Arkansas' Capitol round up: Babies, taxes and trams
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bills into law Thursday. Screenshot courtesy the Sanders administration.
Friday closes week seven of the 95th General Assembly of the Arkansas Legislature.
Why it matters: It's the biannual gathering of Arkansas' lawmakers to negotiate changes to the management of state government, infrastructure, education, public safety and more.
Catch up quick: Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed 61 bills into law this week. They include the "Healthy Moms, Health Babies Act," a bill authorizing creation of a tramway system for state parks.
- Another updates public school social studies standards to include the perils of communism and autocratic governments.
Other activity included:
- A bill allowing Arkansas to execute prisoners using nitrogen gas was reviewed and passed by the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. It moves to the House floor for a vote.
- The Senate Education Committee did not advance the controversial "The Baby Olivia Bill" that would've required an animated video be shown in health classes beginning in fifth grade
- Two Senate bills (SB208 and SB211) that will require canvassers to check a voter's photo ID before signing a petition and mandating that canvassers sign an affidavit proclaiming they will follow Arkansas law also passed the House. It now returns to a Senate committee for review.
Bonus: Bills worthy of your time
Sanders on Wednesday said she will back a set of six bills requiring state-sponsored entities, including universities and retirement systems, to divest from China and Russia.
- Among the restrictions, the legislation would withhold funding from state colleges and universities that have cultural programs linked to the Chinese government, such as the Confucius Institute.
- Sanders said the bills "will defend Arkansas from bad actors."
What we're watching: A few other bills that were filed in the past week:
- 🚜 SB315 prohibits financial institutions from discriminating against agriculture producers based on the agriculture producer's greenhouse gas emissions, use of fossil-fuel derived fertilizer or use of fossil-fuel powered machinery.
- 🩺 SB312 would make the number of residential psychiatric treatment beds in the state unlimited.
- 🧓 SB318 exempts people ages 65 and older who make less than $25,000 from paying income taxes.
- ✅ HB1578 would establish hemp-based beverage regulations.
- 💧 SB282 allows public water system customers to vote on having fluoride in their drinking water. This comes after a bill to repeal the state law mandating fluoride in drinking water failed in committee.
- 🤰 HB1554 would require fertility clinics to track and report data for each embryo created and the number of embryos that are negligently destroyed each year due to the failure of a cryopreservation tank or other error. It also requires a variety of other embryo data to be collected but not personally identifiable information.
- 🧒 A few bills — SB325, SB326 and SB320 seek to make changes to the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, which involves child maltreatment reporting and foster care policies. We'll have more on this soon.