Lawmakers end fiscal session without setting budget for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The budget for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission remains in the air, even as lawmakers adjourn sine die for fiscal session.
The House of Representatives failed to pass the appropriations for AGFC on Thursday due to concerns over a salary increase for Director, Austin Booth that would have brought his salary up to approximately $190,000.
In an effort to avoid going into special session, due to the high cost that comes with it, the Senate then passed an amendment that did not give a raise beyond the 3% increase state employees are already receiving next fiscal year.
Though at that point, the House had already adjourned sine die, meaning nothing will be considered again until the governor calls a special session. There has not been a set date on when that will happen, though it is expected to come before July 1, when the AGFC’s current fiscal year is set to end.
“When you look across the board at what we were willing to do for state employees, for cabinet secretaries, for all those folks, it was two percent, three percent [increase], so I don’t know how you justify a 25% raise for a director,” State Rep. Jeremy Wooldridge (R-Marmaduke) said.
Arkansas lawmakers approve $6.3 billion budget bill as session wraps up
Wooldridge raised concerns last week when the budget first came before House members for a vote and failed, once they recognized the salary increase being proposed.
Wooldridge said he hoped his colleagues would have found a resolution for this on the final day of fiscal session Thursday with a more appropriate salary.
State Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) did not hold back on his frustrations Thursday speaking to his colleagues on the Senate floor, stressing that passing budget and appropriations was the sole purpose of them convening for fiscal session this year.
“We’ve passed out the appropriation for the Game and Fish,” Dismang said. “People can say whatever they want about the timing or how it transpired, but we did our part on the Senate side.”
Lawmakers will now have to wait for the governor to call them into a special session before July first to pass a budget for AGFC. A special session comes with a price tag for taxpayers, adding up to tens of thousands of dollars per day.
Dismang is expected to give the exact number to Capitol View host Roby Brock over the weekend.
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