LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) -- Arkansas state legislators were in Little Rock Wednesday (April 13) for a fiscal session to approve funding for Gov. Asa Hutchinson's "Arkansas Works" measure.
The joint committee approved the $8.5 billion funding bill for Arkansas Works, and now it will go before the full Senate Thursday (April 14). A vote date for the House has not yet been set.
HB 1001 passed Arkansas House of Representatives 70 to 30 and the Senate 25 to ten. However, the program will need three-fourths of the vote in each chamber, that means 75 votes in the House and 27 votes in the Senate, in order to get funding.
In a news conference Tuesday, Hutchinson warned of the consequences to any new highway programs if funding for "Arkansas Works" was not passed. Earlier this year, the governor recommended using $40 million from accumulated and unused surplus to meet the state match for new federal highway funds. If "Arkansas Works" doesn't pass there will be substantial cuts in state services as a result of the budget hole in excess of $100 million.