Grading our state’s governor
It seems we have evolved into a society where any action taken by one political party is always twisted into a negative by the other major party, no matter what the action is. It hasn’t always been this way.
Bipartisanship is a thing of the past, and our country is suffering from the lack of it. However, as elections pass and people look back on the minor things we used to squabble about, Americans will turn a page to a more civilized time where any positive action by either political party will be viewed, by the vast majority of the citizens of our great country, by what it accomplishes and not from what party it came from.
Considering the complex problems he faces and the actions he takes, Gov. Asa Hutchinson deserves his record to be examined in the light of whether or not those actions are enhancements to the lives of the citizens of our state.
Naturally, the first thing that crosses my mind is the Buffalo National River, the hog farm on its watershed, and the involvement by Governor Hutchinson. Governor Beebe should have stopped the hog farm before he left office, but for whatever reason, Governor Hutchinson inherited it.
It took longer to get it closed than I would have liked, but the governor did get the hog farm closed. And since the Legislature has fumbled the ball on getting the Buffalo Watershed Moratorium made permanent, hopefully the governor will finish the job and make sure the river is permanently protected.
The Buffalo National River is a priceless asset to our state; protecting it should always be a bipartisan effort.
Arkansas is deep into gender discrimination concerning the absence of women on state commissions and boards. With no discrimination, every board or commission should look like the makeup of our state. Yes, we have work to do.
The governor’s appointees are moving in the right direction by appointing
more women and minorities to the state boards and commissions. Changing their makeup has to be gradual, but must be a priority over the years in order to have equal representation.
We now have a woman on the Game and Fish Commission, which has been a glaring omission for decades, and I feel sure even the state Highway Commission will add a woman.
I would venture a guess that trying to devise a plan to suppress the spread of the coronavirus without killing the economy is one of the toughest decisions a governor has to make. Since not controlling the coronavirus spread is not an option, a governor must decide how to balance the economy’s disruption with such factors as religion and personal safety and come up with a plan that will slow or stop the virus and not completely cripple the economy and the freedom to worship, eat at a restaurant and go to a movie.
Since the virus has become politicized, it makes those decisions a lot harder. However, I believe the governor has done a remarkable job in this regard, and his mandating a mask in public places is putting the health of Arkansawyers above political interest.
Gov. Hutchinson is showing, by acting responsibly, that he cares about the health of the citizens of Arkansas. In contrast, the governor of Georgia is bowing to political pressure by overriding towns in Georgia that have mandated masks.
One of Governor Hutchinson’s programs in public schools has made
Arkansas a national leader in computer science. Today, every public school in our state must offer a course in computer science, and $1.5 million in startup money for schools and teacher training is making the program a reality.
Computer science training, along with broadband access improvements, will equip the next generation of young adults to enter the workforce prepared to do highly skilled jobs with excellent salaries.
Speaking of money, I can’t help but enjoy the $150 million in tax cuts, spread out over a broad range of items to give everyone a piece of the pie.
As one of the governor’s priorities, he mandated the consolidation of state departments and commissions, which was long overdue. Over the past 50 years our state has had an almost continuous increase in committees, commissions, and members of each. Just the list of active committees would take up several pages.
The governor has made muchneeded reductions and consolidations in almost all of them, and in doing so reduced the members and saved money.
The governor’s involvement in prison returnees was a needed step of reform. His program attacks the problem by educating and helping people returning to our communities from prison to secure things such as driver’s licenses. The program, working with prisoner re-entry program Restore Hope, has shown great success with 57 percent of the returnees being fully employed.
Of course, the governor does fall off the wagon of progress occasionally. He couldn’t resist posturing on Second Amendment rights, opposing Washington’s bathroom guidance, supporting religious freedom, antiabortion bills and open carry, and opposing Planned Parenthood.
Almost all of those items—some of which were just statements, others that became actual bills— didn’t have any noticeable effect on most Arkansawyers. Many were or probably will be found unconstitutional by the first federal court that hears them.
But let’s be fair and not judge the governor by meaningless legislation that does nothing but waste paper and money. The real issues are the ones that make a positive difference in the lives of Arkansawyers, and on the whole the governor has made a positive difference in the lives of all of us.
Governor, I’m going to give you a B-plus, and if you will place a woman on the Highway Commission before your term is out, I’ll move you up to an A-.
Email Richard Mason at richard@ gibraltarenergy.com.