SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas lawmakers settle into longer days as session end draws near

Sen. Jonathan Dismang (left), R-Searcy, and Sen. Jimmy Hickey (right), R-Texarkana, voted against House Bill 1669 on the Arkansas Senate floor on Monday, March 31. 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

By Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate

The countdown to the end of the 2025 legislative session is on. Following a weeklong recess, Arkansas lawmakers hit the ground running last Monday as they returned to the state Capitol focused on wrapping up their work by April 16.

The 11th week of the session saw continued progress on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ legislative priorities, including immigration. A Senate committee on Monday approved a bill to impose harsher penalties on undocumented immigrants who commit violent crimes. The full Senate sent the bill to a House committee Wednesday.

On the other side of the Capitol, the House of Representatives approved legislation to overhaul the state employee pay plan, another Sanders priority. The bill was sent to the governor’s desk for her signature.

Sanders this week unveiled two new bills aimed at expanding social media protections for children, which was a priority in the 2023 session. Wednesday’s announcement came two days after a federal judge declared unconstitutional an Arkansas law requiring age verification for new social media accounts.

Beyond the governor’s priorities, the subject matter of lawmakers’ bills varied widely as they rushed to push their legislation through in the waning days of the session.

Proposals included potentially removing an environmental permit moratorium intended to protect the Buffalo River watershed, preventing pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from holding permits to operate drug stores, clarifying state public meetings law, adjusting asset limits for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries and prohibiting youth organizations that promote diversity initiatives from receiving certain state grants.

Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Advocacy Director Lance Whitney (right) speaks in favor of House Bill 1915, sponsored by Rep. Jon Eubanks (left), R-Paris, before the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on April 3, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

1) Prison funding
The third time was not the charm for a $750 million prison appropriation bill that was thrice rejected by the Arkansas Senate this week. Senate Bill 354 would support construction of a 3,000-bed Franklin County prison that supporters have said is needed to address overcrowding in county jails.

The project has caused controversy since local residents and elected officials said they were blindsided by the governor’s announcement of the project in late October. Opponents, including state lawmakers, have fought against the proposal for months. Within the Senate this week, support for SB 354 fluctuated between 19 affirmative votes on Tuesday and Thursday, and 18 on Wednesday.

While that’s a majority of the 35 senators, appropriation bills require 27 votes to advance out of the Senate. There is no limit to how many times lawmakers can vote on an appropriation bill, but they only have until the end of the session to send bills to the governor for final approval.

It’s unclear if there’s yet a clear path to securing the needed votes by the end of the session, but Corning Republican Sen. Blake Johnson asked his colleagues Wednesday to try and find consensus.

“I appreciate everybody’s differences, but please let’s try to work together for the safety of Arkansas citizens,” Johnson said.

2) Religious freedom
Legislation that sponsors said aim to protect Arkansans’ religious freedoms have been popping up on committee agendas in recent weeks.

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced House Bill 1615, which 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.” The House on Thursday approved the bill, which will next be considered by a Senate committee.

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. The bill’s sponsors, Rep. Mary Bentley of Perryville and Sen. Alan Clark of Lonsdale, said it would protect parents who don’t accept LGBTQ+ children’s identities from not being allowed to foster or adopt.

Searcy Republican Jonathan Dismang, who noted Monday that not all “sincerely held religious beliefs” are Christian, said HB 1669 would set a “dangerous precedent” by shielding foster or adoptive parents from adverse government action if their faith-based actions harm children.

But the bill received enough support to pass the Senate on Thursday and was sent back to a House committee that will consider an amendment made in the Senate.

3) Library board
A bill to abolish the Arkansas State Library and its board advanced out of committee Tuesday before narrowly passing the Senate on Wednesday.

Jonesboro Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has promised to dissolve the board for some time. With Senate Bill 536 he broadened his intention to eliminate the entire State Library after the board last month did not satisfy the conditions he gave them for its survival.

One of those requests was to detach from the American Library Association. Sullivan has criticized a section of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights that says access to libraries should not be restricted based on a person’s age. Far-right conservatives who object to the public availability of certain content have claimed this proves ALA believes in forcing sexual activity and LGBTQ+ topics onto children.

Five Arkansans spoke against Senate Bill 536 before the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. From left: Misty Hawkins, regional director of the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System; Allie Gosselink, director of the Calhoun County Library; Debbie Hall, grants manager for the Arkansas State Library; John McGraw, executive director of the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library; and Clare Graham, Mid-Arkansas Regional Library System director. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

While testifying against SB 536 in committee this week, Clare Graham, library director of the Mid-Arkansas Regional Library System, said the bill’s “one-size-fits-all approach” will stifle creativity and flexibility for local libraries.

“Local libraries are already governed by their local boards that know their communities best,” Graham said. “This bill takes that away, replacing it with centralized oversight that doesn’t understand the unique needs of each town and city.”

SB 536 will next be considered by a House committee.

4) New Bills
Arkansas lawmakers filed about 150 new bills this week. Nearly half were filed Monday as legislators rushed to submit their proposals in what they hope is enough time to make it through the process to become law before their April 16 deadline. Those bills included:

Senate Bill 591 by Sen. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale, would prohibit a physician or other person from intentionally performing or attempting to perform an abortion with the knowledge that the pregnant woman is seeking the abortion solely based on race. Arkansas law already bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother.

House Bill 1909 by Rep. Wayne Long, R-Bradford, would require state agencies to verify that adults who apply for federal, state or local public benefits are U.S. citizens who reside in Arkansas, except if prohibited by federal law.

House Bill 1980 by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, would create the Technology and Energy for Sustainable Logistics Act (TESLA), and add electric vehicle charging stations to the definition of critical infrastructure.

House Bill 1985 by Rep. Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville, would create the Arkansas Renter Refund Act, and provide a $500 income tax credit for certain renters.

Despite the deadline pressure, lawmakers are taking Friday off. When they return to the Capitol early Monday morning, they’ll have roughly seven working days to finish their work. Meeting schedules, agendas and livestreams are available on the Arkansas Legislature’s website.

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.