Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed into law a higher education reform bill known as Arkansas ACCESS that aims to grow the number of skilled workers in the state.
Sanders, speaking at an Arkansas Economic Development Foundation luncheon, said the legislation means “more welders, more electrical engineers, more computer scientists,” as well as more graduates in nursing, agriculture science and industrial manufacturing.
“In short, it means the state is going to be supplying the jobs that you and our entire economy need in order to compete in the 21st century,” Sanders told luncheon attendees.
Arkansas ACCESS funds non-degree credential programs and aims to streamline the college application process by making it so high schoolers can submit one application for any public college or university in the state. The legislation also funds college classes that high schoolers can take before they graduate, expands the number of admissions exams and invests in scholarships, including doubling the Academic Challenge Scholarship and “more than doubling” the Workforce Challenge Scholarship, Sanders said.
“I’ve made no secret that my number one priority as governor is education, and this legislative session has been no different,” she said during a 12-minute speech.
Sanders also highlighted several trade missions that she and state officials have participated in the past two years. She specifically mentioned trips to Korea, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
“Already these trade missions have brought investment to the state,” Sanders said, noting projects by Dassault Falcon Jet in Little Rock, RTX Corp. in Camden, Walther Arms in Fort Smith and Taber Extrusions in Russellville.
Tax cuts, new approaches to workforce development and the state’s new hiring website, Arkansas LAUNCH, were some of the “pro-business” efforts Sanders mentioned in her speech. She said LAUNCH has connected 11,000 users with 35,000 different job listings in the three weeks since the site went live.
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