Airport name bill approved by Arkansas Senate after Clinton provision stricken

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Senate has approved legislation preventing municipal airports from being named after living politicians after a provision was removed that would have stricken Bill and Hillary Clinton's name from the state's largest airport.

The bill approved by the Senate on an 18-8 vote Monday would prohibit municipal airports from being named for anyone living who has served in federal, state or local office. The proposal now goes to the state House.

Republican Sen. Jason Rapert had initially proposed the measure to force the renaming of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, citing the former president's impeachment over his affair with a White House intern. But Rapert later removed language requiring airports that would have been affected by the ban to be renamed by 2018.

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