NFIB State Director Sylvester Smith released the following statement today in response to Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s joining 20 other attorneys general in voicing concerns about a provision in the $1.9 trillion federal pandemic stimulus law that prohibits states from using the funds to offset tax cuts:

“Our members share the attorney general’s concern regarding the provisions of the recently passed American Rescue Plan.

“It’s been a challenging year for Arkansas’ small businesses, and Governor Hutchinson and legislators have worked hard to ease the financial pressure on Arkansas’s job creators, but this provision in the federal law puts their work in jeopardy and could make it even harder for small businesses to survive the pandemic and keep people working.”