Legislature Will Consider Cell Phone, Health Bills

Friday, Jan 2, 2009
Legislature Will Consider Cell Phone, Health Bills
Legislature Will Consider Cell Phone, Health Bills

LITTLE ROCK - Legislative committees have been working on numerous issues in preparation for the regular session that begins January 12.

Legislators will determine whether to add employees at the division of Children and Family Services to lower the average case loads of staff who deal directly with children in troubled families.

One goal is quicker response times when the division investigates allegations of abuse or neglect. Another is to recruit more foster parents, so case workers have more options when they make tough decisions about where a child should live.
Improving access to health care in rural areas is always a challenge in Arkansas, where many areas lack sufficient numbers of physicians, nurses, dentists, hospitals, pharmacies and clinics.

Almost 900 advanced practice nurses can prescribe certain medications, although they must have a collaborative agreement with a physician before they are allowed to do so. The Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor heard a report on the quality of health care in states that don't require advanced nurses to enter collaborative agreements with physicians.

Some nurses' organizations believe it would improve public health to allow advanced nurses more authority. Physicians' groups generally oppose those efforts, arguing that oversight by trained physicians is a necessary safeguard.

Legislators will consider bills to restrict the use of cell phones while driving a motor vehicle on public roadways. One proposal would allow the use of a hands-free device. Another would prohibit texting while driving. Some lawmakers would focus the restrictions on teenaged drivers.

In past sessions, bills to limit cell phone use while driving have been referred to the Transportation Committee.

The Judiciary Committee will consider expected proposals to strengthen criminal penalties for domestic violence. Interested lawmakers have said they want to make it a felony to repeatedly violate a restraining order and to choke a domestic partner. Also, they would repeal the statute of limitations for rape and first degree sexual assault.

Drug courts have proven successful in those parts of the state where they have been set up. Non-violent drug offenders who go through the program do not serve time in prison, which frees much-needed prison space for violent and repeat offenders. Lawmakers are expected to consider proposals to expand the total number of drug courts and to connect them with the juvenile justice system.

As always, public school funding will be the major budget issue for legislators. State aid for education from kindergarten through grade 12 accounts for about half of the state's general revenue fund.

School choice laws may be amended. They govern the ability of parents to transfer their children to districts other than the ones in which they live. Superintendents' salaries will be an issue because of a bill to limit their contracts to two years.
There may be a renewed effort by lawmakers to bring an end to state payments to the schools in Pulaski County resulting from the 1989 settlement of a desegregation lawsuit. The state has paid almost $1 billion to Pulaski County schools in the case.