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Sen. Garner presses panel to back 28‑member veterans task force, citing 22 veteran suicides a day
Summary
Senator Garner asked the committee to approve SP 4, creating a 28‑member task force to study veteran suicide and veterans’ needs statewide, urged bipartisan membership and statewide hearings, and won a voice vote to move the bill forward.
Senator Garner, vice chair of the State Agencies committee, told colleagues he is asking the Senate to back SP 4, a bill to create a 28‑member veterans task force to investigate veteran suicide and veterans’ services across Arkansas. "If there's one number I want you to remember from my presentation today, it's 22," Garner said. "Every day, 22 veterans in The United States commit suicide." He said the task force would travel to VFW halls and small towns, hear from veterans at town halls, and include mental‑health advocates and the VA.
The measure would establish a 28‑member body drawn from both chambers to study veterans’ needs and recommend changes to policy and services. Garner said he envisions broad geographic and bipartisan membership and that the veterans caucus on the House side — led, he said, by Representative Lee Ann Burch — would help identify an appropriate House sponsor. "I want it to go to Northwest Arkansas, to VFWs in South Arkansas, to small towns and have town halls to hear from veterans," Garner said.
Committee members asked about quorum and voting rules. A committee member summarized the structure: with 28 members, 15 would constitute a quorum and a minimum of 8 would be needed for the task force to pass actions. Garner confirmed that was his intent. Members also asked whether the pro tem or membership would choose co‑chairs; Garner said the pro tem would appoint a co‑chair but he expected the group to elect veterans to leadership and to include members of both parties.
There was no roll‑call on the motion recorded in the transcript. The chair called for a second, and the committee moved by voice vote to advance the measure; the transcript records the action as passing after an "aye" response. Staff and members noted Garner asked for a "good vote" and that work remains to nominate a House sponsor; Garner said the veterans caucus would convene in the coming weeks to coordinate House support.
The bill will be scheduled for further committee consideration under the committee’s special order schedule. The committee did not record a roll‑call tally in the transcript; next steps noted by the chair included placing the measure on the agenda for the committee’s upcoming session.
