Stephanie Malone

Stephanie Malone (born March 23, 1978) is a businesswoman from Fort Smith in western Arkansas, who is a Republican former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. Her District 77, which she represented from 2013 to 2015, includes part of Sebastian County. From 2009 to 2013, she represented House District 64, a position held by Republican John Payton.^[1]

Background

A native of Rogers in Benton County, Malone graduated in 1996 from Rogers High School.^[1] In 2000, she obtained a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She is a Southern Baptist.^[2]

Since 2006, Malone has been the director of media buying for the company Advertising Plus, known as e-magination.com. She is the marketing director for the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority. Malone is further affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce and the Junior League of Fort Smith.^[2] She is a member of Young Emerging Leaders.^[1]

Political life

In 2008, Malone was elected in House District 64 over a Democrat, Mike Bock of Fort Smith, 4,946 (54.9 percent) to 4,068 (45.1 percent), for the seat vacated by the Republican Jim Medley.^[3]

In 2010, Malone was renominated in the Republican primary over Gary Campbell of Fort Smith, 1,404 (63.2 percent) to 816 (36.8 percent). She was then unopposed in the general election for her second term.^[4]

In 2012, Malone was switched to House District 77, which had been represented by the term-limited Democrat Charolette Douglas. In the general election, she defeated Democrat Doris Tate, 5,756 (57.2 percent) to 4,308 (42.8 percent).^[5]

Malone is the chairman of the House Rules Committee and sits on these panels as well: (1) Budget, (2) Insurance and Commerce, and (3) Public Health, Welfare and Labor.^[2]

Representative Malone in 2013 joined the majority 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. Malone supported or 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. She co-sponsored a spending cap in the state budget, but the measure failed to gain approval by two votes in the House. Malone backed the bill to empower university officials to engage in concealed carry of firearms in the name of campus safety. Similarly, she co-sponsored legislation to allow officials in churches and religious institutions to be armed with concealed weapons. She voted to prohibit the governor from regulating firearms in an emergency. Malone supported legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan. She did not vote on 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. She voted against a failed proposal to prohibit the closure of schools based on declining enrollments over a two-year period. She voted for the tiered system of lottery scholarships.^[6]

In 2011, Malone in District 64 opposed dress codes for public schools. She backed curriculum standards for Bible instruction in public schools. She voted for the Capital Gains Reduction Act and for a tax reduction on manufacturers' utilities. She voted to administer driver's license tests only in the English language. She voted against the prohibition of cell phone use in school zones. Malone voted against the congressional redistricting bill.^[6]

In 2009, Malone voted against an increase in the state minimum wage and opposed as well the expansion of eligibility for the children's health insurance program. She voted in the minority against a measure to make failure to use a seat belt a primary offense. She voted to allow unlicensed assistants to perform simple medical procedures. Malone opposed a bill seeking to manipulate the electoral college to obtain direct popular election of the U.S. President.^[6]

Malone was term-limited in 2014 and was succeeded in the House by her fellow Republican, Justin Boyd, a pharmacist in Alma, who resides in Fort Smith.

References