House amends bill to bar 1619 Project
A bill that would restrict funding for public schools in Arkansas that use curriculum materials based on a New York Times project on slavery has been amended to exclude colleges and universities.
House Bill 1231, by state Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, would prohibit the use of public school funds to teach The 1619 Project curriculum, a set of materials based on a 2019 special issue of the New York Times Magazine that “challenges us to reframe U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation’s foundational date,” according to the Pulitzer Center website, pulitzercenter.org, where the materials are available.
As amended, the bill includes K-12 public and charter schools. It originally included two-year and four-year institutions of higher education.
When Lowery presented the bill to the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus last week, many members saw it as aiming to eliminate teaching uncomfortable aspects of American history.
“It will seem as if this state is running from its own history,” Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, said then.
Lowery has noted that some historians have objected to the project’s thesis that white supremacy is what the United States was founded on.
— Rachel Herzog
Committee rejects donated-land plan
A bill to allow land donated to community organizations under the Urban Homestead Act to be used for school construction failed in the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
Under the Urban Homestead Act, the state land commissioner would be able to donate land to community organizations for the purpose of developing low-income housing.
Under House Bill 1113 from Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, if the land hasn’t been used to develop low-income housing or if there isn’t a plan in place to do so three years after the land has been donated, the land can be used for the construction of a school, either by a public school district or a public charter school.
Cliff McKinney, an attorney representing the nonprofit Arkansans for Better Schools, testified in support of the bill and said its aim is to provide another option for students, and that schools can improve a community.
Upon questioning from Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, McKinney said the organization desires to have a charter school built on such land in southwest Little Rock.
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said the bill is about “the continual hollowing out of the Little Rock School District,” adding that schools in public school districts in predominantly Black and Hispanic areas are always the ones closing.
The legislation failed 4-3 in a roll call vote in the committee.
— Rachel Herzog
Daylight-savings bill OK’d by panel
A bill to move the clocks ahead in Arkansas all year round, with the federal government’s permission, was passed by a House committee on Monday.
House Bill 1017, by Rep. Johnny Rye, R-Trumann, would permanently adopt daylight savings time in Arkansas but would only go into effect upon the determination of the secretary of state that the federal government allowed Arkansas to make the change.
Since the bill failed in committee last week, Rye added an amendment to the bill so that Arkansas would not permanently adopt daylight savings time until all the surrounding states do so as well.
— Rachel Herzog
Senate passes CDL ban for traffickers
Legislation that would prohibit anyone convicted of a “severe” form of human trafficking from holding a commercial driver’s license in Arkansas was passed unanimously by the Senate on Monday.
Senate Bill 245, by state Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, would apply the ban to anyone convicted of a “severe” trafficking felony, which is defined in federal law as commercial sex trafficking or “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”
The prohibition would not extend to personal driver’s licenses.
The Senate passed SB245 unanimously, sending the bill to the House.
— John Moritz
Bill on fuel bans advances to House
The Senate passed legislation on Monday that would prohibit counties and municipalities from enacting local ordinances that ban certain sources of home energy.
The legislation, Senate Bill 137, was sponsored by state Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain Home, who said that the bill was drafted to preempt local prohibitions on natural gas or other fossil fuels, after such ordinances were drafted in some California cities. Irvin did not name any Arkansas cities that have enacted similar bans.
“I heat my house using propane and a lot of people in rural areas do,” Irvin said.
The Senate voted 34-1 on the bill. State Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, was the only member to vote no.
— John Moritz
Senate passes fee exemption for vets
The Senate passed legislation on Monday to exempt veterans and members of the military from fees applied to the registration of electric and hybrid vehicles.
Senate Bill 246, by state Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, would exempt anyone with specialty plates issued to military members and veterans from paying vehicle fees established in 2019 to make up for the lower fuel taxes paid by owners of electric and hybrid vehicles. The 2019 law applies a $200 fee to register an electric vehicle and a $100 fee applied to hybrids.
The estimated cost of not charging the fee is $284,000 per year, according to a financial impact statement. A spokesman for the Department of Finance and Administration said that because the specialty plates are already exempt from registration and renewal fees, the agency had not been charging the additional hybrid and electric car fees to those vehicle owners.
The legislation was passed unanimously by the Senate and sent to the House.
— John Moritz
Bill on clerks’ pay approved in Senate
The Senate voted unanimously Monday on a bill said to settle a dispute between the Arkansas Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals regarding the pay of their clerks.
House Bill 1222, by Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana, would amend the law to say clerks at both courts shall “be of the same grade, unless the General Assembly approved a pay grade change.” Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, ran the bill on the Senate side.
The law previously said the clerks shall receive the same “salaries.” Hickey said Monday that during a meeting of Legislative Council last year, lawmakers discovered that each court had a different interpretation of that meaning. The heads of both courts previously testified in favor of the bill at legislative committee meetings.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to Gov. Asa Hutchinson for his potential signature.
— John Moritz
Ballot publication bill clears Senate
The Senate voted in favor of legislation on Monday that would require every county in the state to post copies of sample ballots in their jurisdictions on the secretary of state’s website.
The legislation, House Bill 1202, was sponsored by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, and Rep. Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, in the House.
Davis told the Senate Monday that 55 of the 75 counties in the state already provide the secretary of state with electronic copies of their sample ballots in order to make them publicly accessible prior to an election. All counties are currently required to post those ballots in a physical location, such as the county courthouse, Davis said.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously and heads to Gov. Asa Hutchinson for his potential signature.
— John Moritz
Senate advances jury pay donation
The Senate voted Monday in favor of legislation that would allow jurors to donate their daily mileage and per diem expenses to certain charities approved of by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
House Bill 1058, by Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana, passed the House without much debate last month. In the Senate, however, it was re-referred to committee for some minor amendments.
The Senate voted 35-0 on the amended bill Monday, sending it back to the House to concur.
— John Moritz
Jury-duty deferral advances to Senate
The House on Monday passed a bill to exempt members of the Arkansas General Assembly from jury duty from 30 days before to 30 days after the legislative session.
House Bill 1159, by Rep. Stephen Meeks, R-Greenbrier, would allow state lawmakers to defer that service until after they are finished with their legislative duties.
The bill also allows people age 80 and older to opt out of jury duty if they choose.
— Rachel Herzog