David James Sanders (born January 21, 1975) is a former member of the

Arkansas State Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

for District 15, which encompasses Conway County and parts of

Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in for Lafayette County where he s ...

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

, Pulaski, and Van Buren counties. From 2011 to 2013, he served a term in the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...

for Pulaski County.

Background

A native of

West Memphis West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 24,520 at the 2020 census, ranking it as the state's 20th largest city. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is located directly acro ...

in Crittenden County in easternmost Arkansas, Sanders graduated in 1993 from Walnut Ridge High School in Walnut Ridge in Lawrence County in the northeastern portion of his state. In 1997, he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and Mass Communications from

Ouachita Baptist University Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) is a Private university, private Arkansas Baptist State Convention, Baptist university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The university's name is taken from the Ouachita River, Ouachita (pronounced WAH-shi-tah) River, ...

Arkadelphia Arkadelphia is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,380. The city is the county seat of Clark County. It is situated at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. Two universities, Henders ...

Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...

, Arkansas. He and his wife, Rebecca, a high school choral director, have five children. In 2002, ''Arkansas Business'' named Sanders one its "40 Under 40" list. Sanders, who at the time was pursuing a career in both business and media claimed that he once wanted to run for office, but enjoyed business and "writing about politicians".

Political life

Arkansas House of Representatives

As a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Sanders, wrote the Athlete Agent Reform Act of 2011, which has been recognized by the NCAA as the nation's strongest legislation targeting illegal activities of sports agents. He also sponsored the state's first ethics law targeting Arkansas’ banking, insurance, securities and utility, regulators.

Senate duties

In the 2013, Sanders passed legislation cracking down waste, fraud and abuse in the state's Medicaid program—including in the creation of the state's Office of Medicaid Inspector General (Acts 1436, 1499 and 1504). In addition, Sanders has to his credit sweeping laws that corrected years of structural problems with Arkansas’ parole system (Acts 435, 1029 and 1030). He passed the first reduction in the state's income tax rates (Act 1459) and reformed the state's worker's compensation laws for motor carriers (Act 1166). Sanders is one of the architects of Arkansas’ Private Option, the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

alternative to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

’s

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

expansion contained in the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

. Poorer Arkansans under the plan can purchase private insurance with the help of premium assistance, instead of being relegated to the Medicaid rolls. Republican governors in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

have proposed plans similar to Arkansas’ innovative model. Sanders worked during his term with members of a bipartisan task force to reform the Arkansas’ State Employees and School Employees Health Insurance Plan.

Committee work

Committee chairmanships: * Arkansas Legislative (ALC) Rules and Regulations Sub-Committee * Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace Legislative Oversight Committee * Legislative Joint Auditing Medicaid Subcommittee. Committee Membership: * Joint Budget * Legislative Joint Audit * Senate Public Health, Labor and Welfare * Senate Insurance and Commerce * Senate Efficiency * Joint Performance Review Committee * Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) * ALC-Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions * ALC Peer Review Committee

Awards and Recognitions in the 89th General Assembly

* "Legislator of the Year," Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police * “Business Matters Legislative Leadership Award," Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Arkansas Associated Industries * "Advocate for Justice," Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association * "Legislative Leader for Children," Arkansas Kids Count Coalition * "ACU Conservative," American Conservative Union *

Other honors

* Top 10 Lawmakers, ''Talk Business Arkansas'' * Visionary Arkansan, ''Arkansas Times''' List of 25 of the Arkansas’ Creative Thinkers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, David J. 1975 births Living people Republican Party Arkansas state senators Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly People from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Ouachita Baptist University alumni American educators American male journalists Baptists from Arkansas