Legislative leaders said this week that they will seek to extend the legislative session until late April before taking a lengthy summer recess and returning later this year to tackle the redrawing of the state's congressional districts.
House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, on Friday evening filed a resolution with Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, that would keep lawmakers working until at least April 30.
Such an extension must be approved by both chambers of the General Assembly, which is set to finish its work April 9. Shepherd on Thursday told House members to expect that deadline to be extended "by a matter of weeks."
"I'm just sharing that with you ... because I know some people are concerned about being able to get their bills through," Shepherd said. "I would still encourage you to continue to work hard and talk to committee chairs."
Lawmakers have maintained an active pace during the first three months of the session, filing 1,402 bills as of Friday. Of those, 402 have become law.
Lawmakers have attracted attention for passing legislation to ban nearly all abortions in the state, and to allow doctors, nurses and insurers to refuse certain medical procedures based on their moral and religious beliefs. A stand-your-ground gun bill was signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this month, despite the governor's attempts to label the law unnecessary.
Still working their way through the Legislature are bills to bar transgender athletes from participating in women's sports and to prohibit many public employees from collective bargaining or going on strike.
Less controversially, lawmakers have passed bills to expand access to birth control and to exempt certain covid-19 relief funds from state taxes. Lawmakers are also expected to pass an overhaul of the state's private-option Medicaid expansion program in the coming weeks.
House Minority Leader Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, said extending the session would be a "double-edged sword," pointing to the desire of her members to pass their bills while having time to complete other major tasks, such as approving a state budget.
"It's just you don't know what's coming up next," McCullough said. "It seems like traditionally the longer the session goes, the more outlandish the bills get."
Last month's winter snowstorm forced a weeklong break in the session when many lawmakers could not make it to Little Rock. The Legislature also has a shorter break scheduled to start Wednesday to coincide with schools' spring break.
The measure filed by leadership Friday, House Concurrent Resolution 1015, calls for an "extended recess" after lawmakers adjourn April 30, allowing them to wait for delivery of population data from last year's U.S. census that they need to complete their constitutionally mandated redistricting work.
If the session recessed April 9, its length at that point would be 89 days. Recessing April 30 would put the session at 110 days.
The regular session in 2019 lasted 88 days. The longest session in recent years was 101 days in 2013. The shortest was 82 days in 2015.
In a statement released last month, the U.S. Census Bureau said delays related to covid-19 had forced the agency to delay release of the data from March to Sept. 30.
"Because of the delay in the numbers from the federal government on the census, we've been conferring with the [Bureau of Legislative Research] and our attorneys there about what the ramifications are for us and how do we take care of doing what we're tasked to do with regard to redistricting," Shepherd told lawmakers Thursday.
Hickey said lawmakers will probably regroup around September, depending on whether there are further delays in the release of the redistricting data. He had no estimate for how long it would take the lawmakers to complete their redistricting work -- which consists of dividing the state up into four congressional districts with roughly equal populations.
In the meantime, Hickey said language written into the extension resolution will allow laws passed during the spring to take effect during the summer break.
Normally, laws passed during the session do not take effect until 90 days after adjournment.
By taking a break instead of adjourning at the end of the spring session, Shepherd said lawmakers will avoid having to ask Hutchinson to call them into a special session, with possible haggling over what issues could be considered in addition to redistricting.
"There would probably be some other language in [the resolution] that would allow us to handle some other things just on kind of a clean-up basis," Shepherd said. "But that likely right now looks like the path forward."
In a statement released through a spokeswoman Friday, Hutchinson said he had been "hopeful" for an earlier end to the session, on April 9.
"I have encouraged the executive branch agencies to finalize their legislation prior to that date," Hutchinson said. "I look forward to working with legislative leadership throughout the rest of session and am hopeful the full extension will not be necessary."
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline and Rachel Herzog of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.