Handicapping bills of the 91st General Assembly

As both the prancing ponies of Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs race and those eager-beaver legislators down in Little Rock kick off the 91st General Assembly this month, I thought there was a comparison to be made.

Charles Cella, the St. Louis businessman who owns Oaklawn Park, predicts that 2017 will indeed be a grand year for the racing season in Arkansas.

And just this last week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, standing in the joint session, proclaimed the 91st General Assembly and 2017 to be a year of “historic opportunities for the state and the people of Arkansas.”

Oaklawn on opening day had 50-cent corned-beef sandwiches and 10-cent soda and iced tea (adult beverages were discounted, but not much, I am told).

The “swill mill” of adult beverages and late night snacks are still on hand in certain “hospitality rooms” at the state-owned Capitol Hill Apartments, which are now open for after-hours consumption by lawmakers.

In the spirit of handicapping horses, I will admit I am a novice, even after decades of practice.

There is a better way, it seems, to handicap the outcome of some of the pre-filed bills in the General Assembly. So here goes. In the No. 1 Starting Gate is “Reduction of Gub-A-Ment.” Gov. Hutchinson is seeking efficiency by the eliminating unnecessary boards and commissions. This horse looks like a slow starter, but follows a path Asa began in 2015, which worked.

Look for more and more central control by bureaucrats and less and less control by state boards and commissions of ordinary citizens.

In Gate 2: is a well-worn nag that’s been around for years: Her name is “College Funding.”

The Governor seeks to improve this equine. The plan is to give the “hay” of funding only to those who “win the races of academic success.” Feed bags will not be based on how many “enroll” in the education race.

None of these nags will be bloated and only the academically successful will be well fed.

Out of Gate 3: State Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, has entered a torpedo of a horse called “No Gun Tax” that is ready to run. This is a hard-to-handle favorite on which only few can ride. Sen. Hester, astride this pony, intends to have a sales tax “holiday” for guns and ammo purchased each fall.

Look for this horse to be energized by riotous debate, and finish, I hope, in last place.

In the middle of the track, our governor has strategically positioned his “headliner” from the linage of that perennial favorite “Tax Cut.”

This new version of “Tax Cut 2.0” from the Hutchinson stable is for folks earning less than $21,000 a year. It is a $50 million gamble.

This horse will break quickly as Hutchinson’s personal jockey and nephew, State Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette, will be astride the oat-eater.

Look for him to break quickly from the gate and ride the rail to the fastest victory of the Session. Hendren, you see, like Hutchinson, will use the whip if necessary.

Alongside of “Tax Cut 2.0,” in the fifth gate, the Hutchinson team has claimed the brainchild of State Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, from last racing season. The proposed mare, “Veterans Tax Cut,” is a strong bay for all retired and disabled military.

Last year, the Hutchinson race team, boxed this young mare out of the race, but now they have their own version running hard on the far side of the middle of the track.

And last, along the outside in Gate 6 of this short field, Hutchinson is running a long-shot called “Patience and Restraint.”

He knows it will be a long shot from the outside post position when he said, “… To accomplish these goals, tough choices are required of the budget. It does not take a PhD in economics to know we can’t say ‘yes’ to every spending need. And we also should not say ‘yes’ to every tax cut.”

And they are off and running ...

— Maylon Rice is a former journalist who worked for several northwest Arkansas publications. He can be reached via email at maylontrice@ yahoo.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.