A Christmas Wish…

TALK OF TAX CUTS, BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, FILLS 91ST ASSEMBLY IN 2017

Here, just two weeks before the big man in the red wool suit makes his appearance, there is a lot of wool gathering going on down in Little Rock.

These formative weeks are to get all the solons moved in, new seating charts finalized, draw for committees and organize themselves for the Jan. 9 start of the 91st General Assembly.

As expected, veteran legislators, who are seldom away from Little Rock, have been filing a flurry of bills ahead of the looming session.

There have been some bills that take our collective breath away. And, hopefully, there will be other bills touted that will never be filed, or — even more hopefully — not make the light of day.

First, there is good news from Gov. Asa Hutchinson on his efforts to convince federal health officials to allow basic changes to Arkansas Works. Hutchinson received notice from federal Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell indicating that the feds have approved the necessary waiver to proceed with Arkansas Works, the governor’s plan to continue the private option Medicaid expansion.

What that waiver contains, we will find out, but many suspect the state’s current Medicaid expansion arrangement, known as the private option, uses Medicaid funds to purchase private health insurance for more than 300,000 low-income Arkan- sans.

The private option was enacted under a federal waiver by the administration of former Gov. Mike Beebe. That waiver expires at the end of this month. Arkansas Works will keep that coverage in place come January, but what happens next under the Trump administration and the GOP Congress is up in the air.

The Hutchinson plan for Arkansas Works continues the private option with some limited adjustments. Beneficiaries who make more than the poverty line will have to pay small premiums (capped at 2 percent of income, which would be between $19 and $27 a month for an individual), but they will not lose coverage if they fail to do so.

The biggest disappointment to Hutchinson and other conservative Republicans was that unemployed beneficiaries will receive information about job training, but will not be required to participate, and having a job will not be a condition of coverage.

I repeat: The unemployed will not have to have a job as a condition of coverage.

Another major alteration has to do with beneficiaries who are offered health insurance by a job. Under Arkansas Works, these beneficiaries will be covered by these employer-sponsored health insurance plans, but Medicaid will chip in to pay the employee contribution and cover any benefits not covered by Medicaid.

This was a part of the plan that conservatives act like they do not like, yet they lobbied for this requirement.

In other words, for the beneficiary, the plan will be exactly the same in terms of costs and benefits to a regu- lar private option plan. And now the bad news. A bill has been filed to water down the unfair dismissal act of firing classroom teachers. Two state representatives want to give the state, when involved in school district takeovers, the ability to fire teachers – especially unionized teachers. This is a back door attempt to reign in the Little Rock School District.

No Bathroom Bill has been filed yet in the state – but look for one, even though other states that have passed this gender-specific bathroom requirement aimed at transgender individuals has caused widespread economic damage in tourism and business expansion.

And look for a bill that will seek to prohibit cities in the state from becoming sanctuary cities — meaning the cities that declared that foreign nationals seeking asylum in the United States should feel safe and discrimination free in that city. The kicker on this bill is that the state would withhold state turn-back tax funds due such cities.

And of course, Rep. Charlie Collins is back with his on-campus-pistol-packing bill for all college campuses.

So, with all the holiday festivities in Little Rock this past week there were some lumps of coal placed in the public stocking. More to come. Always, more to come. MAYLON RICE, AN AWARDWINNING COLUMNIST, HAS WRITTEN BOTH NEWS AND COLUMNS FOR SEVERAL NWA PUBLICATIONS AND HAS BEEN WRITING FOR THE ENTERPRISELEADER FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.