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2020 Arkansas legislative session

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Some states made changes to 2020 state legislative sessions and legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
Arkansas: Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) issued a proclamation convening a special session of the state legislature to begin March 26, 2020. The special session adjourned on March 28, 2020. Lawmakers reconvened on April 8, 2020, and adjourned their regular session on April 24, 2020.
Arkansas General Assembly

Seal of Arkansas.svg.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   16 years lifetime in the general assembly
Session start:   April 8, 2020
Website:   Official General Assembly Page
Leadership
Senate President:  
Tim Griffin (R)
House Speaker:  Matthew Shepherd (R)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Bart Hester (R)
House: Marcus Richmond (R)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Keith Ingram (D)
House: Charles Blake (D)
Structure
Members:  35 (Senate), 100 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art 8, Section 3, Arkansas Constitution
Salary:   $39,400/year + $150/day
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Redistricting:  Arkansas General Assembly controls Congressional Redistricting, Board of Apportionment controls state legislative redistricting

In 2020, the Arkansas State Legislature was scheduled to convene on April 8 and adjourn on April 24.

Several state legislatures suspended their sessions or otherwise limited legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic. On March 24, 2020, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) issued a proclamation convening a special session of the state legislature to begin March 26, 2020, and continuing indefinitely. The proclamation specified that one purpose of the special session would be "to create the COVID-19 Rainy Day Fund; to transfer funds to the COVID-19 Rainy Day Fund; and to Declare an Emergency." The special session adjourned on March 28, 2020. Lawmakers reconvened on April 8, 2020, and adjourned their regular session on April 24, 2020.[1][2]

Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session, just as they did in 2019. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 26-9 supermajority in the Senate and a 74-26 supermajority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a veto-proof supermajority in the Arkansas state House and state Senate.
  • Arkansas was one of 21 Republican state government trifectas.
  • Arkansas' governor was Republican Asa Hutchinson.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2020

    See also: State government trifectas

    Arkansas was one of 21 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Arkansas was also one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Arkansas State Legislature in the 2020 legislative session.

    Arkansas State Senate

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 9
         Republican Party 26
    Total 35

    From 1992 to 2020, the Arkansas Senate flipped from a 30-5 Democratic majority to a 26-9 Republican majority. The rapid partisan change in the chamber coincided with the American South's shift from nearly 175 years of Democratic dominance to being solid Republican in the early 21st century. The table below shows the partisan history of the Arkansas Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Arkansas State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 30 28 28 29 27 27 27 27 27 20 14 11 9 9
    Republicans 5 7 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 15 21 24 26 26

    The chamber was in Democratic hands for every election between 1874 and 2012. The solid Democratic majority that arose after the Civil War and Reconstruction did not allow Republicans to gain more than two seats in the chamber until 1982. From 1914 to 1968, there were no Republican members of the chamber.

    Even the years from 1992 to 2016 were mostly dominated by Democrats. There was very little partisan change in the chamber between 1992 and 2008, with Republicans gradually moving from five seats to eight seats. But despite the Democrats' long-standing dominance of the chamber, the transition in power came relatively fast. In the 2010 and 2012 elections, Republicans gained 13 seats and took control. The seven seat swing in 2010 and the six seat swing in 2012 were the two largest the chamber had seen since 1872, when Democrats reclaimed the chamber from Republicans empowered by Reconstruction. The 2014 to 2018 elections were comparatively calm, with Republicans gaining five seats between them. Still, even minor Republican gains helped to pad their majority and complete the chamber's transformation from Democratic to Republican dominance. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2018 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Arkansas House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 23
         Republican Party 75
         Vacancies 2
    Total 100

    From 1992 to 2020, the Arkansas House flipped from an 89 percent Democratic chamber to a 74 percent Republican chamber. The rapid partisan change in the chamber coincided with the American South's shift from nearly 175 years of Democratic dominance to being solid Republican in the early 21st century. The table below shows the partisan history of the Arkansas House following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Arkansas House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 89 88 86 76 72 70 72 75 71 55 49 36 27 26
    Republicans 10 12 14 24 28 30 28 25 28 45 51 64 73 74

    The chamber was in Democratic hands for every election between 1874 and 2012. The solid Democratic majority that arose after the Civil War and Reconstruction rarely wavered as it did not fall below 95 seats from 1900 to 1978.

    The years from 1992 to 2016 marked a rapid decline of the Democratic Party in the Arkansas House and the rise of a new Republican majority. From 1992 to 2002, Republicans slowly chipped away at the Democratic majority, bringing it down to 70 seats. Democrats maintained a 71-28 edge over Republicans after the 2008 elections. This strong majority allowed them to withstand the 2010 elections, which delivered other southern Democratic strongholds—such as the Alabama Legislature—into Republican hands. Republicans took control of the chamber in 2012, winning a 51-49 majority. They expanded on their lead in the next two cycles, bringing the majority to 73-27 after the 2016 elections and completing the chamber's transformation from a Democratic stronghold to a Republican supermajority. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2018 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Leadership in 2020

    Arkansas State Senate

    Arkansas House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2020 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2020. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Arkansas state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 43 standing committees in Arkansas' state government, including 24 joint legislative committees, nine state Senate committees, and 10 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees



    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Arkansas Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Section 22, Article 19, of the Arkansas Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Arkansas

    The Arkansas Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a citizen-initiated process and a legislative process. Arkansas requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

    In Arkansas, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Arkansas requires that a petition must contain qualified signatures equaling at least half of the required percentage of signatures (5%) from each of 50 of the state's 75 counties. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Arkansas State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in the Arkansas House of Representatives and 18 votes in the Arkansas State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.



    Historical context:

    • A total of 48 measures appeared on statewide ballots in even-numbered years between 1996 and 2018.[3]
    • From 1996 to 2018, an average of four measures appeared on the ballot during even-numbered years in Arkansas.
    • The number of measures appearing on even-year statewide ballots between 1995 and 2018 ranged from two to six.
    • During even-numbered years between 1996 and 2018, 73% (35 of 48) of statewide ballot measures in Arkansas were approved by voters, and 27% (13 of 48) were defeated.
    Arkansas ballot measures, 1996-2018
    Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Annual average Annual median Annual minimum Annual maximum
    51 35 72.92% 13 27.08% 4 4 2 6


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Arkansas.

    Arkansas Party Control: 1992-2025
    Eleven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Eleven years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R
    Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    See also

    Elections Arkansas State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    Arkansas State Flag-Close Up.jpg
    State Houses-Tile image.png
    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ State of Arkansas Executive Department, "Proclamation," March 24, 2020
    2. ↑ UA Little Rock Public Radio, "Arkansas Lawmakers Conclude Coronavirus Special Session Early Saturday," March 28, 2020
    3. ↑ A total of 51 measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1996 and 2018 during all years. In Arkansas, three measures have been on the statewide ballot during odd-numbered years between 1996 and 2018, which were on the ballot in 2005 and 2011.
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