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2023 Arkansas legislative session
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| 2023 Arkansas legislative session |
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| General information |
| Session start: January 9, 2023 Session end: May 1, 2023 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Bart Hester House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 5, 2024 Last Election: November 8, 2022 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2023 legislative sessions |
In 2023, the Arkansas State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 9 and adjourn on May 1.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Republicans won a 29-6 majority in the Senate and a 82-18 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2023 session, Arkansas was one of 18 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2023
Arkansas State Senate
- Senate president: Bart Hester (R)
- Majority leader: Blake Johnson (R)
- Minority leader: Greg Leding (D)
Arkansas House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Matthew Shepherd (R)
- Majority leader: Marcus Richmond (R)
- Minority leader: Tippi McCullough (D)
Partisan control in 2023
- See also: State government trifectas
Arkansas was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2023 legislative sessions. A trifectas occurs when one political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house in a state's government. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
Arkansas was also one of 18 state legislatures where Republicans 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 2023 legislative session.
Arkansas State Senate
| Party | As of January 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 6 | |
| Republican Party | 29 | |
| Total | 35 | |
Arkansas House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 18 | |
| Republican Party | 82 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2023 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 2023. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Standing legislative committees
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 2023 legislative session, there were 46 standing committees in Arkansas' state government, including 18 joint legislative committees, 14 state Senate committees, and 14 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
- Academic Facilities Oversight Committee
- Advanced Communications and Information Technology Committee
- Boys State Committee
- Code Revision Commission
- Constitutional Amendments Committee
- Economic and Tax Policy Committee
- Game and Fish Commission Oversight Committee
- Girls State Committee
- Governor's Emergency Fund Review Committee
- Joint Budget Committee
- Joint Energy Committee
- Joint Performance Review Committee
- Legislative Auditing Committee
- Legislative Council
- Legislative Facilities Committee
- Legislative Joint Auditing Committee
- Legislative Printing Requirements and Specifications Committee
- Public Retirement and Social Security Programs Committee
Senate committees
- Ethics Committee
- Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee
- Senate Children and Youth Committee
- Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Efficiency Committee
- Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee
- Senate Public Retirement and Social Security Programs Committee
- Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee
- Senate Rules, Resolutions and Memorials Committee
- Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee
House committees
- Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee
- House Advanced Communications and Information Technology Committee
- House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee
- House City, County and Local Affairs Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Insurance and Commerce Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- House Management Committee
- House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee
- House Revenue and Taxation Committee
- House Rules Committee
- House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Legislative Orientation Committee
- Public Transportation Committee
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:
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
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 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 |
Historical Senate control
From 1992 to 2022, the Arkansas Senate flipped from a 30-5 Democratic majority to a 29-6 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 2022. 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: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 30 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 20 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| Republicans | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 29 |
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.
From 1992 to 2022, the chamber was mostly controlled 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 control 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 elections between 2014 and 2020 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 2016 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 all together.
Historical House control
From 1992 to 2022, the Arkansas House flipped from an 89 percent Democratic chamber to a 82 percent Republican chamber. The rapid partisan change in the chamber coincided with the American South's shift from nearly 175 years of Democratic control 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 2022. 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: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 89 | 88 | 86 | 76 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 75 | 71 | 55 | 49 | 36 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 18 |
| Republicans | 10 | 12 | 14 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 25 | 28 | 45 | 51 | 64 | 73 | 74 | 78 | 82 |
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 and it did not fall below 95 seats from 1900 to 1978.
The years from 1992 to 2022 marked the decline of the Democratic Party in the Arkansas House and the rise of a 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 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 2016 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.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job.
Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
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- Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments
- We translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language
- And because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan
See also
| Elections | Arkansas State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
