House Speaker Matthew Shepherd said lawmakers are to begin diving into their full legislative duties this week, despite a shortened work schedule.
"I think we had a successful and a productive first week. As is always the case, it takes a bit of time to get the bills in the pipeline, so to speak, and get the committees organized," Shepherd, a Republican from El Dorado, told reporters Thursday. "I think that we're well on our way to getting to a point where we're going to start seeing some substantive legislation considered by committees next week."
The Legislature will not meet Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. The House will also miss Wednesday because of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, although the Senate plans to meet. That leaves just two full days of work this week for lawmakers in the lower chamber.
Four House committees are scheduled to meet Tuesday with bills already on agendas.
The Senate will meet Wednesday during the inauguration and has five committee meetings spread across Tuesday and Wednesday with legislation on the agenda.
During the first week of the 93rd General Assembly, committees met mostly in organizational sessions to get new and returning lawmakers acquainted with the committee process.
Still, members of the House and Senate managed to whip up debates over newly proposed rules to keep members safe from the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. The Senate Judiciary Committee also advanced controversial "stand-your-ground" legislation.
State Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Ozark, said he plans to take his stand-your-ground bill, Senate Bill 24, to the floor Tuesday for a vote to send the legislation to the House. If the vote is successful, Ballinger said he could run the bill in the House Judiciary Committee as soon as Thursday.
Last week, the House debated and passed rules requiring that members and staff members wear face coverings in most circumstances, as well as rules related to proxy voting by members. The rules passed 81-2, with nine members -- all Republicans -- voting present.
In the immediate aftermath of the rules being passed, no fewer than eight House lawmakers could be seen with their masks tucked under their chins or missing altogether.
Asked whether members would face penalties for flouting the rules on the House floor, Shepherd said the House Management Committee would be in charge of enforcing the rules, though he did not mention any specific penalties. Earlier in the week, the Senate debated and voted down a proposal to dock pay of senators who refuse to wear masks.
"I would point out, I believe in the committee rules. ... It does provide specifically that if you're not compliant, you may not be recognized and then there may be some other kind of escalating penalties based upon that," Shepherd added.
House Minority Leader Tippi McCullough, a Democrat from Little Rock, said Friday that some Democrats have expressed concerns over colleagues not wearing masks, but adding "it's worth a try" to see if all members come around to the rules.
"If we're worried, we'll definitely pass our complaints on to the speaker," McCullough said.
A member of the Democratic caucus, state Rep. Milton Nicks of Marion, announced Wednesday that he had tested positive for covid-19.
Shepherd said Nicks was "doing well" and that a few other members might quarantine through this week after coming into contact with him. The Bureau of Legislative Research is carrying out contact tracing of Nicks' possible exposures.
The speaker also addressed concerns over security at the state Capitol in the coming week, following the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by supporters of President Donald Trump.
The FBI issued a memo last week warning of threats by similarly armed extremists in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals, beginning today and continuing through Biden's inauguration Wednesday. Shepherd said he has been in touch with state Capitol Police and Arkansas State Police, though he has received no word of any specific threats.
"Clearly with social media there's, you know, a lot of stuff that's getting circulated, and members and others will share information with me, and then we follow up as needed to make sure that the appropriate authorities are aware," Shepherd said.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler declined to say whether the agency was aware of any threats Friday, citing a policy against discussing "security assessments."
Sadler issued a statement, however, saying that the state police agency has been "authorized to station additional troopers at the Capitol as necessary over and beyond the number who would normally have assignments there during a legislative session."
Asked Thursday how long he expected the Legislature to remain in session, Shepherd said he did not have an estimate, despite the new House rules including measures aimed at making committee work more efficient.
"That's never been my approach," to set a timetable for the session, Shepherd said. "I think that membership, the amount of work that we have, the bills that have been filed, that's what's going to dictate the length of session."
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline and Rachel Herzog of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.