by Michael Hibblen | Jun 14, 2026 | Arkansas News, Arkansas Politics
Actor and director Kevin Costner testified about the importance of preserving and funding national parks and public lands during a field hearing Friday of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Just outside of Hot Springs National Park, a field hearing was held Friday by members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources who heard testimony and advocacy for passage of the Great American Outdoors Act 250. The bipartisan bill would reauthorize a law passed by Congress in 2020 that was designed to protect public lands and repair aging infrastructure.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, who chairs the committee, invited members from around the country to his district. He noted that 40 years before Yellowstone was designated as the United States’ first national park, Congress protected the thermal waters of Hot Springs in 1832. That created “America’s first federal reservation of a natural resource, making Hot Springs the birthplace of what a lot of people call ‘America’s best idea.’ Today, Hot Springs serves as a powerful example of what can happen when federal investment, local leadership and private partnerships come together.”
Westerman and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, introduced the reauthorization bill Wednesday. The measure would expand on the 2020 legislation, which Westerman said represented the largest investment in public lands infrastructure in generations, providing long-overdue resources to address deteriorating trails, campgrounds, visitor facilities and historic structures.
In Arkansas, Westerman said more than $52 million has been invested in projects at Hot Springs National Park, the Buffalo National River and the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge.
“Those investments have improved visitor access, strengthened recreational opportunities and supported some of our state’s most treasured public lands,” Westerman said, adding that “record visitation continues to place new demands on aging infrastructure.”
The new legislation builds on the successes of the original law, he said, while addressing lessons learned through its implementation. Deferred maintenance over several decades is also a problem that Westerman said still has not been rectified.
“While inflation and rising construction costs may make needed repairs even more expensive, we have also learned important lessons about how these funds are allocated, how projects are selected, how agencies measure deferred maintenance and how we can better leverage partnerships to stretch taxpayer dollars even further,” Westerman said.
The legislation would invest $1.9 billion annually in national parks, public lands and Bureau of Indian Education facilities for the next five years. Funding would come from private donations, onshore energy revenue and new fees paid by foreign visitors.
Among those who testified during the hearing was actor and director Kevin Costner, who has long advocated for preserving national parks, largely through his documentary films. He spoke about growing up in a family that did not have the money to travel to major tourist destinations, but made annual drives to national parks.
“We could afford the gas to get us to the mighty sequoias, the high Sierras, to Yosemite. It was better than Paris, at least for a kid with my imagination. We could fish in a lake, sleep in a tent next to a stream, wake up to the smell of bacon and an open fire. It seemed wild,” Costner said.
“What always struck me, but I couldn’t articulate as a child, was that it never changed. It was undisturbed. It was comforting to know when I came back, it would look the same every time. It was perfect,” Costner said. “Nature doesn’t need a lot of help being perfect. But getting to this spot would not have been impossible without a road, a marked trail, even our campsite was the perfect distance from the next camper.”
That infrastructure is critical to ensuring visitors have good experiences in parks, Costner said, but the signs of deferred maintenance are becoming increasingly apparent.
He also spoke of the role of explorer, geologist and physician Ferdinand Hayden, who led the first government survey of the Yellowstone region in 1871 and advocated for preserving the area. The following year Yellowstone was established as the nation’s first national park.
“The odds of that happening in the area and the era lived, and the forces that stood against it, at a time when America’s natural resources were up for grabs, free to be exploited, with little or no regard for the future — it was zero. But he did it,” Costner said. “He had a vision and the courage to champion preservation over profit.”
Nature remains vulnerable, he said, which is why he supports the legislation.
“While visitations continue to grow, many of our parks are struggling with aging roads, deteriorating trails, outdated water systems, historic buildings in need of repair and staffing shortages that make it increasingly difficult to protect these resources and serve the public. We need the people who care for these places,” Costner said. “There’s really no better time for us to reaffirm our commitment to these places that tell America’s story. Conservation can’t afford to be a partisan issue.”
In addition to restoring infrastructure, backers of the legislation say it would support 72,500 jobs nationwide and generate $26.4 billion in economic activity for communities neighboring national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and public lands. It also would promote transparency and accountability by streamlining contracting and procurement, expediting project reviews and requiring regular reporting.
Others testifying at the hearing included U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Kate MacGregor, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Katherine Andrews, and Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Executive Council Member Mike Ward.
The hearing was held at the historic Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, which sits alongside Hot Springs National Park and provides direct access to the park’s trail system. The landmark hotel, which has hosted several presidents over the last century, has recently undergone extensive renovations.
After the hearing, Westerman acknowledged that despite having bipartisan support, the legislation is far from a done deal.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman speaks with reporters after Friday’s hearing in Hot Springs. Photo: Michael Hibblen
“It’s an act of Congress — there’s always a challenge — but I’m working with our colleagues in the Senate [to build support]. You saw the administration is supportive. It would be great in our 250th anniversary to somehow get this to President Trump to sign by July 4th. That would be a very tall task to happen, but it’s something we all care about and I think it could happen,” Westerman said.
Environmental and conservation groups are supporting the legislation. Audubon Delta Arkansas Policy Manager Glen Hooks said he attended Friday’s hearing to learn details and was “really satisfied and happy” with what he heard.
“Audubon is going to support and endorse this bill because it’s the kind of thing that brings people together. National parks — everybody loves them. You’ve got an Arkansas Republican congressman, you’ve got environmental groups, you’ve got Crash Davis here in favor of this bill,” Hooks said, referencing the baseball player Costner played in the 1988 film Bull Durham.
Hooks said he visited three national parks last month and thanked Westerman for his leadership in bringing this bill forward. He said parks are quickly impacted by staffing or budget cuts.
“You can’t just leave the gates open and let people come in because when you do that, as we saw in the early days of government shutdowns, unfortunately some Americans will come in and vandalize,” Hooks said. “This bill will keep these national treasures intact for years to come, and I think, one of the best things the federal government has ever done is create the National Parks System.”
I reported this story for Talk Business & Politics, The Glenwood Herald and the Fordyce News-Advocate.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Apr 30, 2026 | Arkansas News, Arkansas Politics
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was joined by legislative leaders on Wednesday to sign identical budget bills. Photo: Michael Hibblen
At the conclusion of a three-week fiscal session of the Arkansas Legislature, Gov. Sarah Sanders on Wednesday (April 29) signed the Revenue Stabilization Act into law.
The $6.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins in July includes an increase in funding for Educational Freedom Accounts, authorizes millions in economic incentives to attract a major manufacturer to West Memphis and funds a pay increase for Arkansas State Troopers.
The governor was surrounded by Republican state lawmakers for the bill signing ceremony.
“A fiscal session is always a mad dash, but we came together, we did the work and we delivered for the people of Arkansas,” Sanders said.
The budget meets the goals she laid out in her State of the State address at the start of the session, Sanders said, “and because of that, we will now be able to cut taxes for the fourth time in three years next week.” That’s when legislators will return to the Capitol for a special session focused on reducing state taxes.
“When we cut Arkansas’ income tax, we will have lowered our overall rate since I took office by 25% and returned more than $1.5 billion to the people of Arkansas. We will also lower our corporate tax rate … by 0.2% and continue to make Arkansas the best state in America to do business,” Sanders said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, acknowledged to state agency directors and cabinet secretaries in the room that the final approved budget would be tight for all of them. But he said that was necessary to put the state in a financial position to responsibly pass additional tax cuts.
“What we’re asking them to do is more with less and continue to serve the people of Arkansas. I want to thank every state employee who’s out there doing their part to make sure that we continue to provide great services,” Hester said.
House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, stressed the importance of education-related votes during the fiscal session.
“Education that is for all children, regardless of their age, their gender, their background, their wealth index, or physical, or mental capabilities,” Evans said. “We are investing in the children of Arkansas.”
Additional EFA funding
When Sanders was questioned about expanding funding to cover the growing cost of sending kids to private schools or for home schooling, she said public schools are also benefitting from the budget approved by the legislature.
“We’re putting about $300 million into Education Freedom Accounts. At the same time, we’re putting $3.3 billion into public education — 10 times as much — the largest investment we’ve ever made in public education in the state of Arkansas. And you want to know what the best part is? It’s actually working,” Sanders said.
“Our kids are doing better, our teachers have higher satisfaction than they have ever had, our state is winning because we’re investing where it matters, and it’s gonna make a difference, not just in the immediate, right now. We’re seeing our test scores go up. We’re seeing our schools do better.”
She suggested the benefits to education will be felt for decades to come and said Arkansas is a blueprint that other states are following.
West Memphis Superproject
The budget authorizes up to $300 million to be transferred from surplus funds to help convince a major manufacturer to build a superproject in West Memphis. Details are being kept confidential, but it has been suggested the project could initially create up to 4,000 jobs, then another 2,000 after completion.
“I’m hopeful that we will be able to get this project,” Sanders said. “It will be a massive economic investment in a region of our state that will benefit greatly.”
Sanders said she couldn’t get into specifics about the other states vying for the project, but suggested “Arkansas is in a very good position.”
The money would be split into $150 million for an incentives package, then another $150 million for infrastructure improvements, like roads and highways. There have been assurances this is not a data center.
Senate and House leadership
During his remarks, Senator Hester congratulated Sen. Breanne Davis (R-Russellville) for winning a majority of the votes in the Senate earlier in the day to become president pro tempore designate for next year’s general session. But that’s not the final vote.
Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne, told colleagues he too is interested in the leadership position. After the November election and before the Senate is convened next year, a decision is expected during an organizational meeting.
Meanwhile in the House, Speaker Evans, who did not face a challenge, was again elected to the top leadership position in that chamber.
This story was reported for Talk Business & Politics and the six newspapers published by Newsroom Ventures. I’ll discuss the fiscal session and what’s planned for next week’s special session on the “Talk Business & Politics” program airing Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m. on KLRT-Fox 16 in Little Rock, KNWA-Fox 24 in Fayetteville and on Monday, May 4 at 6:05 p.m. on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR-FM 89.1.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Apr 14, 2026 | Arkansas Education, Arkansas Politics
This story ran on the Talk Business & Politics website on April 13, 2026 and is the culmination of several local articles I wrote for Arkansas newspapers owned by Newsroom Ventures LLC.
Third graders at Centerpoint Elementary School in Amity, Ark., like other students in the state, will be required to demonstrate a basic reading proficiency to advance to the fourth grade as part of the LEARNS Act. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Three years into the implementation of the LEARNS Act, Arkansas educators are bracing for a new reading proficiency requirement that takes effect this year and will determine which third graders can be promoted to the fourth grade.
Standardized tests will be administered in the coming weeks at all public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to provide a high-stakes assessment that will inevitably involve some students having to repeat third grade.
Watson Chapel Superintendent Keith McGee says it’s the culmination of a hectic school year that has involved teachers and administrators assessing students’ abilities and providing interventions to those who aren’t reading as proficiently as they need to be.
“We’re just making sure that what we call the core instruction is at grade level and monitoring their progress, monitoring that daily instruction, and by making sure that we track kids’ daily work and their progress,” McGee said.
Through that data, he says the district, which covers parts of Jefferson County in southeast Arkansas, knows “a high percentage” of its third graders will pass the reading portion of the Arkansas Teaching & Learning Assessment System (ATLAS) test, while some will not. For those who are struggling, teachers have been reaching out to parents, while also working to convey the importance of passing the test to third graders.
“Our kids know that there’s a sense of urgency of their score, their grade level,” McGee said, “not where it’s an anxiety, but just an awareness that we’re going to get through this together, so that kids know that we’ve got to take this test seriously.”
Requiring a basic reading ability is vital at this stage for students, Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said in an interview with Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief Roby Brock.
“If students aren’t able to be proficient readers by fourth grade and you start getting deeper into content and explicit instruction on how to read isn’t as prevalent, then school’s not fun. We don’t want kids to just go to school and not have fun because you’re struggling to read,” Oliva said.
While it can be difficult socially for students to be held back as their peers advance to a higher grade, the state Department of Education identifies third grade reading proficiency as a “pivotal predictor of future academic success,” including whether they will graduate from high school.
Oliva says the LEARNS Act now provides strategies for teachers and parents to implement an Individual Reading Plan (IRP) to try and avoid having to repeat third grade.
“If we see a student is not making grade level, well, what we’re able to do this year is maybe they need some short-term high impact tutoring, maybe they need to be in a summer program,” Oliva said. “So now we come together with a plan. You’re not automatically retained. What you’re required to do is have a plan on how we’re going to fill those gaps — and retention may be part of that plan — but it’s not the absolute.”
If the new reading requirement had been in place last year, test results show only 36% of Arkansas students would have been promoted to the fourth grade. But educators hope the new assessments and interventions will ensure that won’t be the result this year.
At Centerpoint Elementary School in Amity, which serves students from parts of Pike, Garland, Clark and Hot Spring counties in southwest Arkansas, Principal Erica Doster says reading is still being taught the same way as before the LEARNS Act was enacted. But she says new processes during this school year allowed teachers to do a better job of tracking which students were at risk of falling behind and provided time to offer extra tutoring when needed.
“What we did change is the way that we document those interventions and keep up with the monitoring of their progress throughout the year,” Doster said. “I feel pretty confident that we will not have very many kids — if any — that we have to retain.”
Doster says the school has been sending letters to parents notifying them if their children are at risk of being held back and what steps teachers are taking to try and prevent that. Strategies are also given to parents on how they can support reading at home.
“We have been keeping a close eye on a lot of kids, making sure that we’re providing the interventions that they need in order to be successful,” Doster said. “We have an idea of who is at risk, but of course we don’t know for sure until they take that end of the year summative test,” she said.
The state allows districts to administer the ATLAS test any time between Monday (April 13) and May 22. Students will need to score at Level 2 or higher in reading to advance to fourth grade unless they qualify for a “good cause exemption.” That includes students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, those with less than three years of formal English instruction, students who have previously been retained and those who have experienced an isolated traumatic event that directly impacted their assessment.
Doster has mixed feelings about the prospect of having to retain some third graders.
“It could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing,” she said. “I think what the LEARNS Act is requiring of schools, just to make sure there’s some accountability on providing those interventions and that extra help along the way to prevent that is what I feel like the purpose is. And so I do feel like that’s a good thing.”
Hazen School Superintendent Andy Barrett says he recently met with the staff of the elementary school in his district and was told no third graders appear to be on track to be retained because of the new reading requirement. Despite some hesitation from educators and parents about the potential for students to be held back, he says the change is needed.
“There’s been a lot of criticism of this requirement, but nobody can argue that reading isn’t a foundational skill we have to have across the board in education,” Barrett said. “And I think that obviously from where we stand in our state right now, we’re not doing a very good job.”
Arkansas consistently ranks near the bottom in national education studies. Barrett said he’s confident the process and options put in place by the state will be beneficial for school districts.
“If you have done all of the things that the state asks you to do, especially with the remediation and interventions throughout the year, and then some sort of growth,” Barrett said, there will be an improved outcome. “We’ve got to figure it out. It’s going to be a learning curve for most of the schools, including us, trying to figure out when and how to do things to get [students] to that level.”
Reforming education was a priority for Gov. Sarah Sanders when she came into office three years ago. The most controversial component of the LEARNS Act has been using public funds to create Education Freedom Accounts (EFA), which can be used to pay for private, parochial or home schools.
The Arkansas Legislature approved the plan in 2023 and will need to increase funding for the EFA program during a fiscal session that began on April 8. Sanders’ budget proposal would set aside up to $379 million for the program.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Mar 11, 2026 | Arkansas News, Arkansas Politics
I reported this story for Talk Business & Politics and The England Democrat. I’m looking forward to covering future Arkansas political events involving candidates of all backgrounds.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Hallie Shoffner speaks to supporters Monday night in England, Ark. Photo: Michael Hibblen.
In her first official campaign event since winning last week’s Arkansas Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, Hallie Shoffner spoke to several dozen people Monday night (March 9) in the city of England, asking for financial support to counter negative attack ads against her.
In a meeting room at the England Fitness Center amid the sound of a nearby pickleball game being played, she thanked those who have given to her campaign, including many who wrote checks that night. To date, she said she has raised $1.3 million, but noted incumbent Republican Sen. Tom Cotton has outraised her campaign 10-to-1.
A quarterly campaign finance report submitted to the Federal Election Commission last month showed Cotton, who is vying for a third term, had $9.6 million cash on hand at the end of last year. $918,000 of that came from political action committees, the report said.
Shoffner asked the group who had seen recent ads running on television and online that interpose images of Shoffner with nationally-known Democrats while a voice says “Hallie Shoffner has the values of radical, liberal elites, not Arkansas families.” Text messages sent to the cell phones of some Arkansas voters described her as a “radical lunatic.”
“That kind of advertising works and that’s why we have to compete against it,” Shoffner said.
In an interview, Shoffner suggested the attacks show Cotton’s campaign is “scared — and they should be,” she said. “Tom Cotton is one of the most unpopular politicians in Arkansas and in DC — both — and they’re very concerned because we’re running a campaign that is all about the people.”
She told the group, which calls itself the England Area Democrats in Lonoke County, that the average donation to her campaign has been $50, “which means this is truly a grass roots campaign. We have thousands of donors, and most of them come from right here in the state.”
Shoffner added, “People know very well where Tom Cotton gets his money, which is corporate PACs, and most of that is from outside of the state. This is about Arkansas and believing we can be one of the most prosperous and healthy states in the country. And that’s the kind of vision I want to bring to the Senate.”
Cotton reported raising $590,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, with $210,000 of that coming from political action committees. His campaign manager, state Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, has said donations came from all 75 counties in the state.
Shoffner asked each person in the room Monday to go out and find five people to talk to about her campaign and to ask each of them to make a donation. Then each of those people should also find five additional people to spread the word and give to her campaign, she said.
“We don’t want to get to November and wish we had done more, which is why I’m asking for your help,” Shoffner said. “We don’t have to outraise him, we simply have to outwork him. That’s not going to be hard — he doesn’t really go to work, and I’m a farmer — I can definitely outwork him. But we do have to bring in as much money as possible so that we can go on the air.”
Shoffner said this will be a shoe-leather campaign with her visiting as many communities and shaking as many hands as possible between now and the November election. But money will be necessary to effectively compete.
“This kind of feels like a fight now, as people may know,” Shoffner said. “If you’ve gotten certain text messages or seen certain ads, I’m really fighting. I am fighting on behalf of the state of Arkansas.”
Shoffner, a sixth-generation farmer from Newport, said her message about the damage being done to agriculture by President Donald Trump’s tariffs is resonating with people who had never previously voted in a Democratic primary. She shared the story of being at a friend’s campaign event Sunday in Waldenburg and talking with farmers who are facing similar dire situations as what forced her family farm to close.
Cotton posted on social media on March 4, the day after the primary election, that he had met that day with leaders of the Arkansas Farm Bureau to discuss agricultural interests and headwinds being faced by the industry.
“I’m honored to represent farmers across Arkansas and will keep fighting on their behalf,” Cotton wrote.
He has also backed the attacks on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces, writing on X Tuesday, “I commend President Trump’s decision to mitigate the threat Iran has posted to the United States for 47 years.”
Shoffner said Monday she feels momentum heading into the general election.
“The numbers on primary night were very strong. We turned out more Democratic voters than we have in a long time and I’m really pleased with that,” Shoffner said. “I believe people are feeling the pain and I think that they believe they deserve representatives who will do better for them, who really represent them and I’m honored that they have put their faith in me in this race.”
Shoffner called Cotton a “resident of Virginia” who is out of touch with the challenges facing Arkansans. She said voters are tired of the rhetoric of the left and right and want a senator who will stand up for everyday Arkansans rather than corporate, political interests.
Shoffner is also challenging Cotton to participate in a debate with her. In his first reelection campaign for Senate in 2020, the Democratic Party did not field a candidate to challenge Cotton and the incumbent skipped a debate with Libertarian Party candidate Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. which was organized by Arkansas PBS. All other congressional incumbents and their opponents took part in that year’s debates.
Monday’s event was Shoffner’s second time to campaign in England. She had previously spoken to the group shortly before formally announcing her candidacy in July, “so we have come full circle,” she told its members.
Little Rock attorney Bob Edwards, who attended England High school and later served as president of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association, said he helped create the England Area Democrats in 2024 to fill a void in political activity there. Edwards said he’s encouraged by the excitement being generated by Shoffner’s campaign.
“I don’t think either party really understands farming,” he said. “Its been the backbone of this state’s economy since its inception. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat, we need somebody that understands that and Hallie understands that.”
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
