ALC-Review
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Speaker 8
1:30
All right, members, take your seats. We're going to get started. Review subcommittee come to order.
Speaker 12
2:00
Co-chair you got anything without objection we're going to take up the supplemental agenda go ahead suspend the rules take up the supplemental agenda motion motion second by the Senator Painter or all uh all in favor say aye all opposed like sign thank you members we're gonna take up the
Speaker 20
2:37
supplemental agenda thank you mr. chair good morning
Speaker 22
2:43
members katie walden bureau of legislative research fiscal division your supplemental agenda can be found on the very back of your packet behind the blue sheet of paper staff received an additional contract for review by request of the Department of Finance and Administration on Monday of last week this is one out-of-state contract for Tyler technologies this
contract is originally valued at 2.6 million dollars it was procured through rfp process and it is for the development of a mobile app for citizens to be able to access state services initially it's going to be used by dfa to for their vehicle services and licensing but the hope is that to expand this out to further services across state government this is the supplemental agenda item mr. chair any questions senator rice
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
3:42
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You got me on now. I'm sorry my light was on before the supplemental. My question was and I thought it'd be helpful the committee can the committee expect going forward. We're going to continue to
flip and have Review Mornings and peer and afternoon or is this one time? I would hope not that was a request from the peer
Chair
Unverified
4:28
chair So okay, you don't expect that to continue. I don't expect it
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
4:33
to continue. Okay. I just thought that would help the committee. Thank you Any questions on the
Speaker 29
4:40
supplemental agenda Senator Bratt Thank You
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
4:50
mr. Chair it maybe somebody DFA can answer this, but I'm just curious when we let this contract and then the current
Proc progress of the development of the software. Is that part of can that be part of this discussion?
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
5:17
introduce yourself and you're recognized jim hudson secretary dfa good morning committee senator bryant honestly the the underlying software if you want to use that term for all the systems they're already developed they're already there this is a way to kind of bring in
through a single sign-on process all those systems so so citizens don't have to go to 15 different websites to be able to access services. We're looking at having one app that consolidates all those services, so making it easier for the taxpayers to be able to access their information and the services they
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
5:51
depend on. So the original contract, has that portion been completed? We're just going to add more to
the contract so they can add more of those services onto that
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
6:01
single app access? So this is a new contract, and the contract is strictly for developing the app
to be able to access the services. Again, the services are already existent in the existing systems around the state government. Okay. Do you know when the hopeful completion of the app would be?
Speaker 43
6:17
We're targeting the fall, October 1st-ish. Okay, so this year? This year. All right, thank you.
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
6:22
This calendar year, yes. Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none.
Speaker 29
6:36
motion to review supplemental agenda motion and a second by Senator McKee all in favor say aye all opposed like sign thank you let's go on to the method of finance thank you mr. chair under item B you
Speaker 22
6:51
have five methods of finance for your review today first you'll see the letter from the Department of Finance and administration stating the five projects and then behind that you'll see a table summarizing each of those projects so I'll quickly outline them for you now. The first two methods of finance are with ASU Jonesboro.
Number one is for the College of Business roof replacement. It's an original MOF valued at $477,000. They hope to use sustainable building energy revolving loan funds for this project. And number two is for the admin cooling tower replacement for their administration building. This is revising an existing MOF up to $269,000. They hope to use university reserves for this project. Number three and you'll see this project mentioned a few times throughout the agenda. This first time is with U of A Fayetteville. This is for an academic classroom building. The U of A hopes to build a 100,000
gross square foot facility in the McElroy district. It will include classrooms and innovation hub and it will increase by 2,300 student seats. The original total projected cost is $100 million, and it will be paid for with 95% university reserves and 5% gifts. Number four, with UA Fort Smith, this is a new original MOF for the university police department renovation, valued at $522,000 originally using university reserves. And number five, with UA Hope Texarkana,
this is an original mof for the student center boiler chiller replacement they will use plant funds for this project these are the methods of finance this month mr.
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
8:39
chair representative lademan mr. chair uh i've got a couple questions actually on number three there it talks about the new classroom building is going to be located in the mcelroy district where is the McElroy
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
8:53
district I asked Representative McElroy he said it wasn't in his district
Speaker 12
9:00
do we need the university to come down yeah yeah
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
9:15
please yeah I was just curious is this on the main campus or the satellite campus just introduce
Speaker 35
9:20
yourself and you recognize you've heard the question good morning thank you and
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
9:24
happy new year to you my name is Clayton Hamilton senior associate vice chancellor for campus services so for us that is our facilities real estate police parking and transit this new classroom building will be located
Speaker 61
9:38
on the main campus adjacent to the Walton College
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
9:41
of Business in that footprint of campus okay all right thank you very much I had a second question In the last column, if that's okay, Mr. Chairman, where it has the estimated start date for these five projects and the completion date, all of the estimated start dates have passed some, well, not a long time ago.
One of the completion dates has passed. So, why does it show a completion date in 2025 when we're just reviewing it now? That may not be yours. Yeah, that may not be our project.
Speaker 64
10:21
Our estimated completion date would be 2029. That's University of Arkansas, Texas, Arcana. Okay.
Speaker 67
10:32
Texas, Arcana. That's it. So, are they here?
Chair
Unverified
10:36
Is anybody here from University of Arkansas, Texas, Arcana?
Speaker 16
10:39
Yeah. Come on down. Same thing, just introduce yourself, and you've
Speaker 71
11:05
heard the question. Yes, I am Sherry Ford, the CFO, or Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, with Hope Texarkana.
The reason why, it was originally under budget or under the $250,000 floor, but we ended up finding some other problems that we ended up going over that $250,000 threshold, and it was more of an emergency type of situation where we ended up having to go ahead and do the repairs because there was nothing else that we could heat the building with, cool the building with and it was in our student center and it was the only method of
heating and cooling that we could do there. So the project is complete. Yes sir. And we're reviewing it now. Yes sir. It was originally supposed to be under that $250,000 but it was as we got into the project we found more problems that were with it. It is a 60-year-old campus So with piping and compressors and things like that, it just got larger.
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
12:18
Well, this is not just for you, but number one, number two, and number five all show that they started before this meeting, and we're reviewing them all now. I mean, I think these dates should be adjusted. I mean, why are we reviewing things after they're done? I mean, what recourse do we have to have any input into a project that's already complete? Maybe I'm asking the wrong. Maybe it's staff.
I mean, why shouldn't these things be brought to us before they start? I mean, if it takes an emergency, then there should be an emergency addendum, and it should be brought before us. I don't know whether that's a question, Mr. Chairman, but I'd like to have some kind of an answer. Why
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
13:09
we're not reviewing things before they start and in some
Speaker 29
13:14
cases before they're done. I think DF&A reviews these, and that's why they were brought forward.
If you want DF&A to come down, I don't look too excited to, but you may. Well, why can't
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
13:29
we review them before they start? That's my question. Just come
Chair
Unverified
13:34
on up. If they were originally below the threshold, that's probably why. Don't go
Speaker 29
13:38
too far there. I've got some more in the queue. Mr. Chairman, this
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
13:49
not exciting work is my natural disposition.
Jim Hudson, Secretary, DFA. By rule, methods of fence don't get reviewed over here if they're under $250,000. So the university did exactly what they're supposed to do. And once they trip that 250, they provide the method of finance. We reviewed it promptly and put it on your agenda for you to look at. So really it's impossible for situations like this for them to know in advance if they're going to have a surprise. But when they found the surprise, they promptly notified us, and now it's before you. I understand. Thank you for that answer. Yes, sir.
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
14:24
Senator Bryant. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This will go back into item three for University of
Speaker 29
14:39
Arkansas Fayetteville. I don't think you have to introduce yourself again I was about to tell you not
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
14:49
to leave thank you I'm just right over to your left just it'll follow into also item C since it's reviewed over contracts of five million I'm just it
just kept flagging my mind that we're paying gonna pay a thousand dollars a a square foot um for this structure i'm just curious can you you may not be familiar with the build but can you kind
of help me understand what's going into this structure for a thousand dollars a foot yes
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
15:14
sir and thank you for that question so there was an extensive amount of work done prior to this project moving forward to look at options for a new classroom building we had completed a space study on campus we completed a study specific to our Walton College of Business
and certainly knew we had the need for additional classroom space the thousand dollars a square foot is estimated on the high end we've unfortunately had some projects recently that have come in over budget where we've had to come back and request approval after the fact so that carries a healthy amount of contingency and that estimated cost And we're working through a full design phase. We've got a contractor on. We will have a contractor on board to help us with the estimating as we work through the design.
Costs have gone up significantly, certainly across the country. We've seen that in northwest Arkansas. So a big part of that is just trying to have a budget that we can stay within. Okay,
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
16:11
so we haven't finalized the contract yet. No, sir. No, sir. Okay, I just looked at the next page. We reviewed nine and interviewed four, but you've not made a
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
16:21
decision. No, let me back up. Actually, we have presented the contractor and the architect to our board of trustees for approval. So we have received approval to move forward with those two firms.
We have not completed the contract yet. I mean, that's the reason we're presenting
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
16:36
that today. Okay. Are they coming in closer to the $100 million? And
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
16:40
we've not started the design process yet. So we'll get into the design process and come up with the design and have a contractor estimate
Speaker 61
16:47
for The project for us as we work through that design process. Okay.
Chair
Unverified
16:56
All right. Thank you Any other questions Motion to review
Speaker 29
17:02
one through five Motion I heard second my representative painter all in favor say aye all opposed like sign uh mr hamilton just stay seated there you're the next on the list too uh it's a general contrast your construction
Speaker 12
17:21
projects exceeding five million uh go ahead thank you mr chair item
Speaker 93
17:27
c is an alternative delivery method project these are special projects that
Speaker 94
17:32
are over five million dollars that agencies or institutions
can request where they don't necessarily have to accept the lowest bidder if a project is very special and they need to do this
Speaker 22
17:44
type of procurement so as as we've already discussed this item is presented from U of A Fayetteville it is also for the academic classroom building and this gives you a little more detail on the selection of the contractor they state here this project will be a new academic building to be located in the McElroy district it will include classrooms totaling seats for 2,300 students it will also create a hub for study collaboration and innovation envisioned to enhance the educational experience. It will be
100,000 gross square feet. They received nine contractor proposals. They interviewed four contractors, and as a result of that and through negotiations, they have chosen CDI contractors for this project. They've also chosen Huft as the design professional. They estimate the completion will be June of 2029 and the total cost to be at $100 million. So this is the alternative delivery
Chair
Unverified
18:38
method project, Mr. Chair. Any questions on alternative delivery? Senator
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
18:42
Bryant. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess the question will be is, is there a guaranteed maximum on these contracts or is it open ended up to $100
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
18:53
million? We will reach a guaranteed maximum price with the contractor before we move forward with the project. So we'll start into design. We've got the architect we got the contractor part of the design process once we're comfortable with the design within that established budget they'll put it out to bid come back with a guaranteed maximum price for the project okay sir there's
Speaker 29
19:14
any other questions alternative method seeing none motion to review motion by representative Painter second by Senator Bryant all in favor say aye all opposed like sign thank you members let's go on
Speaker 12
19:35
to the discretionary grants thank you mr. chair item
Speaker 94
19:40
D are the discretionary grants for your review
today there are two discretionary grants from DHS the first one is
Speaker 22
19:50
with DHS DSDYS. This is an amended grant, federal grant, for targeted youth advocacy initiatives for the southwest Arkansas region with specific focus on justice-involved youth in Columbia County. Number two is with DHS, Division of Aging Adults and Behavioral Health, with the Family-Centered Treatment Foundation. This adds $582,000 to an existing grant, and it is for licensure,
Speaker 48
20:16
monitoring training and implementing the family-centered treatment model for treatment facilities these are the
Speaker 29
20:25
discretionary grants mr. chair any questions on one any questions on two seeing none motion to review motion by representative painter second by representative lademan all in favor say aye all opposed like sign thank
Speaker 12
20:44
you members let's go on to services contract thank you mr. chair item
Speaker 22
20:51
e are the contracts presented for your
review today at the front part of that section you'll see a letter from the osp director miss jessica patterson stating that her staff she and her staff have reviewed all the contracts presented for review this month and deemed them lawful and allowable they also as a request of the september 2024 ALC meeting a list of all the contracts on the agenda today that were selected using the most advantageous proposal method or the traditional RFP method there's the list for you there and
finally they state that as an update they have submitted their revised procurement rules to the governor's office and the governor's office is still reviewing them moving on to the contracts item E1 we have the construction related contracts there are seven free review today number one is with the arkansas commission on law enforcement standards this is amendment two to an existing contract with cromwell architects and this is for design services for their east camden northwest arkansas springdale facilities number two u u of a asmsa with bell construction this is
amendment one to an existing contract and this is to revise a contract to increase the electrical scope to provide for three-phase power systems on their maintenance building and wood shop. Number three, U of A ASMSA with domain architecture. This is for architectural and engineering design services for the construction of the ASMSA alumni hall and new charter field on Whittington Avenue in Hot Springs. Number four, U of A Fayetteville with Huffed Projects. This is
the architect firm that was chosen to design the academic building on the U of A campus. The original amount is for 6.2 million dollars with Huff projects. Number five, U of A Fayetteville with Wittenberg, Deloney, and Davidson. This is amendment seven to an existing contract and this is for ongoing services for the silicone carbide fabrication lab project. Number six, UAMS with bernard tme and number seven with uams with witzel evans rasco these are both for on-call design services these are
Speaker 48
23:03
the construction contracts mr. chair any
Speaker 29
23:07
questions on the construction contracts representative ladyman which one number two, the
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
23:13
University of Arkansas. All right. University of Arkansas.
Speaker 105
23:41
Introduce yourselves. Good morning, Melissa Rice, University of
Speaker 106
23:49
Arkansas System. Good morning. Steve Malek, Director of Finance at
Speaker 107
23:52
ASMSA. Representative Leiteman, if you would, ask your
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
23:59
question. Yes, just a clarification here, but the electrical contract originally was budgeted at $10,000, and it was raised by $91,000 due to requiring three phase, I guess. But was that just an oversight, or was there new equipment bought that required three-phase electricity?
Speaker 106
24:16
It was actually the three-phase was a requirement as part of the specifications needed for the woodshop. And that determination was made on the front end by Entergy's design team. And then when they actually got into construction, Entergy then advised that those plans that were put forth by their design team were not suitable for the project, and they had to route a different route for electrical services, and that's what created the variance. So the
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
24:45
three-phase power and the amount you needed was not available?
You had to add poles and lines?
Speaker 106
24:51
Is that what you're saying? Yeah, I've got more details here from what I've received for information from the architect. Yeah, it was that they were needing to add additional utility support poles, widening of the original planned cleared path, and extending the clearing limits to safely accommodate the three-phase power infrastructure, and they had to include an additional point of
connection for three-phase power as well, and the distance was greater than what was originally planned for. So was
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
25:25
that our mistake or Entergy's mistake in the pricing of that? It was just
Speaker 106
25:30
a difference from what the design team with Entergy determined initially versus what was required during the actual construction. Well, you know, I think
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
25:40
this raises a question that we ought to look a little closer when we're designing. I mean, that's a pretty easy thing to know how much power you need
and what type of power you need and the availability of that. I think we need to sharpen our pencil a little bit on
Chair
Unverified
25:58
that. But thank you. Thank you for the answer. Thank you. Representative Ferguson, do you? No, I'm good. Good? Okay. Is there any
Speaker 29
26:12
other questions on those construction-related contracts? Seeing none, I'll take a motion to review. Motion to review.
Second by Representative Ferguson. all in favor say aye all opposed like sign y'all don't sound so excited wake up i know we're early this morning let's go on to the out-of-state contracts there's a quite a few of these thank you mr chair item e2
Speaker 20
26:39
in your packet or the out-of-state contracts
Speaker 22
26:41
presented for your review today number one is with arkansas public employees retirement system with wellington management company this is amendment one to an existing contract and this amends the scope and
increases funds for this contract for funds management and this they state this is to comply with act 937 which is the china divestment initiative number two department of commerce division of workforce services with kerasoft technology this is amendment one to an existing contract to add additional funding in support of the ui unemployment insurance modernization project and go live support program number three department of education with act education corp this is amendment 10 to an existing contract it increases the contract by 17 million dollars
as a result of the last session ade is now required to offer pre-ct testing to arkansas students in grade 9 and grade 10 beginning in this school year and so this amendment is to comply with that legislation. So that will be offered free to all 9th and 10th grade students in the state. Number four, Department of Education with Buechler and Associates. This is an original contract for due process hearings for investigations of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. Number five, Department of Education with Cartwheel. This was pulled by the agency prior to the meeting. Number six, Department of Finance and Administration with BDO Government Services. This is a new contract valued at $12.5 million for RHTP grant management and compliance services. This is part of the new federal program for the rural health transformation. And this company, this BDO company, will manage these grants. They will establish
the process. They will oversee the administration of them from beginning to end. And money is made available to state agencies number seven department of finance and administration child support enforcement with laboratory corporation of america this is an original contract for paternity testing for custodial and non-custodial parents of children by ocse number eight department of health with icf macro this is an original special procurement contract for interviews for the
Speaker 93
29:07
behavioral risk factor surveillance system and this is since this is the first time this committee is seeing this we have attached the justification form for the special procurement in your packet it is the i call it tiffany blue sheet of paper and this is also new this time um several months ago the office of state procurement formerly they would offer a letter in response to these special procurement requests but through the permission of the chairs and through discussions
they now provide their approval on the back side of that form you'll see a section where they can select approved as submitted or approved with revisions and there is still a section for the OSP director's signature so that's a little bit different than what
Speaker 48
30:04
you normally see contract number nine is with dc dhs division of aging adults
Speaker 22
30:09
and behavioral health services with shc services this is for a contract providing highly qualified skilled nursing at the arkansas
health center contracts number 10 and 11 are both with dhs dcfs for intensive in-home services for Division of Children and Family Services clients and also I'll mention that number 11 is 9 million and it also includes transitional support for young adult services for DCFS clients. Number 12, DHS Division of County Operations with Fidelity National Information Services. This is a $16.5 million original contract and this is to provide statewide electronic benefit transfer services
system and this is for the delivery of t and snap benefits to arkansas citizens through atm machines and point of sale devices number 13 dhs division of county operations with orrin burnett this is for janitorial services at the miller county dco office number 14 department of the military with net at work this is an original contract for the implementation of financial software it will will provide greater automization for the agency. Number 15, DTSS, Division of Information Systems
with Kerasoft Technology. This is an original contract for the migration of the OCSE systems to cloud-based systems. Number 16, Department of Veterans Affairs with quality staffing. This is for medical staffing services. Number 17, also with DBA with higher energy, also for RN, LPN, CNA, medical staffing services. Number 18, Department of Social Security Administration.
This is with David Tesler. This is an original contract for medical consultant examinations, reviews, and evaluations. Number 19 is with the U of A system with Brailsford and Dunleavy Incorporated. This is an original $4.1 million contract, and this is to assist the U of A system on planning and strategy development initiatives. and this is for evaluation and optimization of their existing and future property and assets. Number 20 is with U of A Fayetteville with Integrity 9 LLC. This is an original contract for a university-wide sponsorship strategy
in collaboration with stakeholders to increase revenue and increase recruitment and retention and engagement of alumni. Number 21 with U of A Fayetteville with PFM Financial Advisors, a new two million dollar contract for financial planning budget and strategic advice just overall financial advising contracts number 22 and 23 are both with ua litter rock and these
Speaker 94
32:53
are both for temporary staffing services for the university that gets us over
to page 15 under item e
Speaker 22
33:04
it's the last out-of-state contract and this is with uca with coursera incorporated this is a new original contract for campus-wide Career Academy licensing Career Academy campus alumni match
Speaker 48
33:15
and integration services and annual maintenance these are the out-of-state contracts
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
33:28
Senator Rice number 12 DHS I've got a question
Chair
Unverified
33:53
Just introduce yourselves, and Senator Rice, you're recognized whenever they get done. Good morning. I'm
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
34:00
Mary Franklin, Director of the Division of County Operations for Department of Human Services. And Sarah
Speaker 123
34:07
Cunningham with the Office of Procurement, DHS. Good morning.
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
34:10
Could you give us a little bit of what the changes are on this?
Speaker 124
34:19
Yes, sir. this this contract is for ebt services our previous contract had come to into life and is
Speaker 125
34:26
actually on a special procurement at this point um and we are transitioning to a new vendor with this contract with updated functionality and ebt is how we deliver snap benefits summer ebt benefits as well as the benefits for the T and Work Pays program. And in this contract, we will also be transitioning from the traditional EBT mag stripe cards to chip cards, which are much less susceptible to fraud and stolen benefits.
And we have some increase, you know, now we have summer EBT included in this contract because it's not a new program and we know we're going to continue it. So, and some additional fraud capabilities, fraud prevention capabilities, detection and prevention. So those are the things that are new in this contract that we did not
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
35:28
have in the previous contract. Are we still getting reports of fraud, people having their benefits stolen?
We are, but not nearly to the level that
Speaker 125
35:38
we were back during the summer. But there are still benefits that are stolen, and we do still hear from clients, but it is not nearly at the level that it was. But these changes that we'll be implementing with this contract should help further protect our clients here in Arkansas from
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
35:58
that type of theft. Okay. Well, it had been a while since I'd had contacts on that, but at church Sunday somebody mentioned a family member that's recently had a cancer patient right now,
he'd had what little benefits he had stolen and I just that this is much needed I appreciate the update I thought they'd be good for people to hear and that's what I wanted to hear thank you thank you any other questions
Speaker 29
36:28
on that item saying then Senator Bryant think mr. chair item number eight Department of Health I
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
36:37
thought you I thought you were saying
Speaker 35
36:46
that and whatever Let's introduce yourselves and you're recognized for your questions, Senator.
Speaker 131
37:11
Casey Cochran, Deputy Director for Programs, Arkansas Department of Health. Matt Gilmore, Department of Health.
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
37:17
Thank you all for being here. I'm over to your left. Just so we're losing some federal funding for this. I guess the first question would be, do we anticipate future budgets, federal budgets, having funding for this type of system?
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
37:32
I think it remains to be seen. I think the direction the federal government's going is you know
still in development and I think a lot of our you know the majority of our budget is
federally funded but I think we're just taking it step by step and adjust it
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
37:53
as we need to. okay so this is the last year of a seven-year contract can you can you explain what data the state has received from this contract to be able to to give us guidance
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
38:06
on how to handle issues i can speak to it generally but ms cock from
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
38:11
beside me can speak more to the details of it sure i'll be happy to so historically there's about 400 000 calls made annually to participants
that voluntarily agree to complete the survey it takes about 15 to 20 minutes and that's with all 50 states and territories locally in arkansas we do about 5200 calls per year to collect this information and it's utilized not only within the health department for program initiatives or tweaks to our current programs but also by partner agencies i think a lot
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
38:46
of it is used just for general surveys and data that we collect and to see
where we are on different topics and issues as far as health primarily with with um you know obesity or you know different uh habits and that sort of thing so
it's it's helpful information to have just as a state to know where we stand on different rankings
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
39:07
so what is the state so i think i received one of these calls probably about a month ago and it actually asked me if i'm eating my vegetables and how much household members smoke and how much alcohol do i consume so once you get a report that has that information like what does the department of health do with
it like you can't i mean do you increase public awareness of alcohol is bad for you or like i
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
39:34
I think we use it for several different
things. I think when we're putting out or we get federal funding or even state dollars for different grants and different types of health education activities or, I mean, it covers as you, if you went through the whole call, you asked lots of different questions. So I think a lot of those that data we get is used across the department for different programs,
but it does help guide us and point us in the right direction on, hey, this is becoming a bigger issue than we thought it was in the past, or maybe that work that we've done there has helped here and we need to move and do
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
40:12
something different. But I'll let Ms. Cochran add to that if she wants. No, I agree. It helps develop program initiatives or change program initiatives. Also, if we see an increase in an area of issues in our state, we can look for funding opportunities or ways to utilize or braid funding to address those issues.
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
40:31
Okay. I'll finish my line of question. I guess one request would be, could you send to the chair what one of these reports look like? Just pick any year that the services provide data set to the state and just send that report for this committee
to look at. Sure. I'd be happy to.
Speaker 29
40:50
Don't be calling me on what I eat. I'm just glad y'all flipped the food pyramid. So I don't know why you'd call Josh over me anyway.
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
41:02
Senator McKee Thank you both for being here. Does the state of Arkansas fund any quality leering centers? Any day cares I Didn't know if I
didn't know if the quality leering centers had any branches in Arkansas. I'm not familiar with that Not familiar with not very much. Thank you
Chair
Unverified
41:32
So, you guys are dismissed. Representative Kavanaugh, University of Arkansas. Yes,
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
41:38
sir. Contracts 19, 20, and 21.
Speaker 29
42:02
Let's go ahead and introduce yourselves again, and if
Speaker 105
42:10
you're recognized, Representative Kavanaugh. Melissa
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
42:13
Rust, University of Arkansas System. And Clayton Hamilton, Senior
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
42:18
Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Services, UA Fayetteville. Thank you. On contracts 19, 20, and 21, there are consultants that it looks like we're using to do advisory on planning, strategy development, financial planning. one that's going to implement and manage university-wide sponsorship strategy,
and then you've got another financial planning for budget and strategic advice. Can you explain to me why we need consultants to do these things for us when you have a whole university full
Speaker 61
42:53
of people? And I'll speak to number 20. This was completed through an RFP for a
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
42:59
firm to lead a sponsorship sales strategy for our campus. So it's something very similar to what you might have heard with the Razorback Athletic Program. They sell sponsorships to third parties to sponsor the program, a way to generate revenue to support the program.
The campus completed a study about a year ago just to look for similar opportunities on campus. And we use the example of like a welcome back event to campus where we might have 8,000 new students show up to a welcome back event. A company might offer free pizzas to those new students where there is a value to that opportunity to be in front of that number of students on campus. So we completed a study just to look at what those opportunities might look like across campus. We don't have a sales team on campus to be able to get out and sell sponsorships, fulfill sponsorships in the way our athletic program has.
So we looked to an outside party, completed this RFP, and it is part set fee and part commission-based as far as the contract that is being proposed. But we see this as a real revenue opportunity to support campus. What is the projected revenue
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
44:11
for this $996,000? Well, and that is a multi-year
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
44:15
contract. So year one, we're projecting $500,000 in sponsorship sales. We think there's an opportunity to get up to $5 million a year. We'll never get to the point the athletic program is.
That's just a different market a lot of folks like to tap into. But there is real revenue opportunity for this campus-wide sponsorship program. Okay.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
44:35
And there's no department at U of A that can handle the sale of sponsorships? Not with the
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
44:42
expertise that we need to get out and sell the sponsorships and fulfill in this manner.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
44:47
Okay. Thank you. And what about 19 and 20? I mean, 21. Sure. Representative
Speaker 155
44:54
Kavanaugh, on 19 and 21, those are contracts that we did at the system office level.
We did an RFQ for potential vendors to assist us with financial consulting and financial advisory services. These two contracts are akin to what I think you probably have become accustomed to hear when when you hear about contracts that are considered on-call contracts These contracts should be considered an on-call now. They're not like consulting construction contracts like you would normally Normally encounter with an on-call but they are for when we do need potential financial advising or specialty services as an example on
excuse me, as an example, on number 19, the Brailsford and Dunleavy contract, this particular firm has a particular expertise with P3 projects. And as we look to determine how we can upgrade and renovate and maintain a number of buildings on our campuses throughout the system, having someone with specialty P3 services we felt like was clearly advantageous and helpful to us. We don't have anyone in-house, for instance, and to be able to do this.
And as an example, our financial wing that's at the system office that helps administer the financial services for our entire system consists of two people at the system office level. Our board, in particular, has asked us to look at alternatives for financing of projects. They have also asked us to look at long-term financial modeling for all of our campuses to make sure that we are maximizing the revenue that we have and to do things in a way that is most financially advantageous.
And frankly, we need that expertise and that experience. So these costs will not be incurred unless we choose or we decide that we have a project that we would like to access one of these particular vendors. The second one, it's all right if I go down to 21. On number 21, this is PFM Financial Advisors. We have utilized PFM in the past as well. They have quite significant expertise in the financial market.
They also have P3 expertise, but Dunleavy and Brailsford and Dunleavy are really specialized in the P3 area. But with respect to PFM, we look to them, for instance, for assistance with bond issues when our board elects to issue bonds on behalf of our campuses. We are also in the process at the system office, frankly, early on in the process of looking at significant use of shared services across all of our campuses to see how we can be the most efficient we possibly can be.
Pia Film has some expertise in assisting entities with shared services and so those are just two examples but it's part of the overall financial modeling in the long-term financial long-term financial services and I think outlook that our board of trustees has indicated that they would like us to engage in so both of these contracts are on calls in the sense that we may or may not spend this money unless we have a project for which the funds are needed or we feel
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
48:25
like the expertise is needed okay so if these are basically on call why are you doing them now if
Speaker 155
48:34
you don't have a need for them i don't know that we don't have a current need for them that would be something probably that our fine our cfo would be better able to answer you know for you but we when we went out on an rfq we went out looking for these types of services and just so you know so that there's no surprise we have a third contract it did not get complete before the time frame to bring this before you at this meeting and so we
will have an additional contract at the next meeting with Stevens
Speaker 29
49:08
okay all right thank you on 20 on 20 the Walton School of Business you could get 15 marketing students and give them a share and if you, that's,
Speaker 114
49:20
I mean you could buy a lot of Ramyun and part of
Speaker 162
49:28
this Senator Johnson would be hiring those
students to complete internships to assist
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
49:33
in this process but this company would lead it for us and organize the strategy in how we sell and fulfill but absolutely right opportunities to connect with students the dean can't do that and they've I mean their their full-time focus is teaching the students not necessarily getting out there and
Speaker 11
49:56
selling and fulfilling the sponsorships that would be the students job anyway I'm gonna stop representative thought
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
50:05
thank you mr. chair miss Melissa on number 19 it says 100% state usually y'all say like it divides it down to where the money comes from can you tell me what you mean there by 100% state I am
Speaker 105
50:23
I am making an assumption representative odd but when we usually when we reference 100% state that would be
Speaker 155
50:28
a general revenue that that the institution or the entity receives okay thank you ma'am any other questions
Speaker 29
50:39
seeing none take a motion to review out of state contracts motion by representative lademan second by senator hester all in favor say aye all opposed like son thank you members Let's
Speaker 12
50:58
go on to the in-state contracts Thank you. Mr. Chair
Speaker 22
51:03
item E3. These are the last sections of contracts for your review. These are in-state contracts
Number one is with Department of Corrections Division of Community Corrections This is an original contract for supervision housing and evidence-based programs for transitional housing For eligible recipients number two Department of Health Arkansas State Board of Nursing with Richard Keith Bibb This is for investigation services, for complaints, and questions asked of the Board of Nursing on licensed nurses. Number three, DHS-DCFS with ERISA Health.
This is an original contract. This is providing enhanced board payment for children in foster care and in a community reintegration program. Number four, DHS-DCFS with Arkansas Baptist Children's. This is a new original contract for in-home services for DCFS clients in specified service areas. Number five, DHS-DCFS with Arkansas Children's Hospital. This is Amendment 2 to an existing contract. It adds $4.3 million to this contract, and it is for the Arkansas Health and Well-Being Program for intervention of child welfare-involved families.
Number six, DHS-DCFS with Immerse Arkansas. This is an original contract for $500,000. dollars. This is for transition support services for youth who are aging out of the foster care system. Number seven, DHS-DCFS with Piney Ridge Treatment Center. This is an original contract for enhanced board payment for children in foster care and in community reintegration programs. Number eight, DHS-DCFS with Southern Christian Home Incorporated. This is amendment one to an existing contract and this is for foster care services in family home settings. Number nine
and number 10 are both with dhs division of county operations both with oj's service 2 this is for janitorial services in their independence county and mississippi county local offices on item e page 19 that takes us to number 11 with department of public safety division of emergency management with motorola solutions this is an original contract for channel expansion services for the AWIN system. This is to provide Adam with additional capacity and enhanced functionality
at 10 sites. Number 12, Department of Veterans Affairs with one-of-a-kind in home care and medical. This is Amendment 3 to an existing contract for temporary nurse staffing in the Fayetteville and North Little Rock Veterans Homes. Also, contracts number 13 through 16, These are all with Department of Veterans Affairs, all with various vendors for the same reason as I just mentioned, temporary nursing staffing at their sites in Fayetteville and North Little Rock.
Number 17, that takes us over to item E, page 21. This is with DDSSA and Stephen David Snyder. This is an original contract for medical consultant examinations, reviews, and evaluations for medical records of cases. Number 18 with U of A Pulaski Tech with Comfort Systems USA, this is Amendment 1 to an existing contract for HVAC services on call and as needed. And number 19 with UAMS with the Kester Group, this is an original contract for $270,000,
and this vendor will provide grants consulting services for UAMS. These are the in-state contracts, Madam Chair. Thank you, Katie. any questions uh
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
54:36
representative layman who's your question for well my question is for procurement it's a general question
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
54:41
so if there's somebody else got a specific item
you can put me at the bottom of the there's nobody else in the queue all right i'll take it
Speaker 172
54:52
well wait just a second represent batty do you have a question for hold on a second representative lateman representative
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
55:00
batty who's your question for corrections all right representative lateman i'm going to
take you out if you'll get back in the queue I can have someone from Corrections come down please and if you'll please introduce yourself for the record and then
Speaker 177
55:25
you can continue to represent a baby Jim cheek director division
Speaker 180
55:32
community correction. Chad Brown CFO Department of Correction. Thank you Madam Chair. I guess my
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
55:38
question is maybe give us a little more information on this Renew Life Center and exactly what that center services that that center provides. They provide re-entry services.
Speaker 176
55:50
I actually talked to our guy this morning because it says Bismarck but I think that's the Renew Center which is Hidden Creek in
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
55:58
Little Rock. That's what I was, you got to my point. I was just seeing exactly what was going on there. Can you give us an update on that system and what we're doing there?
Speaker 186
56:08
Well, we're still housing offenders. Actually, we're
Speaker 176
56:11
down on numbers. We're trying to get our numbers up. Actually, it's worse today than it's been all year, but we've got 39 vacant beds throughout the system of the 204 beds that we're allotted. Based on the ones that we can screen that are available, our numbers are getting smaller, so we're trying to figure out how we're going to
Speaker 186
56:30
retool this to actually utilize those beds. I
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
56:34
guess my problem is we've been talking about how we're going to reutilize and utilize this space
and keep these beds full, but we seem to continue to have a problem there. Yes, sir, absolutely. I get
Speaker 186
56:44
a report every single morning from Mr. Self as to what we're doing. I think we
Speaker 176
56:49
had 14 that were eligible yesterday that went to the – when they went to the Board of Correction, I mean, the posturing transfer board, seven of them were denied. One of them had warrants that's not eligible, and one of them had a disciplinary. So now we're down to, what, five that's actually eligible, and once we screen them, we're not saying all those are actually going to be eligible to go.
So we had five at Hidden Creek that actually transitioned to stage four of the program, which they moved out of Hidden Creek into the community. So it's kind of a catch-up game back and forth. So gaining on the
Speaker 186
57:23
front end is getting kind of difficult. Well,
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
57:25
I'll just say I don't have a problem with vacant beds being for folks that are transitioning out and returning to be a productive member of society. I do have a problem when we've got vacant beds and corrections can't get folks in there on this program that works.
Speaker 176
57:41
And I understand, Representative Bader, but they have to meet a certain criteria. I mean, these are inmates from the Department of Correction that have to meet a certain criteria to go to these facilities because they have not actually met their TEP date to get out on probation or pro. So the post-written transfer board does screen them to get to this point. But then again, we have to make sure that these people are going to comply with the rules of the facility and not walk off because at that point then they become escapees. And I don't want us not to do our due diligence on the front end to make sure that they don't go out and hurt a citizen of the state of Arkansas
if we're not screening them properly on the front end
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
58:17
well i i guess i'll leave this alone because we're going to talk about this a lot more until you guys can take care of vacant beds and get folks in this program but i'm going to tell you that it's an important program and it works and my phone rings all the time with with vacancies and folks not being in there and i know that we have a population that would qualify for this so every time i see a re-entry program on here you're going to hear from me i'm going to ask about it i'm going to ask what we've got in
vacancy it's a priority we work too hard on recidivism in this state with the overcrowding we have now this program works and we need to utilize it so just know that that's what's going to happen and the heat's going to be turned up on it so thank
Speaker 81
59:07
you yes sir i understand thank you sir and
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
59:12
questions representative lightman thank you mr. chairman I guess this question would be for procurement if there's anybody here from state
Speaker 35
59:18
procurement introduce yourself and you're recognized representative good
Speaker 193
59:31
Good morning. Jessica Patterson, State Procurement Director.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
59:34
Thank you for being here. And I
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
59:36
don't know, maybe Dfna may have to answer this, but when I'm looking at the out-of-state contracts and the in-state contracts, and I know we've brought this up before, but I did some quick math here,
so it might be an estimate, I would say. So we reviewed 24 contracts, out-of-state contracts, worth roughly $70,793,000. We reviewed 19 in-state contracts with a rough amount of $8,291,000. And my question is, you know, are we giving in-state companies
or people that are vying for these jobs, Are we giving them an advantage because they're in-state? And the reason I ask that, and I know some of these contracts would not be eligible for sales tax, but if I just calculate the sales tax on $70 million, it's about $5.6 million, our state sales tax. So we're sending a lot of money across the state lines, And I understand that these are high-tech, high-training companies, but do we give – I mean, we need to get some of these people to move to Arkansas so we can get the tax dollars that Texas or somebody else is getting.
So are we giving in-state entities any advantages? If we're looking at just the lowest cost, we may be losing money here. Do you understand my question? I do understand your
Speaker 192
1:01:15
question. under procurement law currently there's no method to give preference to an
Speaker 193
1:01:19
in-state vendor over an out-of-state vendor however just because some of these vendors are listed as being out-of-state vendors or contractors doesn't doesn't mean that they don't have local presence so it could be a national company that has some local presence but they are not that so they might have in-state
employees that are located in the state but they're they are a national company so they are an out-of-state
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:01:45
company. But their corporate headquarters are still out-of-state. Their corporate headquarters would be out-of-state. Well, I think
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
1:01:51
that's something that we really need to look into to keep money in the state. Sending money across the state line doesn't help us that much, so thank you for your answer. Is
Speaker 12
1:02:07
there any other questions on the in-state contracts?
Speaker 29
1:02:12
If not, I'll accept a motion to review all the in-state contracts. Motion by Representative Leitman. Second. Second by Senator Hester. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, like sign. Thank you, members. Let's go to the reports and
Speaker 81
1:02:37
another business. Handle all of that at one time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Speaker 22
1:02:42
The last couple of items for your information today are the reports and communications and one item under other business you'll see under item F reports and communications. There are two regular reports that you all see each month. One is the contract amendments without a material change. The second is executed minor contracts. And finally, I'll just mention for the committee's information yesterday, an emergency acts action report was completed for the review subcommittee. This was submitted by the department of commerce and DFA, And it just made two revisions to the discretionary grants that you all approved last month for the advocacy centers.
These are the reports for the committee's information, Mr.
Speaker 29
1:03:23
Chair. Any questions? Anything else to come before the committee? We will try to keep our schedule with the afternoon meeting and not do the morning meeting. Thank you, members, and we're adjourned. Oh good, great.
Agenda
A. Call to Order - Comments from Chairs
B. Methods of Finance
C. General Contractors Construction Projects exceeding Five Million Dollars
D. Discretionary Grants
E. Services Contracts for Legislative Review/RFQ Approvals
F. Reports and Communications
G. Other Business
H. Adjournment
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — ALC - REVIEW, Jan 13, 2026 | Agenda | 1 | Official source ↗ |
| B. MOFs | Exhibit | 2 | Official source ↗ |
| C. General Contractors Construction Projects Exceeding Five Million Dollars | Exhibit | 1 | Official source ↗ |
| D. Grants | Exhibit | 1 | Official source ↗ |
| E. Contracts | Exhibit | 22 | Official source ↗ |
| F.1. PCS_TGS Previously Review No Material Report | Exhibit | 13 | Official source ↗ |
| F.2. PCS_TGS 25000-350000 Minor Executed Contracts | Exhibit | 13 | Official source ↗ |
| G. Other Business - Emergency Action Report – Review Subcommittee January 12, 2026 | Exhibit | 3 | Official source ↗ |
| Supplemental Agenda | Exhibit | 3 needs OCR | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Speaker 1
Speaker 2
Speaker 8
Speaker 12
Speaker 20
Speaker 22
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 29
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
Speaker 43
Clayton Hamilton
Unverified
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Speaker 35
Speaker 61
Speaker 64
Speaker 67
Speaker 16
Speaker 71
Speaker 93
Speaker 94
Speaker 48
Speaker 105
Speaker 106
Speaker 107
Speaker 123
Speaker 124
Speaker 125
Speaker 131
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
Speaker 155
Speaker 114
Speaker 162
Speaker 11
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 172
Speaker 177
Speaker 180
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
Speaker 176
Speaker 186
Speaker 81
Speaker 193
Speaker 192