Session will test Beebe's clout

LITTLE ROCK Mike Beebe wasn't on Tuesday's ballot, but he was still handed a few defeats.

Voters approved the ban on unmarried foster and adoptive parents that he opposed. Voters said the annual sessions that he called unnecessary should begin. The state Senate candidate he stumped for was rejected by Faulkner County voters.

And the presidential candidate who gave him his most well-attended rally in the 2006 governor's campaign lost in Arkansas by about 20 points.

Has the Arkansas governor's seal of approval lost some of its luster?

Probably not, but Tuesday's election results probably weren't encouraging as Beebe heads toward his second legislative sesssion and, for all intents and purposes, the kickoff to his re-election bid.

Beebe heads into next year's legislative session with plenty of good will. Three out of four people approve of the Democratic governor's job performance, according to the University of Arkansas' annual Arkansas poll the highest approval rating a governor has received since the survey started 10 years ago.

This week will offer a preview of how much political capital he's willing to spend with that popularity, as Beebe's office prepares to unveil a balanced-budget proposal that may include his push to further cut in the state's sales tax on groceries.

Beebe gears up for the next session facing a dramatically different situation than two years ago, when he was a newly minted incoming governor. In that session, and a special session called earlier this year, Beebe was successful in pressing lawmakers to enact nearly all of his major policy proposals.

And two years ago, the state was in the midst of building a $1 billion surplus. Despite accumulating a $260 million surplus as the new session looms, the governor faces a grim economic picture that, in his words, could make some state agencies "sweat a little more."

The threat of a recession prompted Beebe to start crafting plans for using some of that extra money as a so-called "rainy day fund" that the state could tap into in case of emergency. He says he doesn't know if it's possible that the state would deplete such a fund.

"We're preparing for the worse and hopefully, that won't occur," he said.

Voters also handed Beebe and the legislators two new wrinkles in next year's session by approving a state-run lottery to fund college scholarships and an amendment requiring the Legislature to meet annually.

Beebe also faces the possibility that some of the thorny social issues he tries to avoid might crop up during the session. Voter approval of the unmarried foster and adoptive parent ban ensures that the issue won't go away.

A fight over immigration may resurface, with a Democratic lawmaker considering bringing back a measure to grant in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants. Sen.-elect Joyce Elliott of Little Rock, however, notes that Beebe's opposition to the tuition measure is a steep obstacle.

"People respect him. He's a legal mind," she said. "I think somebody who has been in the Legislature that long, you have to take his opinion seriously."

If the election is a preview of how much political capital Beebe has to spend, the results aren't encouraging

Beebe went 2-for-5 on ballot measures, with voters approving the $300 million water bonds and changes to the state's election law language that he publicly said he supported. Voters, however, approved the initiated act on adoptions and foster care, the lottery, and annual sessions, all measures that he opposed.

On top of that, Faulkner County voters supported former Republican Party Chairman Gilbert Baker's re-election bid, rejecting Democrat Joe White's challenge. The race had become a high-stakes battle, with Beebe appearing in campaign ads and helping raise funds for White's bid.

The presidential race also offered Republicans some encouragement. as Democrat Barack Obama failed to win a state that in every other respect can be considered a Democratic stronghold.

Beebe brushed aside the suggestion by reporters than any of the results were a referendum on him. He noted that he didn't campaign actively on the foster care or annual sessions issues and that most polls showed Obama trailing badly in the state.

"The people have the right to make up their own minds and the people normally aren't influenced by others but you all ask and I have an obligation to tell folks what I think and how I'm going to vote if you ask and if i know," Beebe said. "And I knew on everything you asked except the lottery, so I told you."

Perhaps the most surprising result of Tuesday's election approval of annual legislative sessions could be the one to hurt Beebe's clout the most. The move away from biennial sessions and budgets could take away some of Beebe's power to control the Legislature's agenda.

The Republican Party of Arkansas, which endorsed the amendment, sold the idea as a way to counter Beebe's popularity.

"I think that the people look for effective checks and balances and I think they just see a very powerful governor that is in control of the Legislature," said Asa Hutchinson, the 2006 Repulican gubernatorial nominee who had supported the amendment.

Lawmakers, however, say Beebe and his office still pull a lot of clout with the Legislature and point to the former senator's experience in the Capitol as an asset in pushing his agenda.

DeMillo covers Arkansas government and politics for The Associated Press.