Arkansas' Capitol round up: Babies, taxes and trams
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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.

