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Senator urges canceling senior‑advisor post tied to corrections chief, cites $1 million in spending
Summary
A senator on the Joint Budget Committee asked that an amendment to Senate Bill 30 cancel a senior‑advisor position in the governor’s office, citing about $1 million in related spending over four years and alleging the former corrections chief, Joe Puri, failed to cooperate with legislators. The amendment was referred to the personnel committee for review.
A senator on the Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday asked the committee to approve an amendment to Senate Bill 30 that would cancel a senior adviser position in the governor’s office, saying constituents are "displeased with the millions of dollars that are being spent." The chair referred the amendment to the personnel committee for further review.
The senator told the committee the position’s total annual compensation is about $264,895, citing a salary of $189,211 plus a $75,684 match, and said "$1,000,000 dollars has been spent on this in the last 4 years." The senator also named the former corrections chief, Joe Puri, and alleged Puri "could not or would not work with the board," saying a prior corrections contract pullback ultimately cost the state what some described as more than $300,000,000.
"Arkansans don't wanna spend another million dollars for his lack of performance," the senator said, urging the committee to cancel the position. The senator asked that the full budget committee and personnel committee review the amendment during the committee process.
Representative Wooten spoke in support of the senator's concerns and said a subpoena motion had been issued in the committee to require the corrections official to appear; according to Wooten, the official failed to attend or to notify committee leadership. "To me, that's a slap in the face to the legislature and the people of Arkansas," Representative Wooten said.
The committee chair confirmed the amendment would be referred to the personnel committee and asked members to reserve detailed debate for that venue. No formal vote on the amendment occurred during the joint budget meeting; the chair said members would have an opportunity to examine the change in personnel committee proceedings.
Next steps: the amendment to Senate Bill 30 will be considered by the personnel committee. The committee did not take a final action on the amendment during Tuesday's session.
