Bill filed to end Arkansas' dual celebration of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Martin Luther King Jr.

A bill filed Tuesday proposes to end Arkansas' dual celebration of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he wants to see the January holiday split. The joint holiday has been a point of contention for decades.

Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Dave Wallace, R-Leachville, and Rep. Grant Hodges, R-Rogers, would remove Lee's name from the January holiday and create a memorial day for him on the second Saturday in October. State employees would get the day off in January but not on Lee's day.

It also would require the state Education Department to develop teaching materials on King as well as lessons "relating to Arkansas and the American Civil War."

-- John Moritz

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