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Hello, everyone, and thanks again for joining us on Arkansas Week.

We are only hours away from installing a new governor and a new General Assembly.

And in a few minutes we'll get an assessment of the coming session from the speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives.

That's the House of Representatives that had no difficulty electing a speaker.

The one in Washington is rather another story.

And for its Republican members, including all four of Arkansas's delegates, it is not a happy story.

Not at all.

The Arkansas delegation pledged to the leading candidate for speaker, tried to help and continues to try to help push him over the top.

We're joined now by representative French Hill of Little Rock, who sits for Arkansas second District.

Congressman, thanks very much for being with us.

I. I called you Congressman.

Actually, you are congressman elect because at midmorning Friday, as we were recording this broadcast of you can't be sworn in, this is a rather unusual.

It's a centennial event, so to speak.

Where do we go from here?

Right.

Well, Steve, first, happy New Year.

Thank you for having me.

It's good to be with you and the 18 audience.

Yes.

This is a historic week.

We've not gone this many ballots to elect a speaker in the House of Representatives in either political party since 1923.

So as you say, it's it's a centennial activity.

Well, is there a part of your pledge to Mr. McCarthy, the majority leader, and these presumed front runner, that he is the front runner for speaker now that the GOP is in is in control of the House or will, when it is sworn in, does Mr. McCarthy have a path forward?

Is there any indication that he will withdraw?

There's no indication that he will withdraw.

He does have a path forward.

I think our media pays a lot of attention to the 20 or 21 members who have not yet committed to voting for Kevin McCarthy and they frequently ignore that in every ballot this week.

200 or more of our members have supported Kevin McCarthy, and Kevin McCarthy is not only their principal choice.

For many of them, he is their only choice to be Speaker of the House.

And what the leader has asked a group of us to do is to work with those of our colleagues that are not yet yes votes and find out what they need to have changed in the House rules or House procedures in order to get them to.

Yes.

And we've been working on that all week.

And we've had success as we tape this on Friday.

Yesterday afternoon, Thursday, we had positive results from the work that we've done all week.

And those discussions inside that group of not yet.

Yes, votes continue and we await to hear their final conclusion based on the good discussions that we've had.

Well, what more can he give them, Congressman?

Mr. McCarthy, what further concessions can he make?

He's been he's it has been said and widely reported, including many in your caucus, that he already has given away too much and that the House will be essentially ungovernable if everything that he has pledged comes to pass.

Yeah, I just think that's completely not correct.

I've been in all the meetings.

I know all the background on it, and there's no way I would describe it that way.

The House rules package, which we've debated for over a month and worked on inside the House Republican Conference, it has all of the House Republicans supporting it is precisely the same today as it was a month ago, with the exception of one thing, which is the historic motion to vacate the chair, which in our house rules had five members could make a motion to vacate the chair, and Mr. McCarthy agreed to have it be one.

And everybody in the media has made a huge deal out of that.

But let me remind everyone watching that that's been the exact position since 1910 for every speaker of the House except Nancy Pelosi, who took that power away as she centralized power into the speaker's office.

So essentially the rules package is what all Republicans support and has the addition of the vacate the chair motion, which is what it's been historically for well over a century plus.

So in addition to that, spending constraints, these are items that make individual members and individual committees more powerful in determining spending that that spending is not just parachuted in by a staffer in the speaker's office, as we witnessed time and time again in the Pelosi Pelosi regime.

And that's something I think the vast majority of our Republican conference supports.

And the final thing that we've been talking about, Steve, or just who serves on what committees, and to make sure that all of our committees or standing committees have diverse memberships representing all of the voices in our conference.

Well, Ms.. Ms.. Pelosi had rather less difficulty, it would seem, in controlling her conference than Mr. McCarthy might.

She had some rebellious members, but but they were fewer in number than the next speaker is likely to have, certainly if it's Mr. McCarthy.

Is this in fact, as it's been argued, a godsend for the Democratic Party, a political plum for the party?

The confusion and your conference?

Well, I don't think so.

It's true that Nancy Pelosi had a very narrow majority in the last Congress.

She also obtained votes for her speakership by people not coming to the vote or she gave them a plum committee assignment or asked them to do a specific task inside her conference in order to earn their vote.

And I think she one of my memories right by one vote in our House Republican conference, she went on with President Biden and a Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, to guide legislation through this past two years.

So, look, I think it is tough to have a narrow majority, but speakers have had that over the years.

And Kevin McCarthy will be very effective in working with every voice inside our conference to move a legislative agenda.

Well, I was struck by a quote, a comment from your colleague, the gentleman who says for the third, Mr. Womack, that he is he wants Mr. McCarthy, he's for Mr. McCarthy, but he's open to another nominee, another candidate.

Are you?

Well, I'm not open to another nominee until Kevin McCarthy says he's not running for speaker.

And that's absolutely not been on the table and not even been discussed.

And so that's my position.

Kevin McCarthy is the best qualified person to serve the House.

He has done everything right to do that.

And in my view, he's made good decisions about rules, personnel and spending constraints that should absolutely obtain the votes from these current naysayers who've been making these requests and requests, I would argue that are not any different than most rank and file members of the House.

We are about, as you know, sir, we're about to next week inaugurate a new Republican governor as any governor, she looks to Washington, she and her department heads will have to look for Washington for a lot of cooperation or assistance at one level or another.

And there are reports that Mr. McCarthy and his Senate counterpart, Mr. McConnell, even though he's in the minority over there, are there's a great deal of friction between the two.

Can the Arkansas delegation assure the governor that that Washington's going to be receptive to her, her initiatives or needs?

I believe that we can.

Both our senators and our House delegation look forward to the priorities and activities and requests of our incoming governor elect, Sarah Sanders.

We share many of the same initiatives that she is keen on, such as the best education system that our state can develop, particularly in a workforce education, where we need to continue to expand opportunities there for those young people who are not college bound or who are shifting back to society from perhaps incarceration.

And certainly as every governor has a principal interest in economic development, we'll supporter in every way we can on those priorities.

Congressman French Hill of Arkansas, second District, thanks very much for being with us.

Come back soon.

Yeah.

Do your thing, man.

May you have a smooth rest of the week.

We'll be right back.

And we are back.

Come Tuesday, as noted, a change of governors and perhaps a change of style, a shift in emphasis with a solid mandate from Arkansas voters last November.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders will soon provide the details of the platform that she sketched in her campaign and in the days that followed.

From a dais literally overlooking his 99 colleagues will be Miss Sanders, fellow Republican Speaker Matthew Shepard, who joins us now.

Mr. Speaker, as always, thanks for coming in.

Thanks for giving us some of your time.

Thank you, Steve.

Thanks for having me.

Well, a keystone of Ms.. Sanders campaign was tax reduction.

We just got the December report from DFA and it was again, a very rosy one, very, very of states got plenty of money for the moment anyway.

Does this mean that she starts immediately with a tax reduction package?

Well, I think what you'll see happen is a discussion that takes place.

I think that when we get into session, I think that seems that she's outlined education is kind of the top priority.

Tax reduction is obviously a priority as well.

But there's some different ideas on what that exactly looks like.

What I anticipate is it will be further income tax reduction.

I'm really proud of the work that we've been able to accomplish over the last few years where we've worked on both the top rate, but we've also provided middle class reductions and we've also raised the level at which Arkansans begin to pay income tax so that more Arkansans are not having to pay income tax.

But while we've done all that, the state is still in a very strong fiscal condition.

We've been able to build up a catastrophic reserve fund, build up a surplus.

But as your question alludes to, for now, things seem to be very strong.

I think that most folks anticipate that there could be some downturn in the economy.

And so we've tried to be conservative in how we've set aside those funds for use in the future.

Is that the message you're sending to Sanders?

Well, it's it's I think he's cautiously.

In other words.

Well, I think that that is consistent with what I've heard from her campaign and from her as well, is that to build upon the work that's been done to continue to reduce the income tax burden on Arkansans, but to do so in a responsible way.

And so, you know, we come into a new session, there's a significant number of new House members, significant numbers of new senators.

And so any time you talk about tax reduction, there's a big part of that is building consensus.

And so I think we will have that discussion.

And I certainly anticipate that we will be able to do further tax cuts for the people of Arkansas.

The other consensus would seem to be how much to cut.

Well, that's certainly the chemistry of the current General Assembly.

True.

You know, the devil is always in the details when it comes to these big issues.

And so I think that the discussion will center around where do we want to get to?

Excuse me, in the in the short term?

And then how do we go about accomplishing that?

And, you know, during my time in the House and as speaker, that's been, you know, a big part of what that discussion has been.

And you look back a couple of years ago with Governor Hutchinson, we laid out a path to 4.9% for the top rate.

We actually put in some they weren't triggers.

They were actually kind of the reverse.

It was kind of safety net triggers, if you will.

We were able to not only avoid those, but we were able to expedite those tax cuts in a special session.

And so I think the question always is how much, how soon and how do you go about implementing it?

And I anticipate we're going to have it just as we've delivered over the past number of terms.

I think we're going to deliver again for the people of Arkansas.

You have had some conversations, obviously, the legislative leadership with with the governor elect.

Are you are you comfortable with where she is?

I am.

And I look forward to working with the governor elect.

We've had a number of conversations going back, you know, well before her election.

And I look forward to having a good relationship, a good relationship with her and her team and a good relationship with the Senate.

Now, there's always I mean, it's the nature of it's the nature of our system that, you know, within the House, there's disagreements.

Within the Senate, there can be disagreements.

And at times there can be disagreements between the executive and the legislative branches.

That's the nature of our system of government.

But just as we've been able to accomplish with Governor Hutchinson, where we've been able to work through and find consensus, I believe that we'll be able to do that going forward with the governor elect.

And I, for one, look forward to working with her, drawing on those conversations that you've had with the governor like she has, Mr. Hutchinson, who has a few days left.

And he's he's made a budget proposal for fiscal 24.

Yeah, fiscal 24.

Are they consistent?

And but of course, she'll take office on the 10th of January.

Do you see any significant adjustments to what the governors recommend?

I think right now it still remains to be seen.

You know, I think so much of the focus and discussion is centered around some of the other issues.

The Joint Budget Committee will begin meeting next week early on.

And so I think that over the next couple of weeks, that's when we'll begin to see are there significant proposals that differ from what Governor Hutchinson's laid out.

And I anticipate there will be.

But I think that's the nature of any change in an administration.

It's kind of a weird scenario or somewhat of a strange system we have where you have the outgoing governor presenting not just the revenue report, but then making a proposal for the budget when it's actually an incoming administration that's actually going to have to carry is actually going to be the ones to to govern.

And so whether it's between Governor Beebe transitioning to Governor Hutchinson or Governor Hutchinson transitioning to Governor elect Sanders anticipate there will be some differences.

How much not that remains to be seen, but I think it I think that that's something we can expect and it will.

Where would you expect, though, if they do appear, where would you expect those differences to manifest?

Well, I think that if, you know, there's nothing that I could sit here and say, I know that this will be a difference.

But I think it stands to reason that if we're talking about education, public safety and tax reduction as being the core objectives that she has laid out in her campaign, I think it stands to reason that those would probably be areas where there might be some different thoughts, some different ideas on how to allocate resources in the budget.

But, you know, again, that remains to be seen.

There's nothing that I could sit here today and say this line item is going to change, but that's where I think that discussion will likely take place.

But in broad categories, categorically speaking, it would be, you think, education, criminal justice, I think education, public safety.

And then any time you're talking about tax reduction, you have to think about how soon does that?

How soon is that implemented?

Is that if that is something that is going to be implemented and have an impact on the next fiscal year, then maybe there could be some some adjustment to keeping that in mind.

The other area where I think year in and year out, there's always a discussion is DHS.

Just because it is such a large portion of our budget, so much money flows through there, I can anticipate that there could be some discussion there.

But again, all that remains to be seen.

I think that when we get to session, I anticipate that those first few weeks, that's when the really will really get down to the kind of the nitty gritty on what the budget actually looks like.

DHS, Department of Human Services, mammoth bureaucracy or establishment, where put it that way.

You've just picked tens of thousands of ears with your comment there, if that what's what is the concern in the General Assembly regarding DHS?

What?

Well, I think that items of interest put it that way.

I think that you'd have to ask, you know, across the across the membership.

But there is always discussion about DHS.

I mean, that is as long as I've been in the legislature, DHS has been one of those agencies where there is always this thought because the amount of funds that flow through it, that there are things that maybe should be tweaked, maybe there's a better way to do it.

And you see over the past, over Governor Hutchinson's administration, there have been some adjustments that have been made.

You know, I can't sit here and say that specifically, hey, this is what I think needs to be changed.

I think that the membership has some different ideas.

But the other part that we have to keep in mind is that so much of DHS is federal money that flows through DHS.

Right.

And sometimes when it comes to those moneys there, there are certain restrictions on how much you can or can't do with that.

So I just think that that's any time you talk about an adjustment in the budget, DHS is one of those agencies that comes to the forefront schools.

It would seem to be you have your party has commanding majorities in both chambers and the temperature, the chemistry would seem to to favor an expansion of vouchers, school choice at at one level or another to one extent or another.

What are we likely to see?

Well, I think that in terms of of school choice vouchers or any of the other proposals, you know, that discussion is ongoing.

Clearly, that is something that has been talked about.

That is something that has been an issue in many legislative races across the state.

There are a number of members that are, you know, very adamant and want that to be broadly implemented.

Others are maybe a little more a little more, maybe a little more conservative in their view on that.

You know, I think that what we should do is wait for what Governor Sanders rolls out.

But I also think that there again, the devil is always in the details of what that looks like.

This is an issue that there's ongoing discussion.

But I would anticipate that there likely will be some type of proposal to expand school choice and to look at how we're spending our our funds on our public school students.

It would be an executive will likely be an executive proposal.

But would there be offsets in the in the event that a voucher or school choice plan took effect?

Not every district, not every part of the state is prepared to to to do business that way.

Would there be all fiscal offsets?

That remains to be seen.

You know, I think there's there's views all across the board on that.

And so I think that when it comes to the specifics of what those proposals look, look at, there's, you know, ongoing conversations, anticipate that that will be a big part of what the governor elect is talking about over the next several weeks.

And so I think, you know, from the standpoint from a legislative standpoint, you know, I I'm looking to see what is what are the specifics of the proposal that the governor elect would like to be like to have implemented.

You know, there will be discussion back and forth.

But for now, you know, we'll wait to see what those details look like when they're rolled out.

The rural schools superintendent, small school superintendents have always looked askance at proposals because it could, they say, cost them a great deal of revenue.

Do you expect significant opposition?

Have you been hearing from the school lobby, the rural school lobby, protect not.

Not particularly.

I think that for most folks at this point least, my my take on things is has been kind of a wait and see attitude to see what the specifics are that are outlined and rolled out to see what the specifics are in the governor elect's proposals and other proposals that may be brought forward by the General Assembly.

And so that's where I think most folks are at this point.

Wait and see.

Let's see what the details are, you know, and then we can have debate and discussion on what those details look like.

You know, there's always going to be opinions all over the place as far as, you know, how how we go about doing things, what education looks like.

It's an important topic.

I mean, it is one of the most important topics that we deal with.

But at the end of the day, first and foremost is what's in the best interest of the children of Arkansas and what's going to going to provide the the greatest opportunity for quality education because that's critical for their future and it's also critical for our state's future criminal justice expansion of the Department of Corrections.

She's going to put the governor elect has already chosen to replace or soon will anyway, the Department of Secretary of Correction, Department of Corrections, who has told the legislature himself this this prison thing can't increasing appropriations and building prisons, this can't be sustained.

It would seem obvious that in the near term we're going to have more cells, more bit more prison beds.

But do you concur with that?

Well, I think that when it comes to public safety, I think there's two sides to that coin.

And they are all they're both mutually or interrelated here.

You've got the issue of, uh, on the judicial side of things.

And in terms of the sentences that are being handed down, there's a lot of discussion about are is there more transparency needed in those and in those sentences?

Are there stiffer sentences that need to be that need to be passed and need to be handed down?

But that also goes back to this capacity issue.

And what does it look like in terms of our prison system?

Because the fact of the matter is, if there's if there are no if there aren't beds available, then that means that it's just kind of a revolving door that you're even when you're you're putting people that need to be put in prison, then you're having to let somebody else go.

And so, you know, I think that that is something that's going to have to be looked at.

You know, that that again, the devil's in the details when it comes to that.

Good thing is we have a legislative session where we will be have plenty of opportunity to debate those issues.

I think that, again, first and foremost for ask for the people of Arkansas is we need to make sure that we're providing the highest level of public safety that we can.

And so I see those two issues interconnected.

I don't think that necessarily you can just deal with one without also addressing the other or I think it's going to be a recipe for just, you know, further problems.

And we're going to have to be dealing with this issue repeatedly.

And so it would be nice for for once and for all, or at least for the near term, to be able to address those issues and provide the highest level of public safety that we can.

Mr. Speaker, as always, thanks for joining us.

Thank you for your time.

Come back soon.

And that does it for us for this edition.

As always, we thank you for watching and see you next week.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Arkansas Times and Q Air FM 89.