Jim Guy Tucker accomplished several legislative initiatives while he was Governor. Shortly after assuming office in December 1992, he called a special session of the Arkansas legislature to find ways to fund a Medicaid shortfall. The session was successful as it passed bills to increase taxes on cigarettes, soft drinks, and certain luxury items that funded Medicaid.
During the 1933 legislative session alone, Tucker signed bills that reformed the criminal justice system, education, economic development, civil rights, environment, child support, and election reform.
The criminal justice system was reformed through the establishment of community punishment centers for non-violent offenders, truth-in-sentencing guidelines, and five wilderness camps for violent juvenile offenders.
The education reforms that passed the 79th Arkansas General Assembly included K-3 grade assessments to measure child performance, freezing the amount of state money used for remedial education in public colleges and universities, mandatory free summer school for students who need assistance, and development curriculum to teach African American history to students at all grade levels.
Economic development laws signed include the Economic Development Incentive Act, Arkansas Capitol Access Program for Small Business Act of 1993, $10 million in funding for infrastructure in the state, workers’ compensation reform, and geographic enterprise zones elimination.
In the area of civil rights, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission was created by Act 1216 of 1993. Governor Tucker also signed into law the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993. This act was the first of its kind in the state. It outlawed the discrimination of individuals based on race, gender, religion, physical or mental disability, and national origin.
In August 1994, Tucker called another special session of the legislature relating to 44 call items on juvenile and criminal justice. He signed 31 bills into law at the conclusion of the session. Some of the new laws affecting juvenile offenders were to provide funding for additional classes of the Civilian Student Training Program, funding for Automated Fingerprint Identification System, allow juveniles to waive right to counsel without their parents’ consent, seizure of handguns illegally owned by minors, and removal of the $2,000 cap required for restitution.
Tucker ran against Republican Sheffield Nelson in the November 1994 general election. He won with 60 percent of the vote. While the previous two years saw legislative success, the next two years were not successful. In May 1995, the Governor’s Task Force for a New Constitution convened. The task force outlined several constitution articles to revise at the Constitutional Convention of 1996. Voters, though, rejected calling the convention in December 1995 by an 80% to 20% margin. Less than a month later voters again defeated a Tucker-led initiative on January 9, 1996. Voters rejected a $3.5 billion highway construction project 86% against to 14% margin.
A bright spot for Tucker’s administration was the creation of the "Capital-for-a-Day" program. The premise was to bring state government to towns across the Arkansas. Governor Tucker, his wife, and representatives from all state agencies were present. The town hall style meetings were held in thirteen cities including, Mountain Home, Nashville, Harrison, Helena, West Memphis and Lake Village from 1993-1995. These meetings allowed for the citizens of the state to voice their concerns directly to state officials.
It was also during this time that the Whitewater investigation, led by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, began against Bill and Hillary Clinton, James B. and Susan McDougal, and Governor Jim Guy Tucker. Tucker and the McDougals' were convicted of conspiracy and fraud on May 29, 1966. Tucker resigned as governor on July 15, 1966.