Bell Stands Ready for 90th General Assembly

BY REPRESENTATIVE NATE BELL –

First of all, I’d like to say thank you to the voters of District 20 for once again entrusting me with the responsibility of representing you at the State Capitol. I’m humbled that nearly 2/3 of voters trusted me with their vote. I’ll always do my best to honor the confidence you’ve placed in me and will do my absolute best to make sure your interests are considered when decisions are made in Little Rock.

Nearly 850,000 registered voters turned out to cast a ballot last week.  40 new House members were elected and 4 of 5 ballot measures were approved.  The approved measures will change the way legislators oversee state agencies, alter the validity threshold to trigger a “cure period” for an issue petition, change the number of terms members can serve in the House, alter how salaries are determined for most elected officials, ban corporate contributions to candidates, ban gifts to elected officials by lobbyists and increase the state minimum wage.

Members-elect of the 90^th General Assembly met in the House Chamber last Friday morning to draw for seniority and choose seats for the upcoming session.  My seniority number during the new term is 25.  I chose the seat immediately to the right of my current seat. It is the current seat of Congressman-Elect Bruce Westerman.
64 members of the 90^th are Republican and 36 are Democrats.  26 members are returning for their second term and 34 of us will be serving a third term.  20 members will be female which is a slight increase over the 17 ladies who currently serve in the 89^th.

Members-elect also met in 4 caucuses to select seats on the 10 standing committees. Each member chose seats on either the Joint Budget Committee, the Legislative Audit Committee, or the Arkansas Legislative Council.  For the next 2 years, I will serve on the State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee, the Education Committee and the Arkansas Legislative Council.  Select committee assignments will be made by the incoming Speaker prior to the first scheduled meetings. Lists of all committee memberships are on the House website www.arkansashouse.org

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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