House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, has appointed El Dorado accountant Nathan Evers to the seven-member Arkansas Independent Citizens Commission that sets the salaries of the state's elected officials.
Evers will serve a four-year term, replacing Mitch Berry, whose term expired Dec. 31, the House said last week in a news release.
Evers is a certified public accountant with more than 40 years of experience. He received his degree from Southern Arkansas University. He previously served on the SAU board of trustees and the board of directors for its foundation.
The Independent Citizens Commission was created in 2015 under Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution, which voters approved in November 2014.
Amendment 94 shifted the responsibility for changing the annual salaries of the state's elected officials from the Legislature to what the amendment calls an "independent citizens commission." The House speaker, Senate president pro tempore and the governor each appoint two members to the commission. The chief justice appoints another.
Amendment 94 also extended term limits for lawmakers, imposed a ban on certain gifts from lobbyists to elected officials, increased the two-year cooling-off period before ex-lawmakers may register as lobbyists from one to two years, and barred direct corporate and union contributions to candidates.
The commission also includes attorney Chuck Banks and Jan Zimmerman, both of Little Rock and appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and former Supreme Court Justice Annabelle Imber Tuck, appointed by Justice Dan Kemp, according to state Auditor Andrea Lea.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, hasn't made his two replacement appointments yet. Shepherd still has a second appointment to make.
A Section on 02/10/2019