Bill yoking colleges in Forrest City fails

Legislation allowing Crowley’s Ridge Technical Institute to merge into East Arkansas Community College fell two votes short in a House vote Wednesday.

House Bill 1543 by Rep. Steve Hollowell, R-Forrest City, failed 49-21. It needed 51 votes to pass the 100-member chamber.

The board of directors at Crowley’s Ridge Technical Institute opposes it, but Gov. Asa Hutchinson is expected to make an appointment in July to shift the balance of power on the board to support the consolidation.

Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro, who voted against consolidation, said lawmakers should listen to students at that school.

“They’re a proud group of young men and women. They’re learning a trade. They got off to a bumpy start in life, but they’re moving forward,” he said. “They have goals. And they are afraid that if this merger takes place, that they’re going to get lost in the shuffle.”

But Hollowell said his bill would allow a merger but did not require it.

A Bureau of Legislative Research fiscal analysis said the merger of the two campuses, which sit side by side in Forrest City, would save the state about $1 million with a reduction in jobs and salaries.

“It’s happened in other schools, other colleges,” Hollowell said. “I just think it would be a win-win for the students at both schools if they decide to merge.”