Report reviews success of Arkansas House members

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected]

Of the seven Arkansas House members who failed to pass a single piece of legislation in the 88th General Assembly, two are from the Fort Smith area — Reps. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, and Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith.

Reps. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, and Terry Rice, R-Waldron, had the highest rating among legislators representing the Fort Smith region, with a pass rate — think batting average — of 0.652 and 0.600, respectively. (See area delegation chart below.)

Talk Business Research recently examined efficiency among Arkansas Senators in passing legislation. Today, we take a look at the Arkansas House of Representatives.

In line with the caveats we noted in the Senate report, simply assessing the effectiveness of a legislator on bills filed and passed isn’t a complete picture. However, it does allow for member comparisons and it does show degrees of influence members do and don’t have.

Reps. Kathy Webb, D-Little Rock, and Darrin Williams, D-Little Rock, both carried an extraordinary amount of legislation through the House chamber — 46 and 47 bills respectively.

Webb, the House chair of the Joint Budget Committee, was the lead sponsor on a number of budget bills. In this year’s contentious session, passing them was a major achievement. Leaving those measures aside, Webb was still one of the most prolific and successful legislators in terms of getting her bills signed into law. Webb saw 82.6% of her bills pass — a high percentage when you consider she was the lead sponsor on several controversial environmental bills that never cleared a House committee.

Williams, the Judiciary chair and a potential House Speaker candidate, successfully guided the Governor’s prison reform bill through the chamber. However, that wasn’t even a bill Williams got credit for as he was only a co-sponsor. Williams handled a lot of technical corrections bills, but he also navigated tricky political waters with controversial legal bills that required expertise and knowledge. His success rate of 74.5% was only 12th best in the House, but he certainly carried a heavy load.

Three members — Reps. Brad Cozart, R-Hot Springs, Betty Overbey, D-Lamar, and Tommy Wren, D-Melbourne, passed 100% of their bills. In total, that amounted to 12 new laws, none of which were controversial. Cozart was elected to the session after it started, thus putting him at a disadvantage.

There were 7 members who were unsuccessful in passing a single piece of legislation. Rep. Charolette Wagner, D-Manilla, was never the lead sponsor on a bill, in effect leaving her 0 for 0. She did, however, co-sponsor 37 bills, all of which became law. Talk Business did not take co-sponsorships into consideration as they are often added to secure votes.

The other 6 House members who passed no bills were: Reps. Jon Hubbard, R-Jonesboro,, Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith,, David Meeks, R-Conway, Stephen Meeks, R-Greenbrier, Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, and John Walker, D-Little Rock.

Link here for the complete House list from Talk Business Research.