Three bills filed to pare state departments to 15

Two Arkansas state lawmakers filed three bills Friday seeking public comment on the measures, which would implement parts of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan to consolidate the number of state agencies reporting to him from 42 to 15.

Rep. Andy Davis, R-Little Rock, and Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said they'll be filing 16 separate pieces of legislation seeking to allow state agencies and the public to review and comment on each proposal.

Hester said he and Davis hope to file all 16 bills by the start of the regular session Jan. 14. The other bills will be filed as soon as Bureau of Legislative Research employees complete work on them, he said.

"Although we will be pre-filing the proposals in separate pieces of legislation, our intention is to ultimately file and run one cohesive transformation bill this session," Davis said in a news release.

Read more: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/dec/22/3-bills-filed-to-pare-state-departments/?news-politics