The Arkansas House of Representatives, for the second time in as many weeks, on Wednesday voted down a proposal to add 30 probation and parole officer positions to the state Department of Community Correction.
The House, in a voice vote, rejected state Sen. Will Bond's amendment to the agency's appropriation for fiscal 2019 -- House Bill 1082. Bond, D-Little Rock, has twice seen his proposal pass in the Joint Budget Committee and then die on the House floor.
Bond has argued that the parole and probation officers' caseloads are too large. Adding the positions would improve public safety and increase parolees' chances to succeed, Bond said.
Bond's proposal would have increased the number of parole and probation officers from 499 to 529 and the department's spending authority from $89.4 million to $90.9 million.
The additional 30 positions weren't included in Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposed budget; Bond has said he wanted to pull $1.2 million from the $48 million in surplus tax revenue Hutchinson proposed setting aside in fiscal 2019, which begins on July 1.
Bond, in a phone interview Wednesday, said he remains optimistic that the measure will pass before the end of the current fiscal session. Concern about the cost of the additional positions is why Bond thinks some House members oppose his proposal.
"But this will save money in the long term," Bond said. "That's what nobody talks about."
-- Hunter Field
