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The Ninety-Forth Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2023 and 2024. The Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 29 senators were Republicans and 6 were Democrats. In the House, 82 representatives were Republicans and 18 were Democrats.
Sessions
The Regular Session of the 94th General Assembly opened on January 9, 2023. It adjourned sine die on May 1, 2023.
A special session was called by Governor of ArkansasSarah Huckabee Sanders to begin September 11, 2023 to consider tax cuts and changes to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law. It ended after four days. The special session ended with an amendment to the FOIA law exempting information regarding travel on the state airplane, operated by the Arkansas State Police for use by the Governor of Arkansas and other constitutional officers. Several other provisions proposed by the governor to be exempted from FOIA, including deliberations among state officials, policy recommendations, and other information, were withdrawn after receiving broad bipartisan opposition.
The legislature assembled for the fiscal session on April 10, 2024. Governor Sanders' proposed $6.31 billion budget in 2024, with a 2% increase for 2025. The budget included large increases to fund school vouchers created by the Learns Act, as well as the Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Department of Corrections, with reductions to higher education. The budget was approved, but a standoff emerged over setting a potential cap on the salary for the director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The fiscal session adjourned May 9, 2024 without establishing funding for the commission, the first time the legislature had failed to fund a state agency during a fiscal session in over 30 years.
A second special session was called by Governor Sanders to cut taxes and fund the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission on June 17, 2024. The legislature reduced the top individual income tax rate to 3.9% and the state’s top corporate income tax rate to 4.3%, with no changes to lower income and middle income earners. Due to a disagreement about a cap on the director's possible salary, the legislature had allocated $0 to the Game and Fish Commission in the fiscal session, which typically received over $100 million to fund operations. Though the House and Senate had ultimately concurred on a compromise, the House had adjourned before it was approved during the fiscal session, requiring reconvening in a special session for ratification. The House also passed a resolution urging voters to vote against the Arkansas Right to Abortion Initiative's initiated constitutional amendment (which was ultimately not on the ballot in Arkansas). The special session adjourned June 19, 2024.
Major legislation
The legislature passed 889 new laws during the regular session. The signature legislation included Governor Sanders' campaign priorities of education reform (Arkansas Learns Act), tax cuts, and culture war issues like transgender rights to book access at libraries.
Arkansas State Capitol (2009)
Senate party standings