The Arkansas House and Senate have given initially approval to legislation that would prevent large premium increases for the state's public school employees.
The chambers approved the measures Tuesday as the Legislature planned to wrap up its special session in the early hours Wednesday.
The plan would prevent a 35 percent premium increase that thousands of public school employees would otherwise see this fall, by removing part-time workers and some spouses from the program. The legislation would also transfer an expected $4.6 million in tax savings from the districts to the teacher insurance program.
Lawmakers planned to convene shortly after midnight Wednesday to give final approval to the measures.