Inside the Dome

The 95th Arkansas General Assembly convenes this month as Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders looks to build on the momentum of her signature education-reform legislation and tax cuts.

Here is a look at a handful of the prominent lawmakers expected to play big roles in the state legislature this winter and spring.

Rep. Keith Brooks (R-Little Rock)

Elected to the House in 2020, Brooks served as vice chair of the House Education Committee for the 94th General Assembly. He also serves on the House Aging, Children and Youth and Legislative and Military Affairs committees.

Brooks was a sponsor or co-sponsor for significant legislation, including the Arkansas Unborn Child Protection Act,
and was a leading proponent of the Arkansas LEARNS Act.

Sen. Joshua Bryant (R-Rogers)

Elected to the Senate in 2022, Bryant is vice co-chair of the Joint Performance Review Committee. He is a member of the following committees: Education; City, County and Local Affairs; and Legislative Joint Auditing.

Bryant was among a group of lawmakers seeking regulation for crypto mines in rural areas, and he sponsored Resolution 5 to limit noise of crypto mines and forbid foreign ownership. During the 94th General Assembly, Bryant sponsored legislation to allow municipalities to state by resolution if they have a pro-life policy.

Sen. Breanne Davis (R-Russellville)

Davis is the chair of the Senate Rules, Resolutions and Memorials Committee and a member of the following Senate committees: Education; City, County and Local Affairs; Interim Committee on Children and Youth Committee; Joint Budget; and the Arkansas Legislative Council. She is serving as the
Senate majority whip of the 95th General Assembly.

During the 94th General Assembly, Davis was the lead sponsor of ACT 237 of 2023, commonly known as the LEARNS Act. The LEARNS Act made sweeping reforms in school finance, literacy, teacher pay and parental choice.

Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe)

Dismang, who has served in the state legislature since 2009, co-chairs Joint Budget Subcommittee and is vice chair of the Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee. He is a member of the following committees: Senate Revenue and Taxation; Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development; Joint Performance Review; Rules, Resolutions and Memorials; Legislative Facilities; and Arkansas Legislative Council.

During the 94th General Assembly, Dismang sponsored legislation that requires counties to do a reappraisal on property every four years. The legislation helps prevent huge tax increases. He was the lead Senate sponsor of legislation reducing the Arkansas income tax.

Rep. Brian Evans (R-Cabot)

Evans was voted speaker of the House by his colleagues in May of last year, and he is expected to be confirmed when the 95th General Assembly convenes this month. He was elected with 91 of 100 votes.

Evans is serving his third term in the House. He served as chair of the House Education Committee for the 94th
General Assembly. He also serves as House chair for the ALC Administrative Rules Subcommittee. In addition, Evans serves on the House Insurance and Commerce Committee, the Joint Budget Committee and the JBC PEER Review Subcommittee.

He is the sponsor of a bill to create the Joint Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs and co-sponsored a bill to amend provisions of the Arkansas code pertaining to school funding.

Sen. Ben Gilmore (R-Crossett)

Gilmore is beginning his second term in the Senate. He was elected vice-chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council and Senate chair of the Forestry Caucus. Gilmore currently serves as the chair of the Joint Energy Committee, chair of the Special Language Subcommittee of Joint Budget and chair of the Arkansas Legislative Recidivism Task Force.

He is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Joint Budget Committee, and the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee. He represents Arkansas on the Energy Council Executive Board. In 2023, Gilmore was the lead sponsor of the Protect Arkansas Act, which brought comprehensive reform to Arkansas’s criminal justice system.

Sen. Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs)

A strong proponent of the LEARNS Act and legislation to lower taxes and reduce government debt, Hester is Senate president pro tempore for the 95th General Assembly.

He is vice co-chair of the Higher Education Subcommittee and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth, the Joint Interim Committee on Legislative Facilities, the Senate Efficiency Committee, the Arkansas Legislative Council, the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, the Claims Review and Litigation Reports Subcommittee, the Game and Fish/State Police Subcommittee, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee, the Review Subcommittee, the Joint Budget Committee, the Executive Subcommittee, the Administrative Rules Subcommittee, and the Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions Subcommittee.

Rep. Ashley Hudson (D-Little Rock)

Hudson is serving her second term in the House after unseating Republican Jim Sorvillo in a red west Little Rock district. For the 95th General Assembly, she serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House City, County and Local Affairs Committee.

She has pushed for an expanded maternal health care period for Medicaid and was the primary sponsor of Act 128 to create support for pregnant and parenting students and Act 579 to amend the exemptions of life insurance proceeds from actions by creditors.

Sen. Greg Leding (D-Fayetteville)

Leding is serving his second term as Senate minority leader. He served in the Arkansas House from 2011 to 2018 and began his service in the Senate in 2019. He is vice chair of the Senate Rules, Resolutions and Memorials Committee and serves on the following committees: Public Health, Welfare and Labor; Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development; Joint Retirement and Social Security; Joint Budget; and the Arkansas Legislature Council.

During the 94th General Assembly, Leding sponsored the Liza Fletcher Act to authorize the use of rapid DNA technology in certain circumstances.

Rep. Matthew Shepherd (R-El Dorado)

Beginning his seventh term in the House, Shepherd served as House Speaker for three full terms from 2018 to 2024.

A vocal proponent of tax cuts, he is the former two-term chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and is a member of the Joint Budget Committee, the House Public Transportation Committee, the House Management Committee, and the House Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee. Shepherd also serves as chairman of the Arkansas Code Revision Commission.