KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate
An executive order from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders prompted the withdrawal Wednesday of more than a dozen requests for federal pandemic relief funds that had been pending for months on a legislative panel’s agenda.
The order issued Tuesday by Sanders abolished the ARPA Steering Committee and the Governor’s Infrastructure Planning Advisory Committee. The steering committee’s job had been to review funding requests under the American Rescue Plan Act and sending approved projects to legislators for consideration.
The governor’s order caused confusion about what action, if any, could be taken on ARPA-related items by the Joint Budget Committee’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review subcommittee during its Wednesday meeting.
Arkansas Senate
Sen. Jonathan Dismang reviews documents during a January 2022 budget hearing. Dismang wanted to hold off on approving federal pandemic relief requests on Wednesday following an executive order that abolished the ARPA Steering Committee.