We’re back with a review of last week at the Capitol and a glance at the Week 4 to come.
Week 3 in Review
SB3:
Last week, the Senate passed SB3, Sen. Sullivan’s harmful anti-DEI bill that would, among other things, walk back initiatives dedicated to attracting teachers representative of their students in majority-minority districts, despite a number of powerful speeches from members of the public and his Senate colleagues. The Senate barely passed this bill in 2023, where only white men voted for it.
This time around, however, several members of the body flipped their votes from No to Yes:
- Breanne Davis
- Jimmy Hickey
- Missy Irvin
- Blake Johnson
- Bryan King
- Jim Petty
- Dave Wallace
We have some strong words for this: it’s cowardice. The bill hasn’t functionally changed in intent or mechanism, but the national winds have shifted and these folks are scared they’ll be seen supporting “wokeness.” Craven stuff.
Last time around, this bill died in the House after pressure from the Sanders administration and some brave Republicans standing up to their party. It should hit House committees this week or early next week.
Sanders’ Phone Ban:
Sanders announced legislation that would ban phones in public schools from “bell-to-bell.” SB142 wants to help kids focus on education, not social media. The bill seems broadly well-intentioned, though it doesn’t similarly restrict phone use in private schools and there were a few concerns about how parents might reach their children in an emergency. There’s an exception for emergencies written into the bill, but depending on how schools store the devices that might not matter much.
The Senate Education committee heard that bill Monday, Feb 3, where it passed with no No votes. A few schools in pilot programs reported good results, and school districts will have a decent amount of freedom in deciding how to implement the requirement. This seems broadly unobjectionable to us at this time.
King’s New Prison Plan
Sen. Bryan King has loudly criticized the administration’s efforts to build a new prison in Franklin County. On Wednesday, he filed multiple bills; he intends them to reduce recidivism and address what he calls the root causes of the crime problem.
Those bills are:
We’re still diving into the details of his bills, but we agree with him on a few things: current Arkansas law does not serve prisoners or citizens well, and it’s past time to address recidivism rates and help folks avoid the conditions that lead to crime in the first place.
Coming Up This Week
Committee agendas posted on the Arkansas Legislature website aren’t always up to date, which can make knowing when certain bills will be heard a bit tricky, but here’s a few bills we think will be heard this week.
SB84 will hit Senate Agriculture on Tuesday and dramatically limit protections for the Buffalo River. It prevents the government from imposing moratoriums on huge livestock feeding operations.
HB1049 is scheduled to be heard in House Judiciary, but we’re hearing it’ll be delayed until Thursday due to amendments. This bill criminalizes squatting in Arkansas, which sounds reasonable except that squatting is already illegal. Renters’ rights already fare poorly in Arkansas, and this would provide landlords with more ways to unjustly evict their tenants.
HB1199 is scheduled to be heard in House Education. This bill would roll back desegregation efforts by allowing students to transfer school districts without consideration of race, even if a court has placed the district under a desegregation court order. It’s another piece of the anti-DEI/affirmative action puzzle, and it’s bad for schools.
We also don’t think Sen. Penzo’s SB91, preventing localities/municipalities from imposing limits on rental application feeds, will be heard this week, but it’s currently scheduled for the Senate City/County/Local Affairs committee for tomorrow.
2025 Legislative Interns Madelyn White and Phoenix Vu contributed to this report.
