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Arkansas is making a massive public investment to bring broadband access to every corner of the state. Last year the state hired a consultant firm, Broadband Development Group (BDG), to develop a master plan. The firm’s chief technical officer made a lengthy presentation to the legislative Joint Performance Review Committee...

On behalf of all Arkansans, I’m honored to mark National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day by paying tribute to our law enforcement officers in The Natural State and across our country. These men and women who swear an oath to protect and serve their communities are committed to keeping us safe and upholding the law. They take on tremendous risks and are always willing to run toward danger when the rest of us are running away from it...

This past week, the first bill to cross the legislative finish line during the 2022 session reached the governor’s desk. House Bill 3014 authorizes supplemental appropriations to the current fiscal year budget. Unlike the relatively modest supplemental budgets of past years, HB 3014 contains billions of dollars of additional spending for stimulus and COVID-19 response programs created by Congress. ...

House Members Approve Missouri Religious Freedom Protection Act (HB 1713) Missourians would have their right to gather for religious services further protected under a bill given first-round approval by the Missouri House of Representatives. House members approved the Missouri Religious Freedom Protection Act, which is in part a response to the closures of places of worship that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic...

The legislature approved a package of bills that allow greater oversight of two major health insurance plans that cover public school teachers and state employees. The new laws require the systems to maintain financial reserves, and to take steps to build up their reserves if they fall below a certain point...

Fortunately, we have seen some decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in our area. However, the vaccination rate is still below 50 percent, which is deterring us from avoiding infections. A little over one-third of the residents in Fulton and Sharp counties combined have been vaccinated. You definitely have a choice as to whether to get vaccinated or not but the virus does not give you a choice...

The House will begin the 3rd week of the 2022 Fiscal Session on Monday. The second week was an abbreviated one due to the federal holiday and winter weather across the state. In addition to several appropriation bills, the House also passed the following pieces of legislation this week:...

All over the US, there is a major problem with fake prescription drugs. People think they are buying one drug when they are actually buying fentanyl. Fentanyl is an extremely powerful opioid that can kill with even the smallest dose. These deadly pills are purchased on the dark web or over Facebook. Purchasing anything illegal over the internet comes at a high price that can cost your life...

In the early days of the Biden administration, the president signaled his intent to reverse border security rules that deterred immigrants from crossing the southern border illegally, “Migrant numbers increase along US-Mexico border as they await Biden’s immigration action” one news outlet underscored. ...

On Monday, the 93rd General Assembly reconvened at the State Capitol to address the budget for Fiscal Year 2023. Fiscal Sessions began after Arkansas voters approved what would become Amendment 86 in 2008. This will be the 7th Fiscal Session held in state history...

This year’s tax season is expected to be difficult. Even the national director of the Taxpayer Advocate Service recently referred to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as an agency “in crisis” with backlogged returns, staff shortages and other historic pandemic-related challenges. ...

Arkansas motorists who wish to contact the State Police for non-emergency reasons can now call *ASP on their cell phones. Dialing *ASP is the same as dialing *277. Motorists will begin seeing signs on the side of the highway alerting them to the new phone contact. The Department of Transportation is about to place 200 large, blue signs along Arkansas highways with information about the phone line...

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Arkansans.  In 2020, there were 8,621 deaths due to heart disease in our state.  Arkansas ranked 4th among all states for the highest heart disease mortality in 2020. In most cases, heart disease is preventable. ...

This week, the Winter Olympics kicked off, and the spotlight of the world is being shined directly on China and the brutal record of its communist regime. Inexplicably, the International Olympic Committee ignored the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) record of murdering its citizens and censoring anyone who lives or does business in China and chose China to host the Winter Games. ...

By Phill Brooks This year’s session of Missouri’s legislature has been flooded with measures to control what local public schools must do or cannot do. It represents an erosion of the reverence I regularly heard from lawmakers of both parties about the near sanctity of local control over education by locally elected school district board members...

The opioid epidemic is still an ongoing issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control this started with prescription opioids such as Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and Methadone. From there, heroin use took off and caused many overdoses due to the potency of it. After heroin, Fentanyl is now the leading killer in this ongoing epidemic. From 1999-2019, almost 500,000 people have died from an opioid related overdose...

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...

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, totalling $64.6 million. The money helps people with rent and utility bills, so they do not have to move out of their home or have their lights turned off...

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. The House and Senate Committees for Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs reviewed the number of Garrett’s law reports early this week...

A month into 2022 and not much has changed regarding the impact of Covid 19 on our lives. We are experiencing a high rate of infection with the new variant while we adapt to the changes that the virus has brought into our lives. Lately, it has infected city personnel and some key workers have been unable to work due to the virus which has affected responding to some citizen needs. ...

Well, you can tell Rep. Jason Smith is running for reelection this year. He can’t run on any tangible thing he’s done to help the people of his district - since he voted against stimulus checks, expanding the child tax credit, expanding unemployment benefits, reducing the cost of prescription drugs, the infrastructure bill, eviction bans and housing support, and even voted against the military budget...

The right to life is one of the most sacred rights we have. Last week, our nation marked the 49th anniversary of the fateful day that the Supreme Court made its devastating decision on Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout our country. That decision has resulted in the loss of more than 60 million innocent lives to date. ...

Last week, two of my bills had a public committee hearing. This is the first step in the legislative process. House Bill 1962, which reduces burdensome regulations on the log truck industry, was heard in the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday. House Bill 1962 would change the way local log trucks are regulated. Instead of measuring their load by size, my bill would allow the industry to measure their load by weight. This simple change makes it easier to follow and enforce the law...

It was an eventful week in the Missouri Senate, with committees taking testimony on proposed legislation, spirited discussions about congressional redistricting on and off the Senate floor, the opportunity for my office to participate in a special meeting focused on workforce development and a parade of visitors to the 33rd Senatorial District office...

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, totalling $64.6 million. The money helps people with rent and utility bills, so they do not have to move out of their home or have their lights turned off...

A month into 2022 and not much has changed regarding the impact of Covid 19 on our lives. We are experiencing a high rate of infection with the new variant while we adapt to the changes that the virus has brought into our lives. Lately, it has infected city personnel and some key workers have been unable to work due to the virus which has affected responding to some citizen needs. ...

The right to life is one of the most sacred rights we have. Last week, our nation marked the 49th anniversary of the fateful day that the Supreme Court made its devastating decision on Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout our country. That decision has resulted in the loss of more than 60 million innocent lives to date. ...

Well, you can tell Rep. Jason Smith is running for reelection this year. He can't run on any tangible thing he's done to help the people of his district - since he voted against stimulus checks, expanding the child tax credit, expanding unemployment benefits, reducing the cost of prescription drugs, the infrastructure bill, eviction bans and housing support, and even voted against the military budget...

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.   The House and Senate Committees for Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs reviewed the number of Garrett’s law reports early this week...

It was an eventful week in the Missouri Senate, with committees taking testimony on proposed legislation, spirited discussions about congressional redistricting on and off the Senate floor, the opportunity for my office to participate in a special meeting focused on workforce development and a parade of visitors to the 33rd Senatorial District office...

One of the most anticipated events of the legislative session is the governor’s State of the State address. This week, the General Assembly gathered in a joint session to hear the governor present his legislative priorities and budget requests for the coming year. ...

This week, I had the privilege of listening to Governor Parson’s State of the State address. I’m encouraged by his positive outlook, and I’m especially pleased to learn about his plans to improve teacher pay and invest in our rural roads. Both of these priorities will benefit our region immensely. I’ve also been working on two top-priority bills I filed to reduce regulations and encourage economic development...

Members continued to review 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. The Governor is requesting a $7.4 million increase in the budget for Arkansas State Police...

Methamphetamines are one of the most common drugs of across the United States. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 16,000 people died in 2019 due to psychostimulants with methamphetamines being the most common stimulant causing these deaths. While this seems small in comparison to the 49,860 deaths caused from opiates. The number of deaths does not tell the whole story...

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). The department’s directors appeared during legislative budget hearings to explain their requests for funding increases and their requests for authority to reallocate funds...

President Biden marked one year in office on January 20. So far his agenda hasn’t lived up to his own lofty rhetoric and unbridled confidence when he was asking voters to send him to the White House. During his inaugural address the president promised unity. ...

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. ...

Since our nation’s founding, American elections have all featured some basic, commonsense rules. Americans – not foreigners, non-citizens, or illegal immigrants – are granted the right to choose our leaders. That’s why folks are asked to show identification when they go to the polls. We elect those leaders on Election Day – not Election Weeks or Election Months. That’s why states set clear cutoffs for when ballots must be received...

Legislative activity is well underway as the Missouri General Assembly completes the second week of our 18-week session. More than 450 separate pieces of legislation have been filed in the Senate, and this week we saw many of those bills and resolutions referred to committees. Three of my bills have been forwarded on to committees and I’m looking forward to presenting those measures in the coming weeks...

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...

State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman recently filed legislation to enhance the security and transparency of elections in Missouri. Coleman is the sponsor of HB 1988, which would change the process by which the Secretary of State receives and publishes voting totals from each precinct...

On Jan. 7, the Supreme Court held one of the most important hearings of my lifetime. They considered two challenges to rules that have been brought forth by the Biden administration to impose vaccine requirements on employers. Overturning these rules is absolutely essential to Americans’ freedom and liberty, and I will do everything in my power to support these cases and fight these rules as your representative in Congress...

This past week I returned to Jefferson City for the start of the 2022 legislative session. It was great to get back to the Capitol and reconnect with my colleagues. We have many important issues ahead of us in the next five months, and I look forward to working with my fellow senators to make Missouri government more responsive and better serve the residents of the 33rd Senatorial District...

On Jan. 5, we returned to the State Capitol Building for the start of the 2022 legislative session, which is officially the Second Regular Session of the 101st General Assembly. We begin the session with a number of pressing issues on the table. We will need to move quickly to approve new congressional district maps based on the latest U.S. ...

January is known as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. It is a time for us to educate ourselves about human trafficking and learn to spot the signs of trafficking.   Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons or modern-day slavery, is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services or to engage in commercial sex acts. The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological. ...

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Arkansas Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the Lake View school funding case. In 2002 the court ruled that the state’s system of funding public school was unconstitutional. The legislature approved massive increases in school funding, and enacted tougher school standards...

The American people count on politicians to shoot straight and be honest with them. But this year, President Biden’s agenda has been sold to the public with two major lies. At the beginning of this year, President Biden told the American people that his $2 trillion bailout bill known as the “American Rescue Plan” was desperately needed to crush COVID. ...

The holiday season can be very stressful; whether it is trying to find the perfect gifts, family drama, or financial stress, there is a good chance everyone will at least have one moment of stress during the holidays. Unfortunately, this stress also affects those struggling with drugs and alcohol...

When the new year begins, the Arkansas Works program will have a new name and will operate under new rules. ARHOME is the new Medicaid program. Unlike the previous program, it will focus on specific groups, such as pregnant women, residents of rural areas who suffer from mental illness or who have a history of drug abuse, people with chronic disease and young people who are veterans or who lived in foster homes...

The Arkansas General Assembly will convene for the 2022 Fiscal Session on Monday, Feb. 14. Preparations for that session will begin in the next two weeks. Beginning Jan. 11, the Joint Budget Committee will hold a series of meetings designed to begin the process of outlining a budget for the next fiscal year...