FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Arkansas lawmakers will be back at the state Capitol for the 2024 fiscal session.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is sending her first budget to Arkansas’ representatives and senators to vote on. She’s asking those lawmakers to approve her $6.3 billion proposed budget.
“All we do is we take a look at the state budget and see if there are any changes that need to be made,” said State Sen. Greg Leding, District 30.
According to Leding, a major topic of discussion is going to be the LEARNS Act. Sanders has proposed a $109 million spending growth over last year.
“About 100 million of that is all because of the LEARNS Act. The major education overhaul that lawmakers passed last year,” said Leding.
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Republican State Sen. Bryan King says the finances of the LEARNS Act have been a top concern of his.
“If there’s not a big rebound in economy across the state of Arkansas, I think it’s very concerning that we are not going to meet the financial obligations to what’s been promised,” said King.
Leding says parents across the state have concerns about the Education Freedom Account Program. He says through the LEARNS Act, the state is taking money away from public schools and sending it to private schools.
“The state’s priority has to be strong public education and access the public education for students all across the state,” said Leding.
Lawmakers can propose non-budget-related bills during this session too. Lawmakers may have the chance to repeal a law dealing with cryptocurrency mining. Cryptocurrency mines are data centers requiring large amounts of computing power and electricity.
“Putting those crypto mines in rural areas over here, and they are sucking more water out of beaver lake then they need to know it’s going to be detrimental to them in the long run. They aren’t creating jobs they are really job destroyers,” said King.
According to King, the backlash is due to local governments’ inability to regulate the cryptocurrency mines. He says he wants to put things in place that would allow the state to know exactly what the cryptocurrency mines are doing in Arkansas.
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