Jeremy Gillam

Jeremy K. Gillam
Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives
In office January 8, 2015 – June 15, 2018
Preceded by	Davy Carter
Succeeded by	Marshall Wright
Arkansas State Representative for District 45
In office January 2013 – 2018
Preceded by	Linda Tyler
Succeeded by	Jim Wooten
Arkansas State Representative for District 49
In office January 2011 – January 2013
Preceded by	Jonathan Dismang
Born	August 2, 1976
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Carissa J. Gillam
Children	Alexander and Jaxon Gillam
Alma mater	Arkansas State University-Beebe Arkansas State University-Jonesboro
Occupation	Farmer University administrator
Religion	Southern Baptist

Jeremy K. Gillam (born August 2, 1976)^[1] is a farmer from Judsonia in White County in central Arkansas, who is a Republican former state representative for District 45, which he has represented from 2013 to 2018. The district includes parts of Faulkner, Lonoke, and White counties From 2011 to 2013, he represented House District 49. He was the House Speaker from January 2015 to June 15, 2018, when he resigned from the legislature to become the director of governmental affairs and external relations for the University of Central Arkansas at Conway.^[2]

Background[edit]

In 1999, Gillam obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Counseling from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He first attended the ASU branch campus at Beebe in White County.^[3]

Gilliam and his wife, Carissa J. Gillam (born 1977) have two sons, Alexander and Jaxon Gillam. He has operated Gillam Farms since his college graduation in 1999.^[3]

Political life[edit]

In 2010, Gillam was elected in House District 49, when the Republican incumbent, Jonathan Dismang, instead ran successfully for the state Senate. After a primary victory, Gillam defeated the Democrat Jesse Boyce, 5,228 (66.8 percent) to 2,594 (33.2 percent).^[4]

In 2012, Gillam was unopposed for the Republican nomination for his second two-year term when he was switched to House District 45. No Democrat filed for the seat. Gillam instead handily defeated the Green Party nominee, Travis Mason, 6,958 (83.2 percent) to 1,403 (16.8 percent). The incumbent Democratic representative, Linda Tyler, ran for election in Senate District 35.^[5]

Gillam served on the Arkansas Legislative Council and these House committees: (1) Energy, (2) Judiciary, (3) Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development, and (4) Rules.^[3]

Representative Gillam in 2013 in District 45 supported a spending cap on the state budget, but the bill failed by a two-vote margin in the House. He voted to override the vetoes of Democratic then 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. Gillam supported 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 voted to empower university officials to carry weapons in the name of campus safety. He supported legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas a nonpartisan position. 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.^[6]

In 2011, Gillam in District 49 co-sponsored legislation to permit weapons in religious institutions. He supported a dress code for public schools. He backed curriculum standards for biblical instruction in public schools. He voted for the Capital Gains Reduction Act. He voted to permit driver's license tests only in the English language. On January 31, 2011, Gillam voted against legislation to prohibit cell phone use in school zone; the next day, he and several colleagues reversed themselves, and the proposal passed, fifty-three to forty-one.^[6]

References[edit]