The Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission overhaul bill is on track. 

The Senate today unanimously approved and sent to the House Senate Bill 91, which would whittle the embattled commission’s membership from 26 to 13, authorize the governor and legislative leaders to appoint the members, let the governor name both the commission chairman, and have the executive director serve at the will of the governor.

The proposed changes come after years of infighting that at times has paralyzed the panel charged with promoting the ideals of the slain civil rights leader.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Hank Wilkins of Pine Bluff, whose mother, former Rep. Josetta Wilkins, sponsored legislation to create the commission in the early 1990s.

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