LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Amidst a sea of masked legislators, Gov. Asa Hutchinson addressed the 92nd General Assembly, which opened its biennial fiscal session on Wednesday, (Apr. 8) in Little Rock.
It was quite a sight and sign of the times that the address was given in a State Senate chamber at the state capitol where lawmakers were keeping a safe social distance from one another with some senators seated in the public gallery a level above the Senate floor.
The Arkansas House, which was seated at the Jack Stephens Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, watched the governor’s address via live-stream.
Lawmakers were wearing facial masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The normally crowded state capitol, which would be brimming with lobbyists, political activists, and families of legislators was as quiet as a non-session afternoon.
Hutchinson gave a pep talk sprinkled with realism about the pandemic that has threatened public health, closed schools and partially paralyzed the state’s economy.
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