“Third time is hopefully the charm,” said Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, as he began presenting the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission budget to the full Senate on Tuesday.
Funding the Game and Fish Commission for the fiscal year 2025 is a key reason legislators are in Little Rock this week for a special session, announced by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week.
Dismang introduced the bill on Friday, setting the director’s maximum salary at $170,437, aligning it with the lowest-paid cabinet secretary, according to Dismang. The bill also introduces legislative oversight for any raise exceeding 5% of the director’s current salary in the upcoming fiscal year.
Austin Booth, the current director of the Game and Fish Commission, earns $152,637.
The bill swiftly passed through Joint Budget Committee meetings on Monday and was approved
Senator Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, jokingly asked Dismang, “Are we going to get out of here?”
Previously, lawmakers failed to reach a compromise on the agency’s budget during the General Assembly’s fiscal session in May. Although the Senate had approved an appropriation bill, the House of Representatives had already adjourned, leaving the future of Game and Fish operations uncertain.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to consider the bill on Wednesday morning.
“Hopefully both sides are now in agreement,” Dismang remarked. “They appear to be. … Hopefully, with a favorable vote here, we’ll finally resolve the Game and Fish Commission issue.”
