AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Successes in the Session

LITTLE ROCK – This week the 93rd General Assembly concluded its business, and today I’d like to talk about a few of the success stories from the legislative session.

First, I appreciate the leadership of Senate Pro Tem Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana and Speaker Matthew Shepherd of El Dorado. Their steady hand and leadership helped us to navigate through some of the more contentious debates.

One bill that created some last-minute controversy was Senate Bill 298, which was known as the Arkansas Sovereignty Act. This bill was designed to push back against the federal government for what many Arkansans believe will be a new round of gun-control measures. I support that message, and I am a defender of the 2nd Amendment. But the bill would have penalized state and local law enforcement officers for cooperating with federal agencies; it also would have jeopardized hundreds of cases pending in federal court. In other words, public safety would be compromised, and the bill was clearly unconstitutional.

For those reasons I vetoed the bill. As a result, everyone worked together to draft a new bill that Representative Jeff Wardlaw and Senator Missy Irvin sponsored. The new bill sends the same message to Washington that we will not accept unconstitutional burdens on our 2nd Amendment rights. But the bill protects our public safety needs and will not put law enforcement at risk. This was House Bill 1957, and I have now signed the bill into law.

Now, let me talk about some additional successes in the session. 

One of our biggest wins was passage of the Revenue Stabilization Act. The act, known as the RSA, was implemented in the 1940s and requires the state to maintain a balanced budget. Passage of the RSA is an annual exercise in which legislators prioritize spending for the next fiscal year.

As part of the RSA this year, our reserve funds continue to build. We have consistently increased our surplus funds from zero when I took office to the current $210 million. And with the new budget adopted  in this session of the General Assembly, I expect those reserve funds to grow to more than $700 million. As Senator Jonathan Dismang said, the state has never been in better financial condition. Our reserve funds are like a long-term savings account that allows us to weather unexpected economic setbacks.

Other bills we passed include a $2,000 increase in the median salary for school teachers; a reduction in the number of years of service for state police officers to retire from thirty years to twenty-eight years; a requirement that Arkansas students take at least one computer science course to graduate; and that every high school employ at least one certified computer science teacher.    

As you can see, we had a very busy and successful legislative session.

Weekly Update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught

House members are now ready to begin the second week of the 2021 Regular Session.

Nearly 200 bills have been filed so far in the House and more than 135 have been filed in the Senate.

House members elected to serve in the 93rd General Assembly took the oath of office in the House Chamber on Monday. Upon swearing-in, members then voted to name Rep. Matthew J. Shepherd of El Dorado as the Speaker of the Arkansas House. This will be his second full term to serve as Speaker.

Speaker Shepherd announced the chairs for all House committees. You can find a complete list of committee assignments at www.arkansashouse.org.

On the second day of the Regular Session, Governor Asa Hutchinson addressed the General Assembly and outlined his legislative goals for this session.

He said he will be asking the General Assembly to affirm the current health emergency order and direct federal COVID-19 relief funds for vaccine distribution.

The Governor’s legislative agenda also includes the following:

· Increase teacher pay by $2,000 over the next 2 years

· Reduce the used car sales tax

· Reduce income tax for new Arkansas residents

· Appropriate $30 million for increased broadband in rural areas

· Implement a computer science requirement for high school graduation

· Increase sentencing for hate crimes

On Thursday, the House passed resolutions outlining new rules and changes to procedure due to COVID-19. These include mask requirements, changes to committee agendas, and remote voting options for members.

The House will not meet on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday or on Wednesday during the Presidential Inauguration. We will meet on Tuesday and Thursday next week. Schedules and agendas will be available on our website.

As a reminder, the House live streams all of our meetings on the website. We also posted the guidelines for members of the public who wish to participate in the process at the Capitol.

Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | My Goals for the 93rd General Assembly

LITTLE ROCK – The 93rd General Assembly convened this week, and today I’d like to talk about the goals that I shared with legislators in my State of the State address.

I expect legislation that will boost our economy from tax cuts to reduced regulations. We need laws that will assure that our police officers have the highest standards, and are fully trained, funded, and supported. We also want laws to increase accountability and oversight.

Two years ago, legislators raised the pay of our dedicated public-school teachers. I support another round of pay increases. My goal is to raise average teacher salaries by $2,000 over the next two years, and I expect there will be great legislative support for this effort. 

During my time in office, we have become a national leader with our computer science initiative. But we can’t relax in our success. This year, I am asking the general assembly to support legislation that will require all students to take at least one computer science course in order to graduate, and to require all schools to employee at least one certified computer science teacher. We will have to increase the training of our teachers even more, but we are ready to do it because this will give our young people even greater opportunities right here in Arkansas. 

During each regular session while I have been governor, we have lowered taxes on hard-working Arkansans. As a result, we have moved $800 million from the government bank account into the hands of Arkansans.

This session, I am asking for two specific tax cuts. I would like to reduce the sales tax on used cars that sell between $4,000 and $10,000. The tax would be reduced from 6.5 percent to 3.5 percent. This would give relief to thousands of Arkansans who depend upon used vehicles for getting to work and to school.

To pay for tax cuts, we need to continue to grow our economy and bring people to Arkansas. To help with that goal, I am recommending a second tax cut. And that is that we lower our tax rate for new residents to 4.9 percent for the first five years they live in Arkansas. That will attract new Arkansans, who will spend money and pay taxes, and companies that will create jobs and contribute to our economy.

This year the individual income tax rate has been reduced to 5.9 percent, and I hope that within the next five years, Arkansas will reduce the rate to 4.9 percent for all residents.

We are entering 2021 with a balanced budget, a strong economy, and the strength of Arkansans to pull through these tough days. As I established my legislative goals for the 93rd General Assembly, I am mindful that the most urgent task is to respond and recover from the pandemic and to do everything needed to get our vaccines out to everyone in need.

Governor Hutchinson Delivers State of the State Address

LITTLE ROCK – Governor Asa Hutchinson delivered the State of the State Address to the Members of the 93rd General Assembly Tuesday morning. 

Arkansas House, Senate Outline Plans To Conduct Session During Pandemic

By ROBY BROCK / TALK BUSINESS & POLITICS

While legislators prepare to debate the issues in the 93rd Arkansas General Assembly, a more critical debate is already underway: How to conduct a COVID-19 legislative session at the state capitol?

Unlike the fiscal session earlier this year, legislative leaders are already instituting changes that will keep the session accessible to the public, safe for participants, and within the boundaries of their constitutional duties.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/arkansas-house-senate-outline-plans-conduct-session-during-pandemic

Arkansas legislative leaders are preparing for next year's session which will come amid the coronavirus pandemic.

CREDIT MICHAEL HIBBLEN / KUAR NEWS

Weekly Update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught

This week, members elected to the 93rd General Assembly convened in the House chamber. The purpose of the organizational meeting was to determine seniority, select seats in the chamber, and select committees.

The vast majority of bills introduced during the session are assigned to a standing committee. We have posted the tentative standing committee assignments and the assignments for the Joint Budget Committee, the Joint Auditing Committee, and Arkansas Legislative Council at www.arkansashouse.org.

The House Speaker will announce the chairs and vice-chairs of committees on the first day of the session.

Upon swearing-in, the 93rd General Assembly will consist of 24 women and 76 men in the Arkansas House of Representatives. In addition, the House will have 22 Democrats and 78 Republicans.

House members are elected to serve two-year terms. Each member represents approximately 30,000 Arkansans.

Next year, there will 16 members serving their first full term. This includes a few members who were elected to the 92nd General Assembly in special elections after the 2019 Regular Session. New members will be preparing for the upcoming session during the Legislative Institute held the week of December 7.

The longest-serving members will be serving their 6th term next year.

This session will be unlike any other. For added safety during the health emergency, we have installed plexiglass partitions around members' desks in the chamber. House and Senate leaders continue to work together to make adjustments to committee rooms and schedules to ensure that members, staff, and the public can continue to proceed in a safe environment.

We will be updating you on any changes as we proceed. The process will continue to be transparent. All meetings will be live-streamed and recorded.

So far, 20 bills have been filed in the House, and nine bills have been filed in the Senate. We have posted a link to recently filed legislation on our website. It is expected that members will ultimately be voting on more than 1,000 pieces of legislation addressing everything from taxes to congressional redistricting.

The 2021 Regular Session begins on January 11. We will continue to keep you updated.