Gov. Beebe delivers "State of the State" address

House rules previously called for a 24-hour waiting period before committee-approved bills could be voted on by the full House.

A package of rules passed out of the House Rules Committee Tuesday and now heads to the full chamber.

The new rules would also loosen a restriction on the use of electronic devices in committee hearings and allow members to bring guests on the House floor for special occasions.

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ARKANSAS LEGISLATURE-UNEMPLOYMENT

An Arkansas lawmaker is proposing that the state require recipients of state unemployment benefits to pass a drug test.

Republican Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson of Benton on Tuesday filed legislation that would require applicants for unemployment benefits to undergo a drug test. The bill calls for drug testing to be administered to a random group of applicants before the first and thirteenth weekly payments.

Anyone who refuses to take a drug test could not receive unemployment benefits under the proposal.

Similar legislation was filed in the 2011 session, but failed before a Senate committee.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"If we have no insurance options available for our low-income workers, while more and more other states add those options, it will make us less business-friendly in comparison. Available health care has always been an important component in economic development."

Gov. Mike Beebe on the potential expansion of Medicaid during his State of the State address to a Joint Session of the Arkansas General Assembly.