Opinion

Supply chain issues abound. At least that’s what they say. It’s in the headlines (though I did not actually read those articles) Late night talk show hosts make jokes about it so it’s probably hard to get some stuff. Also, I happen to know that you procrastinated. You have not bothered to browse in person, let alone online (well, at least not for anyone else), and now you need a gift so much as even. Immediately.

“Well, if it isn’t the Fleming girls,” Santa’s deep voice boomed to my sister and I. The year was about 1967 and two little girls stood amazed before this man clad in red and white in a shopping mall in a Kansas City suburb. It was like standing before the powerful and all-knowing Oz. He continued, “I happen to know that after you two go to bed each night you giggle and tell each other stories until your parents have to come to your bedroom door and tell you to go to sleep.” We nodded in wide-eyed silence. What else could we do? It was Santa. And he had just disclosed our nightly routine that only we knew. There we were standing before him, and he knew our names! The stories about him delivering presents one night a year to every household to good girls and boys made him mysterious to us. We were believers.

Today, I’d like to talk about Christmas and what the season for giving means to me. Christmas is my favorite time at the Governor’s Mansion and at the State Capitol.

Little Rock– State government had an eventful year in 2021, and much of the activity occurred in the Arkansas Senate. In January the legislature convened in regular session and approved a list of bills to lessen the impact that public health orders had on individuals and businesses.

From reducing income tax to lowering the sales tax on used cars, there are several pieces of tax legislation passed in 2021 that will take effect on January 1, 2022. In the most recent special session, the General Assembly passed Act 1 and Act 2, which are identical pieces of legislation that reduce the top income tax rate for individuals from 5.9% to 4.9% incrementally over the next four years.

We recently celebrated the life of former Senator Bob Dole, an American hero who dedicated his life to serving others. He sacrificed his own safety and almost paid the ultimate price as an Army lieutenant during World War II and, after he was saved, the people of his Kansas hometown rallied to support his recovery needs. He repaid them by serving as their voice in Washington for decades while also reliably advocating for veterans.

Congress recently passed $1 trillion for infrastructure. What a nebulous term for what we used to just call roads and bridges, sidewalks and ditches, airports and seaports. I know how I want to spend my cut, and it’s none of that.

Little Rock– In large part because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the state Human Services Department has a backlog of applications for Medicaid.

Washington D.C.- Arkansans are unfortunately all too familiar with the impact of Mother Nature and what it takes to rebuild after natural disasters.

From filling out a job application to completing a homework assignment, most of our day-to-day lives are dependent on internet access.