Naming leaders, choosing assignments

T he state Senate held its traditional organizational meeting to name its leaders and choose committee assignments.

Sen. Bart Hester of Cave Springs (Benton County) had previously been elected president pro tempore of the Senate for the 95th General Assembly. On Jan. 13, the first day of the 2025 legislative session, he will be officially installed. It will be his second term, and he will be the third senator in the modern era to serve two terms as the leader of the Senate.

Sen. Jonathan Dismang of Searcy will be Senate co-chair of the Joint Budget Committee. During legislative sessions, Joint Budget and its subcommittees will review in detail all state government spending requests. All appropriations that authorize state government expenditures must be approved by Joint Budget.

Sen. Dismang was elected president pro tempore during the 89th General Assembly, after the resignation of the incumbent president. He was then elected president pro tempore for the 90th and 91st General Assemblies. Besides Sens. Hester and Dismang, Sen. William Norrell of Monticello was the only other senator in the modern era to be elected twice as president pro tem. He served from 1933 through 1936.

Sen. Ben Gilmore of Crossett will be Senate co-chair of the Legislative Council. Sen. Jim Petty of Van Buren will be Senate co-chair of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee.

Council and Audit are two of the most important committees that meet in the interim between legislative sessions, monitoring the operations of state agencies and making sure appropriations are properly spent.

Sen. Terry Rice of Waldron will be Senate cochair of the Joint Performance Review Committee. Commonly referred to as JPR, it reviews the performance of programs and agencies. JPR can hold hearings on government operations initiated by citizens and has authority to investigate violations of election law, with authority to subpoena documents and records.

Sen. Blake Johnson of Corning will be majority leader and Sen. Breanne Davis of Russellville will be majority whip. Sen. Greg Leding of Fayetteville will be minority leader and Sen. Fred Love of Little Rock will be minority whip.

The Senate has nine standing committees that will review all proposed legislation filed during the session, depending on its subject matter. Sen. Missy Irvin of Mountain View will chair the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. Senator Jimmy Hickey Jr. of Texarkana will chair the Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Sen. Jane English of North Little Rock will chair the Education Committee and Sen. Alan Clark of Lonsdale will chair the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Ronald Caldwell of Wynne will chair the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.

In addition to his duties as majority leader, Sen. Blake Johnson will chair the Insurance and Commerce Committee. Sen. Gary Stubblefield of Branch (Logan County) will chair the City, County and Local Affairs Committee and Sen. Scott Flippo of Bull Shoals will chair the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Ricky Hill of Cabot will chair the Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee.

Sen. Jim Dotson of Bentonville will be Senate co-chair of the Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs. Sen. Gilmore, the senate co-chair of Council, also will chair the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth. Sen. Mark Johnson of Ferndale will be Senate co-chair of the Joint Energy Committee.

Sen. Kim Hammer of Benton will chair the Efficiency Committee and Sen. Davis, the majority whip, will chair the Senate Rules Committee.

Sen. Reginald Murdock