Lynch at Large

Stephen Bright is an up-and-comer. The Maumelle lawmaker showed up on my WAI Radio show this morning. He, of course, thinks the state budget surplus of over $100 million should go back to the taxpayers, but he is quick to add that it might also go to school facilities. Nice save, Stephen.

The big news of the morning is that there is special legislative session brewing and, according to Bright, the main topic will be highways. Governor Huckabee reportedly has a plan and he will call lawmakers to town when the necessary votes are lined up. Yeah, that sounds a little backwards, but why include the little folks? How will the state pay for improvements on state roads? Bright claims not to like any of the options developed so far, including toll roads. There is supposedly a proposal to have a bond issue backed by future gas tax revenue. It is a work in progress.

This is the same representative who has been the outspoken champion of the “granny cam.” He has introduced legislation about web cams in nursing homes in the past two sessions. Bright made an enormous misjudgment by negotiating with the dark-siders from the nursing home industry. Naturally, the whole business got so convoluted that we were lucky the bill died a merciful death. Bright takes responsibility.

We also spent a few moments lamenting the decision of Baptist Medical Systems of Memphis to leave the Forrest City hospital. Bright believes that it could be a serious situation. He says the legislature is willing to help small town hospitals and something might come up in the special session. He also remarked on the weekend Democrat-Gazette feature on hospital charity services. You may recall the young lady who declared bankruptcy because she was unaware of St. Vincent’s charity policy. Bright says that hospitals will need to deal with this issue or some unpleasant solution might come up in the General Assembly.

Bright ruled out a run for state senate but made no other commitments about his political future. Maybe some statewide office?

You can hear the entire interview in the archives of WAI Radio, which is linked in the column on the left. There will also be a photo posted in the gallery.