Responsible Growth raised $140,000 in July, more than $3.4 million in total

The group spent about $284,000 last month for a total of $3,332,752 in expenditures since the group formed last year, according to records filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.  

Responsible Growth has a balance of $82,247, according to the records.

The fundraising haul is a decline from the June figures when the group raised $1.25 million. 

Earlier this month, the state Board of Election Commissioners voted unanimously not to certify the group’s ballot title for the November election. The group filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court, which ordered last week that the measure be placed on the ballot provisionally. The Supreme Court will hear arguments from Responsible Growth and the state as it weighs whether votes should be counted on the measure. A ruling could come down late next month, Responsible Growth counsel Steve Lancaster said last week.  

Secretary of State John Thurston announced in July that Responsible Growth had submitted more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

Contributions

The biggest donation last month came from DMCC LLC, a Newport cultivator better known as Revolution Cannabis, which donated $85,000 to the effort. The cultivator’s total contributions are now at $435,000.  

The second largest donation came from JPS Management LLC of Fort Smith, which owns Fort Cannabis Co. dispensary in Fort Smith. The donation was JPS Management’s first, according to the report. 

The Plant Family of Mountain Home donated $20,000, bringing its total donations to $40,000. Plant Family Therapeutics dispensary is located in Mountain Home. 

Rockview Digital, a cannabis banking platform company in North Little Rock, made a $10,000 donation for its first donation to the campaign. 

Expenditures

The biggest expenditure last month was $140,000 paid to Advanced Micro Targeting Inc. of Dallas for the ballot signature process. 

The next biggest expenditure was $60,000 paid to Verified Arkansas LLC, also for costs related to the ballot signatures process. 

Responsible Growth also paid $40,666 to Wright Lindsey Jennings for legal services. 

The group paid $15,441 to Maple and Orange and $15,000 to McLarty Consulting for management consulting. Maple and Orange is owned by Responsible Growth chair Eddie Armstrong and McLarty Consulting is owned by Robert McLarty, an owner in The Source dispensary in Rogers and Good Day Farm cultivation.