Beebe’s record stands for itself as he wraps up tenure
By Roy Ockert Jr.
Jan. 6, 2015
One of the ironies of the Republican takeover of the Arkansas state Capitol is that it follows the tenure of an incredibly popular Democratic governor who ran one of the most efficient administrations in the state’s history.
Next week Gov. Mike Beebe will turn the keys to the governor’s office to the man he defeated for the job in 2006, Asa Hutchinson. For good reason Hutchinson opted not to challenge Beebe for re-election in 2010 but waited instead for Arkansas’ term limits to retire him.
Mickey Dale Beebe, who turned 68, has earned his retirement after 32 years in public office. Make no mistake, if he had been allowed to run again, or had chosen to run for another office, he would won again. Last August Public Policy Polling found that 60 percent of voters approved of the job he had been doing, while only 23 percent disapproved. That was the highest PPP rating of any governor in the country, and the Arkansas Poll had the approval rating even higher, 70 percent.
Good gosh, he was even approved of by Republicans by 41-39, according to PPP. The agency also ran a test of a hypothetical Beebe challenge to Sen. John Boozman in 2016 and found Beebe leading by 46-40.
As much as the Arkansas Democratic Party would like to see Beebe’s retirement cut short, I don’t expect that to happen. After 32 years of service to state government, as well as other public service such as five years on the Arkansas State University Board of Trustees, Beebe should find retirement to his liking.
For one thing, he has many other interests, not the least of which is golf. I doubt that he will return to practicing law, but he was a fine lawyer until he got into politics full-time. In 1982 he was named Arkansas’ outstanding trial lawyer.
But that same year he ran for the state Senate and didn’t have an opponent after the incumbent unexpectedly quit the race. In fact, he never faced an opponent in his 20-year Senate career as he became known as one of the most effective state lawmakers. He and a group of other reform-minded legislators were dubbed the “young golfers” by then-Sen. Nick Wilson, D-Pocahontas.
In 2002 Beebe ran for attorney general, again without opposition. “By the time term limits drove Beebe from the Senate,” journalist Steve Barnes wrote last year for Arkansas Money & Politics magazine, “his command of the budget and its politics was unrivaled in the General Assembly and in the bureaucracy. ...”
After one term Beebe ran for governor in 2006 and got no opposition for the Democratic nomination but faced his first contest in the general election — against Asa Hutchinson, a former prosecutor and congressman. Beebe carried 60 of 75 counties, racking up 55 percent of the votes, and did even better against the GOP’s Jim Keet in 2010.
As I wrote in 2007 in this column, Beebe might not have been born to be governor, but no one was ever better prepared. And it showed from the beginning of his first term to the waning days of his second.
It’s no accident that Arkansas has fared better economically during a national recession than most states. Beebe deserves much credit for his quietly effective leadership at a time that some other states were near panic and bankruptcy.
Among the accomplishments most often cited is reducing the state sales tax on groceries from 6 percent of 1.5 percent (it’s earmarked to go down even further by 2018). But what’s most remarkable about that feat is it was done over several years with no negative impact on state services.
Hutchinson would be wise to follow Beebe’s example on his promise to cut $100 million from the state income tax, rather than trying to do it at all once. That’s the Kansas strategy, and it hasn’t worked well.
Beebe has warned the incoming administration that the state could have a budget shortfall of $140 million or more for fiscal 2016 under already planned tax cuts, and he prepared two budgets. Ignoring a man with his budget expertise and experience is foolish.
An even more impressive achievement is the much-maligned “private option” Medicaid expansion program passed by the Legislature in 2013. Beebe and a handful of mostly Republican lawmakers brokered the plan, which allows Arkansas to use federal Medicaid dollars to buy private insurance from a state-run exchange. More than 200,000 Arkansans have benefited, as have many financially strapped hospitals.
Some Republicans rashly promised to vote against the private option without regard to the consequences, again ignoring proven success.
Beebe’s other achievements as governor are too numerous to mention in detail, but the state under his leadership has made significant strides in public education, workforce training, industrial recruiting, a statewide trauma system and improvements to highways.
I would be remiss not to point out that Beebe, who was born at Amagon and earned his bachelor’s degree from ASU, has been more than fair to his native Northeast Arkansas. And it’s about time somebody was. The late Jerry Bookout, longtime Jonesboro legislator, often lamented that NEA never got the respect it deserved at the state Capitol.
Jerry didn’t live to experience the Beebe administration, but he’d have been as proud as those of us who have. Thanks, Mike, and welcome to the retirement community.
Roy Ockert is editor emeritus of The Jonesboro Sun. He may be reached by e-mail at royo@suddenlink.net.