The Republican-majority Arkansas State Legislature recently voted 26-4 to suspend State Senator Alan Clark (R) for the remainder of the 93rd General Assembly, barring him from Senate offices and legislative meetings until Jan. 8, among other penalties.
The suspension followed a report from the Senate Ethics Committee, which found that Sen. Clark had filed a complaint against Democratic Sen. Stephanie Flowers in retaliation for a previous incident in which he and another senator were stripped of leadership positions for seeking per diem reimbursement for a meeting that he did not attend.
Sen. Flowers had improperly received per diem reimbursement for a Senate session that she had attended remotely, but returned the money after realizing that it had been given to her due to a clerical error. Though Sen. Clark was made aware of this, he nevertheless filed a report which the Ethics Committee quickly rejected.
Since the report was clearly a frivolous and spurious act of retaliation, it was decided that he should be punished. The matter was deferred until a later session, and neither Sen. Clark nor his attorneys showed up, claiming that he was on vacation and his attorneys were unavailable.
In light of his previous misconduct and reaction to his punishment, including a comment that he was prepared to “burn down the House,” the Ethics Committee decided that his actions “were bringing dishonor and disruption to the institution of the Senate,” according to Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, who chairs the ethics committee.
In addition to being barred from the Senate itself until Jan. 8, Sen. Clark has lost seniority for the next General Assembly and will not be reimbursed for conference registration fees or travel expenses. Effectively, the Hot Springs area, which Sen. Clark represents, is now without a senator, and it is highly unlikely that he will serve in any important Senate positions or committees in the near future.
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