Joshua D. "Josh" Miller
Arkansas State Representative for District 66 (Cleburne, Faulkner, and Van Buren counties)
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 2013
Preceded by	Gary Deffenbaugh (transferred to District 79)
Born	April 2, 1981
Political party	Republican
Residence	Heber Springs Cleburne County, Arkansas
Alma mater	Heber Springs High School Arkansas State University (Heber Springs campus)
Occupation	Businessman
Religion	Southern Baptist

Joshua D. Miller, known as Josh Miller (born April 2, 1981),^[1] is a property manager from Heber Springs, Arkansas, who has been since 2013 a Republican state representative for District 66, which encompasses Cleburne, Faulkner, and Van Buren counties in the north-central portion of his state.^[2]

Background[edit]

Miller is a son of David and Glenda F. Miller of Heber Springs. He is disabled and uses a wheelchair^[3] because of an accident in young adulthood which damaged his spinal cord and involved the use of alcohol.^[4] Neither Miller nor the other occupant could recall who was driving.^[5] Miller was uninsured at the time of the accident; Medicaid paid for the majority of the $1 million in hospitalization and rehabilitation costs.^[5] Coincidentally, Miller's ftather had muscular atrophy and was in a wheelchair for many years. The father's example convinced Miller that he too could live a full life.^[6] Miller serves on the Governor's Commission for People with Disabilities.^[2]

Miller graduated in 1999 from Heber Springs High School and thereafter earned an associate degree from the Arkansas State University campus at Heber Springs.^[2] He is a Baptist.^[7]

Political life[edit]

From 2009 to 2012, Miller was a member of the Heber Springs City Council.^[2] In 2012, Miller won the Republican state House primary election over Phillip D. "Phil" Grace (also born 1981), a Cleburne County justice of the peace from Heber Springs, 1,653 votes (56.4 percent) to 1,279 (43.6 percent). In the general election, he defeated the Democrat Jeffery M. "Jeff" Pistole of Clinton in Van Buren County, 7,493 votes (65 percent) to 4,032 (35 percent).^[8]

Miller serves on these House committees: (1) State Agencies and Governmental Affairs and (2) Public Transportation.^[2]

Representative Miller in 2013 voted to establish a spending cap on the state budget and co-sponsored a measure to amend state income tax rates. He joined as a co-sponsor the required majority to override the vetoes of Democratic then Governor Mike Beebe to enact legislation to require photo identification for casting a ballot in Arkansas^[9] and to ban abortion after twenty weeks of gestation. He further 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 co-sponsored legislation to empower officers of universities and religious institutions to carry weapons for self-defense. He supported legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan. He voted to establish a tiered system for lottery scholarships. Miller did not vote on 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.^[10]

Despite his past experience as a Medicaid recipient, Miller opposes Medicaid expansion in Arkansas under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obama Care.^[5]

References[edit]