Crypto Regulations and Lectern Audit Become the Talk of Arkansas Fiscal Session • Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week signed the first of many appropriations bills for her proposed $6.3 billion state budget that will land on her desk in the coming weeks.

Sanders signed an overall appropriations bill for the judiciary, legislature and state auditor, as well as a separate bill setting aside money for the House of Representatives.

While the fiscal session is mainly dedicated to budgetary matters, under certain conditions it is possible to submit regular bills. Both chambers allowed the introduction of a bill filed Wednesday that would give to executive branch employees a 3% salary increase on the cost of living and increase the maximum salary of all salary ranges of all employees by 10%.

If necessary, lawmakers can also hold committee meetings unrelated to the legislation, such as Tuesday’s discussion on a long awaited report examining Sanders’ staff’s $19,000 purchase of a lectern last year.

1) ‘Lectern’

Arkansas Legislative Control Highlighted numerous potential violations of state law in his report on the purchase of the lectern, published on April 15.

Among other things, auditors found that Sanders staff failed to create a business justification statement for the purchase, destroyed a document that included lectern details needed to properly record the purchase, requested the lectern reimbursement to the state Republican Party instead of seeking an exemption from state property acquisition and conveyance laws and possibly altered public records.

Representatives for Sanders and Attorney General Tim Griffin answered lawmakers’ questions and defended the purchase in a three-hour meeting Tuesday.

Judd Deere, Sanders’ deputy chief of staff, said he had instructed the governor’s executive assistant, Laura Hamilton, to write “to be reimbursed” on two copies of the lectern invoice. Cortney Kennedy, Sanders’ chief legal counsel, called it “a common government practice.”

Griffin’s staff echoed the office’s position that the governor is exempt by some state purchasing laws. The audit report states the opposite.

Lawmakers from both parties expressed concerns about both the report’s findings and Deere’s and Kennedy’s responses to questions about it.

“I don’t really hear the governor’s office or his staff saying, ‘We should have done this a different way,’” said Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn. “Instead they are trying to justify how they did it.”

The audit report was sent to both Griffin and Sixth Judicial District Attorney Will Jones. No word yet on what actions will be taken.

2) Cryptocurrency regulations

The Senate had passed eight resolutions on Monday to allow the introduction of bills regulate cryptocurrency mining operations. Six of them failed in the House on Wednesday, and only the two that passed both chambers were able to be presented and considered.

Cryptocurrency mines, large clusters of computers that harvest digital currency, are often found in rural areas because they take up a lot of space. They also require a significant amount of energy to operate and water to keep computers cool.

THE Arkansas Data Center Law of 2023 limited the ability of local governments to regulate cryptocurrency mining. The law passed both houses with bipartisan support, but some lawmakers have since expressed regret and concern about it, especially as some cryptocurrency companies have set up shop in Arkansas since the law passed. There are currently cryptocurrency mines in Faulkner and Arkansas counties.

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, sponsored the six failed resolutions and expressed frustration with the two that passed, saying the proposed regulations are not strong enough.

A bill would impose noise limits on Arkansas cryptocurrency mines, prohibit them from being owned by certain foreign entities and allow local governments to pass ordinances regulating the mines. Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, is the bill’s sponsor and was also the lead sponsor of the Arkansas Data Centers Act.

The other invoice would require cryptocurrency mines to be licensed by the state Department of Energy and Environment and would require the department to inform legislative committees of its methods of regulating cryptocurrencies. Lead sponsor Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, said the two bills lay the groundwork for using “different levels of tools” to both regulate the cryptocurrency industry and discuss additional regulations in the future.

A Senate committee approved the bills We will hear more public testimony about them on Thursday and Tuesday.

3) Pregnancy Resource Center Funds

Arkansas has provided financial support to pregnancy resource centers, sometimes called “crisis pregnancy centers,” with a $1 million taxpayer-funded annual grant starting in 2022. These centers are often religiously affiliated and The grant’s rules require that recipients encourage birth and oppose abortion.

An appropriation bill sponsored by Payton would double the amount available in the grant aimed at supporting more facilities, he said last week.

Some Democratic lawmakers have said they are concerned that customers may confuse pregnancy resource centers with doctors’ offices and may not receive additional prenatal health care.

Rep. Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville, asked if there was a way for the state to ensure that clients of the centers also visit doctors’ offices; Payton said he disagreed with Garner’s idea of ​​”government tracking.”

Over the past two years the centers have used the money to digital and physical advertisingas well as baby supplies, rent and utilities, part-time and full-time staff salaries, and childbirth and parenting classes, among other things.

Twenty-three centers received funding starting in the first year of the grant September 2022 AND January 2023. Twenty-one repeat applicants and six new applicants received money this January for the second year of the scholarship.

The Joint Budget Committee will submit Payton’s bill for approval after a subcommittee approves it Thursday.

The House and Senate are scheduled to convene on Tuesday.

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