Arkansas Legislative Council doesn't act on Northwest Arkansas proposal to combat COVID-19

LITTLE ROCK (TALK BUSINESS & POLITICS) —A healthcare group led by the Northwest Arkansas Council may yet receive $7 million in COVID-19 federal aid to develop a COVID contact tracing program to reduce the spread of the virus in Northwest Arkansas and four counties in southwestern and northeastern Arkansas.

The Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC), which comprises state legislators, met Friday (July 24) but didn’t act on the healthcare group’s proposal. The proposal was a supplemental (late) agenda item, and the ALC would have needed to vote to review it. Because the ALC did not vote to do so, the Northwest Arkansas Council’s proposal wasn’t reviewed; however, it’s expected to be considered in another ALC meeting that has yet to be set.

“The Council’s proposal will provide comprehensive COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and case coordination within the Latinx and Marshallese communities in Northwest Arkansas, along with Independence, Randolph, Sevier and Yell counties,” said Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “The efforts outlined in the proposal were recommended by the CDC and the Arkansas Department of Health. UAMS NW and Community Clinic were asked to coordinate these efforts due to long-standing relationships with leaders and community partners within the Latinx and Marshallese communities of Northwest Arkansas. We are confident that once the Arkansas Legislative Council has an opportunity to review and understand the urgency of the proposal, it will approve these much-needed funds to support the communities most disproportionately affected by the virus.”

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who said he supports the proposal, discussed it in his daily COVID briefing Friday.

“I am anxious for the Legislative Council to approve that because it is needed,” Hutchinson said. “We have 900 cases today. We want to take aggressive action. There is pressure on the Department of Health to do this and to get it done and to get it right. I hope that the Legislative Council, while they didn’t act on it today, will meet again very quickly and act on that and pass it.

“This is not to build a building. This is to save lives. So, help us out,” he added later in a question-and-answer session. “The money is there. It’s federal money that’s been allocated for this. Let’s simply get the paperwork done so we can proceed with this.”

Read more of this story here from KATV content partner Talk Business and Politics.