The Year Ahead By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr I hope the new year finds you all well. The turning of a new year is always a milestone that prompts us to both reflect and to look forward. It's almost been a year since I had the honor to be sworn in as your Lieutenant Governor and I have to say, it's been one of the most rewarding times of my life. Travelling our magnificent state, mee...

A Few Thoughts Before The New Year By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr A troubling report was recently released from the National Center on Family Homelessness called America's Youngest Outcasts 2010. The report ranks states across the nation on child homelessness. Sadly, Arkansas ranked third. According to this report, there were nearly 14, 000 homeless children in Arkansas in 2010. This ...

Arkansas Lt. Governor Mark a. Darr Column December 6, 2011 This past week, I had the opportunity to tour the Arkansas Nuclear One facility near Russellville. According to Entergy, the company that operates the two units there, this plant provides nearly 30 percent of our state's electric power. There has been a lot in the news lately about coal power, natural gas, and green energy, but nuc...

A Time to Give By Lt. Governor Mark A. Darr Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday in this country. I'm so glad that we have this as a national tradition. It's a time when we all purposefully reflect on the blessings in our life. Of course, my family is a blessing to me each and every day. The kids are starting to make their Christmas lists and they have fun with that, but you know, it's th...

A Little Perspective By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr Much attention has been given in the press lately to the spate of protests around the country sparked initially in New York by a group calling itself Occupy Wall Street. By their own account, they are protesting against the people they believe are responsible for economic inequality in this country, namely banks, the wealthy and big cor...

My Trip to China By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr I had a great opportunity this past week to make a trip abroad to China as part of a delegation on behalf of the National Lieutenant Governor's Association. I and the Lt. Governors of Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota all traveled together for the trip. I enjoyed getting to know some of my counterparts from arou...

My Trip to China By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr I had a great opportunity this past week to make a trip abroad to China as part of a delegation on behalf of the National Lieutenant Governor's Association. I and the Lt. Governors of Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota all traveled together for the trip. I enjoyed getting to know some of my counterparts from arou...

"Scary" Partisanship By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr Governor Beebe was quoted recently in the state newspaper saying that partisanship in the Arkansas House of Representatives is "scary". No disrespect to the governor, but from what I've seen, I would have to characterize the situation in the Legislature a bit differently. For over 100 years in Arkansas, the Democratic Party in Ar...

Obama 'Jobs' Plan a Jobs-Killer for Arkansas By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr The White House is spinning President Obama's new jobs plan as a win-win for Arkansas, touting it as a "fully paid" program that will "modernize" our infrastructure and provide money to "help support over 4,000 jobs for teachers, police officers and fire fighters." There's just one problem. The Obama adminis...

Ten Years By Lieutenant Governor Mark A. Darr Ten years. If you were of age on September 11, 2001 you know exactly where you were and what you were doing when America came under attack that day. Just like our parents and grandparents before us remembered Pearl Harbor, we will never forget that day. I remember I was working at Little Rock National Airport at the time and was going about ...