Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces legislation during a press conference on Feb. 3, 2025 alongside several lawmakers. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, flanked by several lawmakers, announced legislation Monday that would require municipalities that refuse to pass an annual budget to follow the previous year’s plan.
Such would be the solution in Jefferson County, where public employees have not received pay this year while still attempting to provide services to the community.
“A lot of people don’t understand when you go without a check, even when they get their check, they’re gonna probably need three or four months to catch up with everything,” said freshman Rep. Glenn Barnes, D-Pine Bluff. “It’ll probably be four months, middle of the summer, before they catch up.”
The expected legislation, which officials said would be led by Barnes and Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, would be relevant to any Arkansas county or city that comes to an impasse with its budget. A bipartisan group of lawmakers are expected to join as cosponsors.
“With this legislation, we are going to get Jefferson County back operating,” Gilmore said during Monday’s press conference. “I would just call on all the elected officials that are in a stalemate right now in Jefferson County to figure out your differences, put them aside and get the work done for the people there.”
Gilmore said he would file a new bill Monday afternoon that expands on Barnes’ existing proposal.
Sanders, a Pine Bluff native, said she respects the local leaders but the current circumstance cannot continue. She said the goal is to get the legislation passed “as quickly as possible,” and predicted it would be done by early next week.
“We are stepping in and collectively working together to make sure that the people of Jefferson County are taken care of,” Sanders said.
Last week Barnes filed House Bill 1331, his first piece of legislation, to require local leadership to continue the prior year’s expenditures until a new annual appropriation ordinance is adopted. The bill includes an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect with the governor’s signature.
Barnes said having bipartisan support “meant everything. Whenever we’re together like that, it means both philosophies come together to do this. It’s a unified effort. Yes, it’s much easier.”
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Local issue
The 13-member Jefferson County Quorum Court serves as the legislative body of the county, meeting twice a month to handle business, including passing a budget at the end of each year.
The quorum court is presided over by the county judge, a role currently held by Gerald Robinson. The county judge does not vote on legislative business, but holds the power of veto.
Though the quorum court has made several attempts to pass a budget, no attempt has garnered enough support. According to The Pine Bluff Commercial, a recent attempt to pass a budget ended in Robinson swiftly calling the meeting to a close despite loud protests from county workers.
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Robinson’s office has proposed a budget that includes several cuts, such as at the Sheriff’s Department and for programs like the Opioid Program and Drug Court Accountability. Robinson has refused to put any other budget on the court’s agenda, according to a local report.
Eric Walden Jr., assistant chief of staff for the local circuit court, attended Monday’s press conference in the Capitol and said afterward the proposed legislation was “uplifting.”
Walden said he and other county employees worked all of January without getting paid and the same will continue until the legislation is passed or a budget is approved.
Walden helps lead Pine Bluff’s Group Violence Intervention, a program meant to curb violence among youth. He said the city just celebrated a year without a juvenile homicide, and he doesn’t want to lose the progress that’s been made.
“It’s very important that our employees get paid, that we can get back to work and that we get some normalcy back in Pine Bluff,” Walden said. “Without it, everything’s going to shut down, and we certainly don’t want to be back in the news for juvenile homicides.”
Walden represents about 20 employees, none of whom have decided to leave their positions because of the budget crisis. He has continued to encourage them that the pay is coming soon, he said.
Walden said the passage of the legislation is important so “no other employee has to experience this.”
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