The sponsor of a bill which would prohibit colleges and universities from putting limits on free speech says he’s withdrawing it from consideration.
State Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, says he’ll retool Senate Bill 125’s wording after it faced bipartisan opposition in the Senate Education Committee Wednesday.
Speaking to committee members, Sullivan said his goal is to ensure college administrators aren’t able to restrict free speech.
“I’m not aware in Arkansas, but I’m aware of universities nationally who have banned certain words and certain behaviors, and they make policies to do that, and this bill stops that. It provides further protection of your First Amendment rights,” Sullivan said.
He said the bill expands upon a 2019 state law, known as the FORUM Act, which prohibits colleges from regulating free speech in outdoor areas. SB125 would extend those protections to indoor areas on campus, including classrooms and hallways.
Lawmakers who took issue with the bill said it could give cover for hate speech on campus. Democratic Sen. Linda Chesterfield of Little Rock said the bill’s wording is too vague to know exactly what type of speech would be protected, or what would be considered “disruptive.”
“We just recently passed a bill that said drag queens cannot perform, but according to this legislation they can as long as they’re not disruptive on the college campus,” Chesterfield said. “You have holocaust deniers. Those individuals will be free to come on campus, and so I’m just wondering, are you thinking about all of the consequences of what you’re saying?”
“This bill protects them, it doesn’t punish them. It protects people that want to dress differently, transgender [people], drag queens, cowboys. If you want to dress in your outfit, go ahead. You can’t be disruptive,” Sullivan replied.
Sullivan said it would ultimately be up to individual higher education institutions to define what sort of speech would rise to the level of being disruptive. He attempted to pass a similar law in the 2021 legislative session, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
