Hello again, everyone.

Thanks very much for joining us for Arkansas Week.

I'm Steve Barnes, set aside for a moment the fact that the century that we would have sworn began just yesterday is not a quarter gone.

The best we can do in our half hour is to revisit some of the major stories that involved our state in the year now ending stories that we covered here on Arkansas Week.

So some reminders, some excerpts of editions past.

And we begin with our interview earlier this year with Speaker Brian Evans, who shared his assessment of the legislative session, what passed and what didn't.

It is a huge focus point for both the House, Senate and most especially for Governor Sanders and her team.

We ranked near the bottom on almost every aspect of maternal health.

One of the most concerning aspects of that to me is, as I see across the state, continual closure of labor and delivery facilities.

We have to do things that bring on a generational change.

And so when you look at the diversity of the terrain of Arkansas, and you look especially in the southeast, the southwest portions of the state, eastern Arkansas and the Delta, and when there's nowhere close for an expectant mother to get, repeated, maternal health care, pre-birth care, and then most especially that follow up after labor and delivery, it just sets us on a negative spiral.

And so, we need to, to be innovative with the things that we're looking at.

I've had a lot of conversations about telemedicine, and how we can provide opportunities for, expectant mothers to have visits with a provider.

Maybe they don't live close to a facility, but if we can patch them in, with with not only just their physicians, but also, with postpartum care, then we feel like we can help make a generational change.

So the economy continues to expand.

Do you see any changes, really significant changes in in tax policy in this regular session anyway?

I think with our conversations with us, most of it's centered around grocery tax.

And so far, yes, sir.

I think, thus far the conversations are centered strictly at the grocery tax.

We want to be conservative yet proactive.

So what we don't want to do is, is we are in a very strong financial position right now, both with our general revenue, but also with our reserves.

And so we want to be very cautious with the continuation of those cuts.

But we are committed to continue to cut that income tax.

It's made us, as a state, very attractive.

We have people moving here weekly because of that.

We have businesses that are moving here.

But I think for the session, the grocery tax will be the key initiative.

And we'll take a look at the next cut in that income tax.

Most likely, in the fiscal session.

Can you pump the brakes on that prism project that is now the administration wants to pursue in West Arkansas and Franklin County?

I think that, I think the green light is shining bright on that.

You know, Steve, regardless of where the decision had been made to to put that prison, it would have been very unpopular in most any corner of the state.

We know that the need is there.

We know that there was a substantial amount of planning that went into this.

I think we're waiting cautiously through the implementation stages of that to make sure that, every aspect of that long term plan was put in place.

I foresee that that, that that prison will be built in Franklin County.

An initiative from Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders passed with bipartisan support, except perhaps among students.

The bottom line no cell phones, no smartphones in public schools during the classroom day.

And legislation to improve maternal and infant health.

A couple of primary sponsors were understandably elated.

We're calling Bell to Bell.

No cell act.

And really, what this is, is a response to the overwhelming data that we're seeing where our kids are really being harmed.

And our kids deserve every advantage we can give them.

We have a constitutional charge to provide fair and adequate and a great education for our students.

And so what this does is it's a cell phone prohibited, ban from bell to bell from the start of the day to the end of the day.

So that students can really focus so they're not distracted.

So they're not being bullied.

So they're not being constantly, sent the communication and notifications from social media and from other students and, so they can focus and achieve success and performance in the classroom.

I'm very happy with the package, in its totality.

Obviously, there's probably a few things here and there we'd like to include.

But, you know, as you come together as both the House, Senate and the executive branch to try to work on the big issues, what are the things that move the needle?

What are the things that are going to stop the bleeding and the closing down of labor and delivery units?

And so to me, this is a great package.

There were things that honestly, I would say probably four years ago, would never thought that we would be doing things like presumptive eligibility, community health workers, doulas, all those things I think that are in this package are great steps forward.

And the fact that, you know, we are now, I think it's what, $45.3 million, of funds now going towards maternal health in this package.

I'm excited about that.

And I think that's a great step for Arkansas in the digital age.

It gained momentum in Arkansas, as elsewhere and the prospect of key information traditionally kept in pockets or purses was suddenly real or almost on to digital driver's licenses soon.

Maybe I can keep it on my phone.

You know, you can download right now.

The Arkansas Mobile I.D.

app.

You can go to the Google Store and go to the Apple Store.

It's free.

Just go and download it.

I think this week so far we've had about 12,000 Arkansans since we made the announcement.

Do the download.

So it's functioning right now.

But and this is obviously another step in a digital age assignment, right?

Yeah.

And I think the thing about it is it's also an integrity measure as well.

You know, there is a thriving underground economy, a lot of it from China in terms of producing fake I.D.s.

And so you could have a Arkansas driver's license that looks totally credible, and it's fictitious.

It's not real.

With the mobile ID, you'll be able to, as a merchant, if you're selling a product only for people above age, you'll be able to instantly validate that's a that's a true license.

And that person's age is what's represented in that app.

We're really excited about it.

Much as we wish.

Otherwise, no year in Arkansas can escape the heavy hand of nature in one episode.

And just as spring came into view, the Sharp County community of Hardy was hit hard by storms that tested the town and state and federal disaster response teams.

In the hours after the skies cleared, the mayor spoke with our Dawn Scott.

The images are just stunning of of the rescue, of what the water did to your town.

Give us the damage estimates right now, if you will.

I know residents lost homes.

That campground was destroyed.

So much more.

Sure.

So the what's interesting about this.

And if you've ever flown in the spring River or fished your kayak, you're familiar what this called the Maya Creek and the South Fork River.

When the creek and the South Fork River began to take on large amounts of water like they did, they tend to basically explode when it enters into the spring River.

And in that area, there was just a massive amount of water that came through.

The readings from USGS report 22.82, I believe, amount of rain above the of the in the flood stage.

As a local who's been here my entire life, I don't know if I agree with their readings that water was very high, that water was raising a foot every 15 to 30 minutes.

As that water began to crest into the wee hours of the morning.

Of course, the amount of traffic is not something that our local municipality could even begin to manage on our own.

So by the resource of the Arkansas Highway Patrol, the Arkansas State Police, the National Guard, we eventually, took notice that, US 63 was closed down.

They had closed the highway down at the Lawrence County and Sharpe County line.

There was a segment of US 63 that was completely underwater, and the vehicles could not come through Hardee and get to Jonesboro or Memphis.

And of course, that affects commerce.

There was even a train derailment at Mammoth Spring, and that BNSF railway that goes through it there completely impacts the federal economy across the entire entire nation.

And the world, if you will.

So as we, relied on all of our local, police and our state police and the National Guard to help with our traffic control, we knew we knew we had some issues on our hands that we needed some help.

And, of course, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was right there at the call to assist us when we called for assistance.

So we really thank the governor's office for all of our help to make this work to where we had zero fatalities in this in this an unprecedented event where once oil and then natural gas delivered riches from the Arkansas Earth, a new subterranean source of wealth came into view.

Atomic number three, lithium, precious and very light metal.

Lithium has long had medical applications, but its use in green energy and high powered batteries has heightened demand for lithium.

But how to compensate landowners?

What?

Our fair royalties.

Well, it fell to the state oil and Gas Commission to finally decide, there is an additional economic substance to be extracted, to to take the 2.5% royalty is the is a royalty rate as presented.

For for me personally, this proposal is it's fair, it's consistent, and it is competitive, if not show of hands.

All in favor?

Motion passes unanimously.

Nine votes to none.

And there it was, a unanimous finding with more on the situation.

Now we're joined by Senator Steve Crowell of Magnolia, who's, as we mentioned, whose district includes much of that territory.

Senator, thanks very much for coming aboard.

Is this settled now, at least as far as this particular lease with this particular company is concerned?

Are we looking at a litigation?

I don't think we're going to look at litigation.

I think this has been a process that has has been through the wringer three times.

And I feel that they have both voiced their opinion.

And the Oil and Gas Commission took this very seriously and did their due diligence.

So I feel very confident that that now that we have the first first lease taken care of and another month there'll be another one come up, that one will be taken care of, and then South Arkansas will be on its way to producing lithium.

What are they going to start to yield anyway?

Well, yield and progress are going to be probably two different things.

I believe the brine plants will start breaking ground this summer.

At this point.

The plants to pull the brine out of the the ground will start breaking ground.

We have two companies that have already committed almost $2 billion, and you'll see them start breaking ground.

By the time lithium is produced, it still could be about three years away.

It does take a while to build $1 billion plant.

It's advocates, primarily the president of the United States called it a big, beautiful bill.

Its size and scope was beyond question, though not everyone thought it attractive.

But it won unanimous support from the six Republicans who make up Arkansas's congressional delegation, and the third district representative with long experience in federal finance shared his views with Arkansas Week.

The House has acted as everyone knows.

We have passed H.R.

one, the big beautiful bill, as we call it, and we've sent it over to the Senate.

And the Senate will have an opportunity to adjust that bill to whatever extent they deem necessary.

There are some sticky points in the discussion, and these haven't changed over time.

Maybe the degree to which we're dealing with these issues changes a little bit, but the issues are the issues.

Medicaid, how much to cut on Medicaid, how to cut Medicaid.

It's the first real opportunity that we've had in a couple of generations or more to be able to deal with the significant drivers of the deficit and the debt that we face today.

And that's on the mandatory side of spending leisure.

So Medicaid is in play.

The food stamp, the Snap program is also, going to face some cuts and some readjustment, some reprograming and pushing a little bit more of that, responsibility down to our states.

Passage of the big beautiful bill didn't settle the dollars and cents of government spending, certainly not in the weeks that followed.

The initial failure to pass a budget bill produced the longest government shutdown in seven years.

Senator John Bozeman of Arkansas joined us to share his thoughts on that issue and the farm stalemate.

We have a situation here where, you know, two sides don't seem to be budging.

Some federal employees and some Medicaid beneficiaries are caught in the middle, among among other government services.

Anyway.

Do you see an off ramp?

There will be an off ramp.

There always is.

To be honest, I don't see how we're going to get there.

Right now.

But, you know, we're in the situation where we'd like to, to take, the next few weeks, up until about Thanksgiving and then work through our appropriations bills, do things right.

In order to do that, the Democrats, Senator Schumer said, we can't do that unless we you agree to $1 trillion worth of spending, and we're just not going to do that.

So, we're at an impasse.

I think the demands that he's making are unreasonable.

I think also that during the Biden years, there were 13 continuing resolutions, much like this.

This is a it's not like anything's been added.

We're just going to keep spending money exactly like we did last year.

Switch subjects if we can.

Sir, you got an awful lot of soybean farmers and corn farmers right now talking about being held hostage.

They're being held hostage right now to a tariff situation.

Is there do you see any relief?

I do, I think it's a good story in the sense that, the Agriculture Committee has worked really hard to educate members, people like our congressional delegation that have been so helpful.

And, again, in educating members, essentially people that that are from farm states.

And the reality is that most of the country, have really made a case to the administration, Department of Agriculture, their fellow members.

And as a result, the vast majority, in fact, I'd say virtually everyone in Congress now understands that our farmers need their help.

The challenges facing Arkansas farmers, who are perhaps most visible in soybean fields, along with higher prices for fuel and fertilizer and other essentials.

The tariffs applied to Chinese products prompted Beijing to buy soybeans from other countries, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in domestic sales.

The situation created fresh concern for not only farmers income, but their physical and mental health, as well as told to Chris Cane and Carlton Wang.

One of the recent articles I read you were quoted in was, in a local publication talking about farm bankruptcies in the state of Arkansas.

And this has been an increase substantially, year to year.

Do you think this is a problem that is temporary because of some of these different factors that you've been mentioning?

Or could this be something that lasts longer, is more systemic, with some of those factors being drawn out or extended out into areas that are uncontrollable for these farmers?

Yeah, I think it just goes back to, can a farmer repay their loan?

Can a farmer repay their loan?

And so, you know, if the government assistance comes through that's been talked about, with farm Bill as well.

If those things can help folks get through, that might help more or less, soften the horrible blow that we've already seen, which we've had across the South, a little over 100.

Chapter 12 or AG related bankruptcies in Arkansas alone.

We account for a quarter of those.

And so, you know, the prices aren't going to help, that's for sure.

Yields also are hurting right now, too, cost of remaining elevated.

And so, it's looking like, that just net revenue alone is not going to carry folks.

Sorry.

Yeah.

You mentioned the government potentially stepping in.

There was a recent meeting up in northeast Arkansas this past week.

A lot of farmers joined in on that meeting.

Do you anticipate seeing more of those calls and collectively, farmers coming together from around the state to show that they need that support as a whole instead of individuals reaching out?

I mean, I think, farmers were very inspired.

I mean, I was inspired, frankly.

I mean, for a gathering of 400 farmers to pretty much of their own accord come together.

I mean, there wasn't like this was a conference in harvest.

Yeah.

One of the busiest times of the year.

So I think it really highlights and emphasizes just how dire of a situation it is.

I mean, we're talking about money and dollars and everything, but we're also talking about livelihoods five, six, seven, eighth generation farms, you know, going out of business and liquidating.

And so a lot of these folks coming together, I mean, all these folks coming together and they're saying we don't we don't want that.

And we want to try to prevent that if we can.

What are reasons for optimism moving forward?

Mark, as a fourth generation farmer, it's a challenging question.

There there aren't a lot at the moment.

You know, farmers are, optimistic by nature.

You have to be in order to take on the role of trying to do what it is that farmers do.

But when you're in an environment like we are today, when it's not just the challenges of the market, it's the challenges of the weather, which you spoke about in the first segment, two challenges of international trade that we see, weighing down on us, you know, the the only optimism that we can, generate maybe is just the fact that, you know, some of us made it through the 80s.

There are many that didn't, some of us surely will hopefully make it through this downturn, but there are so many that won't.

So I, I like to be an optimistic person.

But it's very difficult to find a, a policy point at this point that I could point to or a trade point to say that I'm optimistic because of that.

I'm I'm optimistic because I have to be and, I can't say that I'm I'm optimistic that there are people that are listening.

I'm optimistic that are people that are willing to do something.

The question is whether that group is big enough and will act quickly enough to make a difference.

What is the most impactful way that we can connect with farmers?

You know, there's there's so much going on the ag industry which, the congressmen will discuss.

But there's not a lot of discussion on mental health and raising awareness of that.

Really, the impact that farming has, if you think about it, just in Arkansas alone, it's our largest industry, but we're at the bottom, of the country when it comes to mental health awareness and food security.

So this event is to get people together to address something that's not discussed and do it in a way that, helps support farmers, let them know that they they're supported.

Congressman, let's talk to you for a moment.

Our farmers have faced a lot of challenges, this year.

And really almost every year, there's always things, that they're concerned about.

But what are you hearing directly from the farmers that prompted you to get involved in this way?

Well, I mean, all you have to do is look at some of the statistics that are out there with regard to the financial situation for farmers.

We're seeing more bankruptcies.

We're seeing more farm sales.

We're seeing young people leave the farm.

We're seeing the toll this takes on our rural communities.

What we want to do is make sure that farmers, number one, they know they're not alone.

Number two, we need to overcome the stigma of asking for help.

Farmers are fiercely independent.

They don't necessarily want to ask for help on on issues like this, but we want to know.

We want them to know that the help is out there.

We want to pair them up with the resources they they need to intervene.

If someone's having even remotely considering, doing harm to themselves or anything like that, we want to make sure that they know there's there's another way and that they can get help that they need.

We conclude this final edition for 2025, in our customary manner, by taking note of the passing of some of the men and women of the sort that make Arkansas, Arkansas.

They were the newsmakers, the people who gave us something to talk about every week.

And some were people who helped cover the news in those categories.

They're almost certainly our omissions.

But please, they were inadvertent.

And as always, we thank you for joining us and may your new year include us.