Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Legislative Session Financially Good For Clark County

It was a good session of the General Assembly as far as Clark County is concerned.

This could be because State Rep. Percy Malone was co-chairman of the joint budget committee and was able to get the area some much needed assistance.

It was also a good session for the Human Development Center as a law was passed preventing the transfer of funds and personnel from it to other areas, while the center's budget was increased and, with matching federal funds, will be about $7.4 million with 75 jobs needing to be filled.

Malone said this agency has had few problems, unlike the Arkansas Department of Human Services, and, therefore, has had its budget and staff cut to a point it was almost inoperable.

However, in this session, Malone and others worked to build this agency back up so it can continue to provide better care for residents, and upgrade its equipment.

Closer to home, Malone was able to get a grant of $250,000 for renovations to Gurdon's City Hall and fire department. The money can be used for improvements to anything attached to the municipal building, Malone said.

Additionally, he helped get grants of $50,000 for the county's rural fire departments to divide among themselves, while another $20,000 was obtained to help improve the county's Office of Emergency Services.

The money for the OES will be used to acquire a mobile command center to be used in times of emergency, such as the March 1, 1997, tornadoes.

The need for such a vehicle was made known to Malone through Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith, with Clark County Judge Floyd "Buddy" Manning and OES coordinator Jim Burns, along with fire department personnel in the county.

The Clark County Fair Board received $50,000 to help upgrade facilities at the fairgrounds. Malone said this is important to those people in the county who have children participating in events held at the fairgrounds.

A total of $500,000 was appropriated to construct a building for agencies dealing with agriculture in Clark County. This structure will be built near the Clark County Courthouse, Malone said.

It can house other federal and state offices as well, he said. This will mean services are more centrally located and easier for people to find. "It will be a good addition to Clark County," Malone said.

There is a possibility some offices, such as soil conservation offices, will be closed and consolidated with other such offices in the state. Having a facility in place could mean having offices join the one in Clark County.

However, industry is and has been a concern of Malone's for several years. "We need to respond to the request of industry and have specific training in place so people can refresh themselves on skills for the workplace and get better jobs.

"We've been talking about a Southwest Arkansas Learning Center to be developed by industry."

The concept for this center has been worked on by Dr. Andy Westmoreland of Ouachita Baptist University and his staff, along with Dr. Charles Dunn at Henderson State University, Arkadelphia's two public schools, and superintendents Dr. Frank Holman and Bobby Smithson, along with Manning, Smith and other civic leaders.

To help get the center's construction underway, Malone was able to procure $700,000 to get it built and equipped.

The center could be located either in the new satellite business park, near the river, close to the airport or by Arkadelphia High School.

In addition, Malone was able to get $450,000 for a community enrichment center to be built at Feaster Park, with another $400,000 for phase 1 of rebuilding downtown Arkadelphia under the ICF Kizer report.

During the session, more money was placed in the area of education on a per-student basis, while the welfare reform issue was also improved, along with a good highway reform program getting put together.

The highway reform program will be voted on statewide on June 15 in a bond issue, with no taxes being involved for the people.

In the area of energy deregulation, Malone said the legislature held out for one of the best deregulation bills in the country.

The measure will protect the residential ratepayer and small businesses while making Arkansas more attractive to industry looking for a place to located by offering competitive rates to commercial customers.

The Academic Scholarship Program was strengthened with more funding, he said. Now there is more money available so children can go to college. In addition, the income level of families eligible for the program was raised from $35,000 to $70,000 a year so more students will have the opportunity for a college education.

The Ouachita River Commission, created by Malone and State Sen. Mike Ross, will do a study to see if the river can be developed for recreational purposes.

This, Malone said, will improve the economy along the river, while making sure the integrity of the environment is maintained. He was able to get $500,000 in funding for the commission.

He said more money will be added to the fund in future years, and the extra funds can be used to obtain federally matching money.

Legislation for the commission, he said, was written tight to protect the river and environment.