LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Pre-budget meetings continue in Arkansas as state lawmakers continue working toward finalizing the state's budget ahead of the legislative session in January.
On Tuesday, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review subcommittee (PEER), comprised of Arkansas Senators and Representatives, reviewed current budget standings and requests from several agencies in the state.
"What we're doing is just taking a look at what's happened over the last month, or what maybe an agency would like to do with an increase appropriation or a different way to spend money," said District 18 Senator Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe).
Departments such as the Department of Education, and the Commerce and Human Services departments were among the many representatives who were present to provide insight on what the department is looking for when it comes to the specified budget.
Once the budgets were reviewed, officials then moved on to reviews where agency representatives answered questions on how they would use the money.
"For instance, my question was, how many cases [have] had the program in place for a year? What does that look like? And how do our constituents find out about it to make sure that we're utilizing it," Senator Dismang asked.
Topics such as school safety, insurance, and Medicaid were discussed— including responses from the Department of Education on school safety initiatives that their implementing in the Natural State.
Senator Dismang (R-Beebe) said while they moved forward with providing the department with $50 million in school safety grants, there was discussion surrounding ways for all counties to abide by similar safety measures.
"While we are familiar with the technology, we are not using the $50 million to purchase the technology," said Kimberly Mundell, the Department of Education's Director of Communications.
"What members want to know is like, how many of those districts are at what's called stage one, two or three, with three being the highest, the most secure. So that's why you were hearing questions from members of the agency that weren't necessarily critical," said Senator Dismang (R-Beebe).
While other topics such as Medicaid and specific budget rates were mentioned, Tuesday's meeting was a reflection of how state leaders are working to be an additional voice for Arkansans.
For more information on Tuesday's session, please click here.