Benton County officials back Arkansas Works

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace voted Tuesday to ask area legislators to fund Gov. Asa Hutchinson's Arkansas Works program.

The Committee of the Whole voted 12-2 in favor of supporting continued funding for Arkansas Works.

Transportation grants

Benton County’s Quorum Court on Tuesday endorsed applying for road improvement money from two federal grant programs. One program is the Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-Term Achievement of National Efficiencies program. The second program is the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program. The county’s proposal is to ease congestion on state and U.S. highways by providing drivers alternative routes in and out of Bella Vista and Bentonville.

Source: Benton County

The Legislative Committee approved the resolution Monday and sent it on to the Committee of the Whole, which endorsed the measure Tuesday and voted to send it to the Legislature.

The justices of the peace favored the resolution by a wide margin, with Jerry Sheridan, justice of the peace for District 1; Sue Shadlow, justice of the peace for District 2; Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4; Kevin Harrison, justice of the peace for District 5; Pat Adams, justice of the peace for District 6; Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7; Shirley Sandlin, justice of the peace for District 8; Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9; Michelle Chiocco, justice of the peace for District 10; Mary L. Slinkard, justice of the peace for District 11; Tom Leadabrand, justice of the peace for District 12; and Barry Moehring, justice of the peace for District 15, voting in favor of it. Jay Harrison, justice of the peace for District 3, and Brent Meyers, justice of the peace for District 14, voted against it. Kurt Moore, justice of the peace for District 13, was absent.

The state Legislature is meeting in Little Rock to consider funding for Arkansas Works, which is an Arkansas version Medicaid expansion providing health insurance to about 267,000 low-income residents. Twenty-seven votes are needed in the state Senate and 75 votes in the House to authorize use of Medicaid dollars to purchase private healthy insurance for low-income Arkansans in fiscal 2017, which begins July 1.

Meyers repeated his criticism of the program as a "socialized medicine" program that could be repealed at the federal level.

"If we get a new president who is an effective president there is a possibility this program will be repealed."

Meyers said opponents of the program were being tarred as "bad people" who are trying to cut services to the poor, which he objected to.

"This is a social program and it is a waste of our money," he said. "It is us taking care of people we can't afford to take care of."

Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9, said the program fills many needs in Arkansas. Anglin pointed to the high rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health problems. She said state lawmakers need to consider these and other issues before they cut a program that addresses them.

"Is it perfect? No. But it's better than doing nothing," Anglin said.

The justices of the peace also approved spending $2 million to expand the Benton County Jail. The project will provide additional space for misdemeanor offenders and secure holding cells for women prisoners. Construction is expected to take seven or eight months to complete.

Adams said recent drops in the number of inmates in the jail don't warrant delaying the project.

"While watching taxpayer's dollars is very important to me, and to everybody else on the court, this is going to be a public safety issue if it's not addressed soon," Adams said.

Maj. Harold Gage with the Sheriff's Office, said the expansion is needed for the jail to continue to operate within the law. He also said the jail population will rise in the future.

"If we don't get the female expansion, I'm afraid we're gong to get sued," Gage said. "The population is going to go back up."

Brenda Guenther, comptroller, said the county has about $1.8 million in its capital projects fund to cover most of the cost of the project. Guenther said the county has about $12.8 million in unrestricted reserves overall.

NW News on 04/13/2016

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