AAC Successes in the session
ate 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
T
Senate Bill 298, which was known as the Arkansas Sovereign- ty Act. Tis 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 jeop- ardized 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 Rep. Jeff Wardlaw and Sen. Missy Irvin sponsored. Te new bill sends the same message to Washington that we will not accept unconstitu- tional burdens on our 2nd Amendment rights. But the bill protects our public safety needs and will not put law enforce- ment at risk. Tis was House Bill 1957, and I have 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 Stabi- lization Act. Te act, known as the RSA, was implemented in
he 93rd General Assembly has concluded its business, and I’d like to talk about a few of the success stories from the legislative session. First, I appreciate the leadership of Sen-
the 1940s and requires the state to maintain a balanced budget. Pas- sage of the RSA is an annual exer- cise 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 Sen. Jonathan Dismang said, the state has never been in bet- ter financial condition. Our reserve funds are like a long-term savings account that allows us to weather unexpected eco- nomic setbacks. Other bills we passed include a $2,000 increase in the me- dian salary for schoolteachers; a reduction in the number of years of service for state police officers to retire from 30 years to 28 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 legisla-
Hon. ASA
HuTCHINSON Governor of Arkansas
tive session. Asa Hutchinson
Te Honorable Asa Hutchinson Governor of Arkansas
FROM THE GOVERNOR
We want to hear from YOU Tell us your good news. Be sure to let us know if
an aspect of county government “made news” re- cently in your county. Or if your county officials or staff get an award, appointment or pat on the back. We want the whole state to know about your suc- cesses and accomplishments.
Contact Communications Director Christy L. Smith at
csmith@arcounties.org.
COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2021 11
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