Governor of Arkansas
Board Member: Governor
Asa Hutchinson was sworn in as the 46th Governor of Arkansas on January 13, 2015, promising to bring more jobs and economic growth to his native state.
During his first day in office, Governor Hutchinson made good on a campaign promise to make economic development a priority by calling the executives of six out-of-state companies to express interest in having them relocate or expand in Arkansas. A day later, Governor Hutchinson introduced his plan to reduce the income-tax rates for middle-class Arkansans — the first step in his goal of making Arkansas’s income-tax rates lower and thus more competitive with other states in the region.
Understanding the necessity of a healthy, productive workforce when it comes to economic development and attracting industry, Governor Hutchinson has asked the Arkansas General Assembly to create a Health Reform Task Force to recommend innovative, cost-effective and compassionate Medicaid reforms that best fit Arkansas.
In addition, Governor Hutchinson has made computer-science education a top priority, working with the Legislature to have every high school in Arkansas offer a computer-coding course that would count as a core graduation credit. The result would be a student population ready to compete in a rapidly evolving, high-tech economy.
Before being elected governor, Asa Hutchinson served in a variety of posts in the public sector, including as Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration and as the first Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Voters in Arkansas’s Third District also elected him to Congress three times.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas law school, Asa Hutchinson, at age 31, was appointed by President Reagan as the nation’s youngest U.S. attorney.
He and his wife Susan, college sweethearts, have been married 40 years. They have four children and five grandchildren.