Weekly Column From The Arkansas House Of Representatives

LITTLE ROCK – Work for the upcoming legislative session will begin just minutes after we are sworn in on Monday. The 2017 Regular Session begins at noon, January 9th. With 200 bills already filed, we expect committees to begin hearing testimony on proposed legislation this week.

Although no one can say with certainty what issues will take the most time or gather the most headlines, we do know that education funding, criminal justice reform, and tax proposals will be on the agenda for the 91st General Assembly.

This week we received the month revenue report. It shows a net available general revenue of $2.6 billion so far for this fiscal year. Fiscal years begin in July. The report show revenues are $38.2 million or 1.5% levels a year ago, but $8.8 million below what was forecasted.

We will take this information into consideration as we work to craft a budget for the next fiscal year. Several tax cut proposals are being brought forward. One bill has been filed that would lower income taxes for those receiving military retirement benefits.

Education has historically been the largest budget priority for the state. This year, we will once again be asked to approve increases in education funding. In its annual adequacy report, the Education Committee recommended an increase of $45.6 million for the next fiscal year. We also expect to consider a new funding formula for higher education.

The Criminal Justice Reform Task Force was created in 2015 to research ways to address prison overcrowding and ways to promote seamless re-entry into society for inmates scheduled to be released. As a result of the work by the task force, we expect to see several pieces of legislation filed to address the issue.

On Tuesday, the Governor is expected to speak to the legislature in the House Chamber. In this speech, the Governor will describe his proposals and ideas for the upcoming session.

As a reminder, all House proceedings in the Chamber and House committee meetings in the Capitol building are streamed live on our website www.arkansashouse.org.

We look forward to hearing from you in the weeks and months ahead.