SESSION SNAPSHOT: Prison, library battles continue as Arkansas legislative session nears end

Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, chairs a meeting of the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation on April 9, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)

By Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate

Long days and nights at the Capitol were the norm during the 12th week of the legislative session as Arkansas lawmakers rushed to get their bills considered ahead of their April 16 deadline.

Legislators sent to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders a bill that would establish harsher penalties for undocumented migrants who commit felonies, one of her priorities for the session. They also advanced bills that would amend the state’s social media age verification law that was blocked in federal court and would allow parents to sue social media platforms for harming minors, additional legislative priorities for Sanders.

While the immigration bill still awaited the governor’s signature as of midday Friday, Sanders signed several other bills into law this week, including one that would clarify Arkansas’ public meetings law by specifying what city council, quorum court and school board members can discuss outside of a public meeting.

Meanwhile, lawmakers advanced legislation that sponsors hope will make it to the governor’s desk next week, including bills that would increase the asset limit for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and policies in local government and repeal a statewide mandate for public water system fluoridation.

A committee also voted down a bill Wednesday that would extend Medicaid coverage for women to 12 months after birth if they don’t already qualify for the state’s Medicaid expansion program. Sanders has repeatedly said 12-month postpartum coverage would be “redundant” and “duplicative” because the state has other insurance coverage options.

1) Prison funding
After five failed votes, a $750 million prison appropriation bill appeared dead Thursday as lawmakers struggled to secure the necessary votes to clear the Senate. Lawmakers are considering the appropriation to help fund an estimated $825 million capital project to build a new state prison in Franklin County.

The 3,000-bed project has been rife with controversy since it was announced last fall, and that battle continued to play out on the Senate floor this week as lawmakers failed to gain enough support for the measure on Monday and Tuesday.

Searcy Republican and Senate Bill 354 sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang said Thursday he doesn’t think failure to approve SB 354 will be detrimental to the project. The Arkansas Board of Corrections already has $75 million it can use to move forward, and lawmakers can revisit funding during the fiscal session next spring, he said.

2) Library board
Public library advocates experienced whiplash this week as they celebrated the defeat of one bill and then had to consider the threat of a new one less than 24 hours later.

An Arkansas House committee on Wednesday evening rejected Senate Bill 536, a bill that would abolish the State Library and its board. Less than two hours later, Dismang filed Senate Bill 640, legislation that would remove all seven members of the State Library Board and allow Sanders to replace them later this year.

SB 640 received initial committee approval Thursday morning and passed the full Senate in the afternoon. The bill was fast-tracked after the Senate suspended rules that generally require at least a day between committee approval and considering a bill on the floor.

The bill is scheduled to be heard by a House committee Monday morning.

3) Buffalo River
Amendments have garnered new support for a bill that environmental advocates feared would endanger a moratorium on large animal farms in the Buffalo River watershed.

Following negotiations with Senate Bill 290’s House sponsor, Rep. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, leaders of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy and Environment said they were on board with the legislation.

The watershed moratorium, which has been in effect for a decade, has been the source of a battle this session between environmentalists who fought for the initial ban and agricultural interests that said it infringed on private property rights.

The amended version of SB 290 cleared a House committee Thursday and will attempt to make its way to the governor’s desk next week.

4) New Bills
Lawmakers filed about 30 new bills by midday Friday, including:

House Bill 1996 by Rep. Zach Gramlich, R-Fort Smith, would establish an educational alternative to civil penalties for certain violations related to child labor.

House Bill 1999 by Rep. Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville, would require the state’s education secretary to provide information about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to certain students.

Senate Bill 632 by Sen. Fred Love, D-Mabelvale, would require hair relaxers that contain a carcinogen or reproductive toxicant to require a warning label.

Senate Bill 641 by Sen. Dave Wallace, R-Leachville, would allow a sheriff to house work-release program participants.

Lawmakers return to Little Rock on Monday for the final three days of the session. With the Senate poised to consider as many as 100 bills on Monday alone, legislative leaders said members should be prepared for more long days as they work to conclude their work by Wednesday.

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.