No-show of agency officials sparks outrage of Arkansas lawmakers

Leaders of two state agencies declined to appear before a joint meeting of the Arkansas legislature’s State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committees on Thursday, inspiring outrage, threats and ultimately approval of a motion to subpoena the state officials from lawmakers.

Commerce Secretary Mike Preston, invited to discuss the troubled rollout of the state’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and a recent data breach, emailed the committee to say he would be unable to appear because of an ongoing FBI investigation into the data breach.

The joint committee had also requested attendance by Doralee Chandler, executive director of Alcohol Beverage Control, to discuss the ABC temporarily revoking the alcohol permit for Temple Live, the Fort Smith venue that tried to face down the state over a concert scheduled ahead of the date the state set for large indoor venues to re-open. Representatives from Temple Live were in attendance. Larry Walther, secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration, wrote the committee to say that Chandler wouldn’t appear because the “appropriate venue for Temple Live to air their grievances is in a hearing before” the ABC board and the ABC wouldn’t “participate in a hearing on an administrative violation outside the proper forum.”

Sen. Jimmy Hickey (R-Texarkana) said, “I think this is a horrible, horrible precedent that these agencies are setting by not appearing for these bodies.” Hickey was recently elected to lead the Senate next year, a result that many have interpreted as a sign that many in the Senate are ready to serve as a greater check on the executive branch. Noting that the legislature appropriates state money, Hickey said in warning, “I’m going to tell you now there will be some bad times ahead.”

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https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2020/05/21/no-show-of-agency-officials-sparks-outrage-of-arkansas-lawmakers