Legislators: Are They All Attorneys?

SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES DISPLAY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS

The elected state officials taking the oath of office this week down in Little Rock are not all lawyers.

Nor are all of our legislators, set to kick off the 89th General Assembly this week, school teachers, farmers or bankers.

They are, in fact, a pretty diverse lot.

This bi- annual collection of elected officials may be more diverse than in recent years, at least since the State Constitution was amended to limit their terms almost 20 years ago.

And remember this, according to the Arkansas State Senate website: “Service in the state legislature is part- time, and most state senators have full- time jobs during the rest of the year.”

Same goes for the House.

So just what occupations do our elected solons have?

In the 35-members State Senate, more than onefifth of members — eight — are lawyers, according to websites and information from the recent 2012 campaigns.

Seven more state Senators, another one- fifth of the small membership, lists “being a business owner or business manager.”

The division between farmers/ranchers and real estate sales professions is evenly divided — four members each.

Two additional state Sena-tors listed “consultant” as their occupation.

The remaining 10 state Senators each listed a different profession. One is a retired educator; another a railroad employee. Other occupations given were: day care owner; termite and pest control management; investment consultant, marketing director; director of development for a Christian school; insurance agent; manager of a physician’s office; and retired Circuit Judge.

The 100-member House, glancing at members ’ bios, the campaign statements and other sources, show another very diverse group.

The largest group in the House — 15 members — are directly tied to education, both K-12 and higher education.

Next in the House comes the lawyers — 14 are members.

So almost one- in- three state Representatives are either involved with education or the legal system.

Farmers — those with a wide range of crops from livestock, poultry, row crops all the way to timber — number 13. Almost all of these individuals listing

“Citizen representatives and representation, while often perplexing to voters and the public, of ‘why a pastor, auctioneer or restaurant owner, wants to seek a parttime job in Little Rock?’ are certainly necessary in the legislative process.”

Maylon Rice

farming usually follow that term with — “and a small business owner.”

Nine members of the House are involved in banking/ investment/insurance/ real estate sales. Another eight members are involved as “consultants,” from a variety of jobs from business consultant to specific types of consulting. Three are pastors. Two are former county judges. Another pai r of House members are involved in construction and contracting and two more are grant administrators for cities and counties.

So just under 40 — or nearly one-half — of the 100 members in the House are rather unique having a profession or job that differs from anyone else.

For example, one is a fire chief, another retired military, another House member lists simply being a grandmother.

Other individual professions are: retired dentist; homemaker; solid waste hauler; auctioneer, ophthalmologist; restaurant owner, funeral director; a retired county clerk, and even a retired state revenue agent.

Diversity in backgrounds is necessary as many times changes in simple state rules and regulations seem so easy to enact on paper.

That is until some member in the House or Senate, one who has actually been a dairy farmer, county clerk or an ophthalmologist speaks up and says, “hold on I am not sure… is this a good idea.”

Citizen representatives and representation, while often perplexing to voters and the public, of “why a pastor, auctioneer or restaurant owner, wants to seek a part- time job in Little Rock?” are certainly necessary in the legislative process.

Maylon Rice