Bill to Keep Illegals from Public Benefits Dies in Committee

The bill went down 9-8, though sponsor Jon Hubbard watered down the bill in an effort to get votes. He and Gov. Mike Beebe had some testy words over it too.

Do I see eye-to-eye with Beebe on this bill? No. Does Beebe have a right to make his opposition to the bill known? Yes. As long as he is not promising state money in exchange for votes, he has the same right as anyone to let his feelings be known. My usual complaint with Beebe is that he talks both sides and does not make his true feelings known, except behind the scenes. And as the article points out, Beebe was actually less testy with Hubbard than former Republican Governor Mike Huckabee was with former State Senator Jim Holt when Holt introduced a similar bill in 2006. Huckabee got almost abusive in his ardor to keep tax monies flowing to "undocumented immigrants."