Hutchinson: Unlikely to try ending King-Lee holiday this year

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday, April 8, 2016, at the state Capitol signs into law his Arkansas Works plan, which keeps and reworks the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday, April 8, 2016, at the state Capitol signs into law his Arkansas Works plan, which keeps and reworks the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion.

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he's unlikely to push this year to end the state's practice of commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the same day.

The Republican governor said Thursday that he still wants to remove Lee from the King holiday but said there's no consensus among lawmakers for taking up the proposal during a special session on highways this month.

Proposals to end the joint holiday failed multiple times before a House committee last year after opponents said the separation would belittle Southern heritage. Hutchinson has said King deserves the holiday to himself to commemorate his role in the civil rights movement.

Hutchinson has said he'll call lawmakers back into session May 19 to take up his highway funding plan.

Upcoming Events