Latest news with #HB1669
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Religious freedom bill advances after Arkansans say it will foster anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination
Attorney Stephanie Nichols (left) of the Family Council's Arkansas Justice Institute speaks in support of House Bill 1615, sponsored by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (second from right), R-Elm Springs, before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Attorney Stephanie Taub (right) of the First Liberty Institute also supported the bill. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas House committee approved a bill Tuesday that supporters said would protect religious freedom, a day after the Senate rejected a bill with a similar stated goal. House Bill 1615 will be heard by the full House Wednesday after passing the Judiciary Committee on a split voice vote following nearly an hour of public opposition. The bill would 'prohibit the government from discriminating against certain individuals and organizations because of their beliefs regarding marriage or what it means to be female or male.' This would protect Arkansas government employees from adverse employment action if they refuse to do something within the context of their jobs that conflicts with their 'sincerely held religious beliefs,' such as providing a marriage license to a same-sex couple, according to the bill. House Bill 1669, which had similar language regarding the 'sincerely held religious beliefs' of parents seeking to foster or adopt children in Arkansas, failed in the Senate Monday after passing a House committee, the full House and the Senate Judiciary Committee in March. The bill's Republican sponsors, Rep. Mary Bentley of Perryville and Sen. Alan Clark of Lonsdale, said HB 1669 would ensure Arkansas does not join the ranks of states in which parents who do not accept or affirm LGBTQ+ children's identities are not allowed to foster or adopt. Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said the bill would set a 'dangerous precedent' by shielding foster or adoptive parents from adverse government action if their faith-based actions harm children. He reminded the chamber that not all 'sincerely held religious beliefs' are Christian. Fifteen Republican senators voted for the bill, which needed 18 votes to pass. Dismang and three other Republicans joined the chamber's six Democrats in voting against the bill. Five more Republicans did not vote and four voted present. The Senate later expunged the vote, and the bill is on the upper chamber's Wednesday agenda. The original version of Act 733 of 2023 included language about foster care, adoption agencies and the issuing of marriage licenses similar to both HB 1669 and HB 1615. That legislation was amended to remove such specific language. Critics said it would not only empower anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination but also would contradict a similarly worded ballot measure that voters rejected in 2022. Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, is the primary sponsor of Act 733 and HB 1615. Attorneys from the conservative First Liberty Institute and the Family Council's Arkansas Justice Institute supported Lundstrum in presenting the bill to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Attorney J.P. Tribell was the only opponent of Bentley's bill in the March 12 House committee hearing, but one of eight opponents of HB 1615 Tuesday. '[There are] some rural counties where possibly everybody in the courthouse might be opposed to gay marriage, and if somebody wants to get a marriage license and they can find nobody, at what point do we determine that there's an undue burden on the person seeking a marriage license?' Tribell said. 'Do they have to drive two to three hours to get to Little Rock to do that?' Civics educator Gail Choate said HB 1615 espouses the 'opposite logic' of Act 116 of 2025, which all but one of HB 1615's 13 sponsors supported. Act 116 prohibits public entities from engaging in identity-based 'discriminination' or 'preferential treatment' in contracting and hiring practices. 'This bill does not evaluate individuals based on their actions, their qualifications or their ability to contribute to society,' Choate said. 'It singles them out solely based upon their identity.' Other opponents of the bill spoke on behalf of themselves or their loved ones in the LGBTQ+ community. Kaymo O'Connell, a transgender high school senior from Little Rock, expressed concern about experiencing employment discrimination upon entering the workforce in the near future. HB 1615 allows government employees who issue marriage licenses to recuse themselves from doing so. Marie Mainard O'Connell, Kaymo's mother, said HB 1615 lacks a public notification process for such recusals. 'That's where the harm occurs,' she said. '[People] are harmed when they expect to be cared for, and then they are told, 'I don't believe that about you, I don't have to care for you that way.' That creates a moment of trauma.' Social worker Kirsten Sowell and therapist Courtney Frierson said HB 1615 would create a conflict between their ethical codes, which include acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, and the fact that the state issues their professional licenses. 'If my licensing board receives a complaint based on someone's religious disagreement with my inclusive care, who are they supposed to protect: me or the complainant?' Frierson said. 'That's a legal gray zone, and it's not theoretical, it's coming.' No members of the public or of the House Judiciary Committee spoke in favor of HB 1615. Opposition on the committee primarily came from its Democrats, including Rep. Nicole Clowney of Fayetteville, who called it 'blatant viewpoint discrimination.' 'We heard a lot of abstract ideas about religious freedom [today],' she said. 'We did not hear from one person who is for this bill who is currently being persecuted.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas legislators seek to clarify FOIA, overhaul state employee pay plan
Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, speaks against HB 1669, on the floor of the Arkansas House on March 13, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas lawmakers during the ninth week of the 95th General Assembly advanced legislation backed by the governor that would overhaul the state's higher education system and the state employee pay plan. Arkansas ACCESS, the higher education bill, debuted Monday in the Joint Education Committee where critics focused on a provision to prohibit excused absences for students who participate in protests or attempts to influence legislation. After opponents kept raising concerns about infringing on free speech, the committee approved an amendment that would allow excused absences for attempts to influence legislation if students obtain parental consent. Opponents noted that the amendment only applied to students in high school, not college. Arkansas ACCESS, which was filed as two identical bills in the House and Senate, will likely clear final legislative hurdles next week and be sent to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' desk. On Tuesday, lawmakers turned their attention to a proposed overhaul of the state employee pay plan, which is expected to cost $139 million. Sanders has previously said the goal of the plan is to recruit and retain employees in hard-to-fill positions, and to clarify the promotion ladders in each state agency. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the bill next Tuesday. An Arkansas House committee on Wednesday also approved two bills that mirror stalled legislation aimed at regulating companies' online interactions with children. Protecting children's online activity is another stated goal of Sanders' administration. House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told reporters Thursday that lawmakers 'made really good strides this week' as they pushed to stay on track to wrap up their business by April 16. 'We've seen really good movement, committees have worked long,' Evans said. 'We've had committees that's been meeting up into the night, and the purpose of that is just to make sure that the public is being heard, staying however long it takes.' Longer days are likely to continue next week, he said, as lawmakers continue considering a variety of bills, including a $750 million appropriations bill for a Franklin County prison project that's expected to generate discussion. A Senate committee approved two bills this week that would define a public meeting, an effort to bring clarity to the state's government transparency law. Senate Bill 376 defines a public meeting as any gathering of more than two members of a public body. Senate Bill 227 would set parameters for what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards can discuss outside of a public meeting. SB 227 also would amend the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to add a cybersecurity breach as a reason to meet in executive session, introduce and regulate remote meeting attendance, and allow a court to nullify official actions taken as a result of violations of open meetings law. SB 227 passed out of the Senate Thursday. SB 376 is on the upper chamber's agenda on Monday. Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday approved an amended bill to streamline the process for building electricity-generating plants in the state, one week after rejecting the original proposal. Senate Bill 307 sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said the bill aims to mitigate the sharp increase in rates that's expected when the state purchases or generates new energy to meet anticipated demand in the coming years. While Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, said he appreciated Dismang's work on the amendments, but he still didn't believe the bill did enough to protect ratepayers. Meanwhile, legislation that would make it harder to protect Arkansas watersheds from possible pollution from large animals farms finally got a hearing Tuesday after weeks of deferrals. The proposal by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, received support from agricultural interests and opposition from environmental advocates. Johnson ultimately pulled Senate Bill 290 for revisions. Arkansas could become the fifth state to allow executions by nitrogen gas after lawmakers approved House Bill 1489 and sent it to the governor's desk this week. Supporters of the bill say the state has a responsibility to carry out capital punishment and must find new ways to do as securing the necessary drugs for lethal injection has become increasingly difficult. Alabama is the only state to have carried out nitrogen gas executions, and HB 1489 opponents have criticized the method as experimental and inhumane. Arkansas lawmakers filed about 140 bills by Thursday evening, including: Senate Bill 426 by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, establishes 'enhanced penalties' for immigrants lacking legal status who commit a 'serious felony involving violence,' ensures that sheriff's offices and the Arkansas Department of Correction's Division of Correction can participate in the Warrant Service Officer program, and expands the state's ban on sanctuary cities to include counties and unincorporated areas. Senate Bill 433, by Sen. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, would require the 10 Commandments to be displayed in public schools and taxpayer-funded buildings. Senate Bill 434, also by Dotson, would require that a majority of all registered voters eligible to vote approve a constitutional amendment in order for it to become law. Senate Bill 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, would require the Arkansas Department of Education to include a human fetal growth and development discussion 'in the relevant standards' during the state's academic standards revision cycle. Davis opposed a similar bill that stalled in committee after critics questioned its age appropriateness, medical accuracy and inclusion of a video developed by an anti-abortion group. Lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday for one more week of meetings before taking the following week off for Spring Break. Meeting schedules, agendas and livestream videos are available on the Arkansas Legislature's website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
