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[duncanbaird]

Spotted an outdoor @Walmart Pickup Tower at the Neighborhood Market in Bentonville.

[duncanbaird]

Enjoyed speaking to legislators today, the first day of legislative budget hearings.

[duncanbaird]

A bending of the space-time continuum. Actually--just the countertop at a coffee shop. @onyxcoffeelab http://ift.tt/2aAKhVO

[duncanbaird]

Spotted the @googlemaps car at the Capitol today. Pretty sure they drove through the tunnel. #arpx #arkansas http://ift.tt/295gFOx

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http://ift.tt/28RG90B

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Spin-off of the State’s In-Home Health Unit

Today, it was announced that Kindred Healthcare will acquire the State of Arkansas’s In-Home Health Unit, which is operated by the Department of Health. The state will receive $39 million dollars in proceeds from the transaction.

As part of the terms of the deal, Kindred agreed to retain the current employees and patients. Language was provided to the Department of Health during the Fiscal Session that would allow them to use a portion of the proceeds from the sale as an incentive for employees to remain with the unit until the transition is complete.

The Health Department has put a tremendous amount of work into both sustaining the unit in recent years, as well preparing for and executing on this transaction over the last year.

“This is a success for the state of Arkansas,” said Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas. “We are not in the business of competing with the private sector. The Arkansas Department of Health provided an important service while it was necessary, and now private sector companies can fill this need. I am pleased that Kindred Healthcare will continue the excellent work of the ADH In-Home Services program.”

Kindred Healthcare and the Arkansas Department of Health Announce Definitive Agreement for Kindred to Acquire In-Home Health Care Operations

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160620006328/en/

[duncanbaird]

With a couple of folks in downtown Bentonville this weekend. #thethreebairds http://ift.tt/1WBccq3

[duncanbaird]

A Recap of Arkansas’s 2016 Fiscal Session

On Monday, Governor Hutchinson signed the Revenue Stabilization Act and the final few appropriation bills into law. The House and Senate met that morning to adjourn “Sine Die” and bring the 2016 Fiscal Session to an official close.

In March, Governor Hutchinson proposed a $5.333B general revenue budget for Fiscal Year 2017, which begins in July. This budget included new funding to meet our K-12 Educational Adequacy requirements, Medicaid match, and increased Foster Care needs. Additionally, new dollars were allocated for economic development efforts, statewide workforce initiative grants, and maintaining out of state prison beds.

The total proposed increase was 2.7% over the prior year, which is lower than the 5-year, 10-year and 20-year averages. Most state agency budgets remained flat, with no increases outside of these few mandatory and targeted needs. Additionally, the number of authorized personnel positions were reduced in multiple state agency budgets due to efficiencies from consolidations, the hiring freeze, and agency efficiency initiatives.

The session began with uncertainty surrounding the appropriation for the state Medicaid program, which included spending authority for the Arkansas Works Medicaid expansion. After much debate and discussion, the Medicaid budget was passed and the focus shifted back to the broader budget issues.

In Arkansas, we have a single subject rule that requires a separate appropriation for each state agency. This results in around 300 appropriations to provide spending authority to the close to 200 state agencies (including boards and commissions). With the passage of the Medicaid appropriation, the session kicked into high gear. Reappropriations and small agency appropriations began moving through the process at the start of the session, and the legislature turned their attention to increasingly larger bills as the days went by.

Last week the Revenue Stabilization schedule was placed on the member’s desks. The Revenue Stabilization law is a mechanism unique to Arkansas that determines the allocation of general revenue to state agencies, prioritized by category, and is the keystone of the budget process. The final schedule closely aligned with the Governor’s balance budget proposal, with only a small amount shifted, primarily to increase the rainy day fund.

With the signing of Revenue Stabilization Act and the final appropriations into law, the work of the 2016 Fiscal Session is done. After the long days of preparation, and long hours of debate, the session concluded after just over 3 weeks.

[duncanbaird]

Nice afternoon with @courtneycbaird and this little guy at @bfffestival. #thethreebairds (at Bentonville Film Festival)

[duncanbaird]

Peter Thiel, investor and entreprenuerer, gave a fascinating speech titled "How to Build the Future" at the London School of Economics last week. He gives his "contrarian perspective" on competition, technology, and innovation:

When we say that we're living in the developed world, we are implicitly saying that we're living in that part of the world where nothing new is going to happen, it's done, where things are static. Where we can expect decades of stagnation in the years ahead. We're saying that the younger generation should expect to have a living standard no better than, and maybe worse then their parents.

I think we need to resist this idea very strongly. We should not accept this idea that we're living in the developed world. And I think we should instead ask much more forcefully the question of how do we go about developing the developed world.

[duncanbaird]

The number of full-time state employees decreased by 71 last year the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported today. This is one of only two annual decreases in the past 28 years (which apparently is as far back as the records go):

State Rep. Duncan Baird, co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee, said the slight dip in state government's roster of full-time employees in fiscal 2014 "reflects the trend of flat-to-lower growth in personnel that we've seen the last couple of years.

"From the legislative standpoint, these numbers reflect a general desire on the part of the Legislature to slow the growth of state government spending and lower the tax burden on Arkansas families and businesses," said Baird, a Lowell Republican.

[duncanbaird]

I enjoyed sitting down with JR Davis of KNWA News to give a recap of the legislative session and talk about a few other things going on in Arkansas politics right now.

The whirlwind regular session of the 89th General Assembly is over now, and most state legislators are back to their "normal" lives at home, picking up where they left off four months ago. State Representative Duncan Baird (R-Rogers, Lowell) is no different. The 33-year-old Joint Budget Committee Chairman, and newly wed, has spent the last couple of weeks catching up on some of the rest he missed during the nonstop, rollercoaster ride that was the 2013 session.

[duncanbaird]

John Brummett writes in his column today about the ethics related constitutional amendment filed by Rep. Warwick Sabin and Sen. Jon Woods last week.

He mentions several items that could be included in the amendment, including restrictions on gifts to elected officials, and a 2 year ban before an elected official could become a lobbyists, both of which I support.

As I've said previously, I believe we have a great opportunity this session to make progress in the area of ethics and "good government" reforms. I plan on continuing to work in these areas and to help move these issues forward.

[duncanbaird]

Walton College again ranks among the top 30 public undergraduate business schools

U.S. News & World Report again ranks the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas among the top 30 public undergraduate business schools in the country, the university announced today.

The Walton College was among seven public undergraduate business colleges tied for 26th in the annual assessment, up from a tie for 27th the previous year. Others ranked at 26th were Auburn University, University of Connecticut, University of Missouri, University of Oregon, University of Pittsburgh and the University of Tennessee.

[duncanbaird]

Arvest Kicks Off 1 Million Meals Initiative

Arvest has kicked off their 1 Million Meals initiative, with the goal of serving one million meals to those in need.

[duncanbaird]

FiveThirtyEight: In Arkansas, the Lost Art of Splitting Tickets

Great article today from FiveThirtyEight on the changing political environment in Arkansas.

In the 12 years since Mr. Clinton’s run for re-election in 1996 to President Obama’s run for office in 2008, Arkansas has experienced the largest drop in Democratic support — a whopping 37 percentage points. Part of that is explained by Arkansas being Mr. Clinton’s home state. Race may have also played a role, and perhaps some of the decline stems from hometown unhappiness that Mr. Obama had ousted the former first lady of Arkansas, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the Democratic primaries.