Bill Sample

Background

Sample was born in Hazen, Arkansas. He attended a year of instruction at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, during the time that the institution was private. He is self-employed in the resort city of Hot Springs. Sample and his wife, the former Betty Ann Owen (born 1956), have two daughters, Cleta and Brandi. He is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Political life

Sample was elected to the Senate in 2010 from District 19 to succeed the Democrat Terry Smith. He defeated another Democrat, Gene Shelby, 14,071 to 10,550 votes. In 2012, Sample was switched to District 14 through redistricting. From 2005 to 2011, he served in District 30 in the Arkansas House of Representatives, having been succeeded in that position by fellow Republican Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs.

Sample is vice chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council and a member of these Senate committees: (1) State Game and Fish Commission Oversight, (2) Budget, (3) Efficiency, (4) Legislative Joint Auditing, (5) Revenue and Tax, and (6) Public Retirement and Social Security Programs. He is affiliated with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Council of State Governments.

Sample opposes abortion, having voted to ban the practice after twenty weeks of gestation or whenever fetal heartbeat is determined. He opposes allowing abortion to be covered in health-care plans. In 2008, as a House member, Sample voted to raise severance taxes on four categories of natural gas, with the funds allocated for state highway improvements. In 2009, Representative Sample joined a one-third minority in opposing an increase in the state minimum wage. In 2011, Senator Sample did not vote on a bill to ban cell phones in school zones on grounds of safety considerations.

In 2013, Sample joined the Senate majority to amend state income tax rates. He did not vote on legislation to reduce the amount of weekly unemployment compensation benefits, but he did support a related bill to require the recipients to be screened for illegal use of narcotics. He voted successfully to override Democratic Governor Mike Beebe's veto of a bill to require photo identification when one casts a ballot in Arkansas. He opposed legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan. He voted to allow handguns to be carried on church properties and to forbid the release of information on the holders of concealed carry permits. He voted to allow university staff to carry concealed weapons. He did not vote on a bill to permit the sale of unpasteurized whole milk within the state and on another bill to require a racial impact statement regarding crimes.

Sample was re-nominated to the state Senate in the Republican primary held on May 20, 2014; he defeated Jerry Neal, 5,712 (55 percent) to 4,650 (45 percent). Neal based much of his campaign on Sample's vote for the "private option" Medicaid program by which the state purchases health insurance for its most needy citizens.

In the general election held on November 4, 2014, Sample won a four-year term in the state Senate by defeating the Independent George Pritchett, 20,899 votes (71 percent) to 8,460 (29 percent).

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