Arkansas lawmaker off committees for 3 days for swearing

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  — An Arkansas state senator on Wednesday was suspended from serving on two committees for three days because she called a colleague a “dumbass” during a debate over a failed resolution.

The Arkansas Senate voted 25-4 to forfeit Democratic state Sen. Stephanie Flowers’ privileges on the chamber’s Judiciary Committee and the City, County and Local Affairs Committee from Feb. 15-17.

The move came a day after the majority-Republican Senate censured Flowers over the remark she directed at GOP state Sen. Trent Garner near the end of a debate over a proposed resolution that cited the country’s “ongoing positive record on race and slavery” and attacked Democrats’ history on civil rights issues. The resolution was overwhelmingly rejected, with lawmakers from both parties criticizing it as unnecessarily partisan and misleading.

“Dumbass, you don’t know nothing about it,” Flowers, who was participating remotely, said Tuesday during an exchange with Garner about the resolution. Flowers, who is Black, voted against the resolution. Garner, who is white, voted for it.

Flowers and Garner both abstained from the vote on her temporary removal from the committees. Three Democrats and Republicans voted against it. Flowers is the only Democrat on both committees.