Arkansas State Capitol

Senate President Bart Hester said yesterday that he and House Speaker Matthew Shepherd remain committed to wrapping the Arkansas General Assembly up by April 7. If by Wednesday of next week that seems impossible, the leaders will move to extend the session a couple of days.

So there’s a flurry of activity at the Capitol. Here’s what we missed yesterday:

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Senate Bill 296, sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees (R-Siloam Springs) and supported by Gov. Sarah Sanders, would require Arkansans who use social media to verify their age through a third-party service. It’s aimed at protecting children; Dees talks extensively about “groomers” whenever he pitches the bill. It squeaked through the Senate with the bare minimum, 18 votes, with 11 voting present (same as a no), five not voting (also same as a no) and one voting against. More libertarian-minded Republicans were deeply skeptical of the bill during questioning. Sen. Missy Irvin (R-Mountain View) pointed out the disconnect between the legislature voting to roll back a simple child labor protection and this nanny state bill. Dees said the work issue was a “cultural” one and that his social media bill was about “empowering parents.” The bill now heads to House committee.

Sonny Albarado with the Arkansas Advocate has a good recap on Maumelle Republican Rep. David Ray’s attempt to gut the state’s Freedom of Information Act. House Bill 1726 failed in committee despite support from Sanders. But another bid to weaken the FOIA law, House Bill 1610, from Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville), passed after it was amended. It would define public meetings as a gathering of more than one-third of the members of government bodies.

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House Bill 1468, more petty anti-trans hate, sponsored by Rep. Wayne Long (R-Bradford), would require written permission from parents for a teacher to use a pronoun or name that’s inconsistent with a student’s birth certificate. Even with that permission, teachers wouldn’t have to use that pronoun or name if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. It cleared a Senate committee and now goes to the full Senate for final passage.

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