NWAOnline’s Legislative Coverage

A bill that could have helped provide a state-funded no-interest loan to help build a new high school in Fayetteville failed to clear the House Education Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

House Bill 2026 by Rep. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, would have set up a loan fund for districts that have high debt service taxes already but that need new construction, or districts with taxable wealth that’s so low, they can’t cover the state’s minimum of 20 percent for assistance. Doug Eaton, the director of the state’s school facilities program, said he was concerned that the bill could conceivably “have us issuing no-interest loans to some of the wealthiest districts in the state.” Lindsey said Fayetteville, for instance, would almost have to double its debt service mills to qualify. The measure needed 11 votes to get a committee recommendation and nine of the committee’s 20 member weren’t in the room when the vote was taken. The final vote was 6 to 5. Lindsey said after the meeting that there simply isn’t enough time left in the session to bring the bill back up and get all the way through the process, including Senate approval, before the Legislature is expected to adjourn.