Labor: Arkansas SIF Could Have Been Saved

An 11th-hour deal struck by labor and business groups to close down the Arkansas Second Injury Trust Fund raised troubling disclosures about the handling of the fund's finances, a state AFL-CIO official said Thursday. Alan B. Hughes, Arkansas president of the AFL-CIO, said he negotiated the settlement with state chamber Executive Vice President Kenny R. Hall, in the final hours of this week's Senate session. Hughes said very late in those negotiations he learned that no new money was placed in the Second Injury Fund for seven years, primarily during the administration of former Gov. Mi...