In the News

Hill offers bipartisan legislation to help criminal offenders re-enter society The Ripon Advance 9/17/19 U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) on Sept. 9 sponsored a bipartisan bill to establish a pilot grant program at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that would provide educational programs to offenders reentering society following their incarceration. “Education… Read more »

State Senate's leader unveils e-cigarette bill; tax rise, curbs on public use proposed Arkansas Democrat Gazette 9/17/19 Arkansas' Senate leader on Monday publicized a draft bill that would raise taxes on electronic cigarettes and bar their use in places where traditional cigarettes are prohibited. Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, said he drafted the… Read more »

Little Rock to tackle crime with $1.2M in grants Arkansas Democrat Gazette 9/17/19 Little Rock plans to use more than $1.2 million in grant funding to expand its gun crimes, victims' advocacy and domestic violence units, the city announced Monday. Money from the grants will allow the Little Rock Police Department to implement an in-house ballistics information system, add six… Read more »

State looking into dumping of wastewater; hauler for Bethel Heights, watershed land under probe Arkansas Democrat Gazette  9/17/19 SPRINGDALE -- The state is investigating a report that a firm hired to haul an estimated 117,000 gallons of wastewater from Bethel Heights applied it to land east of Springdale without a permit, officials confirmed Monday. Arkansas Department of… Read more »

Arkansas Tourism Ticker: Tourism tax revenue up 5.7% in first six months of 2019 Talk Business & Politics 9/16/19 There is no recession in Arkansas’ travel and tourism industry. The sector continues to see gains in growth, with the state’s 2% tourism tax revenue between January and June up 5.7% compared with the same period in 2018. January-June hospitality tax collections… Read more »

Brawner: Why one ex-con is ‘proud of the man that I have become’ Times Record 9/15/19 Less than a year ago, Terrance Knowlton was in a Wrightsville prison for dealing drugs. Now, he says, “I’m proud of the man that I have become today.” How did he get from there to here? Partly thanks to Shorter College. Knowlton, 30, made bad choices in life and ended up selling drugs out… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Hill’s bill would offer grants for ex-inmates at HBCUs Talk Business & Politics 9/09/19 U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, says historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) can be “a key arrow in the quiver” for helping prisoners re-enter society successfully, so he’s hoping to redirect $5 million in Department of Justice grants toward programs run by those… Read more »

Hill aims to make Arkansas a national model for Opportunity Zones The Ripon Advance 08/12/2019 U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) is working to ensure that his home state becomes a national model for the implementation of Opportunity Zones, which are designed to attract companies and businesses to invest in economically distressed communities. “Ultimately, my vision is that together,… Read more »

Arkansas: the land of OZ August 5, 2019 Talk Business and Politics A top White House official on Monday (Aug. 5) said that policymakers in Little Rock and across Arkansas already have a “green light” to seek private investment for distressed, low-income areas across the state to take advantage of so-called federal Opportunity Zones (OZs) approved by Congress in late 2017. Ben… Read more »

White House staffers in Little Rock KARK 08/05/2019 White House staffers in Little Rock on August, 5 to discuss opportunity zones in the capitol city. Mayor Frank Scott Junior, US Representative French Hill and others hosted the DC visitors spending the day talking more on how to take advantage of these opportunity zones. It is all apart of a special tax incentive for private… Read more »