State lawmakers convened in Little Rock on Monday for the 93rd General Assembly, with the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic and new worries over threats by extremist supporters of President Donald Trump looming over both chambers.
Red carnations pinned to lapels — a tradition for the first day of session — were ubiquitous around the state Capitol, as were masks, a new addition to the ceremonies.
Lawmakers seated at their desks in the House and Senate were separated by Plexiglas barriers. Hallways, typically spots for mingling and conversation, had the addition of rope barriers to keep traffic moving.
“I’m certain that when many of you began your campaign last year, you did not envision serving at a time such as this,” House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said in his opening speech. “A time when a disease demands our distance, and poisoned politics pushes us further apart.”
Shepherd, who was first elected speaker in 2018, was unanimously reelected Monday without opposition. The Senate voted Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, to serve as president pro tempore of the upper chamber after he defeated Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, last year in an early election for the leadership post.
Shepherd expressed his gratitude and appreciation to his colleagues for re-electing him House Speaker.
“It has been a privilege to serve as Speaker of the Arkansas House for the last two and a half years, and I am humbled that the membership placed their trust in me to serve another two years as Speaker for the 93rd General Assembly,” Shepherd said in an email to the News-Times.
“My goal is to have an efficient and effective session. In addition, it is a top priority that we provide an environment where members, staff and the public can operate in as safe and healthy manner as possible,” he added.
In their first significant action of the new session, House lawmakers quickly addressed the disputed election of Democrat Ashley Hudson in House District 32, voting 96-1 to seat Hudson along with the 99 other elected members of the lower chamber.
The vote put to bed disputes over Hudson’s 24-vote victory over former Rep. Jim Sorvillo, R-Little Rock, in the November election. Sorvillo argued that errors in the vote-tabulation process resulted in several disqualified ballots being counted and made the winner of the race impossible to determine.
Multiple courts and the Arkansas Claims Commission rejected Sorvillo’s arguments, however, and his final hopes of throwing out the result rested with the House. He said last week that he would not lobby his fellow Republicans to refuse to seat Hudson.
In an interview after the House adjourned, Shepherd said Hudson being seated meant House membership had decided to abide by the decision of the Arkansas Claims Commission, though he said there’s a lot of discussion among lawmakers about legislation to improve the process for future elections.
“It appears to me that there were certainly election issues in Pulaski County,” he said. “I think election reform is going to be an issue in this session and something that I’m interested in pursuing. … I think the focus is what can we do to improve the process so that hopefully we never find a House seat that’s in question like this again.”
Other priorities include education, tax policy, broadband access and redistricting, as well as ensuring that lawmakers stay safe during the pandemic, Shepherd said.
Mask mandates and rules
The Arkansas Senate on Monday approved temporary emergency procedures requiring senators, staffers and members of the public in the Senate’s facilities to wear masks or other cloth face coverings over their mouths and noses under most circumstances.
People will be exempt from the mask mandate when speaking directly into the microphone, eating or drinking. People with certain medical conditions will also be exempt from the rule, as will those who are distanced six feet away from others.
In a divided voice vote, the Senate rejected adding even stricter rules that would penalize any senator who knowingly and purposely refused to wear a mask over nose, nostrils and mouth by making the member forfeit per diem pay for the day. That proposal was introduced by state Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff.
Flowers’ proposal would have required senators to wear masks covering nose, nostrils and mouth at all times in the Senate chamber, an adjoining quiet room and areas immediately adjacent to the chamber, but it would have allowed senators to remove their masks while speaking from the Senate’s podium, if the presiding officer granted permission for that.
Under Flowers’ proposal, if the presiding officer determined that the senator was in noncompliance, then the presiding officer would “inform the member that he or she shall forfeit that day’s per idem for the violation, subject to approval of the Senate.”
“For a second and any additional violation, a member, in addition to the loss of per diem, shall be excluded from the next meeting of the Senate following the violation cited,” the proposal said.
Lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Capitol are paid a per diem of $55 a day, and those living more than 50 miles from the Capitol are paid a per diem of $151 a day, Senate Secretary/Director Ann Cornwell said afterward.
Flowers’ proposal stressed the importance of all senators wearing masks as Arkansas’ number of deaths from COVID-19 increases, she said.
“We should all be concerned. [Sen. Trent] Garner there … has no mask on,” Flowers said. “I think we need to be protected from one another.”
Afterward, Garner, R-El Dorado, said he “took [his mask] off in protest of her draconian and silly” proposal, and he subsequently put his mask back on.
The Arkansas House on Thursday approved its rules, which this session include rules for safety and committee procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
House Resolution 1005, by Shepherd, requires representatives, staff members and others who access House properties to wear face coverings, except in certain circumstances; maintain physical distancing; and submit to temperature checks and health screenings.
It also allows for limited direct proxy voting and for lawmakers to vote remotely if they are on Capitol grounds. Representatives who want to be more physically distanced can vote from the east gallery above the chamber, but will have to be in the chamber for a roll call vote.
The measure passed 81-2.
Another resolution, House Resolution 1006 by Shepherd, established rules for lawmakers, staff members and members of the public attending committee meetings amid the pandemic. The rules include wearing face coverings except in certain circumstances.
The resolution also states that members of the public who appear to testify on a bill must stay in holding rooms or “bullpen” areas when all the chairs in a committee room are full, in order to observe appropriate physical distancing.
Rep. Justin Gonzales, R-Okolona, spoke against the resolution, saying he had an issue with restricting the public’s access to the meetings.
House Bill 1006 passed 81-7.
‘Stand your ground’ bill
Senate Republicans advanced legislation Wednesday to remove the duty to retreat from Arkansas’ self-defense laws, a significant first step in enacting a “stand your ground” law that has long been sought by gun-rights proponents.
The legislation, Senate Bill 24 by Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Ozark, was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 5-2 vote after more than two hours of debate. A similar bill sponsored by Ballinger in 2019 failed to pass the committee, after a single Republican joined Democrats to block it.
“You’re going to hear that this is a license to kill, to shoot first and ask questions later,” Ballinger said Wednesday. “That isn’t the way it is in California, Illinois or the 34 other jurisdictions, other states, that have it.”
Opponents of the bill, including gun-control groups, pointed to studies showing that similar laws in other states preceded increases in gun homicides and that the “stand your ground” defenses are disproportionately successful in cases where the victim is Black. Supporters of the bill argued that those statistics are flawed.
“Experts overwhelmingly agree that this bill is not needed and that it will only serve to make Arkansas more dangerous, especially for Black people and other people of color,” said Kate Fletcher, a spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a group that opposes SB24.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that he is still tracking the bill and has not yet decided whether to support or oppose it.
Garner has voiced support for the bill on social media. In a post on Twitter Wednesday, Garner said the bill would make it “easier to protect you and your family.”
“Stronger gun rights for Arkansas!” he said in the post.
The two senators who voted against the measure, Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, and Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, argued that Arkansas’ current laws were sufficient to protect people who need to use deadly force in self-defense.
“I don’t think it’s a better policy than what we have in our law now,” Flowers said. “It seems that we are encouraging people not to avoid confrontations when it can be successfully done.”
Later Wednesday, Ballinger attempted to suspend the rules on the Senate floor so that the bill could be heard there today. Ballinger explained that his rush to get the bill to the floor was so that lawmakers “won’t have all weekend to deal with emails and telephone calls” on the bill.
The 35-member Senate voted 20-8 in favor of Ballinger’s motion, but did not reach the two-thirds majority needed to suspend the rules and fast-track the bill.
The bill also garnered the objections of two prominent supporters of gun rights on Wednesday, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Jan Morgan and Tim Loggains, an gun-rights activist from northeast Arkansas.
Both Loggains and Morgan asked lawmakers to change language in the bill stating that a person must be “lawfully present in the location” before using deadly force in self-defense. Morgan said the change was needed to preempt possible policy changes during Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.
“What is lawful today in American may not be lawful a month from now,” Morgan said.
The full Senate may consider SB24 as soon as next week.
Marvin Richards and Caitlan Butler of the News-Times and John Moritz and Michael R. Wickline of the Democrat-Gazette contributed reporting.