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House creates joint committee on military and veterans affairs with emergency clause
Summary
The House passed House Bill 1056 to create a joint legislative committee on military and veterans affairs; the bill passed with an emergency clause after a revote that followed a motion to expunge and retake the roll to include the Speaker's vote.
The Arkansas House passed House Bill 1056 to create a joint committee on military and veterans affairs and included an emergency clause.
Speaker Matthew Evans, sponsor of the bill, said the change was driven by concern for Arkansas’s sizable veteran population and the state’s proximity to bases such as Little Rock Air Force Base and Camp Robinson. He said the committee would be established as a joint House–Senate body and that membership details could be finalized through subsequent rules and appointments. Representative Brice Whitaker spoke in support, saying he and his family had deep military ties and that the measure was “long overdue.”
The House first voted to pass the bill and its emergency clause by a recorded vote of 97 yays, 0 nays and 0 present. After the initial vote a member noted the Speaker’s vote was not recorded on the machine; Representative Meeks moved to expunge the prior vote and allow a re-vote so the Speaker’s affirmative vote would be included. The motion to expunge carried (the clerk recorded more than 67 members voting for the motion), and the subsequent roll-call vote on the bill recorded 98 yays, 0 nays and 0 present. The clerk later noted on the floor that House Bill 1056 did pass the bill and the emergency clause.
The act creates a statutory joint committee to focus legislative attention on military and veterans policy; the transcript indicates appointments and detailed membership will be handled later through committee assignments and house rules.
