Legislative Joint Auditing Committee

Arkansas Economic Development Commission issued tax credits without sufficient documentation

BY: - December 8, 2023

Some Arkansas companies received thousands of dollars in tax credits that they should not have received while working on economic incentive projects, Arkansas Economic Development Commission administrators told lawmakers Friday. Under the Consolidated Incentive Act of 2003, businesses can be rewarded for economic development projects by receiving income tax breaks if they submit proof of […]

Lawmakers OK fresh audit into Arkansas PBS’ purchases, procedures as far back as July 2021

BY: - November 9, 2023

Arkansas lawmakers asked the state’s nonpartisan auditing body on Thursday to examine more than two years of “procurements and related processes” at Arkansas PBS. The request comes after the state’s regularly scheduled fiscal year 2022 audit into the publicly funded educational channel revealed what auditors considered questionable purchasing practices. At the heart of lawmakers’ and […]

Auditor: Investigation into Arkansas governor’s lectern purchase unlikely to end this year

BY: - November 8, 2023

The investigation into Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ controversial lectern purchase and effort to shield records related to her security detail likely won’t be finished this year, the lead auditor at Arkansas’ nonpartisan agency that investigates government spending said Wednesday. Sanders’ office drew widespread attention in September for the purchase of a $19,000 lectern and […]

Sarah Huckabee Sanders addresses the crowd after she was sworn in as the 47th Governor of Arkansas in January 2023. (Karen E. Segrave/Arkansas Advocate)

Questions remain in ongoing scrutiny of Arkansas governor’s purchase of $19K lectern

BY: - October 5, 2023

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her staff this week continued to defend her office’s purchase of a $19,000 lectern, which has been widely criticized on social media and is the subject of an upcoming legislative audit, but many questions have continued to go unanswered. Why was the lectern so expensive? Did members of the […]

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders stands at a lecturn that looks similar to one her office paid $19,000 for this summer.

Whistleblower’s attorney claims Arkansas governor’s office altered, withheld public records

BY: - September 29, 2023

An anonymous whistleblower claims Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office improperly altered and withheld public records related to ongoing scrutiny of the office’s spending, according to the whistleblower’s attorney. Rogers-based attorney Tom Mars sent a letter Friday to state Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, offering his client’s testimony and documents to aid a requested legislative audit. […]