PANEL: Use virus money for broadband support.

LITTLE ROCK — The panel appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to recommend the best uses of $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus money late Monday afternoon endorsed proposals to use $21.6 million for two broadband grant programs.

The 15-member CARES Act Steering Committee also recommended proposals to use $13.7 million of the money for administration and modernization of the state’s unemployment insurance system.

The committee also advanced to the governor a proposal to use $12.1 million for payments to direct care workers of ambulance companies.

The CARES Act is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress.

The steering committee is comprised of eight of Hutchinson’s department heads and deputy chief of staff of external operations Bill Gossage, three senators and three representatives.

The governor makes final decisions on using the money.

The $21.6 million recommended for the two broadband grant program includes $19.3 million for Hutchinson’s Arkansas Rural Connect program, which already has $5.7 million in state money, and $2.3 million for the Rural Broadband I.D. program.

“The coronavirus really kind of ripped the Band-Aid off and exposed the absolute need for broadband and how deficient we were in Arkansas for meeting the needs of both of our students, plus the health care situation that they have, particularly students in K-12 education and higher ed as well,” said a committee member, Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View.

Covid-19 also has demonstrated the need for highspeed broadband for businesses and their workers to work remotely, she said.

The Arkansas Rural Connect program is aimed at getting high-speed broadband service to rural areas for education, health care and telemedicine, and remote work around the state, said Mike Preson, Department of Commerce secretary, who also serves on the committee. Local governments and internet services providers will apply for grants and the money will go to the Internet service providers, he said.

“What we are trying to do right now is get this immediate funding out so we can help those who need it the most,” Preston said.

The Rural Broadband program will be based at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Office of Digital Health and Innovation, and help communities and Internet providers to navigate the federal application process, identify the most reliable partners for due diligence studies, and to issue grants, Irvin said in a letter to Hutchinson.

With the Rural Broadband program, “we now have a much more comprehensive strategy of how we are going to get this done and broadband deployed across the state,” Preston said.

The federal $13.7 million recommended by the panel for the unemployment insurance system includes $5 million for modernization of the system, $3.7 million for improving and ongoing maintenance of the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance system, and $5 million for administration of the system.

Charisse Childers, Division

of Workforce Services director, told the committee the state’s increasing unemployment and claims have “put a tremendous strain on our unemployment system, our unemployment benefits and also on the systems that we have to support unemployment insurance in our state.”

Carder Hawkins, chief information officer for the division, said the division is seeking $5 million in federal coronavirus money to help begin modernization of the unemployment insurance system projected to cost $30 million through 2023.

“The covid pandemic public health emergency has exposed the inadequacy of the legacy UI [user interface] system,” he said. “States with modern UI systems and partner vendors that were already in place were significantly more agile, allowing them to provide critical support to their citizens quicker than we were able to here in Arkansas. We are struggling to implement some of those programs and be agile the way we need to deliver that quick response.

“The funding also will be

used for planning and implementing a new agile UI system leveraging the current PUA system that is currently being built,” Hawkins said.

The division is seeking $3.7 million in federal coronavirus relief funds for continuing development and ongoing operations with the PUA system, he said.

“There is some additional development that may need to occur based on unexpected change requests that may pop up as well as ongoing maintenance and operations through the end of the year,” Hawkins told the steering committee.

The requested federal money also will allow for temporary or vendor staff to support the program through the end of this year and increase fraud detection and response, he said.

“There is a lot of noise right now about fraud and we have to get our hands around fraud, and this money will help us and the vendor get our arms around fraud so we can move that to the side, know that it is handled and continue to support the people that are legitimate applicants in the system,” he said.