Opinion

Washington– The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee unanimously approved landmark legislation championed by U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) to help meet the needs of veterans suffering from conditions caused by toxic exposure. This legislation will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

The big day is approaching. No time to waste.

My sister and I began our lives in Kansas City. We lived in a nice suburban neighborhood where the space between houses could be stepped off; heel-toe, heel-toe and everyone had a chain-link fence surrounding their back yard. This was the 1960’s when a kid’s bike was their favorite mode of transportation. A bicycle represented freedom as we pedaled and glided up and down streets with the wind rushing in our faces and nowhere to be until the streetlight came on at dusk.

From July 2020 to July 2021, there were 1,619 reports of newborns born in Arkansas with an illegal substance present in their system. This is a 20% increase from the year before.

While young people sporting the National FFA Organization’s trademark blue corduroy jackets are a familiar sight across Arkansas, they are not typically seen on Capitol Hill. Recently, they were spotted in the halls of Congress as FFA’s national officers visited lawmakers.

As Governor, I’m a member of the National Governors Association, which was founded in 1908 to promote bipartisanship. In politics, we call that “reaching across the aisle.” I became chair of the National Governors Association last summer, and in that role, I have seen more clearly than ever that if we are going to overcome big challenges, we must set aside our differences to get things done.

When we’re young we don’t realize how sacred life really is. We tend to think more about ourselves and what is more convenient for us. Years later, sometimes many years later we admit that OUR CHOICE regarding abortion was a mistake, not the innocent baby.

January 28, 2022 LITTLE ROCK – Last year Arkansas joined a rental assistance program to help people who have lost jobs or businesses from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. So far, the state Department of Human Services (DHS) made 31,373 payments, totaling $64.6 million.

Little Rock– The state Division of Children and Family Services intends to try out a new method of intervention, by assigning cases to a team of workers instead of to an individual. The Division is part of the state Department of Human Services (DHS).

As a member of the Joint Budget Committee, we have spent the last two weeks reviewing agency budget proposals in preparation for the 2022 Fiscal Session. This week, the hearings focused on requests for public safety and for the Department of Human Services.