House to meet Oct. 11, weigh Gates’ ouster

Legislator’s tax-case plea at heart of expulsion call

The Arkansas House will convene Oct. 11 to vote on whether to expel state Rep. Mickey Gates, R-Hot Springs, over the lawmaker’s no-contest plea to a charge that he failed to pay his state income taxes.

The date for the House to meet in a caucus-of-the-whole was announced by the chamber’s staff on social media Tuesday afternoon. The House has been out of session since wrapping up its legislative duties in April.

The sole piece of business on the agenda for Oct. 11 will be the question of Gates’ removal, which was proposed last week in a resolution filed by House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado. If successful, it will be the first time in more than a century that a sitting member of the House has been expelled.

Gates, in an extended phone interview Tuesday, remained adamant that he should not be expelled from the House, where he has served since 2015.

House staff members said floor debate will be allowed when representatives consider the expulsion resolution next month, and Gates said he plans to go to the well of the House.

“Absolutely, I will defend myself,” he said. “I think they’ll try to shut me down, but I hope they’ll allow me to make a vigorous argument to defend myself.”

The move to expel Gates came after months of calls from fellow Republicans for him to step down in the midst of his tax case.

After Gates pleaded no contest to a single charge stemming from that case in July, he again refused to resign, citing the fact that his plea agreement would allow him to resolve the case without an official adjudication if he completes the terms of his probation.

House leadership, meanwhile, decided it was time to attempt removing Gates.

A two-thirds majority of the 100-seat House — 67 lawmakers — must vote in favor of Shepherd’s House Resolution 1079 in order to remove Gates. (The House has one vacancy.)

The resolution lays out the case against Gates, including his plea to the charge of failing to pay or file a tax return as well as the court’s order to pay $74,789 in back taxes. The resolution also points to the sections of the state code and the Arkansas Constitution that it says allow for expulsion.

When the House convenes in October, House members will be able to debate House Resolution 1079 as they would any other resolution on the floor, said Cecillea Pond-Mayo, a spokeswoman for the House.

House Parliamentarian Buddy Johnson said Tuesday that the vote on the resolution will be made in public through a roll call.

The date of the House caucus comes a month before the end of the filing period for state, federal and judicial offices.

Even if Gates is expelled, Gates said he plans to run again in 2020 for the office. An ethics law passed by the Legislature earlier this year — with Gates’ support — would prevent him from running again, though his attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, has argued that the law is unconstitutional.

Shepherd was unavailable for comment Tuesday to answer questions about the timing of the House caucus.

Gates said Tuesday that he has spoken with a handful of representatives, but he hadn’t made a concerted effort to plead his case to the House membership privately.

“Maybe if I was a smarter politician, I would spend more time soliciting members,” he joked.

Gates said it’s a challenge to get people to understand that his no-contest plea is not an admittance of guilt. According to the state law under which Gates pleaded, he will avoid final adjudication if he complies with the state’s terms.

“I always assumed when someone pleaded no contest that they were basically saying the charges were true,” Gates said. “I would’ve never pleaded no contest until I read the [Arkansas] Supreme Court’s rulings that said a no-contest plea under Act 346 is not pleading guilty and shouldn’t be considered a conviction.”

Gates added that most of his constituents have remained supportive.

He said he had been trying to comply with the Department of Finance and Administration’s instructions when he was arrested on the tax charges. He noted that the agency had opposed legislation that he has introduced in past legislative sessions preventing it from auditing taxpayers beyond seven years into the past.

“I was doing what [the Finance Department] said to the best that I could, but they don’t like the legislation that I introduced,” Gates said.

A spokesman for the Department of Finance and Administration declined to comment Tuesday.

Special prosecutor Jack McQuary charged Gates with six counts of failing to pay or file a state income tax return in 2018. Five of the charges were withdrawn as part of the plea agreement, but McQuary said at the time that they could be refiled if Gates doesn’t comply with the terms of the settlement.

Gates also questioned the timing of his arrest and arraignment. He was arrested in late June and arraigned 3½ months later.

“Not 24 or 72 hours later like most people,” he said. “I was arraigned 10 days before early voting started. Isn’t that odd?”

Gates said the entire experience has been a nightmare for his wife and children. He said some supporters have told him that no one would blame him if he resigned, but he refuses because “everything will come to light.”

“There will be a day of reckoning for me,” Gates said.