Staff Report –

Robb Ryerse of Vote Common Good, Rodney Govens for Congress in District 1, Caitlin Draper District 3, Marcus Jones District 2, and Chris Jones: NAJ screen shot

JONESBORO, Ark. – No one thought it could be done. Every president and Congress since the administration of Ronald Reagan has talked about passing a national infrastructure bill to rebuild America’s crumbling roads and bridges and more. They could never agree and get it done.

That all changed in 2021, however, when President Joe Biden with the help of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Vice President Kamala Harris orchestrated the passage of a $1.2 trillion bill called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed in both houses of Congress in bipartisan fashion. The Senate passed the bill on a 69-30 vote in August, and the House came around in November, passing it on a vote of 228 to 206.

Congressional Passage of the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is Huge

It took a little while for all the agencies of the federal government to get their priorities straight on how to spend the money, and the administration wanted to fund projects in minority communities and to combat climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels. But it has been trickling out in recent months in millions here and millions there, not getting much publicity since the stories are not sexy sensational clickbait, which is what the social media algorithms and bots love and people consider popular in these crazy times.

Virtually every state in the country has begun to benefit from this spending, whether the diminished press and sensational cable news media is covering it or not.

The state of Arkansas was just awarded $225 million from the Department of Energy to invest in lithium battery production, in one of the largest grants ever awarded to a critical minerals project in the U.S. It is part of the second wave of funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aimed at expanding domestic manufacturing of all segments of the battery supply chain and increasing production of critical minerals.

Standard Lithium Ltd. and Equinor announced this on Friday, Sept. 20. Its jointly-owned U.S. subsidiary, SWA Lithium LLC, was selected for up to $225 million from the Department of Energy.

It is a bit ironic, since not one single member of the Republican Congressional delegation in Arkansas voted in favor of the bill, yet they were quick to show up to take credit for it when the announcement was made.

The $225 million will support the construction of the Central Processing Facility for Phase 1 of the Southwest Arkansas project, which is being designed to annually produce 22,500 tonnes of battery-quality lithium carbonate.

The Southwest Arkansas project, located in Lafayette and Columbia counties, is being developed in partnership with Standard Lithium and Equinor.

The project’s plants are to be located on a 118-acre property in rural Lafayette County, approximately 7 miles south of Lewisville, Ark. The brine unit that will source lithium-bearing brine for the project facilities spans lands in Lafayette and Columbia Counties.

The effort is expected to create up to 300 construction jobs and 100 direct jobs.

“The significant cost share from the U.S. Government demonstrates their continued support for investing in secure and sustainable supply chains of domestic lithium production,” Standard Lithium’s CEO David Park said when making the announcement.

“This decision by the Department of Energy validates the caliber of the project we are building through our de-risked approach to project development, strong partnerships, methodical testing, and purpose-built processes tailored to meet the specific demands of large-scale lithium production in the Smackover Formation,” he said. “Moreover, it reflects the incredibly talented and dedicated team we have built to execute this vision, and most importantly the relationships we have built in our community and across the state to ensure this is a win for Arkansas.”

Allison Thurmond, vice president of US Lithium at Equinor, said the Department of Energy’s support for the Southwest Arkansas project demonstrates how important lithium is to America’s energy transition.

“This award underscores the commercial readiness of our projects and the strength of our partnership,” she said. “We look forward to working with the U.S. Department of Energy and alongside local communities in southwest Arkansas to develop this critical mineral and build the next generation of lithium production.”

In response to this announcement, and the hypocritical nature of the Republican response, Dr. Chris Jones and his Vortex PAC announced its first ever endorsements of Democrats in Arkansas Congressional races to help take back control of the House from the MAGA Republicans who are doing nothing but wasting taxpayer’s money and blocking any attempts to pass meaningful legislation to actually help the American people.

The PAC endorsed Rodney Govens for District 1, Marcus Jones for District 2, and Caitlin Draper for District 3 (see photo above).

“These candidates are the real deal, folks,” Jones said when announcing the endorsements.

But what’s so special about this endorsement? According to the PAC, “these candidates were identified by their own neighbors as leaders who truly understand the needs and values of Arkansas. That’s real grassroots support.”

Just so you know the background, Chris Jones was the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor of Arkansas in 2022. He lost the race in the general election to Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Donald Trump’s one of Trump’s first press secretaries in 2017 and the daughter of former Governor Mike Huckabee, 35 percent to 63 percent in the red state.

The political action committee was started by Jones to try to rebuild the Democratic Party in the state, and he said it is committed to recruiting, training and supporting Democratic candidates to build a grassroots movement to bring long-term political change to Arkansas, with a goal this year of flipping all four of Arkansas’ congressional districts, an ambitious goal.

Jones says the aim of Vortex will be to transform Arkansas politics by building organizing power for Democrats in all 75 counties.

“Gerrymandering and voter suppression have played a significant role in keeping these far-right politicians in power in our beautiful state,” Jones said. “The only way to change that is to build the infrastructure we need to get better people elected – representatives who will actually listen to us and stand for our values.”

“I know this is a heavy lift,” he said. “I also know we can do it.”

He pointed to the Biden-Harris investment of $225 million for lithium production, “transforming our region into a key player in America’s clean energy future,” he said. “It was opposed by EVERY Arkansas Republican in Congress.”

“When the future of Arkansas was on the line,” he said. “They chose to say ‘no’.”

The project will create hundreds of high-paying jobs, boost the local economy, and put Arkansas at the forefront of lithium production – a critical element for batteries that power everything from electric vehicles to energy grids.

“This is what real progress looks like, and Democrats are bringing it,” Jones said. “We’re building a future where our children and grandchildren can thrive in a cleaner, more sustainable world with good-paying jobs right here at home.”

Yet the current representatives in Congress from the state “couldn’t care less about what Arkansas needs,” he said. “They refused to invest in our future, choosing obstruction over opportunity. It’s time for a change.”

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