The Arkansas House of Representatives passed new rules Wednesday giving future speakers the authority to make committee assignments and raising concerns by some that the change wrests power from rank-and-file members.
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The new rules, proposed by Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, did away with the House's old system of letting members, on the basis of seniority, choose their committee assignments.
Gillam, who has stated that he will not seek another term as speaker, said the new rules will allow his successor to fill standing committee positions and take into consideration legislators' skill sets and experience, as well as geography.
The House Rules Committee -- a select committee, whose members are appointed by the speaker -- passed the proposed rules by voice vote Tuesday without debate.
However, upon reaching the full House, the proposed rules changes sparked nearly two hours of debate by Republicans and Democrats who expressed concern that future speakers could use the clout of committee selection to bully lawmakers.
The House passed the new rules 75-23, with most Republicans voting in support of the change.
The new rules do not affect the current makeup of House standing committees, whose members were selected on the basis of seniority after November's election.
During the committee selection process in November, Democrats secured an 11-member majority on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, despite controlling only 26 seats in the 100-member House at the time.
Since the election, two House members have switched parties and are now Republicans, leaving Democrats with 24 seats and a 10-10 split on the Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Gillam stated Tuesday that the committee-stacking by Democrats did not precipitate his proposed rule change. He said in a speech on the House floor Wednesday that the old selection process had become broken.
"We should move beyond the games that have become our current system," Gillam said. "And that's what they've become, let's be honest."
After Tuesday's passage of the rules in committee, House Minority Leader Michael John Gray, D-Augusta, said the timing of the rules changes was "not coincidental" and reflects Republicans' recent expansion to a three-fourths super-majority in the House.
Gray was not present for Wednesday's vote, and an aide said he was stuck in Newport.
Two of the oldest members of the House -- 79-year-old John Walker, D-Little Rock, and 78-year old Kim Hendren, R-Gravette -- each spoke against the measure, arguing that it was not up to the speaker, regardless of party affiliation, to designate which lawmakers were the right fit for certain committees.
"We contribute to the outcome of this body in different ways, and it's not on the basis of somebody looking at me, or listening to me or knowing about from where I come, determining that I have an appropriate skill set," Walker said, "It is for us to make those determinations ourselves."
Hendren filed three amendments to Gilliam's proposed rules and attempted to have the House consider them. They would have created a different procedure for committee selection, but House Parliamentarian Buddy Johnson said that the proposed changes must first go through the House Rules Committee, whose membership the speaker had already determined.
Hendren told a reporter after the vote that his proposal would have let the party makeup of each committee be determined by drawing from a hat. He complained on the House floor that a "gyration of the rules" prevented his colleagues from considering the idea.
Republicans who spoke in favor of Gillam's proposal said future speakers would be elected only if their colleagues trusted them not to abuse the committee-selection process.
Reps. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne, and Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado -- who are mulling over bids to succeed Gillam -- said they supported the change. Neither spoke on the House floor Wednesday.
Other approved changes in House rules allow lawmakers to conduct fundraising during budget-oriented fiscal sessions, and allow the Legislative Council -- which conducts legislative business when the General Assembly is not in session -- to have up to two members from a single county, instead of one, which was the previous cap.
Rep. Michael John Gray said Tuesday that the proposed House fundraising rule change went too far.
The state Senate has never banned fundraising during a fiscal legislative session. Michael John Gray proposed that instead of the House changing its rules to allow such fundraising, the Senate should be asked to adopt the House's ban on such fundraising.
Other representatives, including Hendren, also expressed dissatisfaction with the House fundraising change.
"No one has spoken on campaign contributions," said Rep. David Whitaker, D-Fayetteville, as discussion on the rules changes neared an end ahead of the vote.
Johnson, the parliamentarian, said the rules adopted Wednesday can be changed again if amendments are taken up by the House. The resolution requires no Senate action.
Information for this article was contributed by Brian Fanney of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 01/12/2017