In November of 2008, Arkansans voted to institute annual legislative sessions—meaning that, henceforth, the legislature would go from meeting every other year to every year. In less than a month, we’re going to see the results of that vote.

Now, I personally did not vote for annual sessions; I’m of the opinion that it’s a needless financial cost to taxpayers, and that it moves Arkansas further in the direction of having elected officials who are more like “full-time” lawmakers than governing citizens—something we’ve already seen in many other states. Nevertheless, the voters have spoken, and annual sessions are here.

Right now, the way the law is written, the legislature will use sessions taking place during even-numbered years purely for fiscal planning. However, with a two-thirds vote, any kind of legislation can be brought up for consideration, leaving plenty of room open for lawmakers to introduce bills while they’re in Little Rock.

The bottom line is this is the first time Arkansas has ever had regular, annual legislative sessions, and no one quite knows what to expect. One thing is for sure, however: You can count on us to be over at the Capitol each and every day, monitoring what’s going on, and making sure that no one tries to budget your tax dollars for things like state-subsidized abortion clinics or dispensing contraceptives in public schools.

If we’re going to have annual sessions, we want to help make sure they’re done the right way. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions; we’ll try to provide more details about the upcoming session as it draws closer.