Ark. lottery approaches final votes this week

LITTLE ROCK After months of negotiations, Arkansas lawmakers plan to give their final seal of approval this week to the state's new lottery and scholarship program.

Voters approved the games last November, and legislative leaders filed shell bills that same month to put in place the lottery, which will fund college scholarships for Arkansas students.

Meanwhile, a proposal to grant the children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition comes before a Senate committee this week.

The House and Senate are expected to cast final votes Monday on the lottery measure, which calls for scholarships for any student with a 2.5 grade point average, and to send the measure on to Gov. Mike Beebe. The governor has said he'll sign the bill, which has passed both chambers without a single 'no.'

Last week, House Speaker Robbie Wills reassured lawmakers that, if something in the bill doesn't work out right, they can fix it in the fiscal session next year or in future sessions down the road. Lottery bill crafters say they're working on a cleanup bill to clarify the salary cap for the lottery's top officials.

"If there's a better way to do it, this Legislature and General Assemblies in the future will have every opportunity to tweak this," said Wills, D-Conway. "We'll continue to adjust and adapt to the conditions that are presented to us."

Monday afternoon, the Senate Education Committee is scheduled to consider Sen. Joyce Elliott's proposal to grant in-state tuition rates to the children of illegal immigrants. Elliott's bill, similar to a proposal that passed the House but was rejected in the Senate in 2005, faced a skeptical Senate during a rare "committee of the whole" meeting before the chamber last week.

Elliott's proposal faces opposition from Beebe, who has said that it could violate federal law.

Elliott, D-Little Rock, said she's confident that she has enough votes to get the proposal advanced by the panel.

"I think the Senate is a reasonable body and, given information and a sense of the future of the state, I think the Senate will make the right decision," Elliott said.

Two proposals backed by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel to overhaul the state's ethics laws are expected to go before the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee this week. One proposal would require lawmakers, constitutional officers and agency directors to wait a year before they could become lobbyists.

The other bill backed by McDaniel includes a prohibition on lobbyists paying for drinks or meals at any location where the lobbyist isn't present. The provision aimed at a practice that McDaniel has called "absentee lobbying" would not apply to special events, such as receptions.

The proposal also would double the amount of money that elected officials can keep in their campaign funds after an election. Currently, carryover funds cannot exceed the annual salary set by state law for the office.

Last week, an amendment was filed to the proposal to change a provision in the bill that would have allowed those funds to be used to purchase meals, travel or lodging for political purposes. The amendment instead would allow those surplus funds to be used for "activities associated with the office sought or held by the candidate or public official."

McDaniel has said he expects swift passages of the bills in the Senate, but is less optimistic aobut their chances in the House.

The Legislature is expected to continue paring down the list of proposed constitutional amendments to refer to the 2010 ballot. Last week, the Senate State Agencies and Government Affairs Committee recommended that six amendments be considered during a joint meeting with a House panel. Proposals to repeal annual legislative sessions and to put the Game and Fish Commission under the Legislature's control were among several ballot measures backed by the Senate panel.

The Legislature can refer three measures to the 2010 ballot.

The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has about a dozen amendment proposals before it, plans to discuss Wednesday which ones to endorse.

The House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee is scheduled Tuesday to consider a bill by Rep. David Dunn, D-Forrest City, that would require all contracts for publicly funded buildings and projects to be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. The Arkansas Supreme Court last year ruled that a 2001 law allowing no-bid contracts on projects of $5 million or more did not violate the state's constitution.

A similar proposal by Dunn, D-Forrest City, to repeal the 2001 law failed before a House Committee in 2007.

On Wednesday, a bill that would require all diesel fuel sold in the state to contain 5 percent biodiesel was to go before the Joint Energy Committee. The bill's backers cited a recent study by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock that found a B5 standard could create 1,500 jobs in the state for farmers, processors, distributors and others involved in biodiesel.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation to change the state's execution law to mirror practices already in place. The House has already approved the proposed changes to the state's law on executions, listing which chemicals that may be used and keeping the policies and procedures exempt from the state Freedom of Information Act.

The proposal by Rep. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan, also makes execution protocols immune from the Arkansas Administrative Procedures Act, which requires state agencies to give the public notice and a chance to comment about any new rules they are drafting. If the measure becomes law, that provision would end a court challenge to execution procedures filed by a death-row inmate.