Governor Hutchinson’s weekly radio address can be found in MP3 format and downloaded HERE. LITTLE ROCK – The historic flood of 2019 exposed the weakness of Arkansas’s levee system, an issue that required immediate and focused attention, so I created the Arkansas Levee Task Force. Today, I’d like to talk about some of the task forces that I have relied on during my administration. My model comes from Governor Winthrop Rockefeller’s successful use of task forces as he reshaped Arkansas during his two terms as governor in the 1960s. Arkansas state government is composed of dozens of departments, divisions, agencies, boards, and commissions that handle the day-to-day matters of governing. When an unexpected issue arises – such as our crumbling levees – we have to look for solutions quickly before the problem grows worse. I’m not an expert on every challenge, and state agencies may not always have the time or personnel to undertake the intense and thorough study that the unexpected issues demand. When I create a task force, I seek a range of experts and ask the members to study the problem and report back with recommendations.