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Budget hearings largely uneventful Members of the Joint Budget Committee met for three days last week to hear from select state agencies and to make budget recommendations ahead of April’s fiscal session. The hearings kicked off with a presentation of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s proposed budget for 2025.

As we do, I, like most of my friends, spend a lot of time thinking of the good old days. But let’s face it, many of them weren’t as good as you might remember.

With a bit of planning, you can find the perfect spot to see this wonder of nature. WHERE TO WATCH If you’re wanting to see a total solar eclipse, you need to make sure you find a spot within the path of totality.

LITTLE ROCK – Legislators held budget hearings to scrutinize every spending category in state government, in preparation for the fiscal session that begins April 10. Leading off the agenda was the presentation of a balanced budget for next fiscal year.

In the previous column, I discussed the alarming growth of “ambulance deserts” across Arkansas. As we observe a decline in the availability of ambulance services, there is a concurrent increase in both the demand for these services and the cost of private ambulance services. In Arkansas, 15% of emergency medical services (EMS) are fire-based, 12% are hospital-based, 10% are public but not fire-related, and a staggering 63% are privately operated.

Pre-fiscal session budget hearings took place at the Capitol last week. The hearings began with the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) presenting the Governor’s recommendation for a balanced budget.