House Approves Latest Congressional Map

Things didn’t go according to plan, but in the end a bill passed.

The Arkansas House of Representatives was set to adjourn today, but complications with the new Congressional District map supported by leadership and constitutional questions added an extra day to the 88th General Assembly and sent legislators scrambling for another potential solution.

HB 1836, the new redistricting map, passed on a bipartisan vote of 64-28.

Rep. Clark Hall (D-Marvell) said the map was the best compromise that Senate and House leaders could muster.

"Leadership in the House and the Senate put this map together over the weekend," said Hall.

Even with the agreement, HB 1836 and its Senate companion bill, SB 972, had a technical error in it. Jason Tolbert with our content partner, The Tolbert Report, noted in an early morning blog post that two precincts in Humphrey – on the Jefferson/Arkansas county line – were not included in the bill showing that they would move from the Fourth to the First District.  House leaders said a correction would be made in the Senate and sent back to the House to concur on Wednesday.

Several western Arkansas leaders spoke against the bill.

"We’re splitting 4 counties, "said Rep. Denny Altes (R-Fort Smith). "We’ve seen 5 maps that are better than this. We can do better than this."

Rep. Tracy Pennartz (D-Fort Smith) talked about the relationship of the Fort Smith region to northwest Arkansas. She pleaded with colleagues to not support the map for economic, cultural, and social reasons. "Vote with me in opposing this bill," she said.

Rep. Leslee Post (D-Ozark), whose district includes Alma – a city that will be sliced in half between the Third and Fourth Districts, said the map was unfair.

"I don’t think this map drawn in haste yesterday… I don’t think it’s the best map. There’s got to be a better option," Post said.

Rep. Terry Rice (R-Waldron) said the map was poor and the result of too much haste. "I think this is a rushed and flawed process," Rice said. "We give criminals more notice and due process," Rice said about the quick action of legislators in passing the new map in the last 24 hours.

Speaker Robert Moore (D-Arkansas City) unexpectedly took to the floor to speak in support of the bill. "There are Democrats and Republicans who like the map, there are Democrats and Republicans who don’t like the map," he said. "We’re not going to have a perfect map."

He also argued that as an elected official living in a district with 2 Congressmen, it has been a positive for his area.

"I think it is fair geographically. I think it is fair politically," Moore said. "We’ve come to a point that we have to reach an agreement and move on."

The bill now heads to the Senate for amendment and consideration.