2021 Arkansas Legislative Session

As week two of the Arkansas General Assembly Session wraps up, the rate of bills being considered will begin to increase, according to House leadership. 

Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said House members have filed 220 pieces of legislation so far, while the state’s senators have filed 168 bills.

This past week, with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the House only met twice, while the Senate met Tuesday through Thursday.

A bill that would require an Arkansas suicide prevention hotline to employ people who have experience working with veterans was passed by a state Senate committee Wednesday.

Under Senate Bill 27, the hotline, which is maintained by the Arkansas Department of Health, "shall ensure that the Suicide Prevention Hotline employs individuals who have experience working with veterans or are veterans." 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story stated that all 27 votes for the bill came from Republicans, when one Democrat did vote for the bill. The story has been edited to reflect that vote. 

A bill that would establish a “Stand Your Ground” law in Arkansas was approved Tuesday by the state Senate and now advances to a House committee.

Senators voted 27-7 to pass the bill, with Republicans and one Democrat making up the 27 yes votes, while one Republican joined Democrats in voting no.

On a unanimous vote, the House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill that allows participants of an Arkansas county’s specialty court program to transfer to an intrastate program in a different county.

Specialty Courts, also called drug or treatment courts, allow those who are charged with a criminal offense, but also have a history of substance abuse to enter programs that, according to the Arkansas Judiciary’s website, "integrate alcohol and other drug treatment services within justice system case processing," as opposed to entering the criminal justice system.

An effort to establish a "Stand Your Ground'' law in Arkansas passed its first hurdle on Wednesday.

By a vote of 5-2, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 24, which would add Arkansas to a list of states that already have such statutes. 

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Ozark, would remove the "duty to retreat" for someone who is under threat of being harmed. 

In his second-to-last State of the State address, and final one in front of a general session, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson outlined his legislative goals which include addressing the current healthcare crisis, hate crimes legislation, teacher pay and supporting state police. 

Speaking to members in the House on Tuesday, while the Senate joined digitally, Hutchinson said the legislature’s “first responsibility” should be addressing the current public health emergency brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.  

On the first day of the 93rd Arkansas General Assembly, the House of Representatives voted to seat all 100 of its members and re-elect its speaker. The Senate formally voted for a new president pro tempore, but amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic, the chamber saw heated debate about whether members should be punished for not wearing face masks.

With the Arkansas 2021 Legislative Session set to begin in just over a month, state lawmakers have already begun to file bills, effectively giving a preview of some of the issues that will be debated and voted on. 

KUAR News spoke with Andrew DeMillo, Capitol Correspondent for the Little Rock bureau of the Associated Press to discuss the upcoming session and what topics that have already emerged as ones to pay attention to.

KUAR: What do you think are the major topics that the upcoming session is going to address this year?