Gov. Mike Beebe says his position on a proposed state-run lottery changes depending on the day of the week.

“This is one of those deals where it depends on what day of the week I wake up,” Beebe said today on his monthly call-in radio program on the Arkansas Radio Network. “One day I decide I’m going to vote for it and the next day I wake up and decide I’m not going to vote for it.”

Proposed Constitutional Amendment 3 would authorize the Legislature to create a lottery to fund college scholarships. Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who proposed the amendment, has said the lottery could raise $100 million a year.

Beebe said he would love to have the money for college scholarships, and he understands that many Arkansans are already crossing state lines to buy lottery tickets. He said he also understands the argument of some lottery opponents that gambling can hurt families.

“I honestly don’t know how I’m going to vote and won’t know until I get in that booth,” he said.

Beebe said he would reveal afterward how he voted on the ballot question.

Storm clouds could be brewing over Arkansas’ economy, according to Gov. Mike Beebe.

Beebe said today he believes the state needs a rainy day fund to prepare for possible economic hard times.

“We are looking at a forecast where it looks like we are going to be hit by the national economy,” Beebe said on his monthly call-in program on the Arkansas Radio Network.

“If we are hit by the national economy, if you don’t have a rainy day fund, if you don’t have some of that money accumulated and put back to be able to meet essential services, whether it’s keeping prisoners in the prison, whether it’s keeping folks in the nursing home or whether it’s paying for colleges and universities, then you’ve got to do one of two things: You’ve either got to raise taxes or conversely you’ve got to cut those services out, because we can’t have a deficit,” Beebe said.

The state constitution requires that state expenditures not exceed revenues. Beebe is scheduled to present his balanced budget proposal on Nov. 13.

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.

Former President Bill Clinton will join Gov. Mike Beebe, state Democratic Party Chairman David Pryor and former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers at a series of rallies for Barack Obama this week, the Democratic Party of Arkansas announced today.

The get-out-the-vote rallies will be in North Little Rock on Friday and in Pine Bluff and Jonesboro on Saturday. The times and exact locations of the events have not been determined.

Former Arkansas and U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton headlined a rally for Obama in Little Rock on Oct. 10 and drew a crowd of about 3,000 people.

Gov. Mike Beebe has decided to postpone a decision on whether to restore any money previously cut from the state budget, citing uncertainty about the impact of today’s stock market plunge.
On Friday Beebe said he would consider over the weekend whether a jump in state revenues would allow the state to restore any of the $107 million that state finance officials cut from the budget at the start of the current fiscal year. This afternoon, Beebe said concern about the national economy prompted him to delay making a decision.
“Things have gone south today in New York and across the world. The Dow is down over 600 now. It’s below 10,000 for the first time since, what, 2003 I guess it is. … We want to watch that for a day or two,” Beebe said during a luncheon address to the Arkansas Association of Public Universities.
By 3:10 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average had rebounded somewhat and was down 370 points.
Higher education was one of the areas hardest hit by this year’s budget cuts. Beebe offered his assurance that restorations will happen if the economy allows.
“If what’s happened today is not long-term and does not directly affect the progress that we’re currently making in Arkansas, you can rest assured we will, as quickly as we reasonably can, make some partial restorations,” he said.

Gov. Mike Beebe had good news today for the state agencies that were hardest hit by budget cuts this year.

Beebe said he will consider whether a jump in state revenues will allow some of those slashed funds to be restored.

“We’re going to look over the weekend and see whether or not we make any adjustments on that revenue flow and restore some of the cuts,” Beebe said on “Ask the Governor,” his monthly call-in program on the Arkansas Radio Network.

Last spring, state finance officials cut $107 million from the state’s budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Officials announced Thursday that net available general revenues totaled $481.4 million last month, a $28.4 million increase from September 2007 collections and $24.4 million above forecast for the month.

Beebe said he will consider boosting funds for colleges and universities, the Arkansas State Police, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Correction.

State Rep. Steve Breedlove, D-Greenwood, should be happy to know that his re-election campaign ranks high on Gov. Mike Beebe’s list of priorities.
Beebe said today he recently refused to cancel plans to appear at an upcoming campaign event for Breedlove in favor of an event that had been scheduled for the same day with former Arkansas first lady Hillary Clinton in support of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
“They had it scheduled at a time that I’d already committed to a Democratic state representative to be at a fundraiser for him in the western part of the state, actually Breedlove,” Beebe said. “I said I can’t back out on that, so they moved it to a later evening event where I can be there.”
Asked for specifics about the event for Obama, Beebe referred questions to state Democratic Party Chairman David Pryor. Party spokeswoman Darinda Sharp said later that a visit by Clinton has not been confirmed.
“We don’t know who is and isn’t coming yet,” she said.
Former President Bill Clinton said last week he planned to campaign in Arkansas for Obama. An Obama campaign worker said Monday that no Arkansas appearances by either Bill or Hillary Clinton are on the campaign’s calendar at the moment.
Breedlove will face Republican challenger John Van Gorder of Greenwood in the Nov. 4 election.

The Arkansas delegation to the Democratic National Convention has its busiest schedule of events of any day during the convention today in Denver.

After a early-morning breakfast where Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., addressed the group and previewed her 6 p.m. Central time convention speech, delegates boarded buses for downtown Denver. There they will participate in a luncheon and reception sponsored by Entergy Arkansas. Gov. Mike Beebe is the featured speaker.

After that, it’s on to Denver’s historic Union Station for a party sponsored by Union Pacific aboard vintage rail cars owned by the company.

Both the Beebe luncheon and the train station party are closed to the press.

A speech by former Arkansas First Lady Hillary Clinton highlights action on the convention floor tonight.

Then after the speech, it’s off to the official state delegation party at The Tavern, a trendy Denver nightclub.

Delegates who get any sleep at all will have to wake up by 7 a.m. Wednesday for their breakfast featuring Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., as the guest speaker.