Moore: We start this Tuesday edition of Ozarks at Large with our friend in Little Rock, Andrew DeMillo. He is the editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Advocate. Hello, Andrew. How are you?
DeMillo: I’m doing well. Thank you for having me again.
Moore: Absolutely. We are here to talk fiscal session. Last time we talked was leading up to it. Now we are officially in it. Let’s start by talking about really the only thing that has more or less happened at this point in the fiscal session, and that is Gov. Sanders’ State of the State address. You wrote a column about that address on Sunday. What were your initial thoughts as you started to write about it and think about the impact of what it was?
DeMillo: The perspective I had with the column this weekend was that this really felt like kind of a greatest-hits compilation for the governor in terms of talking points and policy. She really avoided getting into any new expansive policy proposals and, even more importantly, really avoided getting into major fights with the legislature. There was no mention of the Franklin County prison project, which is not that much of a surprise given where things are in terms of the votes not being there for the appropriation. The speech really felt like fan service in a lot of ways — talking points very popular with the Republican base, talking about tax cuts, complaints about indoctrination in the classroom, talking up her school voucher program. Fiscal session State of the State addresses are usually pretty limited anyway, but this one even more so. It felt like someone who is very familiar with where the politics of the moment are right now, and also someone who is really ramping up for 2028. It felt like this was as much for an audience outside Arkansas as it was for within the state.
Moore: The things that stuck out to me — and that you also wrote about, so I think they stuck out to you too — was a lot of mentions of President Donald Trump. We saw early in her speech her conversation about her father, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, who’s now the U.S. ambassador to Israel. And at the end of your column you write that governors don’t plan to release books the week after a midterm election and two years before a presidential election just because they like writing. It sounds to me like this address was more than just an address to the Arkansas legislature.
DeMillo: Exactly. In a lot of ways, I think it’s probably a preview of the stump speech reporters will be writing about in Iowa and South Carolina, perhaps as soon as next year. The timing of her book coming out tells us a lot about where things are headed — where at least she’s giving it serious consideration, even if she’s not really acknowledging it at this point. Like you said, she talked a lot about President Trump. I think we clocked it as six times that she mentioned him by name. There was even a line that said, “President Trump has no greater friend than the people of Arkansas.” That seemed like the kind of message that’s as much for him as for voters in and outside Arkansas right now, and tells you a lot about how she feels about how popular Trump still remains, even in a very challenging midterm environment for Republicans in other states right now.
Moore: One of the things we did hear from this speech that does feel like news is the anticipated special session following immediately after the fiscal session and her plan to cut taxes.
DeMillo: She acknowledged for the first time that this is something she’s planning on doing. There was a little bit of an “if” on there, but essentially she has said if the legislature sticks to her budget and holds the line on spending, she’s planning on calling them back for a special session focused on cutting the top individual income tax rate from 3.9% to 3.7%. I think this is something that generally there’s support for in both chambers of the legislature right now. There are a lot of Republicans who probably are eager to be able to brag about a tax cut in a midterm election. So this may have provided the carrot for avoiding getting into some fights on some issues right now. What remains to be seen — and I think we’ve talked about this before — is whether or not other issues get on the call for it. The governor controls the call for a special session. She said that’s the focus right now, but it’s entirely possible you could still see other things try to get on there.
Moore: Speaking of fights in the legislature, we have seen a lot of resolutions and proposed legislation coming out of Republican Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest. He was someone who had a primary challenger who was supported by Gov. Sanders, and he defeated that primary challenger. He’s a very busy man so far in this fiscal session. Let’s start, if we can, Andrew, talking about his proposal in partnership with Rep. Jim Wooten of Beebe to curtail some of the spending of the school voucher program.
DeMillo: For people who aren’t familiar with it, fiscal session is intended to focus primarily on the budget. It’s very difficult to take up things that are not budget-related. You have to have two-thirds support in both chambers of the legislature to even introduce a non-fiscal bill. That’s why we saw these resolutions being introduced on the first day of the session. The restrictions on the voucher program — I don’t see trying to get two-thirds with that going to be very easy with a predominantly Republican legislature that had supported this legislation. Sen. King also has six bills that have been introduced dealing with various crypto mining and data center regulations and restrictions. That one is a little more interesting, just because of the national environment right now where there’s so much concern in communities, including in very Republican states, about the impact of these facilities in terms of quality of life and utility usage. At the very least, even if they don’t make it onto the floor this session, these give you a preview of what to expect when the legislature meets next year with a much more expansive agenda they can take up.
Moore: In your reporting about the crypto mining legislation specifically, you spoke to Senate Minority Leader Greg Leding, and he talks about how he’s not sure if this will make it through in the fiscal session. And it is one of the challenges of only meeting every other year — it’s hard to be responsive to legislation that’s passed and may need some reconsideration.
DeMillo: Exactly. And that was kind of the argument in favor of doing fiscal sessions to begin with — it used to be the legislature met and budgeted every other year, and the argument in favor of having fiscal sessions was to be more responsive to what happens with the economy and fiscal issues. At the very least, the fiscal session still gives an opportunity if there’s something where there is broad support for something to take it up. There really is reluctance, even when there’s support for some of these issues, because legislative leaders really try to tamp down on that. They really don’t want to open the door to having a full-fledged legislative session every year. So they’re going to be facing both the challenge of getting the votes and just the cultural resistance there is right now in the legislature to taking up non-fiscal bills.
Moore: What are you looking for this week? What do you have your ear to the ground on for this first full week of the fiscal session?
DeMillo: I think it’s a lot of the top issues that we’ve talked about — looking to see what happens with the Educational Freedom Accounts, if there’s movement on that. Really watching the Joint Budget Committee also just to see any procedural moves — to see if there are any lawmakers putting holds on budgets, which is usually an indication that they have concerns or questions they’re going to be asking agency heads, or they have objections. That kind of gives you a preview of where the fights are going to be. And just seeing how quickly they’re able to move through some of this. Legislative leaders have said their goal is to get things wrapped up by the end of the month. If they’re moving pretty quickly, that will give you an idea they’re on track. But if you’re starting to see fights on even some pretty minor budgets or issues that we haven’t even written about yet, that gives you an idea that keeping that schedule is going to be very difficult.
Moore: Lastly, last week was the 50th anniversary of “All the President’s Men.” I know this is one of your favorite films and one of your favorite books as well. When was the last time you revisited the film, and how has it stood up for you?
DeMillo: It’s stood up incredibly well. Actually, last week I ended up doing the social media thing and watching various clips on TikTok and Instagram, especially my favorite scenes — Ben Bradlee’s various profanity-laced rants. It’s just such a great movie. My bragging right is that my favorite possession in my house is a signed copy of “All the President’s Men,” signed by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. So when the fire hits — along with family photos, of course — that’ll be the first thing that comes out of the house.
Moore: I love it. Well, hopefully that’s not a situation you ever have to find yourself in. Andrew, thank you again for your time. You can always keep up with his whole team’s work at ArkansasAdvocate.com. Andrew, let’s do this again next week.
DeMillo: I appreciate it. Thank you.
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