Nathan Vandiver

The state House will get to vote on legislation that would allow the state to provide health insurance to roughly 250,000 low income Arkansans after the House public health committee advanced it Tuesday.

There was audible opposition to the voice vote, but the bill will make it to the full House, where it will need 51 votes for approval. However, it will also need a budget appropriation for full implementation and that takes a tougher 75 votes.

Republican Representative John Burris of Harrison told his colleagues in the Arkansas House on Monday that the state could be an example to other states of how to overhaul Medicaid if it approves a new private option of health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The House met Monday specifically to discuss a bill that would allow the state to expand health coverage through private insurance for roughly 250,000 Arkansans who make up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level with federal money.

Arkansas has received written approval from the Department of Health and Human Services to forge a new plan to expand health insurance in the state. 

Governor Mike Beebe released a letter from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday that said the state should move forward on its loose plan to expand private health insurance coverage with federal money available through the Affordable Care Act.

The Arkansas Senate voted 21-12 Wednesday to override the Governor's veto of a bill that would require voters in the state to present valid photo identification before casting a ballot.

This is the third veto the Senate has overridden this legislative session. The other two were on abortion restrictions.

The Senate delivered a letter announcing the override to the House of Representatives which also has to vote to override the veto.

A bill that would remove water quality standards for mineral content in small streams in the state is set for a hearing in the Senate Public Health Committee Wednesday.

House Bill 1929 would remove a special permit requirement for businesses that discharge minerals such as chlorides and sulfates into streams. Representative Andy Davis, a Republican from Little Rock, is the bill’s sponsor. Davis says current standards apply to water that will never be used as drinking water.

Talk of tax cuts continues to swirl around the state Capitol as lawmakers iron out what Speaker of the House Davy Carter said Friday is shaping up to be roughly $100 million dollars worth of cuts.

"In concept there is an agreement ... for a tax cut package in that range," Carter told reporters, speaking of talks between the House and Senate.

The Speaker had asked for lawmakers to identify $150 million in tax cuts, but recent reports have indicated the number has been decreasing.

The House voted 82-3 to pass a bill Friday that would prevent government agencies from naming buildings after public office holders until ten years after they are out of office.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative John Burris, R-Harrison, said this law would solve some interesting situations that have occurred in various districts around the state.

A bill that would have directed a portion of state revenue from certain sales taxes to the Highway and Transportation Department failed to pass a house committee Thursday, though its sponsor says it could get another try in committee.

Representative Jonathan Barnett, a Republican from Siloam Springs, sponsored HB 1418 and says if he does bring it back up, it will have to compete with other bills cutting or reallocating state funding.

Two bills regulating body modification procedures are headed to the full House with support of the tattoo industry.

One bill would set an age limit for piercings without parental consent and another would ban sub-dermal implants. The bills passed the House Public Health Committee Thursday.

The bills' sponsor in the House, democratic Representative Deborah Ferguson of West Memphis, said the industry opposed earlier forms of the legislation but now they are working together.

Arkansas House Speaker Davy Carter is wanting to see a written draft of a proposal to expand health coverage in the state by Friday.