Governor Prepares For Possible Government Shutdown

Governor Mike Huckabee has given state agencies a week to advise him on contingency plans if the Supreme Court orders a government shutdown in light of the Legislature`s failure to agree on an state education plan. In a Saturday e-mail the governor directed state department heads to apprise him by January 20 about staffing and funding requirements for providing -- quote -- absolute bare bone service to protect public safety. -- unquote -- Huckabee said the Legislature`s failure to comply with a state Supreme Court order to have a plan in place by January 1 to overhaul Arkansas` public education system could leave the state in crisis. The high court has scheduled oral arguments for January 22 on a lawyer`s motion to keep the state from paying for anything but constitutionally mandated services until it complies with the court`s November 2002 order. Arkansas has 49,588 employees in 204 state agencies and spends about 15.6 billion dollars annually from all funding sources, or about 60 million dollars every business day. Posted by Mike Hellgren