Six new legislative proposals were filed Friday for redrawing congressional district lines, all with wrinkles affecting Pulaski County, the state’s largest and typically in the Democratic vote column. (Which means you can discount Democratic plans in the Republican-controlled legislature.)
They include Democratic Sen. Clarke Tucker’s plan (SB 727) to improve on Sen. Bart Hester’s plan by keeping Pulaski County whole in a newly drawn district.
Democratic Sen. Joyce Elliott’s SB 728 creates a new 2nd District including Pulaski, Jefferson and Delta counties from the southern border to Crittenden County.
Republican Sen. Breanne Davis‘ SB 726 adds her home Pope County to the existing Second District, with half of Saline County sheared off to account for the added population.
Democratic Rep. Vivian Flowers‘ HB 1965 would create a Delta/South Arkansas district including her home Jefferson County, with an added slice of Pulaski County. She’d put the rest of Pulaski in the 4th District.
Republican Rep. David Ray’s HB 1964 would put a slice of Northeast Pulaski County in the 1st Congressional District.
Eight bills are on a committee agenda for discussion at 1 p.m. Monday.
UPDATE: On Monday, Rep. Stephen Meeks tossed another proposal into the mix, this one keeps the 2nd District as is except for dropping Van Buren County to adjust for growing population.
Of more interest that day might be testimony from state agency leaders on President Biden’s executive orders on vaccine requirements. With Sen. Jason Rapert at the head of the table, demagoguery is sure to follow. Biden’s order requires federal employees to be vaccinated. Federal contractors also must be vaccinated by Dec. 8, according to reporting Friday. This is a wide-reaching order that affects thousands of people in Arkansas. Interposition time again?