Jonathan Dismang

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Electric utilities, solar companies strike compromise on contentious cost-shifting bill

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by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The House Insurance and Commerce committee spent as much time debating a controversial issue as Senators did with the governor’s education bill on Wednesday (Feb. 22).

HB1370 by Rep. Lanny Fite, R-Benton, pitted electric utilities against the solar industry in a measure called the “Cost-Shifting Prevention Act of 2023.” Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, is the Senate co-sponsor.

Cost-shifting in any industry is the concern that one group of payers is underwriting the costs of a group not paying their fair share. In this instance, electric utilities claim that businesses and individuals with solar arrays are being paid for their additional power at an amount too high to cover the utilities’ costs.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/02/electric-utilities-solar-companies-strike-compromise-on-contentious-cost-shifting-bill/

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Budget puzzle awaits price tags for education, public safety, healthcare

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by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Closing out the first month of the regular session, legislative leaders have no clarity on Gov. Sarah Sanders administration’s price tag for education, public safety or healthcare, much less a blueprint for the state’s anticipated $6 billion balanced budget.

Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, said he’s waiting to see first drafts of new school policy and prison and sentencing reform legislation.

“I haven’t seen the education plan, so I don’t have any ballpark figures on what that’s going to cost, what we’re going to do. We do know that there is a portion that’s going to be for increasing teacher pay. Again, that’s going to have a direct impact. But again, I have no idea, if I’m just being transparent, on what that’s going to look like, and that’s why you see me being hesitant in regards to the budget,” he said.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/01/budget-puzzle-awaits-price-tags-for-education-public-safety-healthcare/