Arkansas Legislators Plunder the Arkansas Retirement system
It comes as a complete shock to learn that as this year’s Arkansas Legislative session crawls to a close, the penurious legislators, wishing to provide for their old age, have added this plum. For each year worked, please don’t laugh, it’s a technical/legal term, not a descriptor of activity, the legislator will receive credit for 2 years in the state retirement system. So if we are stuck with the greedy cuss for 10 years, he/she (we’re bisexual, not wait that’s not the right word, unisex, no wait, oh well you know what I mean) can retire with 20 years of service.
Just like that, with a stroke of their own pen they voted themselves that perk at our expense. Is it any wonder that the TEA PARTY has such a broad based appeal?
I know there was heart felt justification for this plum offered up by state representative Randy Stewart, “It’s a fairness issue,” he explains, not just another grab. Legislators “are getting no more or no less than any other state employee”.
So now every mouth feeding at the Arkansas public trough of taxpayer dollars can get double credit in the state retirement system for just showing up for work. One might ask why this twofer is even in the retirement system for anyone?
Ancient Life signs found at Park
We apologize. At first we thought that this article was alleging that signs of ancient life had been found at the Arkansas State Legislature’s site, but that is in error. There were no signs of ancient life found there.
Rogers School District researching how much it will cost to replace employees who took buyouts.
No, we’re not kidding. The Rogers School District offered 180 employees up to $40,000.00 each to leave and 89 apparently took the offer. Now the district is having Educators Preferred Corp., the company who administered the buyout program, “collect information about how much it will cost to replace the employees who took buyouts”.
One might ask that if you really needed the folks, why did you pay them to leave?
But the folks who dreamed this up are elected politicians so that may help your understanding.
Oh, one reason given as to why all 180 eligible employees didn’t take the $40K and go is that if you have worked at least 14 years and have 28 years in the retirement system, (remember you get 2 for 1 down here), you can work for another 10 years and receive your salary plus some of your retirement benefits in an interest bearing account.
Little Rock City plans to reduce obesity
This laudable goal is to be partially targeted by having a selected group pf students plant tomatoes (yes with an ’e’), zucchini, and strawberries.
Principal Tyrone Harris said, “the program will eventually lead to community cooking classes at the school. Neighbors will be encouraged to help tend the plots, and children can take the vegetables home come harvest time. I would suggest to the students to be the early bird or you may have to eat the zucchini.
As a non-involved reader of this bit of exciting news, I formed an opinion or two. Wouldn’t it help with the student obesity problem if the student tended the garden rather than a neighbor? Is the promise of cooking classes at the school a recognition that we can no longer educate students in reading, writing, and arithmetic and by teaching them cooking they will learn a trade to make them employable at a burger biggie outlet?
The final sentence in the article, “Too many kids are going to the hospital because they don’t get enough exercise,” (said Brandon Shavers, a fourth-grader at the school). I remember in old times the PE teacher made us run around the school for exercise; but heck, that’s probably child abuse, let them eat zucchini.
State to Risk of Idling State Insurance Agency
Per the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, “The budget committee chairman and Governor Beebe refused to budge in their standoff over a stalled Insurance Department appropriation, an impasse that could shut the agency down. The state House of Representatives twice defeated the bill over some lawmaker’s concerns that $1 million of the $72.6 million appropriation will be used to create a health-insurance exchange (read that as an Obamacare requirement).
“The House Republican Leader, John Burris, tired unsuccessfully to remove the money for the insurance exchange from the bill before the house voted.”
If lawmakers do not approve the bill, the department will receive no funding and, well the sky will fall!
Governor Beebe called the House actions ”Tragic” and “pretty catastrophic”.
As a non-House member reading of all this, a thought comes to mind. Why not separate out the $71.6 million to run the agency and then try to address the $1 million Obamacare item separately? Well of course we know the answer, the Obamacare piece, a child of Governor Beebe’s, would die aborning if pulled out to stand on its own merits. So the Gov and his lead henchmen in the House risk shutting down the agency, and the whole world if their claims are to be believed, to attempt to force the nay votes to capitulate. Seems that some TEA PARTIERS were elected this past November and are sticking to their guns. We’ll see if they hold true, or crumble to politics as usual
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