Commerce appropriation

A bill that would grant spending authority for the state Department of Commerce in the fiscal year starting July 1 failed to clear the Arkansas Senate on Monday.

The Senate’s 20-8 vote on Senate Bill 132 fell seven votes short of the 27 votes required for approval.

Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, urged senators to vote against the appropriation, saying he has lost confidence in Commerce Secretary Mike Preston and Preston should be replaced.

Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Ozark, urged senators to vote against the appropriation because the department’s Arkansas Economic Development Commission operates an office in China.

Garner’s bill that would have barred the commission from having an office in China previously failed to clear the House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.

In last year’s fiscal session, the Joint Budget Committee rejected Garner’s proposal to close the office after Preston said the department already planned to trim the office’s budget from $285,000 to $125,000 a year, starting in July, and employ an American citizen as a liaison in China.

Monday afternoon, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said, “Mike Preston is one of the most successful economic developers in the nation, and Arkansas is fortunate to have him at the helm of the Department of Commerce.

“The Senate should approve the appropriation bill, and I am confident that will happen,” the Republican governor said in a written statement.