Subject: Tuesday Morning Briefing
From: Talk Business <[email-masked]>
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Date: Tue, 17 May 2016 11:44:51 +0000
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GOVERNOR’S HIGHWAY BILL WILL CREATE TRUST FUND; DROPS VEHICLE SALES TAXES: Gov. Asa Hutchinson is calling on legislators to approve more highway spending but no longer is asking them to partially rely on sales taxes on the purchases of new and used vehicles. Hutchinson is calling legislators into special session May 19.

Hutchinson’s plan would raise about $50 million a year in order to make the state eligible for $200 million in federal funds as part of the federal Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.

The governor’s plan raises the necessary funds in fiscal year 2017 by using $40 million in rainy day funds; $5.9 million in money raised from a half-cent sales tax for highways that goes into the State Central Services Fund; and $1.5 million from investment earnings generated by the Arkansas treasurer’s office. Read more at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=b918906a02&e=b5f4886f5f)  and in our Politics section below.

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FINTECH TEAMS ANNOUNCED FOR VENTURE CENTER ACCELERATOR PROGRAM: Ten viable startups were unveiled Monday night in Little Rock as they work through the Venture Center's financial services technology accelerator. Read about the ten teams that come from across the country and the world and read what they hope to achieve by Aug. 3 at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=bf9d75c01e&e=b5f4886f5f) .

WALMART ROLLS OUT WALMART PAY IN ARKANSAS STORES, EARLY CUSTOMER REVIEWS MIXED: As promised Walmart is rolling out Walmart Pay, its version of mobile pay, to more than 600 stores in Arkansas and Texas, the retail giant noted Monday (May 16). The mobile pay option works with either Apple iOS or Android smartphone via the retailer’s mobile app which can be downloaded at the Apple and Google Stores.

Residents in Northwest Arkansas have had the option of Walmart Pay at several test stores after the retailer announced the service in December. The service allows shoppers to use almost all major credit and debit cards, prepaid cards and Walmart gifts as payment options when using Walmart Pay. At the register a customer must have their Walmart Pay app opened, which activates the phone camera. Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=de71cafbdc&e=b5f4886f5f) .

ANITA DAVIS FINDS HER CALLING IN OLD BUILDINGS, PLACEMAKING, PURSES AND CORNBREAD: Anita Davis never set out to rehabilitate part of downtown Little Rock. She wasn’t a historic preservation activist or one of those people who write letters to the local newspaper. She describes herself as shy. She simply likes walkable neighborhoods and felt it was time to give back to the city she has called home since the late 1980s. Read Rex Nelson's profile of this one-of-a-kind community catalyst here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=5c7558bdff&e=b5f4886f5f) .

LR CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU CEO SAYS STATEHOUSE EXPANSION, SPORTS COMPLEX NEEDED TO GROW: Gretchen Hall, CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, likes the numbers she sees. Last year, Pulaski County accounted for 13,000 travel-related jobs and 6.1 million visitors who spent nearly $1.8 billion in travel expenditures. That translates into more than $31 million in travel-related local taxes and $69 million in travel-related state taxes.

Hall says for visitor traffic to grow, central Arkansas will need to invest in infrastructure going forward. That not only includes the $70 million Robinson Center renovation, but Hall says more convention center space and a multi-sports complex for youth events could be crucial. Read more or watch her full interview at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=2680d585d1&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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SPECIAL SESSION’S LENGTHY PROPOSED LEGISLATION LIST INCLUDES WORKER’S COMP, ARKANSAS WORKS: Highways may be the inspiration for the special session beginning May 19, but Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s call also includes 14 other items such as ending new claims in a workers’ compensation trust fund and changing the ending date for Arkansas Works. The governor added 14 items to his call for a special session. Read about all of them at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=7fbcdae028&e=b5f4886f5f) .

TALK POLITICS ROUNDTABLE WITH STEVE BRAWNER, JANELLE LILLEY: On this week's edition of Talk Business & Politics, Steve Brawner and KATV's Janelle Lilley weighed in on the upcoming special session, the Presidential race, and the debate over transgender bathroom access. Watch the discussion here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=5242a20f4a&e=b5f4886f5f) .

SIXTH SENSE: THE ECONOMY AND THE ELECTION - Six business leaders from around Arkansas offer their opinions on how the Presidential election will impact the economy. Read what David Hudson, Stanley Hill, Sam T. Sicard, Beth Coulson, Michael Bahn, and Chris Stewart have to say at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=e849688dcf&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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UAMS CANCER RESEARCH PROFESSOR NAMED AN ARKANSAS RESEARCH ALLIANCE SCHOLAR: Dr. Hong-yu Li, a professor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, has been named (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=d96530902b&e=b5f4886f5f) an Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Scholar. Li is an internationally recognized scientist in the field of cancer treatment research. In his research, he designs and synthesizes small molecules through a variety of novel approaches to develop new agents for cancer treatments.

PRESIDENT CLINTON TELLS 2016 CLINTON SCHOOL GRADUATES TO MAKE 'US' BIGGER THAN 'THEM': Former President Bill Clinton encouraged the 41 members of the 10th graduating class of the Clinton School of Public Service to focus on what makes people alike rather than what makes them different. Members of the graduating class included citizens of Benin, China, Kenya, and Venezuela.

Speaking outside in front of the school, which offers the nation’s first Master of Public Service degree, Clinton told the graduates that the future will be one of unprecedented peace and prosperity, though it will be preceded by a struggle to define what he called “the most interdependent age in human history.” Read more of Clinton's comments at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=c992626f15&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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"The purpose of this Special Session is to address our state’s immediate highway funding needs without the unnecessary burden of raising taxes on Arkansans." - Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

"We can’t wait to hear what our customers and associates in Arkansas think of Walmart Pay. The service was built to make shopping easier and faster, something we know our customers want." - Daniel Eckert, senior vice president-services, Walmart U.S.

"The American economy is once again one of the healthiest in the developed world, but I don’t believe Congress or the president should be given credit for it." - Sam T. Sicard, President and CEO First National Bank of Fort Smith.

"If you grew up in Arkansas, you grew up eating cornbread,” Davis says. “I see it as a link to our shared history and our grandmothers who would make the cornbread. What better way to pull in a diverse audience is there than food?" - Arkansas Cornbread Festival advocate Anita Davis.

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