Senate News

  • Arkansas Fire Training Academy Funds

    Download DOC A subcommittee of the Legislative Council recommended almost $5.9 million in funding for the Arkansas Fire Training Academy, the primary training ground for firefighters from across the state. Southern Arkansas University Tech at Camden made the funding request, which would pay for needed repairs to the administration building. The HVAC is old and […]

    20 Dec 2023 Weekly Updates
  • Cyberattacks Against Arkansas Government

    Download DOC Over a 12-month period there were 130 reported cyberattacks against Arkansas government at the state and local levels. That was more than twice the number reported in the previous year. The Legislative Audit Committee compiles reports of cyberattacks against government entities in Arkansas, ranging from potentially serious security breaches to relatively trivial attempts […]

    13 Dec 2023 Weekly Updates
  • Tourism in Arkansas Has Never Been Stronger

    LITTLE ROCK – The Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism publishes a report every year on the health of the state’s tourism industry. According to the most recent statistics available, tourism in Arkansas has never been stronger. Last year more than 48 million people visited Arkansas, an increase of seven million over the previous year. […]

    06 Dec 2023 Weekly Updates
  • Arkansas Lottery – Academic Challenge Scholarship

    Download DOC When the jackpot approaches a billion dollars a lot of people go out and buy lottery tickets, even though normally they hardly pay any attention to the lottery. Those occasions are good news for Arkansas college students, because the state will collect more money than usual for lottery scholarships. For example, ticket sales […]

    27 Nov 2023 Weekly Updates
  • Crime Information Center (ACIC)

    Download DOC Law enforcement is predominately a duty of local governments, and the overwhelming majority of police officers in Arkansas work for cities and counties. However, state government does have 1,299 employees in the Department of Public Safety. There are 897 people working for the State Police. The Division of Emergency Management has 88 employees. […]

    22 Nov 2023 Weekly Updates
  • Arkansas Legislature Passes Comprehensive School Safety Laws

    Download DOC The Arkansas legislature has tried to apply lessons learned by other states when it enacted school safety laws over the past several years. The legislature also applied the best practices recommended by the School Safety Commission in 2018 and 2022. The Senate and House Committees on Education heard an update from the chair […]

    15 Nov 2023 Weekly Updates
  • AEDC Setting Records for Economic Development

    Download DOC The Arkansas Economic Development Commission broke records for job creation and investment last year. Thirty companies invested close to $6 billion and announced the creation of 5,359 jobs. The average salary of those new jobs is $29 an hour. Last year got off to a good start, with the announcement of the largest […]

    09 Nov 2023 Weekly Updates
  • State Still Accepting Applications for Education Freedom Accounts

    The state will continue to accept applications from families who want to fund their children’s tuition with Education Freedom Accounts, and perhaps as early as February the state will begin accepting applications for next school year.

    01 Nov 2023 Weekly Updates
  • DHS Returning Medicaid Rolls to Pre-Pandemic Levels

    Download DOC One of the ongoing developments in state government over the past six months has been the efforts of the Human Services Department to reduce the number of people on Medicaid. The goal is to return the health coverage program to levels more closely resembling those prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic […]

    25 Oct 2023 Weekly Updates
  • Most Arkansas Colleges Report Enrollment Growth

    Download DOC Since last year enrollment has gone up at most of the publicly supported institutions of higher education in Arkansas. The academic year began about a month ago and headcounts for this year are based on enrollment as of the 11th day of class. The largest campus in the state is the University of […]

    18 Oct 2023 Weekly Updates