Thread by @ForARPeople1

Good morning Arkansas! We're back for the third and final day of pre-fiscal session budget meetings.

Today in the hot seat: Depts. of Public Safety and Health.

Follow along with our live 🧵 here!

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If you missed previous days, don't worry! We've got you covered:

Day 1, Higher Ed and Corrections:

Day 2, DHS and Education:

Next week, we'll put out a piece breaking down some of the most interesting/revealing moments.threadreaderapp.com/thread/1765387…
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1765749…

A special shout out to @RepWhitaker22's tropical print shirts; they bring much levity to the room!

About the same level of attendance as yesterday; Dismang again takes the chair - he was in and out yesterday. We see Sen. Tucker but no Sen. Chesterfield, Hammer, or Stubblefield.

Sen. Hammer just appeared! Good to see him back.

First up: Public Safety.

Rep. Cavenaugh: Public safety equipment grant program - want to make sure we can safely reduce this.

A: We can reduce to 10 mil.

Returning to a brief public statement from Mike Hagar: "state of Ark. is safer today because of your work."

Proud of the increase in trooper numbers - 1 trooper per ~5k citizens, so we can provide better services.

A few more legislators have trickled in, as well as reporters from KARK with cameras.

Currently discussing the poundage of drugs ASP has confiscated in the last FY/CY? This is... odd.

Quick reminder that marijuana legalization is overwhelmingly popular, so bragging about how much they've confiscated seems a bit out of touch.

New Central Ark. law enforcement academy, new State Crime Lab facility being designed.

Trying to increase the number of qualified medical examiners. This is actually pretty huge; the number of folks qualified to perform effective autopsies is shockingly low, and increasing that number is good for everyone.

Hagar is done!
Sen. Hammer: returning to juvenile transportation for juvenile offenders (this came up on day 1). Curious what the anticipated use for this new money is.

A: transferred from DoC, so we transfer to agencies that perform transportation duties.

Rep. Cavenaugh: motion to accept executive recommendation with exception of the reduction on Equipment we mentioned - reduction from 40 mil to 10 mil.

Sen. Hammer wants a bit of clarification, but the original appropriation level was too high. They can always come back and increase funding if needed.

Sen. Love: is the reduction of this appropriation going to negatively impact the agency's performance?

A: I don't believe so. We've never needed more than 10 million in the account, so not sure why 40 mil originally allocated.

Sen. Flowers: what is the source of this funding?

A: surplus general revenue that swept over to reserve account.

Q: How many grants awarded and about the size of individual grants?

A: numerous grants, but limited to 100k historically; last year limited to 50k.

Q: when it's applied for detention centers, is that for facility maintenance/improvements, or part of the budget for housing state inmates?

A: grants are for one time funding for agencies, they don't go to facilities.

Q: It says in the report facilities.

A: agencies can then disburse to facilities, but the grants don't go directly to them. It's intended to freeze budgets up.

Flowers would like more details on list of grants going to which counties, interested in Jeff. Co.

Hammer returning to juv. transportation: where are transportations taking place?

A: from facilities to doctors, court hearings, etc.

Q: is that not already covered in reimbursement costs?

A: Some, but costs have increased.

Hammer: not opposed, but worried we're opening a door for counties to increase their reimbursement.

Motion carries. Moving on to DPS Crime Info Center.

No significant changes, but a quick run through of operations.

Rep. Rose: Sex offender registration - please elaborate on budget and program?

A: in the process of upgrading the system, it's 10 years old. Using various grants to get those upgrades out by middle of May. Biggest problem is that we have to hire lots of contractors.

Q: wants details on specific changes and improvements to the system.

A: New vendors are letting us access and make our own changes. New software allows more offenders to be put in and increased effectiveness in tracking victim info.

Q: "more offenders into the system" - what does that mean?

A: Collating info into all one system lets us better track perpetrators.

Exec rec adopted!

Crime Lab up. As a bit of context, this is the centralized crime lab that handles a lot of autopsies, DNA testing, and other forensic material.

A few additions because of a rapid DNA testing requirement.

Sen. Hester: what's the status of backlog on sexual assault kits? This comes up every year.

A: We are at a 90 day turnaround time, which is a significant decrease from last year's 8mo. About 130 unassigned kits, compared to several hundred last year.

Q: great progress (agreed!) but how did you manage it?

A: staffing. Gov. provided additional staffing; takes about a year to train a new analyst, so finishing up those trainings. 5 completed training recently. If we can maintain staff, we'll be in a good place.

Q: What's the status on the new facility?

A: Happy with legislature's support of the crime lab. Still in the process of designing new building to maximize efficiency, security, lab accreditations, etc. First draft of program needs completed.

Prelim findings: 180k sq ft building, which is the average for size of Arkansas and size of crime lab team. We have identified preferred land. We'll begin working with architects to maximize efficiencies and about to start working with general contractors.

Q: With the 90 day turnaround on assault kits, where does that stack us up versus the rest of the country?

A: not sure about that comparison, but it is a common problem across the country.

Sen. M. Johnson: concerned with staff retention - because the work is so specialized and requires lots of education, how do we attract and maintain staff?

A: there is a staffing plan in place.

Sen. Gilmore: w/ new crime lab, do we anticipate further reduction of sex assault kits and other backlogs?

A: Yes, 100%. We plan to meet goal of 60 day turnaround time next year.

Rep. Berry: Turnaround time on autopsies?

A: Due to increase coming our way (crime lab trying to step in more often across the state because they're more qualified than local Med. Examiners), we will be coming to you for additional positions later.

Q: are you up to 100% on medical examiners you're authorized for?

A: currently fully staffed, but we'll have a proposal soon to request additional forensic pathologists.

Huge deal. Big difference in level of expertise between local medical examiners and fully trained forensic pathologists.

Rep. Collins: can you tell us more about the site you've picked out? Location, will you acquire the land, general cost?

A: 18-19 acres on Northshore Drive. Ready to build, abuts other state property. Hope to have room for growth so we can stay for many decades.

A: Offer came last week for $4.095 mil, appraised value. Big part of selection is that land ready to build - little leveling necessary. Low floodplain risk. Co-locating with state agencies also helpful.

Q: any other comparable properties in the area with similar prices?

A: two other possibilities - 16 acres owned by City of LR; lots of problems for us on that property - conservation issues. City would require a road, so total acreage would've been only 8.5.

Q: what was that appraised?

A: city was asking $1+ million. Usable square footage would have been much more expensive.

Q (didn't catch legislator): coming back to sex assault kits. Have backlogged kits been added to DNA database?

A: Yes. If we obtain DNA profile, it's entered immediately once processed. We received funding to outsource some kits to reduce backlog, and we've received them back.

Q: What qualifies a kit to be entered?

A: Has to be a DNA profile that does not match victim.

Q: Rapid DNA system usage?

A: Only used by jails to collect offender samples, so two different registrations. Eventually rapid DNA will feed into overall DNA database.

Sen. Stubblefield: are we seeing an overall drop in crime in the state?

A: Not sure. Research and Dev. team can provide you answers. Wants to compare Biden's SOTU claim that overall crime was down to the state's.

Sen. Love, sitting in Sen. Murdock's seat: asking about sex assault kits and what happens to profile if it's foreign, but no immediate match or perpetrator available.

A: it's housed until we find a match.

Even anonymous kits (victim doesn't want to file a police report) are housed so if they change their minds, we can assist them.

Sen. Chesterfield: also asking about crime rate. Still no data. In crime lab, had staffing difficulties - or are we at full capacity?

A: We have two open positions, but we have a staffing plan in place to attract and maintain qualified staff.

Q: do you think the reason is money? Are salaries competitive with surrounding states?

A: we've done a regional study; we anticipate asking for additional funding because we believe there's opportunities to improve.

Q: how would you rank us to our surrounding states?

A: We are one of the lowest states in terms of starting pay. Mississippi is only state lower. Main issue: career growth opportunities.

Max salaries for forensic scientists (min=45k; max=65k). Chesterfield is... befuddled.

Sen. Davis: do we anticipate this crime lab will lead to a greater certainty of arrest, which will drive down crime rate?

A: Crime Lab focused on delivering excellent results. The new building is just one piece of the puzzle. Building will allow us to attract qual. scientists.

Follow up answer: systemic issue in crim. justice system. Hagar says there must be certainty of arrest and certainty of punishment.

Dismang calls on Sen. Tucker, who passed a bill last session to help deal with this problem. It needs better funding to help law enforcement make arrests. Would provide grants to local LE to increase clearance rates; has worked in other states.

Sen. Petty: Satellite crime labs in NWA is overfull, correct? Is part of the expansion discussion helping out or adding another satellite in somewhere like Jonesboro?

A: NWA lab is at appropriate capacity now. We think focused on central lab is the correct move forward.

Sen. Hammer: going back to reduction in sex assault kits - it takes a year to train DNA analyst, and the drop came in a year - did you already have people ready to go?

A: Yes, but we also received funding from AG to outsource to private labs to reduce backlog.

Q: could you outsource even more to get turnaround down to 30 days?

A: we also have additional staff that are completing training that will allow us to maintain 60 day turnaround time.

Q: do these outsourced kits affect quality of prosecution?

A: No, but kits aren't the only piece of evidence. More difficult (not entirely sure if it's possible) to outsource other non-DNA evidence - things like clothing analysis, etc.

Sen. Flowers: concerned that number of arrests is not the magic bullet the conversation seemed to indicate. Also have to have convictions, proper due process. We need to not overlook courts/prosecutors. Cases are lingering from 2021.

Sen. Flowers has personal experience: nephew murdered in 2021, and the individual arrested for it is still languishing in county jail. Ignoring what "speedy trial" means.

"We need to consider things like that. Age and usefulness to society of offenders in juv. facilities. Kids getting referred for non-delinquent matters like truancy. We don't have to have that."

"We need to take a hard look at the process. It's about justice. We need to remember that when we talk about putting people in jail for a long time. We're not considering families that are affected. Victims' and defendants' families. The in-between stuff matters."

On that note, exec rec is accepted, and we're on to Div. of Emergency Management.

Rep. Cavenaugh: Ark. Public Safety Trust Fund, generating more than we spend on this. Can we evaluate how much money we're getting and how much we're spending?

A: The Trust Fund goes through Emer. Management. Everything brought in is pushed out, but we can provide details.

Q: okay to reduce litigation fund down to 250k?

A: Yes!

Rep. Rose: curious about interagency funding details. There was excess appropriations being pushed out; can we spread that out better to reduce prepaid phone taxes?

A: We can look at it.

Sen. Hammer: Update on status of fire services transfer that started last year?

A: Still in first year of transferring duties/personnel. In the process of filling last vacancy. Grants admin person has been onboarded. Starting to get into future plans.

This will help assist local/volunteer fire departments. In the process of contacting these depts. and letting them know how to make use of these grants/equipment.

Q: State fire marshal has discretion over definition of "Safe rooms" in schools. Will there be any changes to those definitions for new school construction?

A: will double check, but don't believe there will any changes.

Rep. Cavenaugh: motion to accept exec rec with the exception of previous reduction. Motion carries.

Chesterfield: 911 Task Force found too much discrepancy in getting emergency info out. Are we doing better?

A: Yes. Consolidation of systems is going better than anticipated.

Law enforcement standards and training up next.

Sen Hammer: Fallen Law Enforcement Officer Fund - is family able to also receive funds from other sources, or is this fund their only option?

A: this fund is for immediate assistance. Doesn't limit them from receiving benefits and funds from other sources.

Q: Can we raise cap to 10k up from 5k? Any resistance to that?

A: Nothing wrong with that. Families really appreciate the immediacy of the assistance.

Q to chair: can we do this during fiscal?

A: yes. Hammer will work with department to get this done.

Some commentary from Rep. Berry - may be able to increase this cap without legislation.

Hammer also wants to raise total limit in the fund in case there's a mass casualty event.

Actually two separate funds: one for killed in the line, one for catastrophic illness. Hammer wants to increase both, sounds like.

Motion to accept exec rec carries. On to Division of State Police.

Rep. Rose: Curious about a specific purchase related to homeland security, sounded like. Seems to have been expensive?

A: It was, but we can request funds for that when appropriate.

Rep. Cavenaugh: for automated fingerprint system, what are these funds actually used for?

A: Salaries, data housing costs, etc. We've spent the balance down to about 11.5mil.

Chesterfield moves exec rec. Carries.

Dept. of Health up!

Dismang also has an update on the funds released for prison bed construction.

75mil released for Calico Rock. Could still be used for construction. Restrict/reserve set aside for around 300 mil. So total available is 375 mil, give or take.

Dept. of Health: no requests for increase in funding. Used a lot of federal grants to pay for programs.

Also been able to cut fees for occupational training programs.

1900 positions filled, decreased from last year.

Sen. Boyd: wants to make sure they have the resources to deal with maternal health crisis (we have an idea! follow @arlibertynow for tips)

A: thinks they can use tobacco education funding for grassroots education campaign. Need better prenatal education.

@arlibertynow Will also use private/public partnerships to cover that.

Q: last year had a malaria case. Do you have resources for monitoring?

A: Yes. Feds provide extra infectious disease monitoring funds, and we're prepped.

@arlibertynow Q: Have you had lots of reports of pharmacists that have reported prescription of oral contraceptions? What do you do with them?

A: not sure. Can get you info.

@arlibertynow Sen. Dotson: big difference between agency request and exec rec in infectious disease funding. Why?

A: there's now more general infectious disease control, different IT systems used for monitoring. Losing certain federal funding received from COVID, will need to make up diff.

Rep. Garner: early childhood moving to Dept. of Ed; how can we ensure collaboration between departments?

A: definitely concerned with silo-ing. Cabinet very close knit, and Chiefs of Staff always talk and collaborate.

(sorry we messed up the thread with the tag!)

Rep. Wardlaw: certain provider groups license with DHS, and have to resubmit multiple times w/ diff. agencies. No communication, too much siloing, but inefficient. How can we fix?

A: Aware of issue, we're working on it.

Rep. Lundstrum: report of tuberculosis in NWA. Can you provide updates? What are doing to address?

A: Ongoing investigations to track and treat. Total cases=undetermined; origin will be provided ASAP.

Rep. Rose: w/ steep increase in breast cancer, esp. women under 50, but no change in budget requests - do you see a need for additional funding we could provide?

A: Provider reimbursements fluctuate based on demand/uninsured rate. We spent under our level last year.

We build in internal flexibility. Rose wants breakdown of funding.

Q: what are qualifications for under/uninsured rates?

A: they'll get him the info.

Q: address inter-agency and intra-agency transfers? He couldn't pick out where it came from.

A: funds from tobacco program that have been divided into other areas. Breast cancer education, Dept. of Ed, and Dept. of Parks for some collaborations.

Circling back to let BLR staff do their presentation. The legislators were suddenly very interested in appropriations questions and missed it! Fun moment.

Rep. Cavenaugh: WIC is currently over-appropriated, can we reduce that down to $55 mil from $70+?

A: We didn't certify all funding, so that's why the difference. However, food prices going up, so we expect increase. We don't have a fund balance, Feds get back what's not spent.

A: agency recommends reduction to 60mil instead. Cavenaugh agrees.

Q: Full Independent Practice Credentialing fund - being used?

A: absolutely, we've had several hundred applications. May transfer funding to support effort.

Sen. Chesterfield: WIC and maternal health are intertwined. Can we reduce WIC without it having a deleterious effect on Maternal Health?

A: this is just appropriation. We can come back and ask for more if we're running out.

Sen. Hammer: Full Independent Practice Credentialing - how many have been certified? Can we reduce application feed?

A: we've discussed that. It's new, so not sure what expenses will be moving forward. We will need to hire or reimburse committee support.

(this is a committee to help certified nurse practitioners to practice independently, which is really important in a rural state)

Rep. Cavenaugh motions to approve, with the WIC reductions discussed earlier. Chesterfield has a question: how did we come to the reduction number of 15 mil?

A: based on historical spending. Agency is fine with it.

Motion carries. We're done!

Dismang clarifies: actually 405mil on the prison fund.

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