David Monteith

Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he is talking with leaders of the Arkansas Legislature about calling a special session in August to be focused on providing economic relief to taxpayers impacted by rising prices. The state ended the 2022 fiscal year last Thursday with the final revenue report to be released on Tuesday by the Department of Finance and Administration. In an interview with Arkansas PBS broadcast over the weekend, Hutchinson said the state is now sitting on a budget surplus of $1.6 billion.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson defended Arkansas’ potential outlawing of abortion Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. Arkansas’ trigger law if Roe v. Wade is overturned would only permit abortion in order to save the life of the mother. Hutchinson said making exceptions for rape or incest does not reflect the will of most Arkansans. “Those are heartbreaking circumstances and that’s where the last few years when we passed these trigger laws we’re expressing a belief,” Hutchinson said.

Published January 18, 2022 at 6:57 PM CST David Monteith / KUAR News At least three libraries in Little Rock said Tuesday they were out of the free, at-home COVID-19 test kits being distributed by the state. Arkansas hospitals reached an all-time high on Tuesday for patients being treated for COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health. 67 additional hospitalizations since Monday brought the total to 1,487 statewide. The previous record was 1,459 patients set on Aug. 16.