Vol. 17:00

June 12, 2000

Hutchinson Introduces Highway Funding Legislation
Bill Aimed at Completion of I-49, US-412

Last Friday, I introduced legislation to direct more federal money to Arkansas high-priority highway projects. Specifically, the bill will require states to spend portions of their federal funds on construction projects in "high priority corridors."

Forty-three routes across the country have been designated high-priority corridors because of their importance to the nation’s transportation infrastructure and economic development. Four of these highways are in Arkansas: Interstate 49, ranked as the nation’s number 1 high priority corridor; U.S. Highway 412, ranked as high priority corridor number 8; Interstate 69; and U.S. Highway 63.

Over the past several years, Arkansas has received extra highway funds from surplus gas tax revenues.  Unfortunately, these dollars have not been used for important interstate projects.  My legislation, known as the "Priority Corridor Equity Act of 2000," will require states to spend their surplus federal turnback funds — $15-20 million annually in Arkansas’s case — on construction projects within high priority corridors.

It is important both to the economic development of our state and to the safety of our families that these high-priority roads be completed.

• Read my press release on the Priority Corridor Equity Act of 2000.  
• See background statistics on Arkansas highway funding.
• Visit the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce's Build Interstate 49 page.

HILL & DISTRICT TALK
News About Congress and the Third District

House Passes Death Tax Repeal

Currently, when someone dies, the federal government assesses a tax of up to fifty-five percent on the value of his estate. This "double tax" is a burden to hard-working Arkansas family farmers and small business owners.  That is why I was pleased to vote in favor of H.R. 8, the "Death Tax Elimination Act," which repeals estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes in their entirety over the next ten years.  H.R. 8 passed the House last week by a vote of 279-136.

The private sector spends $23 billion to comply with the death tax laws each year -- money that could be better spent on education or health care. Not only does the death tax increase costs and eliminate jobs, but it places an unfair burden on families grieving lost loved ones -- especially small business owners and farmers. In addition, it discourages Americans from working hard and being prosperous during their lifetimes. For these reasons, I believe that these taxes must be lowered or eliminated altogether.

• Read the text of H.R. 8 online via the Library of Congress's THOMAS.
• Read my column on the death tax repeal.

Question of the Week:   This week, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the death tax.  Do you think this tax should be repealed?  Let me know at my Electronic Town Hall Discussion Board.

Government Reform Subcommittee to Mark Up Hutchinson Privacy Protection Commission

The Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology will mark up legislation I introduced to create a Privacy Protection Commission. The markup will be Wednesday, June 14th at 4:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

The bipartisan commission would be unique in Congress because of its comprehensive approach to dealing with the growing concern Americans have regarding the protection of their personal privacy — whether that be identity theft, online privacy or the protection of health, medical, financial and governmental records.

• Visit my homepage to read my column about the threats to personal privacy, a copy of the legislation, and other details about the bill.  

Protecting our Children

I recently co-sponsored H.R. 4600, a bill introduced by Representative Chip Pickering (R-MS) which requires any school or library that receives money from the Universal Service Fund -- also known as the E-rate tax -- to have a filtering device on their computers to block minors' access to pornographic information. This is another important step which will help to keep smut out of our children's hands. 

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LAST WEEK'S ACTION
Highlights on Legislation Addressed by Congress Last Week

Last week the House debated and voted on the FY2001 Defense Appropriations Bill and the Death Tax Elimination Act, among other bills.

• Learn how these bills fared, along with other highlights of last week's agenda.

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ON THE FLOOR THIS WEEK
Legislation Scheduled for Action This Week

This week the House will debate and vote on the FY2001 Interior Appropriations Bill, FY2001 VA/HUD Appropriations Bill, and the Debt Reduction and Reconciliation Act of 2000,  among other bills.

View the full House schedule for this week.

View the current House floor proceedings. 

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CONSTITUENT CORNER
A Monthly Feature on Congressional Services for Constituents

Federal Depository Library Program

One of the bedrock principles of our nation is providing the public with uninhibited access to government information. Since the mid-1800s, the Federal Depository Library Program has collected and organized government publications for public use by students, scholars, and citizens. These materials are held at numerous libraries throughout the nation and provide local and free public access to government publications. The Third District has several federal depository collections which are open to the public at the following locations:

• Learn more about the Federal  Depository Library Program.

Previous Constituent  Corners:

• Foreign Travel Tips

• Getting Help with the IRS

• Getting Help with Financial Aid for College

• Earning the Congressional Award for Youths

• Applying for Community Project Grants

• What to Expect with the 2000 Census

• Important Information for Filing Taxes

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DID YOU KNOW...?
History and Background about the U.S. Congress

Redistricting and Apportionment: The Reasons behind the Number of Representatives

The House of Representatives has not always had 435 members.  In fact, the Constitution only stipulates that the House have at least one representative for each state but not more than one representative for every 30,000 people.  If that pattern were followed today, the House would have well over 8,000 members!  

The size of the House increased with each census until 1910, when the House of Representatives had 435 representatives.  After the 1920 census, however, numerous disputes prevented Congress from reaching a conclusion about the number of members, and the size was left at 435 members as a compromise.  In 1929, the Permanent Apportionment Act was passed, setting 435 as the permanent ceiling for members of the House.

The Supreme Court has since ruled that each district within a state should have approximately the same population, and after each census, states redraw their congressional boundaries.  This does not prevent districts in different states from having very different populations.  For example, Arkansas's Third District has 589,523 residents, while Montana's only House member represents nearly 800,000 citizens.  

• Learn about the role of Census 2000 in congressional redistricting and apportionment.  
• Beginning Wednesday, June 14, you can submit comments about proposed redistricting in Arkansas to the state Board of Apportionment.

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