A divided legislative panel on Tuesday balked at granting the state Department of Agriculture $7 million in spending authority to allow the department to distribute a federal grant to Central Arkansas Water for use in land acquisition in the Lake Maumelle watershed.
In a voice vote, the Legislative Council’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee rejected the state Department of Agriculture’s request for an appropriation to clear the way for the acquisition of land in the Lake Maumelle watershed as part of the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program.
Afterward, subcommittee co-chair Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said he expected the Legislative Council to consider the department’s appropriation request during its meeting Friday.
The proposed appropriation would allow the state Department of Agriculture to provide pass-through funding to an escrow account that will ultimately benefit Central Arkansas Water for the purchase of 1,325 acres of land in Pulaski and Perry counties at a total cost of $9,333,333, according to the department.
Of that amount, $7 million would come from U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program funding, with the remaining balance funded by Central Arkansas Water, a state Department of Agriculture spokesperson said last month.
The acquisition tract is currently owned by the PotlatchDeltic Timber Company, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
State Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, said Tuesday that she opposed the state Department of Agriculture’s request for authorization to disburse $7 million in federal tax dollars for the purchase property that is prime for development around Lake Maumelle. She said the state needs more homes with the influx of people coming to the state from out of state.
Last month, a state Department of Agriculture spokesperson said the department’s request for this appropriation was pulled from the Legislative Council’s agenda last month “to allow time to provide additional information to legislators,” after it stalled last month before the Legislative Council’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee.
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