# Jim Hudson Cabinet Secretary, Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Email [email protected], office 501-682-8064, cell 501.352.8373. Per the May 16 contact list xlsx, the DFA office is at 1509 W. 7th St., Ste 400, Little Rock, AR 72201. Hudson was scheduled for a 2:00 to 2:30 PM Tuesday 4/15/2025 meeting with Berman and Young at the Auditor's Capitol office Room 230. The 4/11/2025 confirmation from Milligan used the standard template with Berman/Young DOCX bios attached. A small but documented detail: when Spadoni first sent Hudson the Outlook meeting invite on 4/7/2025, Hudson replied 3:50 PM the same day asking simply "Topic?" Spadoni replied on 4/8 explaining: "Mr. Larry Berman, the National Managing Director of Israel Bonds, would like to meet with you to discuss Israel Bonds." Hudson then accepted: "Thanks. I'll be there." This is the only documented instance in the production where a scheduled official asked what the meeting was about before accepting; it suggests the topic was not made clear in the original invite. The Department of Finance and Administration is the central state finance agency. The Director's role at DFA includes oversight of state government financial operations. Whether the DFA Secretary has any authority over pension fund investment decisions is not articulated in the production. The materials do not document the substance of the meeting or any subsequent Hudson action. ## Evidence > "Topic?" > Jim Hudson reply to Spadoni meeting invite, April 8, 2025.pdf p.1, 4/7/2025 3:50 PM > "Mr. Larry Berman, the National Managing Director of Israel Bonds, would like to meet with you to discuss Israel Bonds." > Wendy Spadoni reply to Hudson, April 8, 2025.pdf p.1, 4/8/2025 1:24 PM > "Thanks. I'll be there." > Jim Hudson confirmation, April 8, 2025.pdf p.1, 4/8/2025 2:47 PM > "Secretary Hudson, Thank you for agreeing to meet with Israel Bonds representatives Mr. Larry Berman, National Managing Director, and Mr. Brad Young, Executive Director - Southeast Regional Office on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. in my office located in room 230 of the State Capitol." > Dennis Milligan to Jim Hudson, April 11, 2025.pdf p.1, 4/11/2025 2:19 PM > "Secretary Jim Hudson | Department of Finance and Administration | 501-682-5323 | [email protected] | 1509 W. 7th St., Ste 400, Little Rock, AR 72201" > Spadoni contact list, May 16, 2025 - attachment.xlsx r10, 4/16/2025 ## Cross-References [[dennis-milligan]] Auditor who hosted the meeting [[wendy-spadoni]] [[jason-brady]] Auditor's-office schedulers [[lawrence-berman]] [[brad-young]] DCI representatives Hudson met [[auditor-multi-official-capitol-tour]] concept page [[auditor-foia-r1-spadoni]] [[apers-foia-r1-7-7-25]] source pages ## APERS Trustee role and 5/15/2025 IFSC motion amendment (7/7/25 production) The 7/7/25 APERS R1 production establishes Hudson is also a member of the APERS Investment Finance Subcommittee. Hudson received the IFSC packet from Fecher on 5/14/2025 9:12 AM at [email protected]. He attended the 5/15/2025 IFSC meeting and provided the substantive intervention that set the upper bound on the Israel Bonds authorization. Per the Mike Wickline 5/15/2025 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article: "Trustee Jim Hudson, who is secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration, said there is a greater emphasis on infrastructure in the United States. ... Hudson said he would like to see a maximum set of $50 million on the investment of system funds in Israel bonds, so Brady amended his motion to authorize the system's staff to invest a minimum of $25 million and a maximum of $50 million of system funds in Israel bonds." Hudson's role at the IFSC meeting therefore connects the 4/15/2025 Auditor's-office hosted Hudson-Berman Capitol meeting (where Hudson initially asked "Topic?" before accepting) to the 5/15/2025 substantive APERS authorization where Hudson's intervention added the $50M ceiling. The Wickline framing also positions Hudson as the IFSC voice for the parallel infrastructure-secondaries action ("a greater emphasis on infrastructure in the United States"). Hudson is therefore documented as both an APERS Trustee on the IFSC and as a DFA Secretary participating in Auditor's-office DCI delegation meetings. > "Trustee Jim Hudson, who is secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration, said there is a greater emphasis on infrastructure in the United States." > Mike Wickline, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, IB_FOIA_MAY_25_Reviewed.pdf p.20, published 5/15/2025 > "Hudson said he would like to see a maximum set of $50 million on the investment of system funds in Israel bonds, so Brady amended his motion to authorize the system's staff to invest a minimum of $25 million and a maximum of $50 million of system funds in Israel bonds." > Mike Wickline, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, IB_FOIA_MAY_25_Reviewed.pdf p.23, published 5/15/2025