State Sen. Gilbert Baker today thanked crisis pregnancy care center workers for their service to Arkansas families.

“You serve families typically that are in crisis situations, and you serve those families from a strong pro-life (position), meeting the needs of children and moms, dads, boyfriends, whatever,” Baker, R-Conway, said during a ceremony in the Senate chamber.

Baker, a former member of the board of directors of a crisis pregnancy care center, said elected officials pass laws and set public policies, but “at the end of the day you folks are right there on the front line.”

Forty-two centers across the state provide services to women facing unplanned pregnancies, including counseling, pregnancy tests and referrals to other support services.

Baker read a citation honoring the workers and presented it to Kathie Archer, who runs a crisis pregnancy care center in North Little Rock. Also taking part in the ceremony were Sen. Sharon Trusty, R-Russellville, Rep. Davy Carter, R-Cabot, Rep. Robert Dale, R-Dover, and Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life.

Baker, often mentioned as a possible GOP challenger to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln in 2010, told the Arkansas News Bureau he remains undecided on whether he’ll run.

“I’ve got young boys at home. Of course I love my legislative service and all that, but the main thing is just family considerations,” he said.

State Sen. Kim Hendren of Gravette is the only Republican who has announced as a candidate for the Senate seat, and Little Rock businessman Curtis Coleman has formed an exploratory committee to test the waters. Baker said he will not base his decision on the landscape of the race.

“I think a primary is going to be healthy for whoever runs, and my decision is not based on who’s in and who’s out. It’s just strictly, could I run a race and could I serve with my family constraints?” he said.

LITTLE ROCK — A statewide disaster response center in Magnolia is to receive a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, it was announced today.

The offices of U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, announced the grant for the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development, Inc., to help the state recover from the devastating tornadoes, flooding and storms in 2008.

The center will have professional and volunteer personnel to assist areas declared presidential disasters with recover efforts to assess economic lo9sses, development an economic recovery strategy, develop disaster recovery and mitigation projects, coordinate project implementation and evaluate both short and long term recovery for the region.

Nearly every county in the state was declared a disaster area in 2008 because of severe storms, tornadoes, flooding and the remnants of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Ike.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s office reports that the senator underwent successful outpatient surgery Monday for a herniated disc in her upper back.

On doctor’s advice, Lincoln has cancelled all public appearances this week so she can resume her official duties when the Senate reconvenes on Monday.

Bill Clinton’s sweep through his native Arkansas tomorrow and Saturday on behalf Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and the rest of the party’s election ticket is set.

The former president, along with Gov. Mike Beebe and former Arkansas Govs. and U.S. Sens. Dale Bumpers and David Pryor, will headline a get-out-the-vote rally at 5 p.m. Friday at the corner of Fourth and Main streets in North Little Rock.

The quartet will follow Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. rally in downtown Pine Bluff and a 1 p.m. appearance in Jonesboro. They’ll be joined at various stops by Democratic Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, along with Democratic Congressmen Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross.

Obama has not visited Arkansas since an October 2006 appearance in support of Beebe and other state Democrats. Republican John McCain has visited the state twice since becoming the GOP presidential nominee. Former Arkansas and U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton headlined a rally for Obama in Little Rock two weeks ago.

Arkansans appear ready to back John McCain for president on Nov. 4, according to results of the annual Arkansas Poll released Thursday.

The poll shows McCain with a 51 percent to 36 percent lead over Barack Obama among registered voters. The poll by the University of Arkansas has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Results of the comprehensive survey can be found at the Arkansas Poll Web site.

When asked about Initiated Act 1, which would prohibit unmarried couples living together from adopting or foster parenting children, 55 percent of respondents said they opposed the measure proposed by the conservative Family Council.

Arkansans do seem to like Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s proposal for a state-run lottery to fund college scholarships, with 65 percent of those polled saying they favored Proposed Constitutional Amendment 3.

An overwhelming 56 percent of respondents said the economy was the most important issue facing Arkansans today. Last year, about 29 percent cited the economy as the key issue,

“In our 10 years of polling, no issue has ever been ranked that high,” said Janine Parry, a UA political science professor and director of the Arkansas Poll.

Also, only 27 percent of Arkansans said they approved of the job President Bush is doing. That’s substantially down from the president’s first year in office, when 87 percent approved of his job.

Approval ratings for other politicians were: Gov. Mike Beebe, 74 percent; Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., 54 percent; Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., 56 percent; Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, 50 percent; Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, 57 percent; Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, 52 percent; and Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, 62 percent.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said Wednesday she favors another stimulus package to help the nation’s struggling economy.

Congress is expected to consider a new economic stimulus when it returns to Washington after the election next month. Lawmakers in February approved about $150 billion in tax rebates to Americans in an effort to jump-start the economy.

But Democrats maintain that more needs to be done.

Lincoln said a second stimulus should include money for public works projects and education and tax breaks for small businesses.

Here is the text of a statement Lincoln released Wednesday:

“In February, Congress passed an economic stimulus plan, which included payments for families, seniors and disabled veterans and was designed to give our economy a much-needed boost. I called this plan an important first step, but that we must follow it with a long-term strategy to ensure our country’s future economic health.

“We must develop a comprehensive plan to revitalize our economy by rebuilding our nation for the twenty-first century and reinvesting in American businesses and American workers. That includes infrastructure projects that will create jobs and strengthen our economy. It also includes funding for education, which will ready our workforce to ensure our country’s future prosperity and economic security.

“Finally, we must implement policy that fosters growth in our small businesses, which truly are the engines of our economy. The economic crisis has left small businesses with alarmingly few options to access capital.  We must provide tax relief that will enable them to sustain and grow their business during this critical time.

“The chorus of voices calling for a second stimulus package is growing. Notably, earlier this week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Congress should consider another stimulus plan. Congress will reconvene in Washington following the election, and I believe a second stimulus package should be our top priority to help put our economy back on track. I will continue to fight for relief for Arkansas’s working families.”

Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., — like dozens of others in Congress — weren’t so eager to support President Bush in his last year in office, according to a study by Congressional Quarterly.

The publication compared voting records from this year to the president’s previous seven years in office.

Lincoln aligned with Bush’s positions on votes this year just 42 percent of the time. Her presidential support pre-2008 had been 62 percent.

Likewise, Pryor had been with Bush 56 percent of the time since the freshman senator took office in 2003. This year, he was a Bush ally for just 45 percent of votes.

Still, both supported Bush more often than the majority of Senate Democrats. The median for the party was 50 percent with Bush until this year. The 2008 median for all Senate Democrats was 34 percent, according to the study.

The publication noted that support for the lame duck president declined among both parties in both houses of Congress this year. Lawmakers who face tough re-election bids were also more likely to abandon the president on key votes, the study suggested.

The House voted 263-171 in favor of a $700 billion financial rescue plan. All four Arkansas congressmen voted for the measure.

The package passed the Senate on Wednesday. It now goes to the president, who is expected to sign it.

The Arkansas delegation in the House and Senate supported it even though public feedback that was decidedly against using taxpayer money to prop up imperiled financial institutions. Lawmakers said they backed the bill because it was the best way to stave off an economic crisis.

It was the House’s second attempt to pass the controversial bailout bill, which failed Monday despite the Arkansans’ support for it.

Opponents decried the legislation as improper government intervention in a crisis caused by Wall Street. Other foes demanded more help for homeowners caught up in the subprime mortgage mess.

Arkansas’ delegation is Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both Democrats, and Reps. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, John Boozman, R-Rogers, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock.

With a Senate vote on the $700 billion financial bailout bill just a few hours away, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., signaled Wednesday she would support the measure.

Lincoln said she still wanted to talk to a few more of her colleagues about the bill intended to stabilize the nation’s imperiled economy, but that: “I definitely think that doing nothing is not an option.”

The House rejected its bailout effort Monday, sending the stock market into a tailspin.

The Senate added to its version an extension of popular tax breaks on businesses in a move designed to lure support from House Republicans. A business research and development tax credit, incentives for renewable energy and a fix to protect more than 20 million Americans from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) is in the Senate bill.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House would take up the measure (if approved by the Senate) Friday, only if leaders knew they had the votes to pass it.

Lincoln said her constituents have made it clear Congress needs to do something, even if the bill may appear unsavory.

The measure is much improved over an initial Bush administration proposal that didn’t set limits on executive compensation and pledged a full $700 billion automatically. Lincoln said the Senate bill applies more accontability and transparency into how the government adminsters the bailout plan.

“We’re going to try to take a two-pronged approach here, which is making money available in installments,” she said. “The first, being $250 billion, then an extra $100 billion would be available for the executive branch to use if necessary.”

Lincoln called the tax breaks a “parallel approach” to the rescue plan for fixing the economy.

“Business and industry are the engine of the economy,” she said. “We have to make sure the jobs they have, they keep, and the jobs they want to give, they can give.”

While the tax package may entice House Republicans, it may put off a number of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Blue Dogs oppose tax breaks that aren’t offset in the federal budget by additional revenue.

The incentives are partially offset with tax hikes for oil companies and closure of a corporate tax loophole. Still, about $25 billion would be added to the budget deficit under the proposal, Lincoln said.

“I try to be fiscally responsible, too, that’s important,” she said. “But we’re looking at a circumstance that needs a timely response.”

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., was critical Thursday of John McCain’s decision to suspend his presidential campaign to return to the Senate as Congress considers a massive bailout of financial institutions:

“I think he’s distracting things (with) the idea he’s got to stop what he’s doing and come back and rescue the Congress,” Lincoln said during a conference call with reporters.

McCain is a Republican senator from Arizona.

Lincoln said members of Congress have been working for nearly a week to find a solution to the nation’s economic crisis. The Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout proposal was met with tepid support on Capitol Hill.

“There’s a lot of us that have been working on this over the past five to six days,” she said. “We certainly hope Sen. McCain will come back and vote on it and participate if he wants. We’re doing that now. I don’t think he needs to halt this campaign.”