President Donald Trump's pick for second-in-command at the Delta Regional Authority expressed anticipation at touring the eight-state region served by the federal agency while in Little Rock on Thursday night.
And while Peter Kinder, a Missourian recently confirmed as the authority's alternate federal co-chairman, touted projects in the pipeline for the agency, Trump has proposed eliminating its funding entirely.
Kinder was the keynote speaker for the opening night of the two-day Mississippi Delta Grassroots Caucus Conference, an assembly of public and private leaders from the states of the lower Mississippi Delta, which includes Arkansas. The conference opened last night in the state Capitol rotunda, and continued today at the Clinton Presidential Library.
Speakers for today's event will include Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas 1st District Congressman Rick Crawford, Sen. John Boozman and Chelsea Clinton. The event will focus on women and minority issues, job creation and infrastructure and health care, especially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The caucus is separate from the Delta Regional Authority, a federal agency that finances economic development and infrastructure projects in the region. As an advocacy group, the caucus can press an agenda, Director Lee Powell said, and plans to push back on some of Trump's policies.
That includes the president's budget proposal to zero-out funding for the authority, as well as some of his "prejudicial comments," Powell said, adding that the caucus would avoid partisanship, and would support Trump when they think he is right.
Powell did praise Trump for what he said were good picks to lead the authority. In addition to Kinder, Trump has nominated Arkansan Chris Caldwell, a former staff member for Boozman, to head the authority.
Caldwell, who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, stood near the back of the audience Thursday night, but did not speak. Approached by a reporter afterward, he said he had not spoken with the president about the agency's funding.
Taking a more deliberate tone, Powell asked the audience to contact their representatives in Washington about supporting the the Delta Regional Authority. However, Powell said he was not too concerned the agency would be eliminated, noting that lawmakers from Appalachia had agreed to lend support, as their own Appalachian Regional Commission has also been pegged for elimination.
"In a nutshell, there's no way in the world they're going to eliminate these commissions," Powell said. "We have too much clout."
But last night was about highlighting the positive work being done in the Delta, Powell said. Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said positive steps were being taken in the southeast Arkansas city through the Go Forward Pine Bluff tax initiative. Likewise, the mayor of Clarksdale, Miss., spoke about luring new investments to the city, which serves as the local headquarters for the Delta Regional Authority.
"We will be the voice of those who are too often forgotten about," said Kinder, who previously served as the lieutenant governor of Missouri.
In his first month in office, Kinder said he's had his staff identify more than $500,000 in "administrative expenses," that can be cut and transferred to local projects.
The Delta Regional Authority, and the caucus, represent the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Alabama.
Metro on 10/20/2017