Cardona tells Arkansas teachers student debt forgiveness meant to ‘prevent defaults’ • Arkansas Advocate
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told a group of Arkansas educators Tuesday that the goal of the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program “is to prevent defaults.” “Which is better, letting someone pay what they can afford or throwing our hands up and doing nothing?” Cardona asked during a roundtable discussion with nine teachers and […]
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Lawmakers criticize Arkansas Board of Corrections members, attorney over altered contract • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas lawmakers spent six hours Thursday raking state Board of Corrections leaders and the board’s outside attorney over changes to the lawyer’s contract and how the board conducts its business. Members of the Joint Performance Review Committee criticized prison board chairman Benny Magness and secretary Lee Watson over the handling of the lawyer’s hiring. They […]
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Arkansas agencies pursue initiatives to improve state’s maternal health • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas officials are collaborating on outreach events and initiatives to fill gaps in women’s health care services in response to the governor’s directive to improve maternal health. Arkansas has the nation’s highest maternal mortality rate and the third highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Black mothers are most at […]
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Arkansas National Guard deploying 40 members to assist Texas at southern U.S. border • Arkansas Advocate
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will again send members of the Arkansas National Guard to the southern U.S. border in Texas to assist state authorities working to curb illegal immigration. Roughly 40 Arkansas guardsmen and women will deploy from April 1 to May 30 to Eagle Pass, Texas, according to the governor’s office. The deployment of […]
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Legislative panels to probe Arkansas Board of Corrections contract, practices • Arkansas Advocate
State lawmakers on Friday initiated a pair of investigations into the Arkansas Board of Corrections over the prison oversight panel’s hiring of special counsel to sue the state. The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee will investigate the origins of the board’s contract with the Hall Booth Smith law firm and attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan; Joint Performance Review […]
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Arkansas governor pitches pay plan revamp, 3% raises for state employees • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas executive branch employees would receive a 3% pay raise, and the minimum wage for those workers would be raised to $15 an hour under a plan announced Wednesday. The more than 22,500 state employees affected received a letter from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders detailing some of the steps to increase their pay this year […]
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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proposes state budget with 1.76% increase • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday proposed a 1.76% increase to next year’s state budget, a significantly smaller percentage jump than what has been proposed in recent years. Sanders in a letter to state lawmakers said the $6.3 billion general revenue budget proposal puts “an end to government’s spiraling growth.” The proposed fiscal 2025 […]
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Arkansas prison board member declines to resign over civil lawsuit allegations • Arkansas Advocate
A member of Arkansas’ prison oversight board on Thursday rejected mounting pressure that he resign over allegations in a civil lawsuit that he covered up child sex abuse at a youth camp. Board of Corrections member Alonza Jiles in a statement said the allegations about him in the lawsuits against the Lord’s Ranch were false, […]
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Arkansas governor to pitch the state to Japan, South Korea on ‘trade mission’ • Arkansas Advocate
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders next week will travel to Japan and South Korea alongside state economic development officials to try to recruit additional international investment in Arkansas. The March 6-14 trade trip will be Sanders’ second overseas after a visit to Europe last year, and she’ll be joined by Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald and Economic […]
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Arkansas governor taps new corrections secretary after conversations with prison board members
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed the Department of Corrections’ chief of staff to take over the prisons agency as its cabinet secretary on Thursday. Sanders’ appointment of Lindsay Wallace, who has been the agency’s chief of staff since 2020, came a day after the Republican governor spoke with each member of the Arkansas Board of […]
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