Rep. French Hill says he is "seeking solutions that lead to job creation and rising income and wages for hard-working Arkansans" but his record tells a different story. Hill voted against raising the minimum wage three times, including twice when Arkansas voters overruled him at the ballot box. He voted for the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that he promised would create 8,277 new jobs in Arkansas, but when asked which CEOs planned to hire, he had no answer. He voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill that created construction and manufacturing jobs, voted against the American Rescue Plan's expanded child tax credits and unemployment benefits, and voted against the PRO Act's worker protections.
Meanwhile, his vote to sustain Trump's tariffs,cast one day after he told a reporter he opposed across-the-board tariffs, has helped drive a surge in Arkansas farm bankruptcies, threatening to close 1 in 3 farms in the state, and led 16% of Arkansas manufacturers to project layoffs. Hill represents the 4th poorest state in the country, where the median household income is $50,540 and the minimum wage of $11 an hour does not lift a family of three out of poverty. Yet on every jobs and economy vote that mattered, the millionaire former banker sided with corporations over his own constituents.
Hill Voted Against The Minimum Wage Increase That Arkansas Voters Approved In 2014. According to the Arkansas Times, French Hill voted against the minimum wage increase on the same ballot that elected him to Congress. Arkansas voters approved the measure, raising the state minimum wage from $6.25 to $8.50 by 2017. [Arkansas Times, 11/5/14]
Hill Opposed A 2018 Ballot Measure To Raise The Minimum Wage, Saying It "Costs Jobs." According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hill told the paper, "Raising the minimum wage costs jobs and opportunities to start a career, particularly for those entering the workforce or trying to get their first job." Arkansas voters again overruled him, approving the increase to $11 an hour. [Arkansas Online, 10/2/18]
Hill Voted Against The Raise The Wage Act To Increase The Federal Minimum Wage. According to the House Clerk, Hill voted against H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act, which passed the House 231-199 on July 18, 2019. Only 3 Republicans voted for the bill. [House Clerk, 7/18/19]
Hill Promised The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Would Create 8,277 New Jobs In Arkansas. According to Hill's own press release, he claimed the bill would allow "hardworking Arkansas families [...] to keep an additional $2,020 of their income and provide Arkansans with 8,277 new full-time jobs." [Hill.house.gov, 11/16/17]
The Top 1% Received A Third Of The Corporate Tax Reduction While The Middle Class Got 8%. According to the Center for American Progress, "The top 1 percent of the income distribution received a full third of the corporate tax reduction but 20 percent of the reduction from all of the measure's provisions." The middle quintile received just "8.2 percent of the benefit of the business reductions." [Center for American Progress, Viewed 2/16/26]
Hill Voted Against The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill That Created Construction And Manufacturing Jobs. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hill voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed 228-206 on November 5, 2021, with 13 Republicans supporting it. Hill said he voted no because "Washington has a spending problem" and claimed "only $110 billion [...] less than 10 percent -- would go toward traditional infrastructure like roads and bridges." [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 11/22/21]
Hill Voted Against The PRO Act To Protect Workers' Right To Organize. According to Hill's own press release, he voted against H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, on March 9, 2021. Hill claimed the bill would only "benefit the big labor community" and used a "fancy title to blur their real intentions which are to favor unions and union bosses." The bill passed 225-206 with only 5 Republicans supporting it. [Hill.house.gov, 3/9/21]
Hill Voted Against The American Rescue Plan's Expanded Child Tax Credits And Unemployment Benefits. According to Hill's own press release, he voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, claiming "less than 10% of the bill includes provisions to either end the pandemic or bolster our economy." The bill expanded the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for children under 6, extended unemployment benefits, and provided $1,400 direct payments to Americans. [Hill.house.gov, 3/21]
Hill Voted To Sustain Trump's Canada Tariffs Days After Saying He Opposed Across-The-Board Tariffs. According to KATV, Hill told a reporter on February 12, 2026, "I don't support across-the-board tariffs. They can have a price level increase at one moment. Tariffs are a negotiating tool. Putting them at a high level and leaving them on can hurt families." The day before, the House voted 219-211 to end Trump's IEEPA-based tariffs on Canada -- and Hill voted against the resolution, siding with Trump to keep the tariffs in place. [KATV, 2/12/26; Reuters, 2/11/26]
16% Of Arkansas Manufacturers Said Tariffs Would Lead To Layoffs. According to UALR Public Radio, a survey by the Arkansas District Export Council and the World Trade Center found "16 percent of Arkansas manufacturers reported the tariffs would lead to business losses and layoffs." [UALR Public Radio, 7/1/25]
Arkansas Farm Bankruptcies Surged As Tariffs Took Hold. According to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings nationwide in the first quarter of 2025 exceeded those in all of 2024, with 259 filings through the first quarter alone. Arkansas accounted for "more than 30 percent of the district's filings over the whole year" in the 8th U.S. District Court. [University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, 7/7/25]
Arkansas Soybean Exports To China Fell 43.7% As Tariffs Drove Buyers To Brazil. According to the Arkansas Advocate, "about half of the state's soybean exports were sent to China last year [...] But after Trump levied tariffs on Chinese goods, the east Asian country imposed reciprocal tariffs on American-grown crops. Soybean exports from the U.S. to China were down 43.7% in April compared to the same time last year." [Arkansas Advocate, 7/1/25]
Hill's Estimated Net Worth Is $20.4 Million -- The 64th Highest In Congress. According to Quiver Quantitative, Hill has approximately $16.8 million invested in publicly traded assets. He founded Delta Trust & Banking Corporation in 1999, sold it to Simmons First National Corp. in 2014, and held between $1.1 million and $5.25 million in Simmons Bank stock while serving on the CARES Act oversight commission. [Quiver Quantitative, 2/2/26]
Arkansas Is The 4th Poorest State In The Country. According to World Population Review, Arkansas has a poverty rate of 16%, compared to 12.7% nationally, and a median household income of $50,540, the second-lowest in the nation. [World Population Review, Viewed 2/16/26]
Amazon Indefinitely Closed Its Little Rock Fulfillment Center, Affecting 1,850 Jobs. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the closure of Amazon's Port of Little Rock fulfillment center affects "roughly 1% of the Little Rock metropolitan area's workforce." Economic modeling shows "there are 1,850 jobs that will be indirectly affected by the closure and accompanying economic contraction." [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 11/21/25]
Tyson Closed Its North Little Rock Plant After 55 Years, Cutting 339 Jobs. According to THV11, the Tyson Foods poultry plant in North Little Rock officially closed in October 2024 after operating since 1969, affecting 339 employees. Only about 30 workers chose relocation to other Tyson facilities. [THV11, Viewed 2/16/26]
A 10th-Generation Arkansas Farmer Harvested His Last Crop After Lenders Cut Him Off. According to the Arkansas Times, "After three decades of farming soybeans, rice, corn and other commodities in Poinsett, Craighead, Jackson and Cross counties, Hall, a 10th-generation farmer, harvested his last crop in 2024. After a string of bad years and mounting financial challenges, Hall couldn't find a lender willing to extend a crop loan for 2025." [Arkansas Times, 10/7/25]
A Northeast Arkansas Farmer Said "Break Even's Not Even In Sight." According to KATV, Jackson County farmer Jeff Rutledge said, "Break even's not even in sight. Every crop that we could possibly plant had a negative return projected." He added of the tariff strategy: "Move fast and break things is really not a great strategy." [KATV, 4/18/25]
Arkansas's Unemployment Rose From 3.7% To 4.2% In 2025 As Tariff Uncertainty Stalled Hiring. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "Arkansas' unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in December, up from 4.1% in November, with December's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate up six-tenths of a percentage point from December 2024." The chief economist at the Arkansas Economic Development Institute called 2025 "the 'year of uncertainty,' pointing to shifting tariff moves by the Trump Administration as a driver of the economic slowdown, with employers hesitant to hire due to uncertainty surrounding federal tariff policy." [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/27/26]