Arkansas Legislature plans to ‘run right through the finish line,' end session Wednesday

Yahoo

14-04-2025

Sen. Jimmy Hickey (right), R-Texarkana, presides over the Arkansas Senate on Thursday, April 10, 2025. At left is Ann Cornwell, Secretary of the Senate. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
A balanced state budget, more money for correctional facilities and proposed constitutional amendments form just part of the lengthy agenda awaiting Arkansas lawmakers on Monday for a planned three-day work week.
'We've got a lot of work yet to do, so just be prepared that Monday will be a long day and a long evening,' House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told the chamber Thursday. 'We're getting close to wrapping this session up and landing this plane. I'm really proud of the job that you've done.'
The 95th General Assembly is scheduled to complete most of its work on Wednesday, then recess for a couple of weeks before returning to formally end the session.
In the Senate, the hope is that committees will finish their work by the time the chamber convenes at 10:30 a.m. Monday, said Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs. He added that the chamber could take a break for committee meetings if needed.
After speaking to the House parliamentarian, Hester said Thursday that amended bills passed off the Senate floor Monday will still have time to make it through the legislative process. Hester also said he was open to batching bills, a process that allows multiple bills to be voted on together.
The Senate could have as many as 100 bills on its calendar Monday, according to Hester, who said Tuesday and Wednesday will likely be slower.
'We're going to run right through the finish line,' Hester said.
The House adjourned before 5 p.m. Thursday, leaving dozens of Senate bills on the calendar to be taken up this week. Evans said he made this decision after conferring with House committee chairs.
'We felt like the trade-off for a long day Monday [was] being a little rested over the weekend, and cooler heads prevailing would be better than just trying to force stuff through this evening,' Evans told reporters after adjournment.
The Senate bills slated for House votes include one that environmental advocates feared would endanger a moratorium on large animal farms in the Buffalo River watershed. Senate Bill 290 would have to receive Senate approval again since it was amended in the House.
Evans said the governor's office has told him she supports SB 290, which was amended several times since its introduction in February after negotiations between stakeholders and elected officials.
'I think each [side] had to give a little bit, but in doing so, they brought a better piece of legislation forward,' he said.
SESSION SNAPSHOT: Prison, library battles continue as Arkansas legislative session nears end
A critical piece of legislation that has yet to receive House and Senate approval is the Revenue Stabilization Act, or the balanced budget for fiscal year 2026. The proposal is nearly identical to the budget Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proposed in November, Evans said.
The budget totals $6.49 billion and raises spending by 2.89%. The Joint Budget Committee is expected to approve the legislation, House Bill 2003 and Senate Bill 637, at Monday's 9 a.m. meeting.
Joint Budget is also set to consider Senate Bill 633, filed last week by Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers. SB 633 would transfer $250 million from general revenue to a set-aside fund for correctional facilities. The Legislature placed $330 million into the fund in 2023 for expanding prison capacity.
A $750 million appropriation bill to support construction of a 3,000-bed state prison in Franklin County is likely dead after the Senate failed five times to garner enough support for the measure.
Arkansas lawmakers consider other funding methods as they abandon sixth prison appropriation vote
Additionally, the House and Senate will finalize which proposed constitutional amendments the Legislature will refer to the 2026 statewide ballot. On Thursday, the Senate approved a proposal to affirm that the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 'is a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed.' The measure must receive House committee approval before going to the full House.
The full Senate is expected to vote this week on the House's proposed amendment, which would affirm that only U.S. citizens can vote in Arkansas. Noncitizen voting is already illegal, and proposed measures to further prevent this failed in the House in March.
The Legislature can refer up to three amendments to voters each election cycle, so lawmakers may also consider a third proposal before the legislative session ends.
Several committees are scheduled to deviate from their typical biweekly meeting schedules in order to finish business this week. For example, the House Education Committee usually meets Tuesdays but will meet at 11 a.m. Monday.
The committee is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 625, which would place some additional restrictions on Education Freedom Account program funding. The state voucher program, one of Sanders' priorities during her first year in office, allows state funding to be used for qualifying expenses, such as private school tuition and extracurricular activities.
The latter caused controversy last year when a Fayetteville stable encouraged homeschoolers via social media to use their EFA funds for horseback riding lessons. Among other things, SB 625 would prohibit spending more than 25% of allocated funds on extracurriculars. The same limit would be placed on transportation expenses.
Bill sponsor Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, told the Senate Thursday the goal is to ensure the money goes toward education-related items. Participants in the 2025-2026 academic year, the third year of the EFA program and the first time it will be open to all Arkansas students, will receive up to $6,864 annually.
The Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda for 10 a.m. Monday includes Rep. Mary Bentley's House Bill 1916, a proposed amendment to her Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023. The Perryville Republican seeks to add mental health treatment to the law's list of gender-affirming healthcare for which doctors who treat transgender minors could face civil liability.
Bentley introduced HB 1916 a day before she withdrew House Bill 1668, which she had previously agreed to amend. That bill would have created civil liability for any adult who aids a minor's 'social transitioning,' but lawmakers, the attorney general's office and members of the public said the bill infringed on the right to freedom of expression.
Bentley has sponsored several bills related to transgender Arkansans in the past few legislative sessions. She is the House sponsor of Senate Bill 486, which would allow Arkansans to sue for damages if they encounter someone assigned male at birth in a women's bathroom, changing room, shelter or correctional facility. The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs is scheduled to meet twice Monday and is expected to take up SB 486.
The State Agencies committee is also set to hear a bill that outlines a petition process to allow voters to decide whether their local water system contains fluoride, while the House Public Health, Labor and Welfare Committee is scheduled to hear a proposed repeal of the statewide mandate for public water system fluoridation.
Arkansas lawmakers consider suggestions to improve underfunded scrap tire recycling program
The former bill is Senate Bill 613, and Evans said he expects it to pass the House if it passes the State Agencies committee, which is scheduled to meet twice Monday.
'It seems to me that there's a lot of favor in that one because of the efforts that have been put forth by all the stakeholders in that to get some compromised language,' Evans said.
Meanwhile, the Senate's equivalent public health panel is set to meet Monday at the call of chairwoman Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View. One bill on its agenda is House Bill 1982, which would remove a prohibition on used tire retailers imposing fees, in addition to an existing rim removal fee, to cover their costs. The state's underfunded scrap tire recycling program has been a regular topic of legislative debate for the past few years.
Lawmakers in both chambers have also been considering three bills pertaining to minors' social media use, which Sanders has expressed support for regulating.
House Bill 1717 would ban technology companies from collecting data from Arkansas minors except under specific circumstances. The House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, and Legislative Affairs passed the bill in March and will consider an amended version Monday.
Senate Bill 612 would create a right for parents to sue social media platforms if content on those platforms harms their children. The amended bill is likely to receive a House vote Monday and would need to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate to reach Sanders' desk before the session ends. The Judiciary Committee is currently not scheduled to meet again after Monday.
Senate Bill 611 would amend the Social Media Safety Act of 2023, an enjoined law that required social media platforms to verify the age of new account holders in Arkansas. It would need to follow a similar process as SB 612 to reach Sanders' desk. The Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce, which passed SB 611 before it was amended, was not scheduled to meet this week as of Sunday.
Arkansas Senate approves proposed changes to blocked social media age verification law
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