Arkansas Legislative Process

The Arkansas General Assembly, also called the Legislature, is comprised of two parts:

• The Senate – 35 Senators who serve four-year terms and may serve a total of two terms
• The House of Representatives – 100 Representatives who serve two-year terms and may serve a total of three terms

The Legislature meets every odd-numbered year for 60 days, starting on the second Monday in January. The Legislature may vote to extend the session beyond 60 days with a 2/3 vote of each chamber. The Governor may “call” a special session between regular sessions.

Committees

Legislative committees exist to address specific issues, such as transportation and education. The majority of the public debate on a bill takes place takes place in committee meetings. Each legislator serves on more than one committee. Often more than one committee meets at the same time, which presents scheduling conflicts for legislators.

The ASBA Legislative Team follows the work of the education committees most closely:

• Senate Education Committee – seven members; generally meets on Wednesdays and Fridays (occasionally on Mondays) during a regular session
• House Education Committee - 20 members; generally meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays during a regular session

During a special legislative session, both House and Senate Education Committees generally meet every day, and their meeting times can overlap.

Each committee sets an agenda for each meeting, but there are many more bills on each agenda than actually are addressed in the meeting. Several factors affect which bills get presented. Among the factors are: legislator scheduling conflicts; whether the sponsor believes the bill will pass the committee; and how many and which committee members are present for the meeting.

How bills become laws

Legislators or the legislative staff write bills to address matters they or their constituents feel need to be addressed. Bills sponsored by House or Senate members must successfully pass through their respective chamber before going to the other legislative body.

Numbering: Bills are numbered in order based on when they were introduced – the lower the number, the earlier the bill was introduced (filed).

• House bills – identified by the letters HB followed by the number of the bill (for example, HB 1063); numbering starts at “1000” and increases as bills are filed
• Senate bills – designated with the letters SB; numbering begins at “1”
• Acts – bills that become acts receive a new number, starting with number "1" and given in the order they become law

Process:

• A legislator who either wrote a bill or agrees to support a bill written by someone else is said to "sponsor" the bill. The first name on a bill is the "lead sponsor.”
• The bill is read to the full chamber (House or Senate) before being given to the appropriate committee for its consideration.
• After a bill has been put on a committee’s calendar, the sponsor of the bill testifies before the committee on behalf of the bill. Committee members may ask the sponsor questions about the bill. When the committee members are finished asking the sponsor questions, audience members are usually allowed to testify for or against the bill and may be asked questions by committee members.
• When the testimony is finished, the committee votes on the bill. A majority vote of the committee membership, not just those present, is required to pass a bill out of committee. A bill may be presented and voted on three different times by a committee. If the committee votes down a bill three times, it’s dead.
• A bill that is passed out of committee must then pass the full chamber. If that happens, the bill then goes to the comparable committee of the other chamber where the process begins in that chamber. Bills that are passed through both chambers go to the governor for his consideration.
  • The governor may sign, ignore or veto bills sent to him. The governor has five days to make a decision on bills received while the session is still in progress and 20 days for bills presented to him at the end of the session.
  • If the governor signs a bill, it becomes an act and is a law of Arkansas.
  • If the governor neither signs nor vetoes a bill, it still becomes an act and part of the laws of Arkansas, but without the governor’s signature.
  • If the governor vetoes the bill, it dies unless overridden by a majority of both houses.