Prison appropriation bill remains stuck in Arkansas Senate
The Arkansas Senate continued to block a $750 million prison appropriation bill Monday when it voted down the legislation for the fourth time in the last week.
Senate Bill 354 would support construction of a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County, which proponents say is needed to address overcrowding in county jails. Several elected officials and local residents in the western Arkansas county have publicly opposed the estimated $825 million project since Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in October announced the state's purchase of 815 acres near Charleston for the prison for nearly $3 million.
The bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, told the Advocate Monday that he'll keep running SB 354 until it receives the required 27 votes it needs to advance out of the Senate. While most bills require a simple majority, appropriation bills require a three-fourths majority vote.
SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas lawmakers settle into longer days as session end draws near
Lawmakers have set April 16 as the final day to approve bills during the legislative session. The governor's office, the Arkansas Board of Corrections and Joe Profiri, former corrections secretary and current senior adviser to Sanders, will continue answering lawmakers' questions throughout the remaining days of the session, Dismang said.
'We still have a good group of members, even though, who are voting no, who are saying they just need a couple pieces of additional information,' he said. 'My goal right now is to keep making sure that everyone's aware that there are some questions outstanding and try to get those questions answered.'
Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, told guests of a legislative breakfast Friday in Benton that he expects the governor to call a special session to secure the prison funding if SB 354 doesn't pass by next week, The Saline Courier reported. A similar situation happened last year when Sanders called a special session in June as a result of lawmakers' failure to pass an appropriation bill for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission during the 2024 fiscal session.
The Arkansas Legislature meets for regular legislative sessions in odd-numbered years and fiscal sessions in even-numbered years. In the interim, the governor may call legislators into special session and set the agenda. Lawmakers may consider legislation outside of the governor's call with a supermajority vote, but that's uncommon.
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, continued to speak against SB 354 on the Senate floor Monday. King, a longtime critic of the prison, again challenged transparency with the project, noting that a social media post by Franklin County Judge Rickey Bowman disputes an assertion that the governor's office has stayed in close contact with local leaders.
'JUST TO BE CLEAR, NO ONE FROM LITTLE ROCK HAS REACHED OUT TO ME!' Bowman wrote. 'I wish they would and open their eyes to the fact that is [sic] is going to cost the taxpayers an ungodly amount of money. It will be the most expensive site to build on.'
Arkansans opposed to the project have been critical of state officials not involving local officials in the process. They also have voiced concerns about how difficult it would be to build on the rocky terrain and to access the needed infrastructure to support a 3,000-bed facility.
At the Arkansas Board of Corrections' meeting Thursday, representatives with Vanir Construction Management, the company retained to oversee the firm selected to build the prison, discussed building pipelines to bring in drinking water and wastewater from Fort Smith, a city roughly 27 miles west of the construction site.
'That is exactly what we talked about. When you build a facility, you should have already known about this on the front end,' King said. 'This is inconceivable that we should come in here and all of a sudden be trying to figure out where you're going to get water.'
King also called for the expansion of the Calico Rock prison on the Senate floor and in a letter addressed to the corrections board signed by the Green Forest Republican and Sen. Gary Stubblefield, a Branch Republican whose family owns land near the proposed prison site.
'Arkansas cannot afford to spend millions more to build a mega prison when a considerably less expensive option is available at Calico Rock,' the letter reads. 'Please do not let [Profiri's] reckless behavior hurt Arkansans. Those millions can be put to better use providing tax relief, educating students, and assisting our elderly population.'
Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson proposed expanding the Calico Rock facility by roughly 500 beds using surplus funds, and state lawmakers approved $75 million in reserve funds for that project in December 2022.
But the proposal was put on hold when Sanders threw her support behind the Protect Arkansas Act, a 2023 law that, among other things, removes the possibility of parole for the state's most serious offenders. The law makes it more likely that the number of state prisoners will grow.
The Legislature set aside $330 million in 2023 to support the governor's prison expansion efforts, but disputes between the executive branch and the corrections board, and among state lawmakers, have delayed the project.
Support in the Senate for SB 354 has fluctuated between 18 and 19 affirmative votes. On Monday, 19 senators again voted for the measure while 10 opposed it. Six voted present.
Democrats Fred Love, Reginald Murdock and Jamie Scott have consistently voted present on the measure. On Monday they were joined by Republicans Scott Flippo, John Payton and Dan Sullivan.
Flippo has voted three times in favor of the bill, while Payton has voted against SB 354 twice and voted present twice. Sullivan has cast votes for, against and present.
The Senate will next meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.
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