LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Now that the election is over, Arkansas lawmakers are gearing up for next year's legislative session — a process that's already creating some tension in one of the chambers.
During a senate organizational meeting last Thursday, Republican State Sen. Blake Johnson proposed a new rule that would ban minority party members from serving as vice chairs of standing committees.
The measure passed with 20 members voting yes, nine voting no, and six voting present.
Sen. Johnson said vice chairs should reflect the majority and that it should reflect who Arkansans voted for.
"This is not an abuse of power. This is a use of power that citizens of Arkansas have given us," Sen. Johnson said.
As of November 2024, Arkansas' senate is made up of 35 lawmakers.
Recent data shows that of those 35 lawmakers — 29 are with the Republican Party and six are with the Democratic Party. As a result, this means that Republicans hold a super majority in the senate which is why Sen. Johnson said that he's proposing the change.
On the flip side, Democratic State Sen. Greg Leding said the rule change is unnecessary — pointing to Republicans who voted against it.
"Even if a member of the minority were able to be vice chair of a committee, there's really nothing they could do to influence the outcome," Sen. Leding said. "So that really was just sort of a power grab by the majority."
Sen. Leding said that this new rule won't hurt the state's Democratic Party, but he believes that it will hurt Arkansans.
"The six Democrats in the Arkansas Senate also have Republicans in their districts. The people that we represent are no less the people of Arkansas than the people represented by my Republican colleagues," he said.
The new rule is already in effect. We spoke with the Senate pro-temp Bart Hester and other ranking members, but they were unable to meet with us for an interview due to Veteran's Day.