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These are stories pertaining to the Legislative Session for Arkansas

Arkansas House Passes Resolution Extending 2021 Session, Allows For Later Reconvening

House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, presents House Concurrent Resolution 1015 to the House on Monday.
Arkansas House
/
KUAR
House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, presents House Concurrent Resolution 1015 to the House on Monday.

The Arkansas House of Representatives has advanced a resolution that would extend the length of this year’s legislative session until April 30 and allow lawmakers to reconvene later in the year for redistricting duties. Under the resolution, the session would be able to recess earlier, if the House and Senate agree on a date.

By a vote of 92-1 Monday, representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 1015. It would allow the legislature to go into an "extended recess," without officially adjourning. This way, lawmakers would not need to rely on Gov. Asa Hutchinson to call the lawmakers in for a special session concerning redistricting.

In presenting the resolution to the House, Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, spoke about the need for the extension.

"After discussions with the Senate, the feeling was that our current date of April 9 needed to be extended to give us a little more time, particularly after we missed a week and a day due to snow," Shepherd said.

According to Shepherd, the U.S. Census Bureau is not expected to make available the data needed for redistricting until around September.

He also said that during the later reconvening, the session would only be allowed to address redistricting, legislation related to the COVID-19 health emergency, the distribution of COVID-19 funds and to consider any vetoes or to correct any "errors and oversights."

Under the resolution, any legislation passed in session would go into effect 90 days after the extended recess begins.

Sarah was drawn towards radio reporting her freshman year in college at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where she already knew she wanted to be a journalist. Throughout her junior and senior years, Sarah reported and produced stories for KBIA, the NPR member station in Columbia. She received her bachelor’s of journalism in Radio/Television reporting with an emphasis on radio.
Formally KUAR, news from the staff of content partners Little Rock Public Radio at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. They are a NPR member station.