ARK. LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS -Arkansas 92nd General Assembly began yesterday in Little Rock. In the House, members unanimously approved Rep. Matthew Shepherd to the House Speakership position. A Republican from El Dorado, Arkansas -- Shepherd was first elected to the house in 2011, it’s his first term as speaker. After taking his oath of office, Shepherd spoke on the importance of being a state representative, and not to confuse " political challenges " as waiting to present a bill to committee, with real world challenges that constituents face every day.
"As we sit here today on a very important day, many of those 30,000 Arkansans in your district and mine could not care less about the trappings of our offices or how we select our committees or who the chairpersons are," Shepherd said. "Ultimately all they care about is that they can live, work and otherwise enjoy the freedoms and liberties that Arkansans have enjoyed for generations. And they want to pass on those freedoms and liberties to their children."
Shepherd announced the list of committee chairs and co-chairs for the legislature, giving a list of full committee assignments to lawmakers after session was adjourned. Over 35 bills were assigned to a committee.
