AAC
COVER STORY Meet the leadership in the 92nd General Assembly
introduce Senate and House leadership to our readers. On the following pages you will read more about President Senate Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, Speaker of the House
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rkansas’ 92nd General Assembly will convene Jan. 14, 2019, and the hallways of the state Capitol will soon house frenzied legislative activity. As this edi- tion of County Lines was planned, it was decided to
Matthew Shepherd, Senate and House Majority Leaders Sen. Bart Hester and Rep. Marcus Richmond, and Senate and House Minority Leaders Sen. Keith Ingram and Rep. Charles Blake. County and district elected officials will encounter these gentlemen on the hill and at legislative functions. We hope you find this issue of the magazine informative, and we look forward to seeing you at the Capitol.
Sen. Jim Hendren
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Hendren, R-Gravette, succeeds Sen.
Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, as President Senate Pro Tempore in the 92nd Gen- eral Assembly. Hendren served in the state House of Representatives from 1995-1999, and was first elected to the Senate in 2012. Hendren served as Senate Major- ity Leader during the 2017 session. In a March 2018 interview with Talk Business & Politics, he said his mission as Majority Leader was to “implement the Republican agenda” in the Senate. He views his role as President Pro Tempore differently. “As President Pro Tempore, my job’s a little bit different. It’s to make sure that the Senate functions efficiently, the Sen- ate maintains decorum. Tat we make sure that we protect the institution, and it’s cer- tainly somewhat in tatters now because of some of the behavior that’s been going on the last few years. So, my first item is going to make sure that we do everything we can to protect the integrity of the Senate, and instill a culture of integrity and ethics.” Hendren represents Senate District 2, which includes portions of Benton and Washington counties. During the early filing period, he and
Sen. Keith Ingram have filed a joint reso- lution that would amend the Arkansas Constitution to reduce the number of days the legislature is in session and repeal the fiscal session, among other things.
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Rep. Matthew Shepherd Speaker of the House
In June 2018, the House of Represen-
tatives elected Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, as speaker to succeed Rep. Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, who resigned to take a job with the University of Cen- tral Arkansas. Following his election, he told reporters his top priorities as speaker would include ethics, transformation of state government, the management of the House and making sure representa- tives properly vet legislation. Te Arkan- sas Democrat-Gazette reported Shepherd told his fellow representatives, “I hope that every day that we serve that we un- derstand that we are here not just in and of ourselves, that we represent our constitu- ents back home and represent this state, and that we should hold ourselves to the highest standards of conduct and ethics.” One defining piece of legislation that
came out of the 2017 legislature after lengthy debate, was a rule change allow- ing the Speaker of the House to make all committee assignments. Shepherd will be the first Speaker to do so when the 92nd General Assembly convenes in Janaury. Shepherd represents House District 6, which includes part of Union County. 2019 will mark the start of his fifth term. Shepherd, who is a graduate of Ouachita
Baptist University and the University of Arkansas School of Law, is a practicing at- torney in El Dorado.
Sen. Bart Hester Senate Majority Leader Arkansas State Sen. Bart Hester, R-
Bentonville, represents Senate District 1, which includes portions of Benton and Washington Counties. He served his first term in the Senate in 2013. He was Majority Whip during the 2017 leg- islative session.
Also during the 91st General Assembly in 2017, Hester co-sponsored, along with Reps. Kim Hammer, Karilyn Brown, Jeff Williams, and Mickey Gates, a bill cham- pioned by the Arkansas Tax Collectors As- sociation. Senate Bill 114 — now Act 514 of 2017 — amended the requirements for publishing notice of delinquent taxes on mineral interests. Rather than publish- ing the parcels in a newspaper at a cost of about $1.50 per parcel, collectors now publish their delinquent mineral parcels on a free web site maintained by the As- sociation of Arkansas Counties. Collectors used the web site for the first time in 2018. Van Buren County alone reported savings of $25,000 on publica- tion costs. During the early filing period for the 92nd General Assembly, Hester has filed a bill that would restructure state gov- ernment and reduce the number of de- partment heads who report to Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Professionally, Sen. Hester works in real estate and construction.
COUNTY LINES, FALL 2018
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