The Ninety-Third Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2021 and 2022. The Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 28 senators were Republicans and 7 were Democrats. In the House, 78 representatives were Republicans and 22 were Democrats.
Sessions
The Regular Session of the 93rd General Assembly opened on January 11, 2021.[1] It recessed due to two extreme winter storms (February 15 and February 17 in Arkansas) for the week of February 15.[2] It adjourned sine die on April 24, 2019.
The Fiscal Session began February 14, 2022 and concluded March 15.
Governor Asa Hutchinson called for a special session to begin August 9, 2022 to lower the top income tax rate to 4.9% following a large state surplus.[3] Bipartisan calls to use part of the surplus to raise teacher were ultimately ignored.[4]
Major events
Corruption and scandals
Senators Mark Johnson (R-15th) and Alan Clark (R-13th) were punished for violating Senate Ethics rules on July 21, 2022. Johnson signed a sign-in sheet for Clark during a meeting he did not attend, and subsequently requesting reimbursement.[5]
Senator Alan Clark (R-13th) was suspended in a vote of the Senate for making "spurious, frivolous and retaliatory charges of ethics violations" against Senator Stephanie Flowers (D-25th).[5]
Senator Lance Eads (R-7th) resigned on October 28, 2021.[8]Colby Fulfer (R) won a special election on February 8, 2022, and was sworn in on February 22, 2022.
Major legislation
The legislature was prolific during the regular session, considering 684 Senate bills and 986 House bills. A total of 1,100 bills become law.[9]
