Helmets, global-warming bills die in Arkansas session

LITTLE ROCK Arkansas lawmakers finished their regular session Thursday with a new lottery and funding for a statewide trauma system, but not everything got done in the 88 days senators and representatives spent in Little Rock.

Lawmakers once again declined to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and a series of measures recommended by the Governor's Commission on Global Warming faltered.

Millions of dollars of tax cuts backed by the House stalled in the Senate, and a lawmaker's push to require motorcyclists to wear helmets or pay higher insurance costs spun out.

Gov. Mike Beebe said it was a successful session, but cited the Equal Rights Amendment as a measure he was disappointed that the Legislature did not pass.

Arkansas was one of 15 states that had not passed the amendment when the deadline passed in 1982. Beebe said he had suggested to backers of the ERA that they use a Senate rule that would have allowed them to pull the resolution from the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee for a vote on the Senate floor. Such a move would have required 18 votes in the 35-member Senate.

"That's a rule we put in specifically for that type of purpose," Beebe said.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, referred the bill Thursday to an interim study.

"We will actually study it during the interim and make sure we all understand what's at stake here," Madison said Thursday. "Gender discrimination does not have the same level of protection as racial discrimination."

House Speaker Robbie Wills, D-Conway, said he had hoped the Legislature could have done more to help teachers with the rising cost of health insurance. Lawmakers found $15 million to pay for increasing insurance premiums, shy of the estimated $20 million to $25 million that was needed to cover the increase.

The teachers' insurance program "continues to see just record premium increases," Wills told reporters. "What we did will help, we're going to study it in the interim and hopefully as the economy of the state improves in the future we'll be able to do more."

Other issues that didn't make it out of the 87th General Assembly:

The House Judiciary Committee rejected a measure by Rep. Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove, that would permit Arkansans to carry handguns openly.

A bill by Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, that would allow concealed handguns in churches and other houses of worship was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee

Legislation by Sen. Mary Anne Salmon, D-North Little Rock, that would require insurers to cover the treatment and diagnosis of autism failed in the House Insurance and Commerce Committee.

Several House-backed tax cuts, including a reduction on the income tax on capital gains and the creation of a back-to-school sales tax holiday, died in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Rep. Kathy Webb's bill to require electric utilities to buy at least 2 percent of their annual electricity supplies from a renewable energy facility was voted down by the House Insurance and Commerce Committee

A bill by Rep. Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, to require all diesel fuel sold at public retail facilities in Arkansas to contain a 5 percent biodiesel blend hit a roadblock before the Joint Energy Committee and Rogers eventually referred it to interim study.

Sen. Gilbert Baker's bill to impose a one-year moratorium on lobbying by the state's top public servants after their terms expire failed before the Senate State Agencies and Government Affairs Committee. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel had sought the legislation.

A bill by Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, that would have required motorcyclists to carry $10,000 in health insurance if they decide not to wear a helmet, failed to get a motion recommending its passage from the Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee.

A measure by Rep. Gene Shelby, D-Hot Springs, requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets failed before the House Transportation Committee.

Associated Press Writer Andrew DeMillo contributed to this report.