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Arkansas legislators file new bills Wednesday

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders named a new chair of the state Post-Prison Transfer Board (also known as the parole board) late Wednesday.
John Sykes
/
Arkansas Advocate
Several bills have been filed ahead of the 2025 Arkansas legislative session.

Arkansas lawmakers are filing proposed legislation ahead of the 2025 legislative session. Several bills were filed Wednesday, the first day to file ahead of the session.

Abortion access

Rep. Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, is proposing a rollback to Arkansas' near-total abortion ban. Called the "Restore Roe Act," HB1011 would repeal the state's "trigger law" making abortion illegal following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Abortion is currently illegal in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. Aside from legalizing abortion up to the point of fetal viability, Collins' bill also lays out licensure requirements for abortion clinics.

The legislation follows an unsuccessful attempt to put abortion before voters in November. The proposal was thrown out by the state Supreme Court over errors in the canvassing process.

Republicans hold a supermajority in both of Arkansas' legislative chambers. Arkansas has been hailed as the "most pro-life state" in the U.S.

Affirmative Action

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, filed a bill to end “affirmative action” statewide. The bill refers to this as “discrimination by public entities.” In 2023, Sullivan tried and failed to pass similar legislation.

The last bill deleted large sections of Arkansas code allowing schools to provide programs to “minorities.” Under Arkansas law, "minorities" includes wounded veterans. The new bill clarifies that wounded veterans are not subject to its provisions. Additionally, it lists off “race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin” as groups that would fall under the specifics of the law.

When voting against the bill, legislators expressed concern that the legislation could hurt state-funded services like minority scholarships or leadership programs for women.

The bill would also rename the state “Equity Assistance Center” which is part of the Department of Education to the “Equality Assistance Center.” Their aims would not be to meet “civil rights responsibilities," instead meeting “desegregation and nondiscrimination” responsibilities.

The bill would also strike services the group provides to bring more minorities into education, along with programs to boost minority retention in higher education.

Fluoride in water

SB2, filed by Sen. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale, aims to get rid of the state’s mandatory fluoridation of drinking water. If passed, Arkansas municipal water systems serving 5,000 people or more would no longer be required to add fluoride to water.

Fluoride is commonly added to drinking water to improve dental health. According to the Arkansas Department of Health, no studies have proven fluoride’s effects are harmful at levels normally used in drinking water.

Water fluoridation has long been a subject of conspiracy theories; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has said he would direct all water systems across the U.S. to remove fluoride.

Another bill proposed by Penzo and Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, would allow municipalities to call elections for voters to decide whether or not to fluoridate the water system.

Sporting events 

Rep. Chad Puryear, R-Hindsville, filed a bill to give immunity for certain gun deaths. The bill would apply to deaths caused by shooting accidents at sporting events.

The bill would not shield Arkansans from accountability in every gun death situation; it only applies to accidents from “inherent risks of a shooting sports event.”

Postpartum Medicaid

HB1004, filed by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, aims to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers to one year postpartum. Arkansas is the only state which hasn’t committed to doing this.

Federal law requires Medicaid coverage for 60 days postpartum, though healthcare advocates tell NPR Arkansas often begins the process of moving women out of the program six weeks after giving birth.

Pilkington sponsored several bills aimed at improving maternal health outcomes in the 2023 legislative session; his previous effort to expand Medicaid coverage to a full year postpartum died in committee.

The proposal has bipartisan support in Arkansas, though it’s unclear whether it will be successful in the 2025 session. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has assembled a task force to look at ways to improve maternal health. Sanders has said expanding Medicaid coverage for a year postpartum would be “duplicative” and that “creating more coverage doesn’t get more women to the doctor.”

Arkansas ranks last in the nation for maternal mortality.

Pilkington's bill is nearly identical to one filed by Rep. Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, also on Wednesday. Under Pilkington's proposal, women who qualify would be covered by the state's Medicaid expansion program instead of traditional Medicaid for a year postpartum.

Education

Collins filed a slate of bills Wednesday addressing education-related matters, several of which aim to roll back existing state laws.

HB1028 would repeal a law passed in 2023 which opens up librarians to criminal penalties for providing "obscene" materials to minors. The law has been on hold since July 2023; a decision in a lawsuit over it is expected in the coming weeks.

Two other bills by Collins aim to roll back parts of the omnibus education law known as Arkansas LEARNS. HB1025 would reinstate a law repealed by the LEARNS Act known as the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, which outlines procedures and protections for educators facing termination.

Another bill, HB1020, aims to roll back a major part of Arkansas LEARNS; the Educational Freedom Account program, also known as school vouchers. The program provides tax dollars to families to fund their children's private, religious or homeschool education.

HB1020 would also create a separate funding category for special education programs, and create a new fund to further the Community Schools model of providing wrap-around services at public schools.

Other bills filed by Collins Wednesday would set standards for health curriculum in public schools, create an income tax credit for early childhood education workers and students at public colleges and universities, repeal performance-based incentives for public and charter schools and set standards for student loan forgiveness for teachers.

Collective bargaining

HB1024 would undo a state law prohibiting collective bargaining by state employees. The bill, sponsored by Collins, repeals a law passed by the legislature in 2021.

Conversion therapy

Collins has also filed a bill to ban the practice known as conversion therapy in Arkansas.

The bill defines conversion therapy as "any practice or treatment administered to a person that seeks to change the person's sexual orientation or gender identity, including without limitation efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward persons of the same gender."

Conversion therapy has been defined as a pseudoscientific practice, and has already been banned in 20 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

Slavery/involuntary servitude

HJR1002 sponsored by Collins would amend the state constitution to ensure incarcerated people are compensated for work. Prisoners in Arkansas and seven other states are not paid for working. This legislation would require inmates to be paid for labor, either in money or "good time" that contributes to a shorter sentence.

Direct democracy/redistricting

Two more proposals filed by Collins on Wednesday deal with Arkansas' ballot initiative process and the way it draws state legislative and Congressional district boundaries.

HB1042 would repeal a state law making it more difficult for citizen-led groups to place proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. If passed, it would lower the number of counties from which organizers need to collect signatures from 50 to 15.

HJR1001 would amend the Arkansas Constitution to change the way district lines are drawn. Redistricting happens every decade, following a new census.

In Arkansas, state legislative districts are re-drawn by the Board of Apportionment, composed of the governor, secretary of state and attorney general. Arkansas' U.S. Congressional districts are redrawn by the legislature.

HJR1001 would create a Citizens' Redistricting Commission, which would be tasked with redrawing both types of districts. The commission would consist of nine members appointed by the Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Three pools of applicants would be created: one each representing the state's two main political parties, and another representing other parties and independents. The governor and legislative leaders would have the power to remove two people from each applicant pool.

After that, three people drawn randomly from each pool will then be appointed to the commission. Arkansans who have served, or are related to someone who has served as a politician, lobbyist, political appointee or party official in the past five years would be excluded from serving on the commission. Commissioners would be prohibited from serving in those roles for three years after serving on the commission.

Similar proposals attempted, but failed, to make it on the ballot in Arkansas in 2020 and 2022.

Another proposal filed Wednesday by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, keeps the Board of Apportionment intact; however, it would direct the board to appoint nine members of an apportionment commission to re-draw state legislative and U.S. Congressional district lines.

Daniel Breen is News Director of Little Rock Public Radio.
Josie Lenora is the Politics/Government Reporter for Little Rock Public Radio.