In a 78-17 vote Monday, members of the Arkansas House of Representatives voted in favor of providing $125 million in state funds for a proposed steel mill in Osceola County. The Big River Steel Mill was proposed by former Nucor executive John Correnti a couple months ago and the fund proposal was approved by a the Senate last week. Before the proposal is finalized, a supermajority of lawmakers in the house must approve the funds.
All of the 17 dissenting votes on the funding were from Republican lawmakers, whose negative vote stemmed from wariness in financing a company without a built-in customer base and risks of a new steel mill performing well while the economy remains fragile.
In addition to state funding, Koch Industries is a 40 percent stakeholder in Big River with a $120 million investment and the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is also anticipated to take a 20 percent stake.