Arkansas Gov. Sanders signs 1,000+ bills, vetoes four
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed more than 1,000 bills passed by lawmakers during the biennial regular session, which is set for final adjournment on May 5. Citing "woke nonsense" and tailored needs for students, she vetoed all or part of four.
Why it matters: Those bills she signed are now laws that impact how taxes are spent and citizens vote, while changing existing laws and state government management.
- When each law takes full effect varies by how it was written.
State of play: While Sanders signed a flurry of legislation, her few vetoes seem to reflect her political priorities:
SB451 would have provided school districts with resources to assist with students showing behavior likely to cause injury to themselves or others. The state Department of Human Services was to establish regional behavioral health programs that would develop health plans for referred students.
- Sanders said she'd directed the state Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and Human Services Secretary Kristi Putnam to "come up with a solution that is more tailored to the needs of our local public schools."
HB1265, now Act 660, authorizes salaries for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
- But in a line-item veto, Sanders struck the proposed $190,000 salary for the school's director of the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity.
- "Arkansas will not waste nearly $200,000 in taxpayer dollars on DEI administrators who promote woke nonsense," she wrote.
HB1889 would have amended Arkansas' medical marijuana law, allowing deliveries by a dispensary's vehicle or a drive-through window.
- The veto letter states: "This legislation would expand access to usable marijuana, therefore I am vetoing this legislation."
HB1961 would have allowed medical providers to prevent certain sensitive medical information from being automatically loaded into a patient's records until the provider made an effort to interpret the information.
- A goal of the bill was to overcome a patient's misinterpretation and misunderstanding of a diagnosis.
- Sanders vetoed the bill because it could unduly delay the release of personal medical information.
What's next: Sanders last signed a set of bills on Tuesday and it appears she may be done for this session.