Governor Asa Hutchinson's Weekly Address

July 1, 2022Today I’d like to talk about the Fourth of July, or Independence Day, in Arkansas, the state with enough lakes, rivers, hiking trails, and outdoor festivals to accommodate 3 million Arkansans and visitors as we celebrate the 246 years of our Nation’s independence. And of particular importance, is our beautiful state parks.The Arkansas State Park System, which will turn 100 next year, is one of the best benefits of living in the Natural State. The system attracts families and companies that are considering a move to Arkansas.Petit Jean, Arkansas’s first state park, opened in 1923 when the Fort Smith Lumber Company decided that the area was too difficult for logging. Dr. T.W. Hardison, the Arkansas-born doctor who was the company’s physician, suggested preserving the area as a park. The National Park System declined because the area wasn’t large enough. But Arkansas’s General Assembly liked the idea, and legislators established Petit Jean State Park in 1923.In the 99 years since,  Dr. Hardison’s effort to preserve one forest has expanded to 52 state parks. Employees of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps built many of the trails and cabins, and much of the infrastructure during the Great Depression.Arkansas state parks offer experiences for adventurers at all levels. You can explore the culture and spirit of Arkansas at the Ozark Folk Center, and listen to the musicians who play late into the night on Mountain View’s square. You can watch the sunset at Sunset Point on Mount Nebo, learn Arkansas history at the Arkansas Post Museum, float the river at Cossatot River State Park, or learn to smith a knife at Historic Washington State Park, where James Bowie, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett passed on their travels.The state park system was designed to ensure that Arkansans could always explore the beauty of the outdoors and history, not far from their backyard. That’s why there is a state park within 60 miles of every Arkansan home. So you’re never too far from experiencing what makes Arkansas great!The State Parks are offering a variety of ways to spend the Fourth of July: At Historic Washington State Park, a reading of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence with Mr. Jefferson in full Revolutionary garb; at Lake DeGray, a Freedom Fun Run; and at our first state park, Petit Jean, the annual 4th of July Fun and Games Day includes a Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest and wheelbarrow races.For those who like to set goals or keep track of their travels, we offer a State Park Passport that you can have stamped at the visitor’s center at every park.Through the hard work of thousands of people, our state parks have achieved Dr. Hardison’s vision and aspirations. Our parks preserve the history, culture, and beauty of our natural state, and offer us a place to experience the beauty of our state every day of the year, and on special days such as the Fourth of July.

June 24, 2022Arkansas’s education system greatly depends on our ability to attract and retain teachers. We need to make sure the pay reflects the importance of their job and our respect for their role in shaping the lives of the next generation of leaders.When the pandemic impacted the world, our schools were heavily burdened. Education could not waiver even during a time when things felt so uncertain.Arkansas was one of the few states that kept schools open thanks to the amazing teachers in our state. In fact, Arkansas ranked #2 in the nation for days of in-classroom instruction during the pandemic. That puts us in front of Texas and Florida. And so, we must be able to provide for those who are willing to go on the frontlines for our children’s future.    Teacher pay has been one of my top priorities since running for Governor in 2014. Since then, we have increased the minimum teacher pay to align with many of our surrounding states.In 2019, I signed the Teacher Enhancement Act that took our minimum pay of $31,400 and raised it to $36,000 annually by 2022.This increase was needed for our teachers, but it is not enough. Arkansas is still ranked 48th in the country for teacher starting pay even after that increase. 88% of our school districts start teachers below a salary of $40,000. We are 14th out of 16 states in our region for minimum starting salary, and we rank 13th out 16 for average salary. Nearly 70% of all our teachers are making below $40,000 a year. Our goal should be to have 100% of our teachers making above $40,000. We know teachers are important, but we must show them why Arkansas is a place they’ll want to teach and live.For that reason, we must give our school districts more resources to recruit teachers. We have seen firsthand how providing the right resources can bring growth like we’ve seen with the Computer Science initiative. In 2015, we started the initiative with fewer than 50 computer science teachers in Arkansas. By providing more resources and incentives, we now have more than 650 certified computer science teachers with more coming by the fall. We have gone from fewer than 1,000 students learning about computer science to more than 12,000 with that number increasing every year. There is a reluctance by some in the General Assembly to raise teacher salary because of the concern over a future economic downturn. We currently have over $2 billion in state reserves and our surplus.I am confident in our future ability to fund these initiatives, but the General Assembly controls the purse strings of state government, and I respect their constitutional role. While we might not get it done this year I hope it remains a priority in the future.  

June 17, 2022I signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Israel Innovation Authority this week, and today I’d like to talk about what this means to Arkansas.On Tuesday, my economic development team gathered with Dr. Ami Appelbaum, Chairman of the Innovation Authority, and Livia Link, Consul General of Israel. We gathered at the Melrose Hotel in Washington for the signing ceremony.Dr. Appelbaum and I signed copies of the agreement in English and in Hebrew.This agreement affirms the mutual interest of Arkansas and Israel to share ideas and to work together to produce technology that will benefit our nations and the world.In the official language of the MOU, the purpose of this agreement is to promote activities to foster mutual cooperation in the innovation and development of technology.I met Dr. Appelbaum last year when I was in Israel for the Prime Minister’s Smart Mobility Summit. This MOU is a logical next step to strengthen our robust relationship with one of the United States’ most important allies. It affirms the deep friendship and mutual respect between Arkansas and Israel.Our relationship with the Jewish community dates to 1823 when businessman Abraham Block and his family were the first Jewish family to take up residence in Arkansas. Mr. Block and his sons opened businesses in four Arkansas counties, in New Orleans, and in Texas. The Blocks’ home in Washington is a museum in Historic Washington State Park.I have had the privilege of expressing our support of Israel by signing bills that allow Arkansas to invest in Israel bonds and that prohibit state and local governments from conducting business with companies that boycott Israel.As Israel’s ambassador said at the bill signing that day in August 2017, we were sending a message that Arkansas stands against hate and against anti-Semitism, and that Arkansas stands with Israel.This agreement is a natural progression of our relationship with Israel.My friendships within the Arkansas Jewish community have led to many personally enriching opportunities, such as participating in the annual Menorah lighting ceremony in Little Rock. I was equally enriched by the brief time we spent with our friends from Israel on Tuesday.As I prepared to sign the Hebrew version of the MOU, I suggested that I was going to use my Hebrew name, which brought some laughter. The joke, of course, is that Asa is a Hebrew name.Now that we have signed the MOU, we will explore what’s next in this mutually beneficial partnership between two leaders in innovation and technology as we embark on the next stage of our long relationship.

Hundreds of high school students explored the halls of the Arkansas Capitol last week during the annual exercise in government known as Girls State and Boys State.The week-long programs, which are sponsored by the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary, offer rising seniors the chance to form a government, run for office, and write and vote on legislation. At the end of the week, the students visit the Arkansas Capitol, where they conduct the business of state government in the place where it really happens.During Boys State and Girls State, the students ran intense campaigns for office, negotiated and passed laws, and held a press conference to announce an economic development project.On Thursday and Friday, in keeping with tradition, I vacated my office for the newly elected governors. This year, I lent my chair to Trinity Foster from Crossett as Girls State Governor and Pablo Velasco-Moya from Brinkley as Boys State Governor. Let me assure you, they represent their community and state very well. And Pablo Velasco-Moya is the first Latino elected as Boys State Governor.Arkansas Boys State began in 1940, and Girls State in 1942. The early days of the program were practically a boot camp. Boys and girls alike slept on cots in unairconditioned four-person huts at Camp Robinson.Bryan Rogers, who was elected Boys State president pro tem of the Senate in 1972, described the experience like this: “We marched like soldiers everywhere we went. We were up at 6 a.m. to salute the flag and do calisthenics. We ate in a mess hall.”For 81 and 79 years respectively, the programs have produced leaders in business, education, and politics. Some already showed promise as teenagers. Mr. Rogers recalls that Mike Huckabee “was already a polished and charismatic public speaker when he won Boys State Governor in a landslide.”Bill Clinton is another alumnus whose week at Boys State played a significant role in his career. The year he attended, his friend from Hope, Mack McLarty, was elected governor. Mr. McLarty later served at the White House with President Clinton. Mr. Clinton was elected Boys State senator, which qualified him to participate in Boys Nation in Washington, D.C.That is where the president-to-be met President John Kennedy at the White House, and the photograph of that meeting became famous as President Clinton rose to national prominence.Other Boys State alumni include four-star General Wesley Clark, and state legislators Eddie Armstrong, Jonathan Barnett, Shane Broadway, and Joe T. Ford; House of Representatives Parliamentarian Tim Massanelli; Jack Watson, who served in President Carter’s administration; and U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton. Both major party nominees for governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Chris Jones, were delegates for Girls and Boys State.Len Cotton, a cattle farmer and a member of the 1962 class, is one of five commissioners who oversee Boys State. He usually speaks on the opening night of Boys State. “I always tell them, ‘You’re going to meet people who are going to become elected officials. Or you could see a Bill Clinton.’”Congratulations Girls State and Boys State's Class of 2022. You’ve got a great tradition at your back as you choose your path in life. 

As our nation mourns the death of nineteen students and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, the national conversation has turned again to the need to make our schools more secure.In Arkansas, educators and legislators have long recognized the need for vigilance to keep our children safe. Concern for the safety of our students didn’t suddenly become a priority last week because of the violence in Texas. Four years ago, after a young man killed seventeen students in Parkland, Florida, I created the Arkansas School Safety Commission to assess the state of school security. The commission submitted a 124-page report with thirty significant recommendations. The work of the Commission hasn't sat on a shelf. In fact, most of the recommendations have been adopted, or we are working toward implementing them.But we need to do more. The attack in Texas compels us to revisit the findings and to assess the effectiveness of any changes school districts have made. I have asked Dr. Cheryl May, director of the School Safety Center and the Criminal Justice Institute and who was chair of the commission, to call the members back to follow up on their work to ensure that we are doing all we can.I am considering calling a special session this summer, and if we have one, I will recommend a grant program to help fund the schools’ efforts to improve security.There are many ways to harden the security of schools. We can invest in security guards, police officers, and school resource officers. We need to control and secure points of entry into a school. And we need to design schools with security as a top priority.One area of concern is the mental health of students, which is part of the Arkansas Commission’s report. In 2019, the General Assembly responded by passing Act 190, which reduced the administrative duties of school counselors to 10 percent of their time and requires them to spend 90 percent of their time in direct counseling with students. This emphasis on students increases the likelihood that counselors will identify students who are struggling with emotional or mental-health issues.Other laws that came out of the commission’s work included Act 629, which allows school districts to form their own police departments, and other enactments which focus on comprehensive school safety audits, emergency operation plans, lockdown drills, and require Youth Mental Health First Aid for school counselors.U.S. senators and representatives are discussing the issue in Washington. Congress certainly has a role in this ongoing conversation and can be helpful, but ultimately, each state and school district must decide locally how to protect students.There are common sense ways to predict these tragic events, and we must work together to do everything in our collective power to protect our most vulnerable Americans – our children.The matter of safe schools doesn’t belong to Republicans or Democrats. Each of us has a responsibility to see that schools are among the safest place for our children and educators. Americans in each political party and at all levels of government must work together to ensure that our students and teachers return home after the final bell rings at the end of the day.

Monday is Memorial Day, and this week, hundreds of volunteers are placing an American flag in front of every gravestone in each of Arkansas’s five military cemeteries.We observe Memorial Day, which began shortly after the end of the Civil War, to honor the memory of those who died in service to the United States. The flags honor everyone who served in one of the five branches of our military – the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, and the Navy.The three national cemeteries are in Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Fayetteville. The state’s Veterans Cemeteries are in North Little Rock and Birdeye.On Wednesday, just five days before Memorial Day, the commander of all U.S. military special operations asked to visit the Fort Smith National Cemetery. It was General Richard Clarke, who is the 12th commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, and he wanted to visit the grave of General William O. Darby.General Darby is a native of Fort Smith, and a graduate of Fort Smith Senior High and West Point. In 1942, the commander of the 34th Infantry Division promoted William Darby from captain to major and assigned him to organize an elite commando unit taken from all branches of the military. This was the start of the United States Army Ranger Battalion, sometimes called Darby’s Rangers.Major Darby fulfilled several assignments in the theater of war and at the Pentagon. He returned to Europe in early 1945, and volunteered to take command of the Tenth Mountain Division. On April 30, 1945, as he outlined strategy for the next day, a German shell exploded in the midst of his meeting and killed him. He was 33.So on May 25, seventy-seven years and 25 days after General Darby died in World War II, General Clarke visited General Darby’s grave in Fort Smith.Marshall Murphy, director of the national cemeteries in Fort Smith and Little Rock, stood by as General Clarke and Representative Womack visited the grave.Mr. Murphy, a veteran who served in the Marines, says that General Darby is a patron saint for Army Rangers. He also noted that General Clarke carries on the tradition of General Darby with a quiet dignity. You would never guess by his words or manner that he commands all U.S. special forces, which perform the most dangerous, sensitive, and secret missions around the world.This week in Fort Smith, General Clarke did what he always does – he led the way with his visit to honor General Darby. The volunteers who work in the cemeteries to place a flag at each gravestone share in the General’s mission to remember our fallen warriors.

The graduation season is upon us, so today I am congratulating the members of the Class of 2022 who overcame the expected difficulties of high school and college and then surmounted the totally unexpected challenges of a worldwide pandemic.COVID-19 forced you to do many things differently. You attended some classes virtually from time to time. You might have missed some extracurricular activities such as music programs, competitive sports, and clubs.For all that you missed, you also learned some lessons that you wouldn’t have otherwise. You watched leaders at all levels of health care and government assess the medical information and decide how to combat COVID-19 and how to keep Americans safe. We witnessed robust debate about the intersection of science, medicine, public opinion, and emotion. I imagine that these are lessons many of you will take into your careers, whether you are in public service or the private sector.In Arkansas, we went virtual in our schools for a short time. We knew the best outcome for our students was to return them to in-classroom instruction as soon as possible. And we did. Our Department of Education worked with school districts all over the state to implement procedures and protocols to ensure in-classroom learning continued. Secretary of Education Johnny Key and educators in all corners of Arkansas sometimes worked seven days a week to support our teachers and students.As we come out of the pandemic, we are enjoying all of our traditions, including graduation. I join you in your success as I imagine the sights and sounds as you walk across the stage, receive your diploma to the tune “Pomp and Circumstance,” your caps flying in the air as you finish one era of your life and head into the next.Graduation time is a good time to pause and reflect on the challenges and what you have learned to overcome the next challenge.As you look to the next stage of your life, don’t forget the people who helped you get to this point: your family, your friends, your teachers and professors, and your mentors. You can thank them in person, and you can thank them by passing on their good work in your life when it’s your turn to mentor and lead.The world needs your insight, creativity, energy, perseverance, and compassion. Graduation is not the end of your education but a brief stop on your way to learning even more. Learning never ends, and as you already have experienced, life will be a hard taskmaster. But never give up, because your greatest victories will come out of your greatest trials.My Number 1 goal has been to make Arkansas an even greater place to live, work, and raise a family. Many of you in the class of ’22 will go to far-away places to chase your dreams. I wish you Godspeed. But wherever that may lead, I hope your path eventually brings you back home to join us in making Arkansas the best place in the world.

There is no question that many families suffered financial setbacks as the coronavirus swept across the nation two years ago. Today I’d like to discuss my vision to stabilize housing and to assist Arkansans with opportunities to move up the economic ladder.Arkansas’s unemployment rate rose to more than 10 percent in the early months of the pandemic. The federal government stepped in with Emergency Rental Assistance, which allowed many to remain in their homes and softened the financial blow for landlords.But our economy has returned, jobs are plentiful, and our unemployment rate is even better than before the pandemic. Many still are recovering, but as employment opportunities abound, we are returning to our pre-pandemic assistance programs.Our goal is to educate Arkansans so they can move into trades that will allow them to build a career that will support their family. We must do more than pay the rent.Arkansans want to work. We recognize the dignity that comes with earning a living rather than a lifetime of accepting help. For this to work, we must assess the needs of individuals. What training does a person need? What challenges prevent a parent from finding a job? Some need help to overcome a mental illness or an addiction to alcohol or another substance.We still have programs that assist renters, including the Emergency Solutions Grants, the Community Services Block Grants, and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.Arkansans’s belief in the value of work has been a foundation of my approach to lending a government hand to those in need. I recently informed the U.S. Treasury that Arkansas would accept no more than about $58 million in funds the federal government is offering through the second round of  the Emergency Rental Assistance program. That is about 39 percent of the total the state was offered.We still have approximately $16.5 million available in housing stability funds through other programs, and that includes more than $6 million for rental assistance. So we don’t need the entire $146 million the federal government offered. The money we do accept from the second round of Emergency Rental Assistance could better be used to continue pilot programs with various nonprofits from Our House to Restore Hope and others, or to start new programs that promote housing stability.I thought long and hard about whether to accept all of the federal funds, but I didn’t think we should take the money when we already have rental assistance funds available through other programs. It makes no sense to start an absolutely new rental-assistance program that would make it too easy for people to accept help rather than improve their job skills.The federal money also came with strings and limited our flexibility in program-integrity efforts.We are not going to ignore the needs of Arkansans. Community action agencies throughout the state can distribute aid from the remaining funds.But now that we are putting the pandemic behind us, we must focus on giving Arkansans the best kind of help, which is the chance to train and the ability to succeed. Our goal is not only to help someone find work today, but to help them achieve the dignity and pride of putting their family into a house and putting food on the table.

The freedom of speech is one of the bedrock principles upon which our country was founded. The purchase of Twitter by the world’s richest man this week has reignited the discussion surrounding free speech, and I’d like to share my thoughts on the importance of this freedom.Social media censorship has been a concern of many Americans for years. While platforms like Facebook and Twitter are privately owned companies that set their own rules for the service they provide, the concern over the spread of misinformation and disinformation on these sites is one shared by millions of Americans.There is equal concern over how these private companies censor or ban certain speech, and the argument is that the platforms are, in essence, the public square where speech should not be limited.These worries have led some elected leaders to call for increased censorship, while others have called for a hands-off approach.Throughout our nation’s history, especially in times of war and turmoil, Americans have spilled a lot of ink about what speech, if any, should be limited by the government. The government plays a necessary role in ensuring public safety and protecting its citizens from violence. In other words, no one should be allowed to shout “fire” in a crowded theater.Since the advent of the internet and social media, bad actors, such as violent terrorists who wish to harm us, have used these platforms to stir up unrest and recruit others to join their causes to harm others. This has been seen throughout the world, especially since the September 11th attack on the United States. In the wake of these horrific events, organizations like al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban have used the internet and recruited and radicalized citizens around the world to commit acts of terrorism in their home countries or join their fight overseas. These are legitimate threats that can interfere with the government’s commitment to ensure domestic tranquility and to provide for the common defense. It is important for these social media platforms to assure they do not cross the line into advocating violence.But there is a difference between citizens engaging in speech directly intended to cause violence that is illegal and those engaging in speech we may not agree with.In his dissent in the 1929 case of U.S. v. Schwimmer, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes noted, “If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.”The American Ideal calls for us to live in a nation where we can agree to disagree with our neighbors, have robust debate, and still live peaceably. The Bill of Rights identifies rights that the government may not infringe; it prohibits government from interfering with these rights that are essential to our freedoms, the rule of law, and our democracy.I often see negative and hateful comments on social media. But despite this negativity, I am grateful to live in a nation where the rights of those who disagree can voice their opinions freely and without persecution. Whenever I check my Twitter account, I’ll be appreciative of the protection of freedoms we’re blessed to experience in this country.

Thirty-seven years ago this week, I put on a bulletproof vest and entered a white-supremacist compound to try to convince the group they were outmanned and outgunned and should surrender.As I have reflected on that moment as well as the racial tension and civil unrest that have roiled our nation over the past two years, I have thought about the lessons we learn from our history.The people I confronted on April 21, 1985, were members of the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, known as the CSA, and one of their missions was to take down the United States government. Members of the CSA had sent out teams to assassinate several government officials, including me.On April 21, 1985, I was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, appointed three years earlier by President Ronald Reagan. For two years, my office had monitored the CSA in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri, as well as the FBI and the ATF.As we developed our strategy to flush out the CSA, we were well aware that the white supremacists had stockpiled high-powered weapons and weren’t afraid to shoot law enforcement officers. Just a year earlier, CSA member Richard Snell shot and killed a black Arkansas State Trooper who had stopped him for a traffic violation. His name was Louis Bryant, and he was a true hero.We anticipated fierce resistance, so we brought over 200 law enforcement officers to the small town of Elijah, Missouri, many of them disguised as anglers in town to fish. I joined several other agents on the negotiating team. We persuaded Jim Ellison, the CSA founder who had purchased the land for the compound, that his best hope was to surrender. After three days of negotiations, all the men laid down their weapons, and the standoff ended without gunfire or bloodshed. That day also marked the end of the CSA. But it wasn’t the death of the dangerously misguided belief that one race is superior to another.On the anniversary of that tense standoff with the white supremacists of the CSA, I understand there remains much work to be done to close the gaps among Americans of different races, religions, and beliefs.Ultimately, I am hopeful. Throughout history, people have often expressed their disagreement with violent language, and sometimes it goes further into actual violence, so this is nothing new. But I am optimistic because in America we learn from the mistakes of the past.Nearly forty years ago, I joined a band of hundreds of good people who linked arms to confront those who believed violence and racial hatred were the answer to their anger. Sometimes I fear we are not moving fast enough toward an America that is truly equal. But we are making progress as long as we listen to each other and care about each other.There will be more times when we must stand shoulder to shoulder against hate just as those federal and state agents did nearly forty years ago in western Arkansas. But Americans’ bedrock belief that all men are created equal echoes in our founding documents and rises from our hearts as we continually travel toward that more perfect union.