KUAR | By Daniel Breen
With the midterms officially over, and a newly-expanded Republican supermajority in the state House and Senate, state lawmakers have begun filing bills for the upcoming general session of the Arkansas General Assembly.
Lawmakers will return to the state Capitol in Little Rock on Jan. 9, 2023, to begin considering bills touching on a wide variety of topics. GOP leaders have said they plan to focus on education and tax reform, including Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ plan to phase out the state’s individual income tax.
As of Monday, 12 pieces of legislation have been proposed since the bill filing period opened last week. The first two were filed by Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould. The so-called “shell bills” are identical and more or less serve as a placeholder, but their titles suggest they’ll deal with parole and sentencing guidelines.
Jacob Kauffman/KUAR
Lawmakers will return to the Arkansas State Capitol on Jan. 9, 2023 for a legislative session.