Arkansas will start distributing $1M grant to pregnancy resource centers in January

KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas lawmakers on Friday allowed the state Department of Finance and Administration to administer a taxpayer-funded $1 million program to provide funds to pregnancy resource centers, which are often religiously affiliated and discourage abortion while encouraging birth.

The department will start distributing the money in January, spokesman Scott Hardin said in an email.

Arkansas has more than 40 of these centers, often called “crisis pregnancy centers.” They operate independently but form a community, the Arkansas Pregnancy Network, due to their shared missions and similar services, Maria Speer, executive director of the Life Choices center in Conway, told lawmakers in August.

The Legislature passed a law in April to create the grant for the second year in a row. The first year of the grant resulted in 23 pregnancy resource centers, adoption agencies and maternity homes receiving portions of the reserved $1 million between September 2022 and January 2023.

Arkansas will start distributing $1M grant to pregnancy resource centers in January

John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate

Money for Arkansas pregnancy resource centers will begin distribution in January.

Arkansas medical marijuana sales up 5.2% through June

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Arkansas medical marijuana patients have spent $141 million on purchases in the first half of 2023, up 5.2% compared with $134 million in the same period of 2022, according to figures from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA).

There were 29,057 pounds purchased in the first six months of 2023, up 26% compared with the same period in 2022. Medical marijuana purchases generated $16 million in tax revenue in the first six months of 2023. Since the first dispensary opened in mid-2019, $105 million in state tax revenue has been collected, according to DFA data.

“Since the first dispensary opened for business in 2019, approximately $900 million has been spent on medical marijuana purchases in Arkansas,” DFA Spokesperson Scott Hardin said in a statement. “With a sales average of $23.5 million monthly, we should surpass $1 billion in overall sales toward the end of this year. Patients are spending an average of $785,000 a day at the state’s 38 dispensaries.”

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/07/arkansas-medical-marijuana-sales-up-5-2-through-june/

$5 Billion Arkansas American Rescue Explained

By JACQUELINE FROELICH

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, signed into law by President Joe Biden in March, delivers $1.9 trillion to state and local governments, individuals, businesses, healthcare and educational institutions all impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of Arkansas' $5 billion share, $1.57 billion is earmarked for state fiscal relief.

https://www.kuaf.com/post/5-billion-arkansas-american-rescue-explained

Scott Hardin, Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration spokesperson, explains how American Rescue Plan is being deployed.

J. FROELICH / KUAF