KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas’ education chief withdrew from legislative review a $99.4 million contract with an Indiana-based education company following pushback from lawmakers on the proposal’s high cost and the vendor’s effectiveness.

During Friday’s Arkansas Legislative Council meeting, Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Bull Shoals, said Education Secretary Jacob Oliva asked to withdraw a proposed seven-year contract with Solution Tree, which has implemented its professional learning community program in Arkansas since 2017.

In a Thursday email to ALC’s co-chairs, Sen. Terry Rice and Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, Oliva requested that the contract be pulled from the agenda and said his agency would let them know when it intends to resubmit it.

Arkansas education secretary withdraws Solution Tree contract after legislative opposition

From the Arkansas Advocate:

An Arkansas legislative committee on Thursday reviewed and approved an emergency rule that permits electronic signatures on voter registration applications only when they’re completed at certain state agencies.

The Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners last week gave initial approval to the rule, which requires paper registration applications to include a “wet signature,” meaning an applicant signs with a pen.

Board Director Chris Madison told the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Executive Subcommittee on Thursday that the rule was designed to create consistency because electronic signatures were being accepted by some county clerks and rejected by others.

Lawmakers approve voter registration signature rule