David Meeks

David M. Meeks (born April 27, 1972)^[1] is an associate pastor from Conway in Faulkner County in central Arkansas, who is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. His District 70, which he has represented since 2013, includes part of Faulkner and Perry counties. From 2011 to 2013, he represented House District 46, now the domain of Republican Mark Biviano.^[2]

His older brother, Stephen Meeks, is a Republican legislator from neighboring District 67 in Faulkner, Conway, and Van Buren counties.

Background

Meeks was reared in the Springhill Community in Faulkner County and attended first Greenbrier High School in Greenbrier but graduated from Samuel W. Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Florida. He moved from Arkansas to Florida as a teenager because of his father's employment.^[2] Meeks received a bachelor's degree in Pastoral Ministries from Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville.^[1]

From 1990 to 1995, Meeks served in the United States Army; he received the Achievement and Good Conduct medals. He is a member of the National Rifle Association and Toastmasters International. Meeks and his wife, Naomi, attend Bible Baptist Church in Conway, where he is a Sunday school teacher. He is an associate pastor and guest speaker at other churches.^[2]

In 2003, he worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida.^[1]

Political life

In 2010, Meeks was elected in House District 46, having defeated the Democrat Steve Magie, 5,312 to 4,452. The incumbent Democrat, Robbie Wills, was term-limited that year.^[3] In 2012, District 46 was reconfigured to White County. Meeks won his second term in revised District 70, having secured the Republican nomination over Tyrone Price Dooley (born 1943), also of Conway, 1,597 to 593. He then defeated in the general election the Democrat Cody J. Bassham (born 1984), 6,829 to 4,219.^[4]

Meeks serves on the Arkansas Legislative Council and is the chairman of the House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the Judiciary Committee.^[1][2]

Representative Meeks in 2013 in District 70 co-sponsored legislation to amend state income tax rates and to place a spending cap on the state budget, but the second measure failed in the House by two votes. He voted to override the vetoes of Democratic Governor Mike Beebe to enact legislation to require photo identification for casting a ballot in Arkansas and to ban abortion after twenty weeks of gestation. He further co-sponsored related pro-life legislation to ban abortion whenever fetal heartbeat is detected, to forbid the inclusion of abortion in the state insurance exchange, and to make the death of an unborn child a felony in certain cases. He co-sponsored the measures to empower officials of universities and religious institutions to carry concealed weapons for safety. Meeks opposed the proposal to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan; the measure passed the House, sixty-three to twenty-four. He supported the bill, signed by Governor Beebe, to permit the sale of up to five hundred gallons per month of unpasteurized whole milk directly from the farm to consumers.^[5]

In 2011, Meeks in District 46 opposed a dress code for public schools; the measure passed seventy-three to nineteen. He backed curriculum standards for biblical instruction in public schools. He co-sponsored the Capital Gains Reduction Act and the lowering of utility rates on manufacturers as a means of attracting new industry to Arkansas. He voted to restrict driver's license tests only in the English language. Meeks voted to prohibit cell phone use in school zones. Meeks voted against the congressional redistricting bill.^[5]

In 2014, Meeks will seek his third and final term in the House. He is term-limited in 2016 can run for another office at that time.^[1]

References