Little Rock– The legislature has begun budget hearings in preparation for the 2022 fiscal session, which begins on February 14. Legislators will consider the governor’s proposed balanced budget of about $6 billion for Fiscal Year 2023, which officially begins on July 1.
Pre-fiscal budget hearings began this week with the Governor outlining his balanced budget proposal calling for a 3.3% increase in spending. We will be reviewing the proposal while we continue to hear requests from state agencies and commissions in the days ahead.
A November 2021 Gallup poll identified inflation as one of the top five most important issues for Americans. This is no surprise considering the price increases we’re facing for everyday essentials. Each month, our dollars stretch less and too many are forced to make difficult decisions about their budgets.
Little Rock- Throughout the pandemic, testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19) has been a vital tool for controlling the spread of the disease and ensuring that Arkansans can safely continue with their daily lives. The State of Arkansas has recently obtained 1.5 million rapid at-home COVID-19 tests that are available to Arkansans free of charge. For a list of locations where the at-home tests are available, visit the Health Department’s website.
This week, we announced an economic development win for Arkansas that is the largest single project investment in state history. Today, I’d like to share some details about the new U.S. Steel plant, which eventually will create more than 900 high-paying jobs and will make Mississippi County the Number 1 steel-producing county in the nation.
After hearing about Omicron for weeks, it’s finally made its way to Arkansas and is quickly spreading throughout the state. From January 5 when the state had 38,154 active cases, the virus has escalated to 71,132 active cases on January 12. There have been 116 deaths in that week.
Mountain Home– Since our last update on January 5, active COVID-19 cases in Baxter County have nearly doubled to 357. As of today, there are 20 COVID-19 patients admitted at Baxter Regional, with 6 in ICU and 3 on ventilators. A record high of 80 Baxter Regional employees has active COVID-19, and all those employees are at home and in isolation, per our COVID-19 policy.
The Marion County Sheriffs Office will conduct “Shop with a Cop” during the week of December 13. Heith Hogan will coordinate of the logistics of collecting the donations.
The Call of Marion County and the children and foster/adoptive parents of Marion County wish to thank Harps Grocery store and the participants of its recent charity golf tournament for the generous donation of $1000 to The Call of Marion County.
The North Arkansas College Invitational Tournament began on nine games on the schedule on Monday, December 27, at Pioneer Pavilion in Harrison. Among the teams playing was Western Grove, Norfork, Cotter, Deer, Marshall and Valley Springs.
