Hester elected as Senate leader
The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday elected Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, as the Senate president pro tempore-designate without any opposition.
Hester's election as the Senate president pro tempore-designate puts him in line for the Senate to consider elevating him to Senate president pro tempore from 2023-2025 during the chamber's organizational session after the November general election.
The 27-member Senate Republican Caucus on Monday selected Hester as its nominee over Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, and Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton. The Senate also includes seven Democrats and independent Sen. Jim Hendren of Sulphur Springs.
Hester told senators that former Sen. Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, and Sens. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy; Hendren, and Hickey were each uniquely qualified for the stints they have served as the Senate leader since 2013 with Republicans in control of the chamber.
Hester praised Hickey "for being tough enough to handle the very tough issues we've had over the last year." Hickey's term as Senate president pro tempore started in January of 2021 and runs through the end of this year.
Afterward, Hickey said he believes he lost to Hester to be the Senate Republican Caucus nominee to be Senate president pro tempore-designate partly because some Republican senators didn't want him to serve two two-year terms as Senate president pro tempore. He said he didn't ask the full Senate to elect him as the Senate president pro-tempore-designate like he did in April of 2020 because "we are kind of at a turning point with the Senate.
"We have some great members that are leaving," he said. "We have some members that are toxic that are leaving, so the thing is we are going to have nine new members even without an election. It's time for us to come together and be that body, and I recognize that.
"Me trying to even run on the floor would have caused more division, which I don't want with this body."
-- Michael R. Wickline
Prison appropriation approved by Senate
The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday handily approved an appropriation for the state Department of Corrections' Division of Correction that includes up to $75 million in spending authority for costs associated with prison expansion in the coming fiscal year.
The Senate voted 30-3 to send House Bill 1034 to the governor. The appropriation is for fiscal year 2023, which starts July 1. Democratic Sens. Linda Chesterfield of Little Rock, Joyce Elliott of Little Rock and Greg Leding of Fayetteville dissented.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson has proposed using surplus funds to finance a 498-bed addition to the North Central Unit in Calico Rock and has estimated the price tag of the prison at between $60 million and $100 million.
The North Central Unit's current total capacity is 803 inmates, said Department of Correction spokeswoman Cindy Murphy. The Department of Corrections' total capacity is 14,640 inmates, she said.
The state's proposed Revenue Stabilization Acts for fiscal 2023 -- Senate Bill 101 and House Bill 1117-- would transfer $150 million from the general revenue allotment reserve fund to the various improvements and projects set aside in the restricted reserve fund, but the bills don't list any projects. The House and Senate voted Tuesday to send the respective bills to the governor.
Legislative leaders said the $150 million in the restricted reserve fund could pay for several projects, including the proposed prison expansion. The Legislative Council's approval will be required to tap any funds requested by the governor for these projects.
-- Michael R. Wickline