In the News

President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, declaring it a "great day for American jobs" and siding with energy advocates over environmental groups in a heated debate over climate change. The presidential permit comes nearly a decade after Calgary, Alberta-based TransCanada applied to build the $8 billion pipeline, which will snake from Canada through the United States. Trump's State Department said the project advances U.S. interests, a reversal ... Read more

Arkansas’s congressman may be divided on healthcare reform but they are squarely lined-up when it comes to cheering the State Department’s green-light for Keystone XL Pipeline. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton said the decision puts working families “ahead of the demands of left-wing donors for a change.” Senator John Boozman noted a Little Rock manufacturer, Welspun Tubular, manufactured hundreds of miles of the pipeline. Central Arkansas U.S. Representative French Hill claimed the cross-nation “pro-gro... Read more

Unswayed by President Donald Trump's appeal on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford said he still believes the proposed American Health Care Act is bad legislation that would harm the country. "As it stands right now, I'm going to vote against it," the Republican from Jonesboro said. "I can't see changing my vote to yes at this point." Crawford, the only House member from Arkansas who plans to vote no, said the health care package will prove costly. "When we're $20 trillion in debt, ... Read more

House Republicans are considering legislation that would restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a way that allows the president to fire the agency’s director at will. Banking groups, however, are mostly in favor of taking a different approach: forming a bipartisan commission to lead the CFPB. GOP lawmakers who are angling to roll back key aspects of Dodd-Frank have shifted their stance on the consumer agency, a longtime target of GOP efforts to overhaul the 2010 law. Legislation... Read more

U.S. Rep. French Hill spoke to the Exchequer Club at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington last week, telling its members about the House Financial Services Committee's efforts to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory policy. The Republican from Little Rock serves on the committee. The Exchequer's Club, which was founded in 1960, attracts civic and business leaders from across the city. Politico has described it as "sort of a social society for financial types." Hill is the former chairman and ... Read more

In February, Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) introduced the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2017 (H.R. 864)—legislation seeking to extend the scope of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) to cover the activities of private debt collectors working on behalf of federal government agencies. Specifically, the proposed bill expands the definition of debt subject to the FDCPA to cover obligations—including loans, overpayments, fines, past-due penalties, and late fees—owed to a federal agency. Und... Read more

The Trump administration wants to cut funds for the Delta Regional Authority, a government agency that promotes economic development in eastern Arkansas and other portions of the Mississippi Delta. The move faces opposition from some members of the Arkansas congressional delegation. The Delta Regional Authority is one of 19 independent agencies marked for closure under a 2018 budget blueprint released Thursday by the White House Office of Management and Budget. If President Donald Trump's budget... Read more

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined with two Senate conservatives on Wednesday to back a proposal reforming Social Security disability benefits. Noting that disability benefits are consuming more Social Security funds, Rubio and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are co-sponsoring U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton’s, R-Ark., “Return to Work Act" which places new applicants who qualify for Social Security disability benefits in four groups based on whether medical improvement is expected, likely, possible or not e... Read more

Two Republican members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have introduced legislation that would make it harder for millions of people to indefinitely receive federal disability benefits. Under the Social Security Disability Insurance Return to Work Act, those qualifying for disability assistance would be placed in one of four categories: medical improvement expected; medical improvement likely; medical improvement possible; and medical improvement not expected. If improvement is expected,... Read more

Three $500 scholarships were awarded to local high school seniors, along with business and volunteer of the year honors during the annual Clinton Chamber of Commerce banquet last week. Former Clinton Chamber of Commerce president Darrell Moore presented the $500 scholarship certificates to Taylor Huggins from Clinton High School, Benton Barry from Shirley High School, and Madison Thorn from South Side Bee Branch High School. Steve Goode of Goode’s Cash Saver grocery accepted the Business of the ... Read more