Thursday’s thumbs

Process matters; education law gets too little

It’s Thursday and another chance to fire off a few up or down thumbs about some news developments in our neck of the woods and elsewhere:

State Sen. Bart Hester of Cave Springs told a statewide audience on Arkansas PBS’ “Arkansas Week” one of the lessons he’s learned in his years in the state Legislature is when critics of a bill can’t win based on merits, they argue process. That, of course, was a reference to the fast-track treatment given to Gov. Sarah Sanders’ Arkansas LEARNS education bill. It’s a cute quip that oddly dismisses the value of deliberation in making state laws. The reality is the Republicans in control of “the process” are in a hurry to give Sanders a victory. That’s Job No. 1. And Job No. 2 is to pretend a 144-page overhaul of the state’s education system by creating a public funding pipeline to private schools can be fully vetted in a matter of a couple of weeks. People hardly want to focus on process, but they’re forced to when the process has been so tightly controlled and predetermined. Arkansas will get a new education reform bill and, because of the short-circuited process Republicans supported, residents will be learning about its impacts for years to come. Let’s hope they all turn out to be better for the state.

Residents who are members of the Beaver Lake Fire Department will get a chance to vote on whether to increase their annual dues by $50. That means increasing financial support — from $150 to $200 a year — for an agency that works to protect the people and property of the area. After Benton County Quorum Court action Tuesday evening, the election will be held May 9. This comes after the department previously sought to base annual fees on property values, so that fees would be related to the value of the property being protected. Enthusiasm for that was relatively low and a vote never happened. The new proposal seems modest enough — a little more than $4 a month. It may not solve every funding issue with the department, but it certainly will help shore up the agency’s needs at a time when every organization has seen costs trend higher.

Legislation proposing construction of a monument on the state Capitol grounds commemorating “unborn children aborted” over the last 50 or so years isn’t so much a tribute as it is a marker of political victory. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, is pushing for the Monument to Unborn Children and it handily passed a Senate committee Tuesday and the full Senate Wednesday. The legislation would order state officials to consult with pro-life groups in Arkansas to design the monument. Hammer says he wants a monument that’s tasteful and respectful. Without regard to what state or federal policy on abortion should or should not be, it seems to us Hammer’s proposal has already missed that mark.