Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest (left), expresses frustration with the state’s hiring of out-of-state contractors for consulting work during the Arkansas Legislative Council meeting on Friday, November 15, 2024. At right is Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch. (Screenshot/Arkansas Legislature)
The Arkansas Legislative Council’s routine approval of a subcommittee’s monthly report hit a snag Friday for the second month in a row after a Republican lawmaker objected to the state’s regular hiring of consultants.
The council’s Executive Subcommittee approved an amendment on Thursday to a contract it approved last month between Perr & Knight, a Florida consulting firm, and the Bureau of Legislative Research. The $955,000 contract , which received final approval Oct. 18 from the full Legislative Council, concerns “a multi-year strategic path forward for the provision of property insurance for education facilities in the state of Arkansas.”
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, voted against accepting the Executive Subcommittee’s report and said Arkansas officials have directed too many taxpayer dollars to out-of-state consultants in the last decade. He made similar comments and voted against the same subcommittee’s report at the Oct. 18 Legislative Council meeting.