By Jason Tolbert
House Speaker Robbie Wills — now a Democratic candidate for the open 2nd District congressional seat — has already learned the art of backtracking, or at least rethinking a position when it is in his best interest.
As speaker, Wills is perhaps the most important player in setting the rules for how the House does business. He often refers to himself as the “umpire of the House,” who has to fairly call balls and strikes without bias. That is why it is somewhat curious that he argued in favor of one such pitch, even if he eventually decided not to pursue his rule interpretation as it relates to his campaign.
During last year’s legislative session, Wills often would point toward the rules when members would complain. One such instance occurred when a bill offered by Rep. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, that would have banned cities from recognizing same-sex domestic partnerships failed in the House City, County and Local Affairs Committee. The bill failed on a voice vote and the committee members fled the room before a roll call could be taken, prompting complaints.
“I tell our House members all the time: We have committees for a reason and we have rules for a reason,” Wills responded on his blog. “If members know the rules, they will make things happen. If they don’t, things will happen to them.”
The rule now in question, as interpreted by Wills, was passed last November for the first fiscal session, which begins Tuesday. Wills offered the rule as an amendment to HR1034. Here it is:
“It shall also be a violation of the Rules of the House for any member of the House to accept a campaign contribution during any extended session of the General Assembly or during any special session or fiscal session of the General Assembly.”
Wills later commented on his amendment, “This new fiscal session rule balances the need to avoid the appearance of impropriety in a legislative session with fairness in an election year by not imposing a 3 1/2 month blackout period for members of the House.”
Here’s the twist. Wills, until Friday, was taking the position that the rule applies only to contributions for re-election to the Arkansas House and not to the federal office he is seeking. The final interpretation on this rule will be a topic of discussion at a meeting Monday of the House Rules Committee, which just happens to be made up entirely of appointments from Speaker Wills.
“Due to the concentrated nature of the campaign, I will continue to raise funds to better deliver my message to the voters,” Wills told the Arkansas News Bureau a little more than a week ago. “With only 100-plus days to the election, I really don’t have a choice.”
It turns out he does. On Friday afternoon, following a flood of bad press on the issue, Will joined fellow House members Jonathan Dismang, Dan Greenberg, Dawn Creekmore and Steve Harrelson in saying he will forego campaign contributions even though under Wills’ interpretation it would be allowed.
It’s funny how things change. Wills praised the rule back in November when he introduced it to the House, but then it became inconvenient when he first jumped in the congressional race. After raising $100,000 before the session and being beat up in the press, he decided once again it was a good rule.
Now Wills says his interpretation was right but that he wants to stand up for fairness, ethics and doing the right thing.
I guess eventually voters will decide whether it was an ethical epiphany or a shift in the political winds that caused the speaker to announce his intention not to accept money during the fiscal session.
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Jason Tolbert is an accountant and conservative political blogger. His blog — The Tolbert Report — is linked at ArkansasNews.com. His e-mail is jason@TolbertReport.com.
