Hear the report from KUAR s Sarah Kellogg
Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, presents House Bill 1003 to the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on the first day of the special legislative session.
Credit Arkansas House
A bill that would allow Arkansas school districts to implement mask mandates if they meet a COVID-19 case threshold is being reworked to address the concerns of some lawmakers. Members of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee spent just under three hours Wednesday discussing and listening to public comments on the proposed legislation.
According to the bill, a school district must have a 14-day COVID-19 infection rate of at least 50 new infections per 10,000 residents based on data published by either the Arkansas Department of Health or the Arkansas Center for Health improvement.
Bill That Amends Arkansas Mask Mandate Ban Stalls In House Committee
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Natalie James to seek Democratic nod for U S Senate seat
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Send Larry Walther, secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, will chair the governor s American Rescue Plan Steering Committee.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday set up a 14-member American Rescue Plan Steering Committee to oversee the spending of $1.57 billion of the about $5 billion in federal pandemic aid coming to Arkansas.
The $1.57 billion is the amount going directly to state government; the rest will go to educational institutions, cities, counties and the state Department of Human Services.
About $285 million in funding will flow through the state Department of Finance and Administration to Arkansas communities with less than 50,000 residents, department spokesman Scott Hardin told Arkansas Business by email on Wednesday. The money allocated to each community is based on a formula that was established in guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, he said.
Governor talks COVID-19 vaccines for 12+ and plans for $5 billion in federal aid Governor Hutchinson talks about plans for American Rescue Plan funds.
Anxious Arkansas parents hoping to secure COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 12 and up have just a tiny bit longer to wait.
Governor Hutchinson announced Tuesday that we’re still waiting on guidance from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) before 12- to 15-year-olds can roll up their sleeves for a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine that’s been cleared for use in adolescents.
The advisory committee, chaired by Arkansas’s own
Dr. José Romero, is scheduled to meet on this issue tomorrow. In the meantime, Hutchinson said parents can go ahead and start scheduling appointments, keeping in mind that only the Pfizer version of the vaccine is cleared for use in young people (the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson versions of the vaccine are available in Arkansas but are not yet app