The Legislature Is In Session. Yay.
Today, the illustrious and magnificent 89th General Assembly convened for the first time. New legislators were sworn in. Tears were shed. Hearts were touched. Taxes raised. Sorry, I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
Okay, but seriously, there’s hopefully some good stuff around the corner. Who knows, maybe tax reform, maybe school choice; maybe some actual solutions our state’s Medicaid crisis? A guy can dream.
In addition to the swearings in, Speaker of the House Davy Carter announced the following committee chairmanships have been awarded:
Revenue and Tax — Rep. Charlie Collins (R)
Education — Rep. James McLean (D)
Insurance and Commerce — Rep. Tommy Wren (D)
Judiciary — Rep. Marshall Wright (D)
Public Health — Rep. John Burris (R)
Agriculture and Economic Development — Rep. Matthew Shepherd (R)
State Agencies — Rep. Andrea Lea (R)
City, County and Local — Rep. David Fielding (D)
Transportation — Rep. Jonathan Barnett (R)
Rules — Rep. Stephanie Malone (R)
Aging, Legislative, Youth — Rep. David Meeks (R)
Joint Retirement — Rep. Allen Kerr (R)
Joint Energy — Rep. David Branscum (R)
So, congrats to all the new chairmen and chairwomen. You’ve got your work cut out for you.
And of course if you haven’t heard, we’ll be doing a lot of on-ground coverage throughout the session here at The Arkansas Project. So keep your eyes peeled and your browsers set to www.TheArkansasProject.com.
