| Senator Dave Wallace of Leachville represents Senate District 22, which includes Mississippi and Poinsett Counties and parts of Craighead County. He was first elected to the Senate in 2016 and was sworn in on the first day of session in 2017.
Senator Wallace is the chair of the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth and Co-Vice Chair of Joint Budget. He also serves as a member of Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, Arkansas Legislative Council and serves on several subcommittees.
In the past, Senator Wallace served as the vice chair of the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. In 2019, Senator Wallace co-sponsored Act 579, which redefines the scope of practice for optometry to allow optometrists to perform certain procedures that previously could only be done by ophthalmologists, such as injections around the eye, removal of bumps and lesions from the eyelids and certain types of laser surgery. He was the Senate sponsor of legislation that will replace the two statues from Arkansas in the United States Capitol, with new ones of Daisy Gatson Bates and Johnny Cash.
In 2017, Senator Wallace co-sponsored Act 375 to require new school buses to be equipped with seat belts, if funding is available. He was the Senate sponsor of Act 375, to update the classroom materials used to teach African-American history and to separate the commemoration of the state holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King from that commemorating the birthday of Robert E. Lee.
Senator Wallace was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2015. He served in the House for two years. He was the chair for the House Aging and Legislative Affairs Subcommittee on House Legislative, Military and Veterans Affairs.
He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant from the ROTC program at ASU in 1970, and went on to serve his country for over 20 years leading troops from the level of Platoon Leader to Company Commander, and finally as a Battalion Commander in Divisions such as The 101st Airborne, First Cavalry Division, the First Infantry Division and the 17th Aviation Group.
During the Vietnam War, he was decorated for heroism on seven different occasions while flying Cobra attack helicopters in an Air Cavalry Troop. Twice he was shot down. Wallace was awarded the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, an Air Medal for Valor, and three Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry.
As a small business owner, Senator Wallace has spent years creating jobs and making a weekly payroll. His company, Wallace Resources, specializes in disaster relief. Senator Wallace is a graduate of Leachville High School. He attended Arkansas State University and received a Bachelor of Science in Education and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and received a Business Administration degree.
Senator Wallace was inducted into the Arkansas State University Hall of Heroes in 2010, into the Arkansas Military Veteran's Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2016.
Senator Wallace and his wife, Karen, have two children, Jason and Kelly, and one granddaughter. He and his wife resides in Leachville and are members of the Southern Baptist Church. |