The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would revise the state law under which statues of Little Rock Nine mentor Daisy Gatson Bates and musician Johnny Cash will replace two existing ones representing Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol. The Senate voted 35-0 to send the governor House Bill 1969 by Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage.
In 1917, the Arkansas Legislature approved a marble statue of Uriah M. Rose, who helped found the Rose Law Firm and American Bar Association. In 1921, the Legislature approved a marble statue of James P. Clarke, who was governor from 1895-97 and a U.S. senator from 1903-06.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
Sen. David Wallace, R-Leachville, said the bill would change Act 581 of 2019 to establish a trust fund in the state treasurers’s office for private donations for the two new statues and allows the secretary of state’s office to monitor the private funds.
The bill restructures the implementation requirements by shifting responsibility from the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission to the secretary of state’s office, he said. The legislation doesn’t change the legislative intent of Act 581 and has no fiscal impact since the statues will be financed with private donations, he said.
“Without this bill, the secretary of state will not have the ability to monitor and work with our congressional folks on the statute,” he said.
— Michael R. Wickline