Busy day today as the legislature rushes to cram through as many of the bad bills that piled up at filing deadline as possible. That deadline passed, by the way, without an effort to clean up the gaping loophole legislators have exploited in the new so-called ethics amendment, a loophole that has kept freebies coming as long as somebody waves a wand and calls a swill-down a “planned activity.”
Today’s “planned activities” — meaning free eats and drinks.
LUNCH: 11:30-1, Capitol Hill Building, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. (By their votes — such as nothing for pre-K; no tax breaks for working poor — you’d think many legislators would be embarrassed to turn up for this one.)
LUNCH: 11-1:30 p.m., Capitol Square Apartments, #13, Arkansas Health Care Association. The nursing home lobby throws lunch and cocktail hour two to three days every week.
LUNCH: 11:30-1 p.m., Association of Arkansas Counties Building, Northwest Arkansas Chambers of Commerce. Surely Sen. Jon Woods will be there to get some backslapping from the chambers, who’ll have taxpayer subsidies, currently illegal, restored under a constitutional amendment he’s carrying.
RECEPTION: 11:30-1 p.m., Capitol Rotunda, Secretary of State Mark Martin, Arkansas Museum Association, Arkansas Humanities Council. Don’t go expecting to see Martin (not the race car driver). He’s on a two-week Sister Cities-paid junket to Ghana, nothing much of importance being underway at the Capitol at the moment.
RECEPTION: 5-7 p.m., Museum of Discovery, by the Museum of Discovery.
RECEPTION: 5-7 p.m., Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, by the Chamber of Commerce. Another opportunity for Sen. Jon Woods to be among friends anxious to recoup their taxpayer subsidies.
STANDING COCKTAIL HOUR: 5-7 p.m., Capitol Square Apt. #4, “Choo Choo Room.” Drinks poured by lobbyists for:
Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association
Arkansas Hospital Association
Arkansas Medical Society
Arkansas Pharmacists Association
Arkansas Podiatric Medical Association
Arkansas State Dental Association
Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas
Pfizer, Inc.
Arkansas Community Colleges
And, from the very special agenda compiled by the Bureau of Legislative Research for “planned activities” of legislative committees:
DINNER: 6 p.m., Cantina Laredo for the House Agriculture Committee by AT&T.