Arkansas Capitol roundup: Prison punt and education moves
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Arkansas lawmakers logged late-night hours Wednesday as they rushed to finish work ahead of the General Assembly recess on April 16.
The big picture: After failing to garner the required three-fourths majority for passage during five sessions on the Senate floor, the $750 million appropriations bill for a proposed Franklin County prison may not be voted on again this session.
- Sen. Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs), president pro tempore, told Axios Thursday the bill won't be presented until it's clear there are 27 votes in favor.
- The bill received as few as 18 and as many as 21 votes.
State of play: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed 28 bills into law on Tuesday and another 55 on Thursday, including:
- Act 474, which authorizes the state Education Department to revise an accountability system for public schools.
- Act 478, requiring the State Board of Education to embed "the Founding Fathers and their religious and moral beliefs and how their religious and moral beliefs influenced the founding documents of the United States" into social studies taught in grades 6-12.
- Act 485, which makes it a felony for a person to commit a criminal abortion by means of fraud without the pregnant person's knowledge or consent.
We're also tracking these bills filed in the past week:
- HB1984 would create a designation for registered sex offenders for inclusion on the person's driver's license or ID card.
- HB1999 would require the Department of Education to send each student who submits a Free Application for Federal Student Aid information about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
- SB622 would reverse the prohibition on tire retailers charging fees other than rim-removal fees when removing a tire from its rim.
- SB632 would require warning labels be used for hair relaxers containing chemicals linked to harmful health impacts.
What's next: The General Assembly still must approve the $6.49 billion 2026 and 2027 general revenue budget proposed by Sanders in November.
- Hester recently told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette legislative leaders plan to put the Revenue Stabilization Act on lawmakers' desks on April 14.