Kendall Marr, a former deputy director for communications for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, has returned to work for the governor as the director of state and federal relations in Washington, D.C.
Marr started work in his new post Oct. 14 at a salary of $85,000 a year, said Chelsea O'Kelley, Hutchinson's deputy director of communications.
He fills the vacancy created when the Republican governor promoted Katie Beck to director of communications, effective at the start of this month.
Beck was paid $90,397 a year as the governor's director of state and federal relations. She now fills an opening created with the departure of Hutchinson's former director of communications, J.R. Davis, at the end of last month. Davis left to be senior strategist at the political consulting and lobbying firm Gilmore Strategy Group that includes two other former aides to the governor, Jon Gilmore and Rhett Hatcher.
Marr served as the governor's deputy director of communications from June 2016 through September 2017 after serving as director of development at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, O'Kelley said.
After leaving the governor's office, Marr served as chief communications officer for the state of Kansas under Gov. Jeff Colyer and also led communications efforts on gubernatorial campaigns in Kansas and Connecticut, she said.
Hutchinson said he selected Marr to be his director of state and federal relations because "I have known Kendall for more than three years, including the time Kendall served as my deputy communications director.
"Kendall's wealth of experience and his institutional understanding of federal and state operations are valuable assets," the governor said in a written statement. "He is also already located in Washington, which will ease his transition into his new role. I am confident he will do an excellent job working for Arkansas's interests in the nation's capital."
Hutchinson's current chief of staff, Alison R. Williams, served a stint as the governor's director of state and federal relations from May 2015 through May 2016 before she succeeded former state Sen. Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, as the governor's chief of staff.
Williams was Hutchinson's first director of state and federal relations, according to O'Kelley.
In 2007, Hutchinson's predecessor, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, said he didn't plan to hire any employees for the state's then 4-year-old office in Washington, D.C., and planned to sublease some of the office's space to defray the lease cost of $3,742 a month.
Asked if Hutchinson's employee in Washington has been discussed by lawmakers, state Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, said Thursday in an interview, "To be quite frank with you, I wasn't aware of it.
"I did not know it," said Jean, a co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee. "I hadn't ever heard anyone talk about it. ... I didn't even know it, so I would have to look at what most other states do and if most of the other states have one, I am assuming there is a reason."
The Joint Budget Committee's other co-chairman, Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, said in an interview Wednesday that he also doesn't recall committee members discussing the governor having an employee in the nation's capital.
"I don't know what we get out of D.C.," he said.
Beck said the Washington office is located in the Hall of the States office building, along with the National Governors Association and the offices of other governors.
The monthly rent is $620.65, Beck said. The governor's office budget pays for Beck's salary and the rent.
"A presence in DC allows governors offices to work directly with Congressional Offices, the White House, and federal agencies on issues impacting the state," Beck said in a written statement. "Having an office in DC enhances a governors ability to stay informed on what is happening at the federal level and how those decisions affect the state."
Hutchinson is a former 3rd District congressman, federal homeland security undersecretary, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. attorney. All six of the state's U.S. senators and representatives are Republicans.
In 1979, Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton established a branch office in Washington during his first term as governor and gave it two missions: finding federal dollars for Arkansas and improving relations between Arkansas and federal agencies, according to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette archives.
But the office lasted only as long as that first two-year term. Republican Frank White pledged during his first campaign against Clinton that he would close the office, and one of the first things he did upon becoming governor in 1981 was to make good on that promise, according to this paper's archives.
The Legislature approved a budget of $290,000 for the office in Clinton's first year in office and $300,000 in his second year. The money was to provide for as many as 11 employees, but it never got up to full staffing and was down to four employees when White shut it down, according to this paper's archives.
White had noted that once Clinton was re-elected as governor over White in 1982 he didn't push to have the Washington, D.C., office reopened.
In October 2003, Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee announced the opening of the Washington office. He said it would enhance Arkansas' ability to lobby the federal government as well as the many nonprofit organizations there.
In 2005, the Legislature approved legislation to give Huckabee five more positions to replace four that he shifted to his Washington office and one that was financed by the then-Employment Security Department.
The Washington office was led by Jason Brady, campaign manager for Huckabee's 2002 re-election bid.
Beebe, who was then state attorney general, said it was illegal to pay Brady's salary from a special fund of the Employment Security Department. The legislation approved by the Legislature moved Brady's position onto the governor's office payroll. Brady is now chief deputy treasurer for operations for Republican state Treasurer Dennis Milligan.
In 2006, a Huckabee aide told lawmakers that the office in the nation's capital helped the state secure more than $26.8 million in federal funds.
SundayMonday on 10/21/2019