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Governor: Reorganization Plan Includes New Inspector General Office

2 min read

Gov. Asa Hutchinson touted his plan to remake state government on Wednesday, a reorganization that would include adding Arkansas’ first Department of Inspector General.

“It’s important that we continue our effort to transform state government, to reduce our state departments that report directly to me from 42 down to 15,” he said during a keynote address at the annual meeting of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. “This impacts everyone in this room in one way or another. Everybody has a licensing group that you have responsibility to get your license through, that regulates your profession.”

Hutchinson, who won re-election last week, said the new department would help him “reduce abuse of taxpayer dollars and waste of taxpayer dollars and help us be more efficient.”

The Republican governor said that, under the plan, the 200 boards and commissions that regulate professions would be aligned under a Department of Labor & Licensing, while health-related regulatory bodies would come under the Department of Health.

There would also be a Department of Transformation & Shared Services, which would oversee what aid the state could provide industry and support private sector innovation.

The first phase of the reorganization would save the state $5 million, the governor said. 

Hutchinson announced in March that he would to present a plan to the Legislature next year to reduce the number of cabinet-level agencies in state government by 50 percent. He unveiled the proposal in October, calling it “comprehensive plan for the transformation of state government.” He said it’s the first comprehensive effort to trim state government since 1972.

The plan also includes putting the State Police, the Crime Lab and the state Department of Emergency Management, among other law enforcement-related agencies, under a new Department of Public Safety. It would also merge the departments of Correction and Community Correction.

Other Priorities

Hutchinson also said his administration’s “Be Pro Be Proud” initiative, led by the Associated Industries of Arkansas, has made a difference.

He thanked the attendees for focusing on career education and workforce training and encouraged them to give ex-convicts a second chance at jobs in order to increase the state’s labor force participation.

The governor said that when he took office four years ago, 55 high schools didn’t have access to a career education center. Now, only 17 are without access.

There are also now 117 registered apprenticeship programs, compared to 88 when he took office, Hutchinson said. He said more Arkansans are working, and 65,000 have moved out of poverty in the past four years.

The governor briefly spoke about components of his proposed $5.7 billion budget, which he unveiled to legislators Wednesday morning. The budget sets aside money to raise minimum salaries for public school teachers and cuts state income taxes. He also said highway funding is a priority.

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