkansas Week.

I'm Chris Kay.

So the final weeks of the Arkansas legislative session are currently underway, and this past Monday, lawmakers returned from a week long recess with major legislation passed before the break and even more on the table.

Party leaders are working to tie up loose ends before the April 16th adjournment goal.

That's the goal at least.

Will they make it to that?

We're joined by House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, a Democrat from Little Rock, in just a few moments.

But first, we welcome into the studio House Speaker Pro Tem Carlton Wing of North Little Rock, a key player in the Republican led House to talk about what remains on this legislative agenda to accomplish and whether the General Assembly can finish in time.

And I know that's the question everybody keeps asking.

Representative Wang, Just due to the nature of now being the last week before the recess or before the session ends, you just had your recess and so much it seems like left to do.

Yeah, there will be a lot a lot going on long, long dockets every day.

We've got, you know, 60, 70 bills in every afternoon, floor session.

And this is, of course, after all, the committees in which there will be a full slate of bills and just about every committee as well.

So a lot to do, a lot to sort through.

But we're very optimistic we'll be able to get it done.

At the beginning the session, you highlighted your recap on Facebook saying here's what happened this first week.

Governor laid out her agenda.

We're working on our agenda.

What has been some of the things that you would consider accomplishments or what are some of the things you would consider accomplishments from this past session that you worked both with your constituents, your colleagues and the governor on?

Well, there's a lot of things dealing fiscally, you know, things that that impact the pocketbooks of the average Arkansan.

We've also been able to do some things that might not have gotten talked about as much, But we'll certainly have a large day to day impact.

Things like the cell phone ban in schools.

That is something, you know, when you when you think about what takes place at the educational facilities.

I had the opportunity to tour one and we brought in a lot of business leaders from around the area to see what was going on in the school.

This was a few years ago.

But what happened was as they walked into the classrooms, they saw a lot of kids just sitting on the phones and not paying attention to not doing that.

It was just it was a lot of phone centric activity.

And so that actually had a negative impact on the local business community because this has become a growing and growing problem.

And so this bill will be a very interesting one to see how how it goes moving forward.

But to be able to get our kids focused on the things that they need to be focused on is one thing there.

I think another bill that deserves a lot of attention is our energy bill.

It was SB 307, I believe was the number.

We are in a situation right now because we're going to have to take some power plants offline due to some lawsuits that were filed and settled years ago.

But just when Arkansas is needing to ramp up in terms of energy policy now, we are having to take a couple of plants offline.

And so we had to assess that situation and put together a program.

And we know that rates are going up, but now we have the ability to have them go up in a stair step fashion that is monitored and regulated through the Public Service Commission so that we can keep that in step and and that we can grow Arkansas because our energy needs are nearly twice what they what our capacity is right now.

And especially with those power plants coming offline.

Those are a couple of things.

Let's talk about one that's not settled yet and that would be the prison bill.

It continues to face some criticism, particularly from lawmakers in the area that it is proposed to be.

And it failed to get out of the Senate again for the third straight day this past week.

What's the biggest hurdle in this debate?

And do you see those challenges being overcome before the end of the session to get this bill through?

Ultimately, yes, it will get through how it looks when it gets through.

That's going to be what's discussed.

And the biggest hurdle is finances.

This is a very, very large price tag.

Right now, what we've got is already 75 million appropriated.

That is about a 10th, a little bit less than a 10th of what of what the total appropriation would be.

And so that high price tag, without as much detail as I think the legislators would, the legislators would like to see as far as what this is going to go towards.

That's what's causing the problem right now.

It's in the Senate and stalled in the Senate.

They've run it down a couple, three times and it just haven't they don't have the votes are not even really close to getting the votes just yet.

On the House side, we're probably a little bit closer, but we're obviously watching the debate of what is happening in the Senate to find it, because the legislature guards the purse strings of government.

And that is a huge price tag.

We need to know that it's going to be doing the things that we want it to do and we do need a prison.

And that's that's the thing is we absolutely need a prison.

We have not addressed are are are the number of prison beds in over 20 years in Arkansas.

But meanwhile, the state has grown and grown in population should just from a statistical measure.

We absolutely need to be able to take care of this because what we have is anywhere between 1920 200 prisoners that are currently clogging up the county jails because they don't have a state penitentiary to go to.

Why that is bad is multiple reasons.

The number one reason is, is the recidivism training that you get in a prison.

You do not get in the county jail.

So when we're trying to keep people from coming back into the prison system, they're not getting the training to address whatever it is, education, addiction management, things like that.

They're not getting when they're in a county jail.

And then the county jail is not able to do what a county jail is for, which is these are people arrested for misdemeanors and things like that.

You don't get arrested for misdemeanors much anymore because everything is clogged right there in the middle in this county jails and the county jails also can't afford what they're having to do there.

So we've got a big problem there that will be solved once we get this prison in.

Does it need to be a 3000 bed prison, maybe a 2500 bed prison?

We don't.

Those are some of those things that maybe if we can see those price breakdowns, maybe build something a little bit smaller, but modular, so that in future sessions it could be expanded.

Those are some ideas that possibly could be out there.

But right now we need to see more justification for the price tag before we can move forward.

Do you think changes or amendments would have to be made to this bill to get it through, or do you think it can get through as is?

It's I tell you what, right now right now, it does not appear that it's going to be getting through as is.

So there's going to be something that needs to change, whether it's materially in the bill or information to support what is in the bill that's going to have to happen before those votes arrive.

Let's switch gears now to education.

Arkansas access passing signed into law.

Do you see that as one of the biggest wins for your party this session, or is there another one that isn't standing out as much or didn't get as much headlines?

Well, I mean, I think that's a big win for the people who are being educated in the state of Arkansas.

It's not it's not really a Democrat versus Republican thing.

I mean, this is good for the state of Arkansas.

What access is to this session learns was in the last session, which was a huge win for the students of Arkansas.

And so this just addresses it on higher education as opposed to K through 12 with the Learn to Act over 180 new bills were filed recently, I believe and I know you were talking about this pack session, some of those new filings you obviously don't expect to make it to the finish line.

Can you kind of help our viewers understand what this this last week of session will look like?

The last week and a half, I guess, will look like whenever you have all of these bills and dockets coming at you.

And it's a lot of information to compartmentalize, to process and to be able to vote on and know that if this passes, it will be around for at least two years.

How do you all navigate this type of system where bills can be filed this late and you have to decide on them in these committees and then in the full chambers?

Well, first off, any bill that is going to be filed at this point is going to have to be absolutely perfect.

There's no time for amendments.

So it's going to be have to be absolutely perfect if it's going to get to the finish line and become a law now.

I would refer our viewers to Arkansas, PBS website.

There is a little video called How a Bill Becomes a Law that gives the five step process of what it has to go through.

It has to go through a House committee, a House, a floor, the Senate committee, the Senate floor and the governor's desk.

Those five steps have to all be followed in order for a bill to become a law.

Now, it can start in either the House or the Senate.

It can flip flop.

But that's kind of our version of I'm just a bill and I'm only this house.

So yeah, we know that song.

There's no singing.

But but, but those steps have to be followed.

And so it it takes time to do that.

And you can't do those on the same day.

So it's going to be in a committee, then it'll be on the floor.

And each one of those is a very necessary filter for discussion and deliberation.

Right now, there's not that much time to discuss and deliberate any issue of complexity with just really eight business days left on the calendar.

So with all of that taking place, we're all human beings.

And when you stick now, I remember in the last session in 20 or 23, we had a day where 140 bills were on the House floor.

In one day.

That's a long day.

That's a very long day.

And a lot of decisions that have to be made because as legislators, we've got some buttons in front of us.

There's a green one and a red one and a yellow one and yes, no present.

Yes, no one presents it.

And so you've got to be able to assess everything and apply principles in a pretty rapid fire situation.

And so if things are not perfect, they're probably not going to pass because the default for most legislators is if I've got questions, I'm going to vote no or present, which is a present is essentially a no vote.

Yeah, because you're in your right, because a bill has to have 50 in the House, it has to have 51 votes to pass and it doesn't matter if it's a no vote, a present vote or a non vote at all.

Just don't push any buttons.

All of that adds up.

But you've got to have 51 votes to pass that.

A present can be a soft no, but and so oftentimes there will be an idea that we're going to we're just going to let let something go, because I can I can vote no now and vote yes later.

But if I vote yes on a bad bill now, that's law for the next two years.

I've got about a minute and a half left.

I wanted to see if there's anything personally you're looking forward to getting passed or any bill out there that you have your eyes set on.

I want to make sure this gets through before the end of this session.

Anything out there that you have kind of a target on at this point, or is there anything maybe that bipartisan like you just mentioned, there would need to be a perfect bill and probably some bipartisan support to get anything new through at this point?

What are some bipartisan bills that you've seen that you've worked on with the other side that your party has worked on, that you've been proud of that's seen them go through?

Well, I think, you know, when we look at some of the things that I think the I'm trying to remember how bipartisan the cell phone bill was, but I think it has dual support.

It had dual support.

The the energy bill, I think, was was something that was significant.

We passed the Homestead tax credit, which was a benefit to our property tax, was $100 credit, which was the largest credit that we've been able to give.

It's now up to $600.

That was a significant tax relief that I think benefits everybody.

When you look at the three legged tool of taxation, you have sales tax, income tax and property tax.

Our property taxes are already pretty low nationally or we're about the third or fourth in the nation as far as low property taxes.

So getting that homestead tax credit was a it was a benefit to everybody in the state of Arkansas as well.

Really appreciate the time today.

I know you're a big angler and April's a great time or you're fishing in the state.

So that April 16 deadline, you've got that man brother trying to get everything in before you head back out of the water.

And I know you've missed it.

As always, we appreciate your time, Representative weighing out in North Little Rock.

We look forward to seeing you next time and hope the rest of the session goes smoothly.

We thank you very much.

All right.

Back right after this.

On Arkansas Week.

Welcome back.

While Republicans have driven much of the legislative agenda this session, Democrats have continued to raise concerns, particularly over hot button issues like prison funding, the G.I.

restrictions and public education oversight.

As we enter the final days of the session, what's the minority party's perspective on what's been done so far and what still needs attention?

Here to share his insights is House Minority Leader Andrew Collins of Little Rock.

And, Representative Collins, you said before the break the law make the break would be good for lawmakers to cool off a little bit.

And has that cooling off period been enough after you've been in session this past week or tensions still a little high.

It feels like we never left.

I mean, we're we're right back into a breakneck pace.

And that typically is how it goes.

The last couple weeks of the session come very fast.

There's a lot of bills, maybe too many bills for us to really give sufficient attention to each.

But that's the process right now.

And so we're in a sprint toward the end looking at this legislative session.

It's been a packed agenda so far.

What were some of your top priorities?

What were some of the things you wanted to see addressed and were those addressed in this session?

Sure.

Well, you know, as soon as Democrats, we came in with an agenda, with some priorities, and we knew that some of our bills wouldn't go, but we would at least bring them into the conversation and make an effort to get them forward.

So.

Maternal health was a big priority for us, public education, mental health and defending our democracy.

And it's been an interesting session because each of those has had a different track.

Maternal health.

We've made some really good strides, I think, and some of our priorities have actually, you know, made it forward in one form or another.

Public education continues to be a battle.

Vouchers are something that we don't agree are helpful for public education, but we're pushing forward and making some progress as well.

Some setbacks.

Mental health has been a little bit of a slog.

We haven't seen the kind of improvements we'd like to see.

And then democracy has just been under assault.

Frankly, in my opinion, this session and we've done all we can to raise concerns, but the in particular, the assault and direct democracy in the petition process has just been overwhelming.

I mean, I think that has completely changed this session.

And we're going to see when people wake up after the session, they'll realize they don't really have direct democracy in Arkansas like they used to.

Some of the controversial measures that you've opposed, like targeting DUI and education and limiting library funding.

What concerns you most about those issues?

You mentioned the democracy part in the state in the petitions in particular, but what are some of those other concerns you have on some of the other bills that have gone through?

Yeah, there have been some national issues, social issues that have trickled down into Arkansas this session, and those are two examples of them.

So, you know, there's this kind of national conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion.

Those are ideas that we had collectively as a country and as a state.

Those are pretty good things.

Well, there's a movement nationally where we all know that says, no, those are not good things and those should be stricken out of what we do as a state.

So we had some bills that went at the eye in very different ways.

But fundamentally what we're trying to do is give opportunity to people who have not been represented in certain areas, whether that's academic or, you know, their opportunity programs and they work and they've been good for the state.

And I think the movement to get rid of them is a mistake.

Going at library funding, going at other institutions, including PBS, is something that we just don't agree with.

You know, from from where I sit.

Those are targeting for reasons that are really not for the betterment of the people of the state.

And ultimately, that's what our policy policy should be about, is improving lives for Arkansans, is going at the State Library Board something that makes life better for Arkansans?

I would say no.

Looking at another bill just this past week, it would grant $4 million in spending authority to the State Department of Education for Youth Organization grants in fiscal year 2026.

It failed to clear Joint Budget Committee.

Committee, you're on.

And it was bipartisan, I believe.

And you had some from across the aisle that were also raising some concerns.

When you read bills like that, the headline could be one thing, But what was some of the language in particular that concerned you about that, Bill?

Well, there were a few things about that, actually, that that all work together.

So, one, it it restricted any kind of grants to organizations that had an affiliation with a national group with certain policies.

So again, this is one of these bills.

But there was a subtext that really there was a group, the Boys and Girls Club, which does a lot of great things in our state that would not be eligible for funds under this.

And I think they that group has made clear that what is going on, on the national level is not really their focus.

So it was kind of it should have been a non-issue and yet that bill went forward.

There's also a reimbursement issue, so it reimburses clubs that have been around for less than five years at a higher rate, and that also would disadvantage the Boys and Girls Club.

So I saw that bill as targeting a group, a group which does really good things for students and kids in our state.

And I just I don't think that our public policy should be about targeting groups for things that, again, are not for the betterment of the people of the state.

Now, who knows?

The session is continues and that may resurface.

But I thought we did the right thing to stop that.

And for now, you know, there's certainly going to be things you oppose and Democrats oppose, and that happens every session, obviously.

What are some of the things that both parties were aligned on this session, in your opinion?

If if there were things, what were some things that maybe don't get talked about as much, that there was alignment that are for the betterment of Arkansans?

Sure.

Well, I think one issue was maternal health.

You know, Arkansas was worst in the country, is worst in the country in maternal health outcomes.

We didn't see it from all Republicans necessarily, but there was agreement that we needed to extend our Medicaid coverage for one year after a mother gives birth.

We're not kicking them off after 60 days.

So that's something that I brought forward as a bill, something that Representative Aaron Pilkington brought forward as a bill.

And, you know, despite some opposition from the governor and some others, we have seen represented Pilkington's bill clear the House.

And I hope that gets all the way over the finish line.

Another example is something another bill that I brought was a bill which would make sure that every teacher in the state got maternity leave at least 12 weeks, paid leave.

And in the last couple of weeks I've seen people come together on that issue and I've been really pleased that that has happened.

And in fact, this was an improvement on a policy that started in the Learns act and a bill opposed.

But the two sponsors of the Learns Act are now on this bill to make sure that teachers get paid maternity leave.

And it's not coming out of the district, it's coming from the state.

So I think that there, you know, even though we go at it, sometimes there's there's room for opportunity for working together and we'll always take that because, again, the people are who we're here for.

You mentioned the Learns act.

The next level of the Learns Act access passed in this session.

What were your thoughts on that Bill?

You know, it it was a big bill, but I'm not sure it was nearly as transformative as the Learning Act.

So the learns that really did transform public education and private education in the state with the universal voucher program.

I think that the Access Act does a lot of smaller, better things.

Some of which I think are good, some of which are not so good.

But ultimately, you know, the universities that this really affected didn't oppose it.

I opposed it because I thought it did some things that were unnecessary and counterproductive, especially around getting in to student protests and student freedom of political expression.

I didn't like that aspect of it.

And for that reason, and because of some of the consolidation of power into certain offices, the governor primarily away from a broader cross-section, I thought those were not good, but there were things about it that were pretty good.

So it was interesting that it got so much attention when I think it was more a combination of a lot of little things rather than an overhaul.

All right.

Now, one that has not gotten to the finish line and it is not in your house yet, not in your chamber, but it could be.

And that's the present bill.

There's a lot of talk about it right now.

What are some of the biggest challenges of that Bill?

What are your thoughts on it so far?

It did not make it through the Senate for the third time, three straight days.

It did not make it out this past week.

So what are your thoughts on that, Bill?

Yeah, that's been really interesting.

And, you know, when it came into the Budget Committee, which I'm on, I voted against it.

This is a $750 million appropriation on an overall prison project that may cost up to $1.5 billion.

There's a lot we don't know, and I think that's why a lot of people are not willing to vote for it.

It's not that we don't have a jail overcrowding problem in the state.

We actually do.

We need to do something.

But is this the thing to do in in in this way?

And I think a lot of people have issues that the way we've done this in particular to this big idea on a site that wasn't fully vetted out in Franklin County where there concerns about getting enough people to work at the prison.

There's a lot of local opposition.

I think it's going to be difficult for them to get those votes.

I mean, I wouldn't bet against it because I know there's a lot of pressure for them to vote yes on that.

But I think the opposition is sincere and I think it's going to be a real challenge to get people to.

Yes.

On that.

All right.

So eight days left before the end of the session.

What are some things that you're looking at that you've highlighted as bills that you would like to see go through or maybe bills that you don't want to see go through before the end of this session as time is running out.

And as we heard from Representative Wang earlier, if you're filing a new bill right now, it's probably not going to get through.

But for those that are still up for debate and have been in discussion for a long time, what are some that you've highlighted as as points of emphasis for you or for your party's agenda?

Yeah, I think as we get to this point in session, we've seen a lot more of these divisive social bills come up.

And I'm really focused on hopefully trying to stop some of those from getting all the way through.

We had a bill passed out of the House yesterday which basically would allow the state to discriminate against members of the public if they have a religious belief that would prevent them from, say, issuing a marriage license to a same sex couple.

That's a hurtful bill for people in our state who were supposed to enjoy the protections, you know, under the law.

And I just don't think that government should be in the business of discriminating against people.

So I hope that the Senate rejects that bill.

And then there's a bill coming over to the House side, as we talked about, which would eliminate the State Library board.

I'm opposed to that bill, and it's coming to our committee, and I'll certainly do all it can to stop that.

On the positive side, you know, I would say maybe on the necessary side, we've got the Medicaid expansion reauthorization.

We still have to do that, certainly has to go forward.

Medicaid expansion has been important for Arkansas families.

It's been important for the health care system and our budget.

We get a lot of federal money from that.

We need to reauthorize that, and I expect we will.

This is certainly a time, too, where you have these bills coming at you.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the Democrats looking to the next session, Looking ahead after this session, working not against totally, but working with a supermajority on the other side?

Well, the biggest challenge is that we have such a small number.

I mean, I think if we had more people in our party in the legislature, it would do a couple of things so we could be more of a check and balance.

Right now, if you have a Superman party in any chamber of any legislature anywhere, they don't really have an effective check because they don't have to bring us to the table and we don't get to have oversight.

I think that everyone, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, you benefit benefit from that balance.

And I think that if we can pick up some more seats and I think we will start to pick up some more seats here and we're seeing some shifts already.

I think that it would ultimately just be better government because I don't think that the state is as extreme as the legislature has been.

And I think that's because, again, the super majority doesn't have an institutional check that it could have and should have from the other party.

He is Representative Andrew Collins of Little Rock.

We appreciate your time, Representative Collins.

We know that time is limited for the rest of the session.

So thanks for taking some time out of your day to join us here on Arkansas Week.

We'll see you next time.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you all for joining us on this week's edition of Arkansas Week.

I'm Chris Cain.

Until next time.

Have a good one.

Support for Arkansas week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and Little Rock Public Radio.