MonticelloLive

MonticelloLive is pleased to provide you with a podcast of today’s Legislative Update at the Chamber of Commerce. There were approximately 40 people in attendance. Senator Jimmy Jeffress and Representative Gregg Reep shared with the attendees on the legislative progress of the 86th General Session.

Jeffress opened the afternoon by apologizing for comments made during last month’s legislative update in which he claimed the Arkansas Family Council received funds to fight the lottery initiative from casinos in Mississippi. He said his comments were unwarranted and that he deeply regretted them. He had also contacted AFC President Jerry Cox to apologize.

One of the concerns raised multiple times by attendees included educational mandates that were subsequently unfunded by the state legislature. It was pointed out that these mandates put added stress on personnel and school budgets to fulfill without the necessary finances to do so.

Other items discussed included:

• Grocery tax cut
• Funding bills for schools
• Lottery initiative introduced by some members of the legislature to become a constitutional amendment
• Disbursement of general improvement funds
• A bill to fund a new Forestry Research Complex at UAM
• Snow Lake rail acquisition
• Charitable bingo law implementation
• Possibilities of tax-supported wireless internet access for communities

Reep related that the lottery bill has as its goal two areas:

1. Provide scholarships for every high school graduate in Arkansas who attends an Arkansas higher education institution
2. Teacher bonuses

Representatives Eddie Cheatham and Allen Maxwell were unable to attend.