Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law two bills authorizing an $87.1 million bond issue to help Lockheed Martin win a defense contract that would bring close to 600 jobs to south Arkansas.
In three days, the Arkansas Senate and House of Representatives passed identical legislation in a special session called by Hutchinson to address the Amendment 82 "super project." Amendment 82, passed in 2004, allows the state to issue bonds for economic development.
The two legislative bodies sent to Hutchinson's desk Senate Bill 6 by Sen. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan, and House Bill 1003 by Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado.
Lockheed Martin, headquartered in Maryland with a plant in Camden, is competing against two other companies to win the Department of Defense contract to build joint light tactical vehicles for the military. Supporters of the project have said the 25-year contract would bring nearly 600 jobs to Camden and retain about 550 more.
House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, said Thursday that "there won't be any bonds sold or any action taken" until the contract is awarded, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.