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- October 5, 2026
Members, if you start taking your seats, we're going to get started momentarily.
Speaker 8
1:30
Yeah, that's right. Sorry. I know you did. I really did not know.
All right, members, I call this meeting to order. Chair, cease a
William Parrish
Unverified
2:42
quorum. Billy, you ready to start? Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're in Section B. This is a various temporary appropriation request. There's only one item on the agenda. It's a letter from the University of Arkansas, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts. It's for $3 million in appropriation over several line items. According to the letter, it has utilized existing
general revenue and prior year carryover funds to support operations. - Representative Cavanaugh, you recognize for
a question. I assume you want the University
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
3:17
of Arkansas to come up to the. thank you mr. mr. chairman
if you could identify yourself for the record then
represent the Cavanaugh you'd be recognized to ask your question Corey
Speaker 27
3:57
Autodice, Executive Director, ASMSA. Steve Malek, Director
Speaker 30
4:05
the University of Arkansas System Office. Thank y'all for
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
4:09
being here. My question is, I'm a little confused. When I look at this request, it talks about the construction of a new maintenance building, little pine construction, stairwell renovation. But when you look down at what
you're actually requesting you're requesting for regular salaries extra help personnel matching so my question is do you have skilled tradesmen on salary and that's what you're needing to pay out of this money um if okay i want to give a little
Speaker 34
4:39
bit of background as to the process that's used to get appropriations approved through the regular legislative process i'm well aware of that ma'am very well that
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
4:47
probably more so than you that's where the error was made that's why i just
Speaker 34
4:53
want to go back this was back from when the asmsa requested um in preparation for the the last legislative session there are forms that are filled out sent to adhe that then come over to the legislature and there was some staff turnover that was occurring at asmsa at that point in time and those forms did not get filled out correctly such that the appropriation levels were not sufficient from when they were presented back during the legislative session so that is going on in combination with the capital projects that are provided in the letter listing which indicates
its ongoing operations plus their capital projects so that's why you'll see that there is a requested increase to the line item for the salaries and fringes within the within this request um asmsa it has revenue coming in from the state this year that totals 12.98 million dollars and at their current appropriation levels they're actually beneath that so i just want to explain that that ties back some to that original request back during the legislative session if you knew that
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
6:00
you had made a mistake during the budgeting process on your revenue on your salaries match extra help how come you haven't made that request and now you're tying it in to where it looks like you're trying to
Speaker 38
6:14
improve construction um sure i can i can help speak and then if
Speaker 34
6:19
asmsa wants to follow up with my conversations as the new finance directors this steven that was came into his role he was evaluating what the projected spend was going to be for asmsa this year and recognized
that there was going to be shortages prior to the end of the fiscal year. So as he was doing his projections out, we worked together to put his numbers together to see what appropriations would be needed. Hence, then the request was made. Once the MOF was approved, the methods of finance for those capital projects, we jointly put the numbers together for their ongoing operation as well as the capital projects that had been thus approved through the methods of finance process so that we could bring both of
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
7:01
those requests together. How long have you known that you're going to need this additional appropriation for personnel?
This is not for construction. The way this is presented is that this is tied to construction. So how long has it been since you've known that you messed up during budget and you didn't do the proper forms? How
Speaker 28
7:21
long has that been? We've been aware of it for the past couple of months as we've been working through identifying exactly what the need is. This request will bring us back to be more consistent with prior year appropriation levels. And because that carry forward was not considered,
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
7:42
So during budgeting process, we did not give you this authority.
Now you want to increase that authority. Is that what you're saying? That during our regular budgeting process, you did not ask for this authority, and we reduced your authority. Now you're asking for more. that's correct to
Speaker 45
8:01
be consistent with prior year levels yes but again you didn't ask for it correct the submission was not made and how much
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
8:12
excess funding do you have in that appropriation I'm sorry what's the question how much excess of funding and appropriation do you
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
8:26
specific line and regular salaries in regular
Speaker 28
8:29
salaries extra help and personnel matching so right now the request is that we're increasing by
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
8:34
six hundred and eighty three thousand that's not what I'm asking generally every agency has excess funding request and appropriation how much excess funding
request have you had in those personnel and those line items
Speaker 34
8:55
what is your balance I can give you overall appropriation
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
8:58
now i don't want to overall appropriation i'm asking for these three line items that you're asking to have this additional appropriation what is your balance in those
Speaker 38
9:08
you know how much you've submitted she's wondering what your balance is versus what you've submitted thus far yeah i
Speaker 28
9:14
know that we're on track to be roughly if we have any kind of we've got about a
three and a half percent buffer with where this increase will land so without this we're not going to be able to track with where we were in actuals in FY25 which were I believe they were
Speaker 32
9:31
close to four and a half million I can get the exact numbers for you chairman
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
9:37
I will have a request at the proper
time you're recognized for a question thank
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
9:49
you mr. chair um i'm going to ask a question then i'm
going to ask for a little bit of leeway if that's okay sir um so i'm looking at your operating expense and that's a pretty big dramatic jump the one to 1.4 million can you tell me why that's a dramatic increase? I'm going
Speaker 34
10:14
to start and then I'll let you. So I'm going to go back to where their appropriation levels normally are, which was in FY25 prior to the error being made in the
legislative request process for appropriations. Normally their appropriation levels in operating expenses, 5.25 million. That was FY25's level. So in FY26, because the failure to complete the forms correctly, it dropped them down to 3.14 million in operating expenses. So the request for the transfer is an additional 1.4 over the current level of 3.1 million, which puts them at roughly $4.5 million, which is still a decline or a decrease from FY20 from prior years appropriation
levels by approximately 13.3%. So even with this request of the increase, again, there was an error made in those FY26 requests. They would still be lower than what their FY25 levels, their prior years levels were, for that particular line item. And can you tell me, and you might have
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
11:20
already answered it and i just missed it can you tell me when you figured out that y'all
Speaker 34
11:26
had had this mistake sure it was sometime in late summer um and as they were working to um on their capital project on their capital projects um again there was a method of finance process and they were
you know reviewing how much those capital projects were going to be in realizing that there was not enough sufficient appropriation for not only the capital projects but also their ongoing operations because of that error. It was probably August when we started discussing about putting those numbers together to bring forth that request to ensure that there was efficient appropriations to actually spend the revenues that they are receiving for the
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
12:04
state. Okay, and then I'm going to try to piggyback off of Representative Kavanaugh. So you have $1.4 million in excess in the appropriation to move over to there, right?
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
12:23
carryover funds. Okay, and then so actual funding, correct, of actual funding. So how much funding, how much appropriation funding do you have left over after you
Speaker 34
12:35
move this 1.4? They're actually, they're speaking to actuals of what is, essentially, are you, so they have an actual funding. They are set to receive $12.9 million from the state overall. In carryover funds, because of the nature of ASMSA, they don't charge tuition and fees,
so there's no other means of being able to fund any capital needs for their campus. They essentially, over some years, they have to cut in any sort of operational spending to put back to save up for capital projects, which has put them in the scenario where they have carryover actual funding balances such that they spend those at the time that they're doing those capital projects when those expenses are coming through. So of the $12.9 million that they'll be getting in funding this year,
they've got approximately how much in your carry-forward balance that will then support those additional costs related to capital projects.
Speaker 32
13:35
Yeah, we ended the year just over $8 million. I believe it was $8.4 million in
Speaker 34
13:49
our state treasury balance. So 13 plus 8. And I don't think there's plans to spend the entire amount in FY25 because those capital costs will spread out over several years.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
14:00
So that kind of leads into my last question before my leeway. Does that mean you're going to try to come back to us next fiscal session and say, we spent this much, so we're going to need this much more money from the state? Are you trying to spend down? We're spending down that
Speaker 28
14:16
residual carryover in the state treasury balance, and we're asking for the appropriation to utilize those funds in our state treasury account. All right. A little willy away, sir.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
14:27
I hate to bring this up here. It's the only time I've seen y'all.
But there was reports about a big celebration going on on y'all's campuses after Charlie Kirk was assassinated. These reports came from students that actually go to school there, And nothing was done to stop the students from having these big celebrations over the murder of a man. I know some students that talked about it should not be celebrated when anybody is murdered. And still the celebrations went on.
Can you please explain to me why no one in staff would stop these children from celebrating or your staff from celebrating the murder of a man? If I
Speaker 27
15:11
may speak to that, Representative Vaughn, I have no knowledge of such celebrations or actions happening. I agree with you that the loss of any life is abhorrent in and of itself, let alone relishing or celebrating on that. No concerns have been brought to senior leadership or myself on this matter, but it is certainly something that we will investigate based on this information today.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
15:33
And I will disagree with that because it was brought up. I know parents that called
and asked why this was being allowed to happen on your campus. So I would do a little bit more investigating and ask the people who were actually contacted maybe, ask around and see who was contacted about this malicious thing that actually took place on your
campus. Thank you, sir. Representative Kavanaugh. Yes.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
16:01
You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask that we hold this until the next meeting of ALC
so they can provide the information that we've requested, which is the information of what their fund balances are in these special items. Are we meeting in December? It would be December. Chairman. i just want to make sure that i'm understanding
what the motion is and how long we want to hold i mean if it's possible to get we could probably get the fund balances today for a friday meeting um if we wanted to take a look at the fund balances if i'm and i want to i
guess i wanted to make sure i understood where we were too and so what we're talking about is is you submitted requests for appropriations that were not sufficient for the actual amount of spending that you were able to do in funding yes and the amount of funding you receive to be able to spend so we're we're not talking about you getting any more or less money we're talking about giving you the authority that you failed to ask for during the actual session that's correct and you're just kind of rectifying that here but again there's so i think representative vaut had
a question about additional monies whatever i mean i anticipate what will happen is i mean there are no additional monies but for instance on the capital projects you may not be able to fully utilize or spend those amounts on the capital project so there'll be a continuation of that capital project so that you can you know complete it at some point in the future and so that would be most likely what would be the outcome if i'm understanding correctly but i would i mean i don't know that we need to hold it until after the first of the year and i would also want to
make sure that i understood what the impact of that would be and the other thing is if we have to do something in an emergency situation uh i mean i would rather the you know more of us have the ability to vote on that than fewer of us um so i want to work through the timeline before we kind of finalize
a motion representative kavanaugh is your motion to hold it a month or are you willing to wait until friday and get the information or explanation that you're requiring We can
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
18:19
wait and get the information on Friday, but with the
realization that if they can't come up with the answers that we want, there will be a hold on it made for Friday for a month.
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
18:30
Okay, we'll hold it until Friday. Go ahead. And then just to make sure that we don't have something fall
through the cracks with communication and on what the request is, Can you restate, Representative Kavanaugh, exactly what you want them to provide and how to provide it and make sure that
you all have, I guess, the communication paths needed to wrap this up before Friday?
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
19:02
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I would make the motion that we hold this until ALC Friday so that you can provide us the information about your funding levels that you currently have for all these line items that you have down. So you can tell us exactly what you have and how much you have left in those fund balances. Quick follow-up question.
Speaker 34
19:28
It's okay to make sure. Do you understand what she's asking? Generally, on the funding side of it, the funding is one bucket, not necessarily broken out.
It's the appropriations that get broken out by line item. So there's not necessarily a funding grid that does it by line item from an appropriation. So I just want to make sure
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
19:49
that we follow up. On your appropriations, when you ask for them, you ask them by line item. Right, on the appropriation side. Yes. Correct. On those appropriations that you ask for, there's two things we'd like to know. How much if you have any excess Appropriations on these line items. Okay, and then how much funding you have to back up this request
Thank you so you understand you need to be back here Friday. Yes, we don't need a motion. We'll just
William Parrish
Unverified
20:33
hold this until Friday Okay, Billy. Ready to move on to C. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're in Section C. This is the American Rescue Plan Act of Appropriation Requests. There are two. The first one, C1, is a request from the Department of Health. It's for $139,000.
This is to return excess or unused funds to the CDC. Staff learned the original award was $9.3 million in fiscal year 22 for infectious disease detection and mitigation. Item number two, C2, is also from the Department of Health. This is for $1 against return funds to CDC. Staff learned the original award was for $415,000 in fiscal year 22 for data collection. That was for the surveillance for emerging threats to mothers and babies network. The reason it is $1 is because of a rounding error that was made when the agency requested a reallocation in fiscal year 24.
All right, members, are there any questions on C1? C2 If
not, I'll take a motion She hasn't To have
a motion to approve items once C1 and C2 we have a motion and a second all in favor say aye any opposed motion is passed Moving on to D
William Parrish
Unverified
21:54
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're in Section D. These are Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Appropriation Requests. The first one, D1, is from the Department of Transportation. It's for $280 million in the Spending Authority. This is to provide IIJA appropriation for the third quarter. Behind the request is a 23-page report showing all projects obligated with IIJA funds. We'll move to the next item, D2. That's on page 25. On page 25 is D2.
This is from the Department of Public Safety, State Crime Labs, for $347,000 in appropriation. They have a grant from the National Highway Safety Administration to complete toxicology testing of motor vehicle crash samples in a timely manner to satisfy reporting requirements. Funds will be used to purchase test kits, lab supplies, and training for staff. D3 is a request from the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police. This is a reallocation of previously awarded appropriation. They're requesting to transfer $350,000 from overtime to personal services matching.
This is to align costs with the federal fiscal year 26 grant budget, and it is part of the Coordinated National Highway Safety Program. D4 is from the Department of Agriculture. It's for $759,000. They have a grant from the USDA to replace equipment and upgrade dispatch systems for improved wildfire response as part of the State Forest Action Plan. D5, Agriculture, $416,000. a USDA grant to strengthen wildfire suppression capacity in high-risk communities. D6, agriculture, half a million.
This is a grant from the USDA to implement the nursery and orchard improvement support program. D7, agriculture, 78,000, a USDA grant to support volunteer fire assistance. D8 is, again, agriculture, 600,000. This is a grant for the USDA to support rural contractors through a partnership with the Arkansas Timber Producers Association this is through the temporary bridge program d9 is agriculture 75,000 USDA grant to support the community wildfire defense program
d10 is the last item for agriculture this is 2.5 million they have a grant from the EPA to help advance the Gulf hypoxia action plan implementing nutrient reduction
strategies all right members I'm gonna go down each item as I call that item hit your button if you have a
question for that item any questions for d1 d2
D9. Senator Johnson is yours for D9. I
Speaker 119
24:57
was trying to get to D10, but you quit. Okay, well. What's
Speaker 122
25:07
your question? Somebody's got to explain what the gulf hypoxia is.
okay somebody from department of agriculture here please come to
the table introduce yourself for the record tate
Chair
Unverified
25:30
wentz natural resource division arkansas department of agriculture senator
Speaker 122
25:36
you recognize so what's the gulf hypoxia action plan and and who came up with that and so the
Speaker 131
25:44
gulf hypoxia task force is the 12 member states along the mississippi river
Chair
Unverified
25:49
the gulf hypoxia action plan is a larger scale plan to reduce nutrient loss across all all of the mississippi river basin the 12 states along the mississippi river do have nutrient reduction strategies or loss strategies so hypoxia is a pretty fancy word for as nutrients enter through the mississippi river to the gulf of mexico it creates large algal blooms as algae dies it decomposes and that ox as it decomposes it consumes all the oxygen in the water and so it
creates these large anoxic or hypoxic areas where it's unsuitable for aquatic life so what we're trying to do is through voluntary non-regulatory practices is reduce the nutrient loss so you're you talking about like
Speaker 122
26:32
buffer zones and stuff like that with with uh going and paying people to yes sir cost share programs incentive
Chair
Unverified
26:38
programs to help uh incentivize producers to implement those cost share programs to reduce nutrient loss do you have any production loss in that um we try not to
um in the practices we're recommending and trying to utilize we try and reduce the amount of acreage loss for production is
Speaker 122
26:59
that like putting in culverts and and creating those small buffers between the field and the ditch or yes sir
Speaker 131
27:07
so right now we're mostly focused in on what's called two-stage ditches in northeast arkansas it's
Chair
Unverified
27:13
really trying to better utilize the ditch ditch network in east arkansas to move water and reduce maintenance costs and in the same time
increased sediment reduction and sediment loss or nutrient loss okay thank you yes sir all right do I have a
motion to approve d1 through d10 have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye. Any opposed? Motion has passed. Billy, moving
on to E. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're in section
William Parrish
Unverified
27:52
E. This is a restricted reserve fund transfer request. It is a letter from
UAMS. This is a request to transfer $2.9 million from the various general discretionary majority vote set aside. That's an account within the fund. It's to support three programs at the University the high-risk pregnancy program IDHI stroke program and the following baby back home program for the committee's information At 5.8 million dollar transfer was made for these programs plus a sickle cell program back in June of this year All right, is anyone
from UAMS here to answer a question we have a question from a member
If you will, please introduce yourself for the record
Chair
Unverified
28:46
Thank you mr. Chairman, I'm Andy Davis with UAMS
Senator Steve Crowell
Unverified
28:52
Senator Kroll you recognize for a question. Hey, mr. Davis. I just heard him say you did 5.8 million back in June for the same programs And now we're doing 2.9. So it kind of looks like we're we just Why are we asking for
Chair
Unverified
29:05
so much? These programs have been around for a few decades and in the last couple of years lost some federal funding.
So UAMS and the governor's office have been working together to try to revamp the programs to reduce the cost, but also keep them going. So this is funding to just keep them going for several more months while we continue to work on them. When did
Senator Steve Crowell
Unverified
29:27
we know the federal funding was gone? Oh, it's hard to say
Chair
Unverified
29:34
exactly when. We've been working on this for probably a year or more.
Okay. Okay, seeing no other questions, you're excused. Thank you. All right, members, I have a motion to adopt this item. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Opposed? Motion
is passed. Moving on to the items for review,
William Parrish
Unverified
30:04
F. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're in Section F. Section F is an appropriation and or fund transfer request. There's only one item. It's from the Public Defender Commission, Commission for Parent Counsel.
It's a $16,000 transfer of appropriation from legal services slash refunds reimbursements to extra help. This is to employ a lawyer that will take a part-time position. This lawyer has taken a part-time position with the Public Defender Commission and now with Parent Counsel.
Speaker 149
30:30
instead of a contract position that was initially intended.
Seeing no questions, without objection, this item is reviewed. G?
William Parrish
Unverified
30:45
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're in Section G. This is a cash fund appropriation request. This is, again, from UAMS. It's $2.9 million. This is to provide the spending authority for the transfer that was approved in the restricted reserve section. I've
seen no questions without objection. This item is reviewed H. Thank you,
William Parrish
Unverified
31:09
Mr. Chair. We're in section H. These are miscellaneous federal grant appropriation requests. The first one H1 is a request from the Department of
Human Services Division of County Operations. It's for 1.1 million. It's been an authority. They have a grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to promote continuity of care for incarcerated juveniles after their release. Staff learning the funds will be used for system changes to software. H2 is Office of Attorney General, $112,000. They have a grant from the Office of Inspector General to purchase vehicles. H3 is Department of Health, $2.8 million. They have a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide resources and services to clients who are HIV positive. H4 is Parks,
Heritage, and Tourism, $86,000. They have a grant from the National Park Service to acquire 40 acres and create boating access at the Cosita River. Age 5, Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, $410,000. Another National Park Service grant to improve the Snowden Waterfowl Rest Area with a new bridge. Age 6, Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, $326,000. A National Park Service grant to rehab the wastewater treatment facility at Queen Wilhelmina State Park. Age 7, Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, $450,000.
Park Service grant to acquire 740 acres to improve the trust and hold or wildlife management area. H8, Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, $425,000. Another grant, this one to renovate the campsite at Crawleys Ridge State Park. H9, Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, $2.1 million. This grant is to improve Hobbs State Park with the new construction of campsites, cabins, and access road and utility connections. H10 is from the Department of Public Safety. This is for $345,000.
They have a grant from the Department of Justice to enhance state victim compensation payments. H11 through H14 are four different requests from DFA to spend grants totaling $534,000. This is grants from the Department of Justice on Project Safe Neighborhoods. H11 and 12 are for the Western District, and H13 and 14 are for the Eastern District. Project Safe Neighborhoods combats violent crime and makes communities safer through funding, resources, and training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and their teams.
So we'll move ahead to H15. H15 is a request from the Department of Labor and Licensing Appraisers Board. It's for $38,000. They have a grant from the Federal Financial Institution Exam Council to carry out the Appraiser Regulatory Agency Support Program. H16 is Agriculture. This is a $7 million appropriation request. They have a grant from the USDA Forest Service for land acquisitions in the Maumelle Water Excellence IV program.
H-17 is the last request. This is for agriculture, $925,000. They have a grant from the Forest Service to purchase two dozers, two transports, two trucks, and a wildland fire simulation table. Mr. Chair, those are all the MFGs. All right.
I guess I'll go down each one of these
to see who these questions are for. So any questions for H1? Representative Rose, you're recognized.
Speaker 155
34:27
We had somebody from DHS. Please identify yourself for the record. Good morning. My name is Mary Franklin. the director of the division of county operations for
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
34:53
dhs representative rose you recognize thank you mr chair uh thank you miss franklin for joining us i just had a quick question i noticed
most of these seem to be a change in an existing program but for this grant it was listed as a new program simply as data processing and i was just curious
Speaker 158
35:10
if that was something you could share a little more specifics with us about yes sir this grant is for system changes to an existing system our existing eligibility system, and it is to help us implement requirements of the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 23, which is going to expand eligibility to juveniles who are leaving
incarceration for testing and evaluation and continuity of care after the release to help set them up for success you'll be seeing policy on this in the rules committee in the next few months because we are still working through the process but this grant in particular was to help us make the system changes to get ready to implement this could you elaborate it on
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
35:58
what system changes needed to take place yes sir
Speaker 158
36:05
thank you um update the health care application process
and rules to allow eligible juveniles to request health care up to 30 days prior to release from the institutional setting and eligible juveniles will remain eligible for at least 30 days after their release date. Updates to enhance the redetermination process to redetermine the suspended benefits of known eligible juveniles up to 30 days prior to release and to continue them eligible for at least 30 days post-release.
We had to create a new interface with the Arkansas MMIS system, the system that handles claims and payment processing on the claims side for Medicaid services, and also to enhance our community partner portal for public institutions to be able to submit applications online for these eligible juveniles to give them an additional way in addition to paper should they choose to use the online avenue to submit these applications.
So they will also be able to track any applications they've submitted for juveniles that are getting close to release. And also we're creating training materials and guides for those public institutions to use for this process. Couldn't tell were you saying that some of
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
37:29
these things are already done or these are things that you will be doing these some of these things are already done so is this is this? Paying a contract or or is it a staffing thing? What is
Speaker 158
37:45
it's paying a contract for the system changes?
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
37:48
okay, so these are contracts that you've already negotiated and Essentially have enacted and now we're coming in to pay for those
Speaker 158
37:56
where this request today is for the appropriate Appropriations so that we can use this grant funding to pay for
those. Okay. Sorry. Thank you All right, any questions for h2 h3 four five six seven eight
somebody come up to the table.
Identify yourself for the record, please, and then Representative Richardson will be recognized for a question.
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
39:03
Jim Hudson. Secretary, DFA. Doris Smith, Administrator of DFA
Speaker 175
39:08
Intergovernmental Services. Alan McVeigh, Chief of Staff,
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
39:11
DFA. Good morning. Thank you guys for being here. The Safe Neighborhood Program, is that the same program that was basically being done in Pine Bluff a while back?
Speaker 178
39:23
Yes. Pine Bluff was funded for a project, Safe
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
39:27
Neighborhood Program. Okay, and then this will go to allow it to move
Speaker 180
39:31
across the state, correct? The programs are across the state. They are determined by the U.S. Attorney's Office for each district, eastern and western, depending on the funding that is available and the designated programs that they determine
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
39:47
to fund. So where in the eastern and western district will these programs go to if it's approved?
Speaker 180
39:53
Some have been, in the past, we're waiting on the appropriation to deliver the funding,
but like Marion, Pine Bluff, Blytheville, Jonesboro, West Memphis. Those decisions have not been made yet, though. Again, get the appropriation first,
Speaker 185
40:08
and we'll get the recommendations from the U.S. Attorney's Office. We'll work with them to get the list finalized. Okay, that's all
Speaker 187
40:17
I needed. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Okay,
Speaker 52
40:23
any questions for 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Representative Kavanaugh.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
40:39
Can I have someone from the Department of Agriculture?
please identify yourself for the record turn your turn your mic on okay uh sorry uh good morning i'm jim jolly i'm uh the forestry
manager from the arkansas department of agriculture forestry division inu sazaki
Speaker 194
41:13
uh fiscal officer department of agriculture represent cavan are you recognized
Chair
Unverified
41:20
for a question thank you mr chair
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
41:22
i'm over here thank y'all for being here um real quick question on the land that you're purchasing for seven million dollars what land is that and
what's it going to be used for all right you can explain that so so the land uh is in pulaski and parry counties and central arkansas water will be purchasing it to for their possession they're
holding. And the reason why they're purchasing it is they're being proactive in purchasing land around waterways such as a big Maumelle River. And then there's creeks that drain into the Lake Maumelle. And they're being proactive by preventing sediment and chemicals from flowing into these waterways and it reduces the um cost of the treatment for the city water
okay and how many acres is that it's 1 325 acres and there's six
tracks okay so i want to make sure i understand this it's a grant from the department of agriculture to purchase land, but you
just said that a water system
was purchasing the land. Right. Central Arkansas Water is a quasi-state agency,
and the Department of Agriculture is the lead agency for the Forest Legacy Program, and so the funds will be passed through the Department of Agriculture to Central Arkansas Water to purchase the
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
43:10
for the grant directly? It has to go through the Department of
Ag? Yes, because we're the lead agency, and the applications come through us and go to the U.S. Forest Service.
Okay, so you said they're a quasi-state agency, but they're
just a water area. They're just rural water. How
is that a quasi-state agency? Well, they're formed by the legislature, so we investigated that before we, you know, allowed applications, and so it was determined that they were eligible
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
43:57
Okay, so basically the state's not going to own this land. The land is going to be owned by the
Speaker 197
44:05
water. By Central Arkansas Water. Yes,
ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Senator Johnson, is your question for
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
44:18
the department? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Jolly, I'm right over here. Okay. This area is in my district. Okay. Can you
give me a description of where this property is
in relationship to Lake Maumelle itself and or the Lake Maumelle watershed? Because we have a couple of different watersheds out there
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
44:42
that I'm concerned about. Right. It's all within the Lake Maumelle watershed, and part of the property is on the northwest side of Lake Maumelle, and the other property joins the U.S. Forest Service in Perry County.
and the one in Perry County is close to the big Maumelle and then the others are located along tributaries to Lake Maumelle. Okay, and
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
45:11
so it's almost the northwest corner of Pulaski County and then part of Perry County. Yes, sir. Is this owned by private landholders at
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
45:22
this time? Yes, sir, and it's under heavy threat for development. It's very, you
Speaker 210
45:27
know, liquid, I mean, very good land to develop.
Speaker 206
45:32
I'm very familiar with that, yes, sir. Okay, I just want to know where it is because it's, again,
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
45:38
that's a sensitive area. I wanted to be aware, but it is, there's other watersheds on the north side of that mountain that don't necessarily flow into this, but this is in the designated Lake Maumelle watershed, which is already a protected area. Yes, sir. All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Senator Irvin, you're recognized for a question.
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
46:02
Thank you. I want to go back to Central Arkansas Water because they have come before our legislature before and have basically told us that we have no business directing them or telling them what they could or could not do. And I'm recalling that this occurred because there were some questionable donations that were made to various organizations. So I'm a little uncomfortable with this request today
because of that history that we have with those answers that they gave to this body. Is there anybody here from Central Arkansas Water? No, ma'am. No. Okay. And then my second question, I guess, Since there's nobody, again, I'm going to vote against this because of that. But my second question is, is there going to be any type of, is there any assurances that these private property owners are going to sell this property to them
or are you going to be utilizing eminent domain or any kind of thing like that with this grant request?
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
47:20
Eminent domain will not be used. That's part of one of the stipulations of this program and this grant that eminent domain cannot be used. And, in fact, we inform people the value of the property, you know, the appraised value of the property before we purchase it to make sure that everybody is aware of the value.
And right now, a lot of the tracks are owned by Potlatch Deltic, and so Potlatch Deltic is divesting in certain areas, and so we're trying to take advantage of that. I see. Okay, well,
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
47:57
I would appreciate if you could reach out to somebody at Central Arkansas Water to explain their previous history and answers to our questions when we question them and they push back on that. But then your answer today that they're quasi-state agency, you know, wanting us to approve this request.
So if you could get that information back to me, I would
appreciate it. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. So, Senator Irvin, it's my understanding you want to object
to reviewing this item? All right, members, we're going to vote on item H-17.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
48:51
Representative Kavanaugh, are you recognized for a question? Thank you. We've been talking about the $7 million, but
Speaker 219
49:00
the request also asked for 2.33333 for matching
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
49:05
funds. What is that for? So one of the requirements of the grant is that it be matched by at least 25% of the grant, and so of the total amount of the purchase. So Central Arkansas Water has funds that they're going to use
to match that grant, and they're going to pay that 25%. It just has to be non-federal funds for that match. So they're going to
put in $2.3 million. yes ma'am so the full purchase price is 9.3 million dollars yes ma'am okay and as for a clarification how come it's not listed in here that central the water district is going to be
purchasing this there's nothing in
here it really tells us that we're having to get that unless I'm missing
it through asking you questions. It wasn't intended to be, you know, left out as far as, I mean, we just didn't think that information was needed. It was asked that I would be brief on my description. Well, I think who's
going to be the ultimate owner of the property is pretty pertinent information.
Okay. i mean it's you're not owning it you're a pass-through it's going to somebody else so not nowhere in there unless we ask questions are we getting to the real root of who's going to be owning this property okay and you're saying that you're using seven million of it for the purchase but you're really not the purchase price is 9.3 mil right
well that's the grant amount is $7 million, yes, ma'am. Okay. Thank you.
Senator Johnson, you're recognized for
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
51:01
a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I remember the issue that Senator
Irvin brought up, and I agree with her that there were some things that were troubling that were done administratively at Central Arkansas Water. But, again, that had nothing to do with delivery of water to people in central Arkansas, which I believe is the largest single, as far as numbers of people served, a water authority, regional water authority in the state. And this is specifically about protecting the watershed, if I understand that right, Mr. Jolly.
Yes, sir. And this is a whole lot of people that are depending on this. Little Rock is not the only beneficiary. This includes North Little Rock, Laumelle, Sherwood, and I'm not sure how many other municipalities and unincorporated areas in the region. And I believe their statutory authority, when they were created, goes all the way down to Lake DeGray. So, you know, while I shared the concerns that Senator Irvin's brought up, there was some stuff that was really concerning,
but it had to do with the purchase of some items for their offices, and it had nothing to do with their mission. So I encourage the committee to consider that, that this is money that's available to protect the watershed and that the Department of Agriculture and CAW are doing exactly that.
Speaker 224
52:24
So thank you, Mr. Chair. Speaker Evans, you're recognized
Speaker 227
52:32
for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to motion to just hold this until Friday.
Chair
Unverified
52:39
I've got several questions about what a quasi-state agency is. When I studied on this and I looked at this item number, this looked like to me that the State Department of Agriculture was purchasing this land. But by Mr. Jolly's testimony, that's really not what we're doing here. I see this more as a private entity. Central Arkansas Water, I'd like some explanation between now and Friday on what a quasi-state agency is. And then it also just gives me a little concern. Maybe it was just not meant the way it was said,
But Mr. Jolly said I was told to make the presentation very brief. That seems to give me a little concern as well. So I'd just like to hold this until Friday, try to get some questions answered. We're going to hold
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
53:29
it until Friday, but Senator Irvin, you're recognized for
another question. Thank you. And just as you're gathering that information, I want to know what property taxes have been paid on these pieces of property to which counties.
I know that's continuing to be. And is there any mitigation for those counties in the loss of any property taxes because of the sale of this property? When government starts to purchase property, we lose revenue. And I represent Searcy County. When the Buffalo River was designated, there was a huge loss of personal property taxes to go to fund those counties. And so Pulaski County may not feel the effects of that, but Perry County absolutely will.
So I'd like to know how much property taxes is being paid currently on these specific pieces of property and how much money that is and to what entity they're going to, And if there's any mitigation plan for the government purchasing this property, thank you
All right, all right members h17 is going to be held till Friday 16 H16 is going to be held till Friday So without objection h1 through 15 and h17
Stands reviewed. Thank you moving on to reports members
are there any questions senator dismay it's related to ice
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
55:13
would be DHS and any one associated with snap program someone
from DHS could come up please
introduce yourself for the record good morning I'm
Speaker 158
55:43
Mary Franklin director of the Division of County Operations for Department of Human Services all right perfect thank you
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
55:49
first of all I want to say I appreciate how we handled
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
55:53
the government shutdown and what we did with the grants I mean I was in communication with some of our counterparts in other states and it was an
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
56:00
absolute nightmare. I think there was a very calm approach that reassured people that there
was going to be a backstop. I mean you had other states contemplating special sessions and I think some moved through with those and so again I appreciate how we handled that. On the SNAP program itself, I have started getting some concerns from retailers in relation to how we're going to implement the nutrition side of the program. My understanding is initially DHS has proposed using some type of non-SKU in lieu of using SKUs that it was not going to maintain a list and on and on and on and on and I also understand that we have awarded the administration
or we're in the process of awarding the administration contract for the SNAP program but we did not contemplate in that request for proposals you know the new nutrition requirements um and so my question is going to be what how do we plan on tackling that do y'all have concerns and how much correspondence have y'all been having with our retailers because i know that's something that y'all typically don't do as far as interfacing just give me a background on where
we are and where you plan to head especially with this idea that we're going to award a contract to administer without probably one of the biggest pieces
Speaker 158
57:27
being absent from that contract yes sir i i think you are when you're speaking about the nutrition component of snap i think you're referring to the recently approved waiver that fns gave arkansas to exclude sodas candy unhealthy drinks and absolutely okay um so we were approved for that waiver in the
and what we were approved for it was to use the gs1 framework to define those ineligible foods and and that is what we have done and as we work towards implementation which our plan to date is not until july of 2026 we have given retailers options there because not all the retailers get the gs1 framework product codes only one or one a very few
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
58:17
get that framework but go ahead and we
Speaker 158
58:21
and we understand that um the the framework is just intended to help define the ineligible foods so we have given retailers three options you know and the gs1 framework can be used there's information available and technical assistance available to help get that information at the retailer supplier level if they're not getting it now we have also there if they choose to use a third party to help take that gs1 framework and apply it to their own individual
product array that they sell that's an option as well and then our the third option is take the broad definitions that we are providing through the gs1 framework and apply it in good faith to their own product array without you know contracting or expenses we've been meeting with retailers one of your questions was what kind of interface are we having with retailers we've been meeting monthly with them for several months and discussing this this process we have also been meeting with FNS and getting technical assistance from FNS on the process and we still
have some pieces of of it to work out including you know what is FNS going to require from their side of the compliance and monitoring piece but we are working with them to get that and we'll definitely share all that with retailers as soon as it's available you asked about a contract we're getting ready to award and I think you're referring to our EBT contract that's our electronic benefit transfer contract and that is how we deliver the SNAP benefits to our recipients
it an EBT card is similar to a debit card it's not exactly it's not exactly a debit card but it works in very similarly to a debit card and it can be used to purchase foods there is no need to include anything in that contract related to the SNAP excluded foods waiver. That will not be done by the EBT vendor. Probably would be the most expensive way to try and implement this type of
waiver and is not something that FNS has recommended. So I do not believe that we have a problem with that upcoming award with that contract, which is to deliver the SNAP and summer ebt benefits we also deliver the transitional employment assistance cash benefits through that ebt contract onto those cards okay what i would
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
1:00:58
tell you is and i and i
believe this to be correct your three options are not workable options for retailers that may be the easiest thing for dhs to do but it is not feasible for every grocer or retailer in the state to maintain their own list
and then be subject to the risk of a secret shopper proving that they're not able to follow whatever it may be. There are hundreds of new products created and offered daily. And what we're asking our retailers to do is bear the burden. And we talked about the most cost-effective way to do something. Shifting that cost to a retailer may be cost-effective to DHS, but it is not for our small retailers in the state.
What I'm scared you're going to do is create a scenario where entities, probably in areas that they need it the most, are not going to be able to offer SNAP because of the risk associated with not appropriately, you know, I guess, categorizing an item. DFA can speak from experience. This is a very difficult task that you're asking people to do to make a decision of what's a candy soft drink snack whatever it may be they have to do it because of sales tax purposes and they can talk to you about now and this will be a just an analogy and it's going to
be poorly done but a snickers with almonds may qualify as a nutritious food and a snickers with peanuts may not or a snickers that is frozen qualifies as a nutritious food but one that is not frozen does not and so we're going to be asking our retailers to make those judgment calls at their own peril if they do it incorrectly. I would implore you to look at establishing your own list that retailers can use with confidence
so that you're not placing that burden on them. I think it's improper for us to do that. And if we want to pass state laws, which we did because we think that SNAP should be used for nutritious programs, then we should create the tools that make that usable and friendly for our retailers in the state to have an achievable response to what we've asked them to do. So your first three options are not workable. And especially your third option, we're just going to let them decide what's nutrition is not. I was afraid that was going
to be your response. I hope that we visit about this more. I know we've got members in this committee, maybe a public health chair sitting in front of me. I hope that we will take this on because if this is the path you plan to go on, it will be a failure. And so I hope we're able to intervene so that we may be able to redirect this
Speaker 237
1:03:47
ship before we have a bigger issue. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Dismang. We will definitely take this feedback, appreciate your feedback, and have some additional discussions internally and see what we can develop from this feedback.
Speaker 158
1:03:58
And I will also state it is not our intention at all to cause retailers to not be able to participate as an authorized retailer in the SNAP program. We want to keep all the
Speaker 242
1:04:09
retailers, you know, as possible. But you do understand when you're
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
1:04:13
placing that type of risk on a retailer that at some point it's just best not to say we're not going to engage. And I will guarantee you it will be in the communities that will be impacted the most where our big chains may not be able to exist,
where a mom and pop has been the one to stand up and hold a grocery store in an area with a low population and low income so again I implore you to do everything you can to make a manageable program because I am everything I've heard so far this is not going to be successful and I promise when when you come back because you've decided you want to be for you know not forward thinking about you know the possible outcome you know six months from now
or whenever implementation happens this will be a much less
fund committee meeting understood thank you sir
all right members any other questions
on any Any of the reports?
Speaker 245
1:05:34
Representative Stetson, you recognize. Which report? J4. Someone from DFA come to the table, please.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:05:42
introduce yourself for the record. Jim Hudson, Secretary, DFA. Alan McVeigh, DFA. Morning, Secretary. Just had a quick question. Throughout this report, there are seven different items that are not calculated correct. And I mean, some of them are pretty big margins. Can you explain that for me so like on page 2 the last item 4 million plus 300,000 is I don't
think 8 million and then on page 3 the second to last one the only item that shows is 121,000 but the total is 161,000 there's seven of them if I counted correctly throughout the report. Is there... There's no good explanation, Representative. You
Speaker 185
1:06:37
have my apologies. The committee has my apologies. We're a department that's in charge of math. We ought to be able to do it, and we'll get
it corrected, and we'll submit a new report to you. You do have my sincere apologies. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I was
Speaker 52
1:07:02
not aware the error was in there. Senator, Representative Kavanaugh, who's your
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
1:07:06
question for? Thank you. And Secretary Hudson, while you're doing that, on your secondary report on
the office of the state clearinghouse, it has no totals on it. It has numbers and has a line item for total, and there are no totals at all on that report.
Speaker 250
1:07:23
You talking about a grand total for all
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
1:07:26
of it? No. If you look on page one, Arkansas Department of Finance, it has 5.1. Well, that's not a bad example. The Arkansas Forestry, it has like two items, federal in kind, and has a light item for total, and there's no total in any of them. Yes, ma'am. So I guess we were
Speaker 251
1:07:43
very comprehensive in our errors. But anyway, just
Speaker 185
1:07:49
so. Thank you. We will get it all fixed, and I will personally review it before it comes back to you.
And again, my sincere apologies. This should not have
happened. Any other questions? Seeing no other business, we're adjourned.
Agenda
A. Call to Order
Items for Approval
B. Various Temporary Appropriation Request
C. American Rescue Plan Act Appropriation Requests
D. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Appropriation Requests
E. Restricted Reserve Fund Transfer Request
Items for Review
F. Appropriation and/or Fund Transfer Request
G. Cash Fund Appropriation Request
H. Miscellaneous Federal Grant Appropriation Requests
Reports
I. Emergency Actions
J. Quarterly Reports
K. Monthly Reports
L. Other Business
M. Adjournment
Documents
Speakers
Representative Jon S. Eubanks Chair
Unverified
Speaker 8
William Parrish
Unverified
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
Speaker 27
Speaker 28
Speaker 30
Speaker 34
Speaker 38
Speaker 44
Speaker 45
Speaker 47
Speaker 32
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 42
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Speaker 115
Speaker 119
Speaker 122
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 131
Senator Steve Crowell
Unverified
Speaker 149
Speaker 155
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
Speaker 158
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 175
Speaker 178
Speaker 180
Speaker 185
Speaker 187
Speaker 52
Speaker 194
Speaker 197
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Speaker 210
Speaker 206
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Speaker 219
Speaker 224
Speaker 227
Speaker 237
Speaker 242
Speaker 245
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Speaker 250
Speaker 251