State Sen. Arthur Orr (R – Decatur) on Monday announced that he has filed qualifying papers to seek a new term in the Senate District 3 seat that he has held since 2006.
“Since my first day serving in Montgomery, I have focused my efforts on improving education, economic development, and efficiency in state government, and we have made great strides in each of these areas in recent years,” Orr said. “At the same time, I have worked to ensure that the citizens of Morgan, Madison, and Limestone counties have received their share of state investment dollars in our schools, our roads, and other critical needs. I hope to continue serving the Tennessee Valley over the next for years.”
Orr currently serves as chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee and is tasked with annually allocating roughly $6.5 billion in state funding to Alabama’s K-12 public schools, community colleges, and public colleges and universities. He previously chaired the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee, which divides roughly $1.8 billion in spending among non-education state agencies.
He has passed and enacted several significant pieces of legislation throughout the current quadrennium, which include:
- A measure that increases enforcement of state campaign finance laws by providing more oversight authority to the Alabama Ethics Commission
- A bill requiring high school students to pass a mandatory civics exam covering U.S. history, government, and good citizenship as a prerequisite for graduation
- Multiple cost-cutting reforms that have already begun to save Alabama taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars of unnecessary state spending
Orr chairs the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, which oversees efforts to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the state’s founding, and he previously led a government panel whose work dramatically reduced the high school dropout rate among teens.
Employed as an executive vice president with Cook’s Pest Control, Inc., Orr and his wife, Amy, have two children – a son, Jack, and a daughter, Anna.
(News Release/Orr for Senate Committee)
