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Lawmakers return to end session Monday, Apr 30, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - In recess since April 3, lawmakers were scheduled to return to the Capitol today to revamp a handful of capital improvement project bills vetoed by Gov. Mike Beebe on constitutional grounds. Legislative leaders said Tuesday was still the scheduled day for formal adjournment of the 2007 regular session - a session that may be the last to deal with the long-running Lake View school funding case. "Everything's in good shape," House Speaker Benny Petrus, D-Stuttgart, said Friday. "We've got everything ready to go with the proclamations." "I can't envision anything that would hang us up, so I expect us to go in there Monday and go home Tuesday for good," said Senate President Pro Tem Jack Critcher, D-Batesville. Beebe is not expected to be present for the session's final two days. On Monday, the governor is scheduled to emcee the 48th Annual Salute to the Arkansas Congressional Delegation Dinner in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce-Associated Industries of Arkansas, and he will not be back in Arkansas until late Tuesday, spokesman Matt DeCample said. Legislators recessed the session after 86 days. They originally planned to return Tuesday just for adjournment, but after Beebe vetoed six General Improvement Fund appropriation bills, lawmakers announced plans to return a day early and retool the bills. Beebe said he vetoed the bills because they were earmarked for local or special projects, a practice the state Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional in a ruling last year. Legislative leaders plan to rewrite the six vetoed GIF bills, directing the money to state agencies or commissions for distribution and reworking them as amendments to House Bill 2430 by Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville. Returning today gives lawmakers two days to move the bill through the Joint Budget Committee and both chambers of the Legislature. The bill would then go to the governor. The appropriations legislators are expected to incorporate into HB 2430 are: -$100,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services' Division of developmental disabilities Services for grants to community programs for developmentally disabled children and adults. -$425,429 to the state Department of Economic Development for grants and aid. -$200,000 to Ozarka College for construction and improvements at the Mountain View and Melbourne campuses. -$25,000 to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission for grants and aid. -$10,000 to the Department of Rural Services for grants and state assistance to fire departments. -$20,000 to the Department of Workforce Education for Northwest and Crowley's Ridge Technical Institutes and Riverside Vocational Technical School for construction, maintenance, facility improvements and new equipment. Petrus said he believes the 86th General Assembly will be remembered as the one that resolved the Lake View case. On Thursday, the special masters in the case reported to the state Supreme Court that legislative action has given Arkansas' public schools the means to provide students with an adequate education. "It was a very good report," Petrus said. "I felt redeemed by what we did." The case has been in court since 1992, when the now-defunct Lake View School District sued the state, claiming inequitable distribution of school funding. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the state's system of funding public schools was both inequitable and inadequate. The special masters' report urges continued vigilance by the Legislature. "It'll just be the future general assemblies' ongoing responsibility to fund education first," Petrus said. Critcher said Friday he had not read the full report, but based on a summary and news reports, "it appears once and for all that Lake View is over and that the Supreme Court will be satisfied with what has taken place." David Matthews, attorney for the Rogers School District, which joined Lake View and other districts in the suit, said he believes the Supreme Court's response to the report may be, "OK, well done for now, but we're still watching and we're not going to go away." But Matthews said legislators were right to feel good about Lake View as they prepared for the end of the session. "There's a good reason for the legislators to feel confident right now. The masters were favorably impressed with the reports that they received," he said. Beebe was on vacation when the report was released, but he issued the following statement Friday saying the special masters recognized the state had made historic strides for improving public education. He added, "True excellence in education will require continued and vigilant dedication from all parties throughout the years ahead. While we await word from the Supreme Court, I hope the justices will recognize the continuing advances that have been made and will release the state from court supervision." ------- Reporter Jason Wiest contributed to this report |
