February 2022

February is Black History Month, and today I’d like to pay tribute to some of the Arkansans who have made a real difference in our state and nation. More than 160 Arkansans have been inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

LITTLE ROCK, AR – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Mikel Noel, a caregiver from Clark County, pleaded guilty to abusing an individual in his care. Noel was convicted of two felonies: Battery in the Second Degree and Abuse of an Adult Endangered or Impaired Person. He was sentenced to 120 days in the Clark County jail in addition to probation for five years, a $1,000 fine, anger management courses and regular drug screens. Noel will be placed on the adult maltreatment list and the Medicaid exclusionary list.

There is no doubt COVID-19 has presented a wide variety of challenges for us all and changed the way we interact with people, businesses and government. Unfortunately, Arkansans are currently experiencing roadblocks to essential government services because of unnecessarily scaled-back assistance among federal agencies. That is unacceptable and underscores the need to return to normalcy, resume in-person operations and even welcome Americans back to Capitol Hill.

The 93rd General Assembly is now entering the second week of the 2022 Fiscal Session. The session began with an address by Governor Asa Hutchinson in which he outlined his budget priorities for the next fiscal year.

Little Rock– The legislature completed the first week of the 2022 fiscal session, approving budgets for numerous state agencies and advancing reforms of public health insurance systems. For almost a year a group of legislators has been working on the complex task of reforming state employee and teacher health insurance systems, which have experienced financial problems to the extent that lawmakers last year replaced their governing board.