Week 5
Unless you were offline the second half of this week, you probably know that Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders on Wednesday held a press conference to unveil some of the components to her long-awaited Education omnibus package, titled Arkansas LEARNS. Without the actual proposed legislation to analyze, everyone is operating under assumptions about the details. And while some of the priorities (raising the minimum teacher salary, for example) seem promising, we have major concerns about a proposed private (and home) school voucher program. You can read news coverage of the announcement here and here. And you can find our statement from AACF Education Policy Director Olivia Gardner here.
We are thrilled to see a number of new bills proposing to improve Arkansans’ access to democracy through voting. We are also pleased to see the passage of a bill that will require the Legislature to examine the fines and fees in our court systems, which often greatly burden Arkansans with low incomes and those who ar Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color (BIPOC).
Unfortunately, this week we have a new bill seeking to keep transgender youth from accessing the full range of health care they may require. The law the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2021, which banned the gender confirming treatments for Arkansas minors, is still held up in the courts. Sen. Gary Stubblefield and Rep. Mary Bentley’s SB199 would create new parameters to limit gender-affirming care and the rights of physicians to offer it. More detail on this bill below.
Below you will find an overview of bills on AACF’s legislative agenda and that AACF generally either supports or opposes. We are monitoring more bills, listed and frequently updated on our website.
Bills on AACF’s Legislative Agenda
Through conversations with partners, advocates and young Arkansans, and through our own policy research, AACF has identified a series of policies that will improve the well-being of Arkansans. The following bills are in support of our 2023 legislative agenda. More information on AACF’s legislative priorities is here.
Democracy and Voting Rights
Scheduled: On Wednesday, Sen. Clarke Tucker filed several bills related to access to voting. These bills, along with one filed by Sen. Bryan King, are all on the agenda of the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs for 10am on Tuesday, February 14.
- Sen. Clarke Tucker’s SB216 would require that no voter wait more than one hour in line to vote and that the counties’ board of election commissioners ensure that there are enough polling locations and equipment so that no one waits more than one hour.
- Sen. Bryan King’s SB230 would require employers to provide 8 hours of paid leave for employees to vote on Election Day or during early voting for the primary, primary runoff, and general elections. The bill would also extend the early voting period from 15 days to 30 days before the election.
- Sen. Clarke Tucker’s SB233 aims to make it clearer to voters how long their application for voting absentee is valid. The application will cover one election and any corresponding runoff election. However, voters can mark on their application that they would like to extend their request to vote absentee for a full year.
- Sen. Clarke Tucker’s SB234 would require absentee ballot materials to be written in a way that the materials could be understood by the average voter.
Progressed: Rep. Andrew Collins and Sen. Jim Dotson are the co-sponsors of HB1325. This bill would require counties to have more consistent early voting hours between different polling sites. The bill passed the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday.
Progressed: Rep. Zack Gramlich and Sen. Justin Boyd are the co-sponsors of HB1198, which would remove county holidays from the days early voting will not be available. It passed the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Education, Early Childhood
Scheduled: Rep. Julie Mayberry’s and Sen. Missy Irvin’s bill, HB1158, would provide tax credits to help promote access to, and improve the quality of, early child care. It is on the agenda of the House Committee on Revenue and Taxation at 10am on Tuesday, February 14.
Juvenile Justice
Delivered to Governor: HB1245 is sponsored by Rep. Carol Dalby and Sen. Gary Stubblefield. This bill would require a legislative study of the court systems in Arkansas, including “substantial amounts” of fees and fines assessed to defendants who are often unable to pay them. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and the full Senate on Tuesday. It goes next to the Governor for her signature.
Bills AACF Also Supports
The following are bills not formally on AACF’s legislative agenda but that AACF recognizes could have a positive impact on Arkansas’s children and families.
Education, K-12
New Bill: Rep. Shad Pearce and Sen. Blake Johnson filed HB1393 on Thursday. This bill would designate the first week of May to be mental health awareness week in Arkansas public schools. It is assigned to the House Education Committee.
Progressed: Rep. Ashley Hudson and Sen. Clarke Tucker are the co-sponsors of HB1161, which would support pregnant and parenting students by allowing for related excused absences and by giving pregnant and parenting students the flexibility to complete missed school work. AACF Education Policy Director Olivia Gardner testified in support of the bill in the House Education Committee on Tuesday, and the bill passed unanimously. It went on to pass the full House on Wednesday and is now assigned to the Senate Education Committee. Read an article about this bill here.
Delivered to Governor: SB68, co-sponsored by Sen. Jim Dotson and Rep. DeAnn Vaught, aims to educate students about the significance and history of the Holocaust. It would designate the last full week of classes in January in Arkansas public schools as “Holocaust Education Week.” It passed the full House on Monday and has been delivered to the Governor to be signed into law. Read an article on this bill here.
Health
Delivered to Governor: Sen. Justin Boyd and Rep. Ryan Rose’s SB74 will allow certain people who need one to use a surrogate to apply for public benefits such as Medicare and Medicaid. The bill passed the full House on Tuesday and has been delivered to the Governor to be signed into law.
Passed: HB1127 is sponsored by Rep. Lee Johnson. The bill would allow small rural hospitals to make a change in designation from critical access hospital to rural emergency hospital, thereby allowing these hospitals to get higher reimbursement for outpatient services. It passed the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Wednesday and the full Senate on Thursday. It will next go to the Governor’s office for her signature. Read an article on this bill here.
Proposed Constitutional Amendments
This week also saw the filing deadline for proposed constitutional amendments, with a total of 33 filed by legislators. They will have to narrow their list down to a maximum of three to put before Arkansas voters in 2024. Many of these are considered “shell” bills, meaning they may have titles (and we may be able to give an educated guess as to what they’ll eventually propose), but there’s no real content to analyze. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for us to divide them between those we would love to see on the ballot and those we hope don’t stand a chance.
For now, you can visit the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension’s website for the full list of proposed amendments.
Bills AACF Opposes
The following are bills we believe would be harmful to our state, our state’s children and their families, and our state’s most vulnerable individuals.
Equity
Scheduled: SB43, heavily amended last week, is co-sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield and Rep. Mary Bentley. On Monday it passed the full House and is on the agenda to have the amendments concurred in the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee at 10am on Tuesday, February 14. The original bill targeted drag performances and was worded in a way that could have been used to criminalize transgender and nonbinary individuals. As it is written now, the bill still attempts to regulate the freedom of expression of anyone in Arkansas in certain situations. You can read the ACLU-Arkansas blog post about it here.
Family Economic Security
Progressed: Rep. Kendon Underwood and Sen. Ben Gilmore’s bill HB1197 would burden workers and businesses with more red tape in an attempt to keep people from accessing unemployment benefits. It passed the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Tuesday and passed the full House on Wednesday. It is now assigned to the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.
Health
Scheduled: Sen. Gary Stubblefield and Rep. Mary Bentley filed SB199 on Monday. This bill would set up stringent requirements for physicians who offer gender-affirming care to minors in Arkansas. The effect of the bill would make it nearly impossible for parents to seek gender-affirming care for their children, as well as unlikely that physicians wishing to provide such care could obtain malpractice insurance. It’s on the agenda of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, February 13 at 10am.
Housing
Scheduled: Rep. Ken Underwood and Sen. Ben Gilmore’s bill HB1196 passed the full House Committee on Monday. The bill would attempt to add red tape to public housing, pending federal approval, by creating a stringent work-reporting requirement without any investment in supportive services. It is on the agenda of the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee on Tuesday, February 14 at 10am. Read our blog post on this bill.
Scheduled: Sen. Joshua Bryant and Rep. Brit McKenzie filed SB197 on Monday. This bill would take away the ability of local decision-makers to set housing and rental policies that work best in their communities. It is on the agenda of the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee on Tuesday, February 14 at 10am.
Tax and Budget
Progressed: HB1026 is co-sponsored by Rep. Ray and Rep. John Payton. The bill would undercut the ability of local governments to set tax and budget policies that work in their local communities. It passed the Senate Revenue and Tax Committee on Wednesday and the full Senate on Thursday. It has been sent back to the House Committee on Revenue and Taxation with an amendment.
New Bill: Rep. Trey Steimel filed HB1366 on Tuesday. This bill would use tax dollars to subsidize commercial poultry production. It is assigned to the House Committee on Revenue and Taxation.
How You Can Help
- Sign up for Action Alerts, if you haven’t already. By subscribing to this list, you will be notified when we need you to take action, like emailing or calling your legislator, on a specific issue or piece of legislation. You will also receive weekly legislative updates during the session. Find out what bills were filed or made progress during the week at the Arkansas Capitol.
- Join our Facebook Group, Arkansas’s Capitol Advocates. This is a group where advocates for children and families are gathering to talk about how to move important issues and legislation forward and share best practices.
- Attend our events. These are a great way to stay current on our advocacy work and that of our statewide partners.
- Donate. The work our staff does during the legislative session is often not paid for by grants, and we do not receive any state or federal funding. We rely on donors like you to help us be effective advocates at the Arkansas Capitol.