| Senator Bart Hester of Cave Springs represents Senate District 1. It includes parts of Benton and Washington Counties. Senator Hester was elected to the Senate in 2012 and took the oath of office on the first day of the 2013 session.
Senator Hester serves as the chair of the Senate Efficiency Committee for the 93rd General Assembly. He is a member of the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee and Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. He is a member of the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth, Joint Budget Committee and Arkansas Legislative Council and serves on several different subcommittees.
Senator Hester believes in holding down the size of government and reducing government debt. He has been a consistent sponsor of legislation to lower taxes and reduce regulatory burdens on business. Also, his legislative priorities include bills to strengthen the state's system of foster care and adoptions.
In 2017 and 2019, Senator Hester served as the Senate Majority Whip and Senate Majority Leader respectively. In past sessions he has chair JBC - Personnel Subcommittee and Legislative Joint Auditing Subcommittee on Counties and Municipalities and co-chair ALC - Review Subcommittee and Economic and Tax Policy Joint Committee. In 2017, Senator Hester co-sponsored legislation to provide $50 million in income tax relief to lower-income families. In 2015, he co-sponsored legislation to provide $100 million in income tax relief to middle class Arkansas families.
A native of Conway, he is a 2001 graduate of the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas with a bachelor's degree in Business Management. While working on his degree in Fayetteville, he lettered for three years for the Razorbacks' varsity baseball team. Senator Hester has been active in the University of Arkansas Letterman's "A" Club and National Rifle Association. His business interests are in real estate and construction. He is also a member of the Arkansas Realtors Association.
He and his wife, Ashley, were named Big Brother Big Sister of the Year for Washington County. Senator Hester and his family are members of the First Baptist Church in Bentonville. |