By the Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

March 14, 2025—As part of Gov. Sarah Sanders’ efforts to reform Arkansas’ higher education system, the House passed HB1512 on March 13, laying the groundwork for creating the Arkansas ACCESS Act.

This bill is designed to address critical issues surrounding access to education, affordability, and student success across the state. Its principles are encapsulated in the acronym ACCESS—Acceleration, Common Sense, Cost, Eligibility, Scholarships, and Standardization.

Sponsored by former House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, HB1512 was approved by a vote of 81-17, mostly along party lines. It has now moved to the Arkansas Senate, where it is expected to be taken up in committee next week.

In other activity during the 9^th week of the 95th Arkansas General Assembly, Gov. Sarah Sanders signed more than 40 new bills into law, including a gaggle of proposals that will amend the Arkansas Constitution and make it tougher for citizen-led initiatives to be placed on statewide ballots. They include:

• SB272, now Act 278, prohibits pre-filled fields on a voter registration form in certain instances.
• SB291, Act 279, amends the law concerning complaints of election law violations and changes the deadlines for complaints of election law violations.
• SB294, Act 280, amends the law concerning election audits by allowing the state board of election commissioners to audit a county in the preceding election in certain circumstances.
• SB295, Act 281, changes the law concerning appropriation for election expenses by allowing compensation for a certified election monitor as an election expense. 
  SB296, Act 282, amends the law regarding the county clerk’s designation of an early voting location. 
• SB297, Act 283, amends the law concerning municipalities choosing to elect council members by requiring the municipality’s governing body to file the ordinance describing the election of city council members with the county clerk, among other purposes. 
• SB308, Act 284, amends the law concerning a write-in candidate by removing all references to such candidates on the ballot.

The Arkansas Senate also retooled Senate Bill 307, or the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act of 2025, allowing utilities and electric cooperatives to file annual riders with the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to increase rates annually before a new plant is fully capitalized or built. Currently, the PSC considers a rate increase near the end rather than the beginning of the construction process.

On March 3, the 62-page bill failed on the Senate floor by one vote and was sent to the committee to be amended. On March 13, a newer version of the bill was approved in the Senate by a vote of 27-1. Sen. Jamie Scott, R-Little Rock, was the lone “nay” vote.

During the earlier debate, Sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, termed his bill backed by Gov. Sander as a “job creator” for Arkansas. Dismang, Gov. Sanders and host of business backers, including Entergy Arkansas, have stated that SB307 will allow Arkansas to compete for massive multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence superprojects like Elon Musk’s xAI and Facebook and Instagram parent Meta are building just across the Arkansas state line in Tennessee and Louisiana.

“I believe SB307 … is the next step that we have to take to acquire and do what we need to do to be ultimately successful as a job creator,” said Dismang. SB307 includes bipartisan co-sponsors, including two Democrats, Sens. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna, and Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff. The bill has been sent to the House Insurance and Commerce Committee for approval in the lower chamber.

A Senate committee approved two bills this week that would define a public meeting, bringing clarity to the state’s Freedom of Information Act, which is considered one of the most comprehensive and strongest open-records and open-meetings laws in the country.

Senate Bill 227 by Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, would set parameters for what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards can discuss outside of a public meeting. Senate Bill 376 by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning defines a public meeting as any gathering of more than two public body members. Arkansas FOIA Task Force,

SB 227 also would amend the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to add a cybersecurity breach as a reason to meet in executive session, introduce and regulate remote meeting attendance, and allow a court to nullify official actions taken due to open meetings law violations.

SB 227 passed out of the Senate Thursday, and SB 376 is on the upper chamber’s agenda on Monday. The Arkansas FOIA Task Force, which was created by the Legislature to advise lawmakers on bills that would affect the state’s open records and meetings law, has approved SB 227 but not SB 376.

In addition to the election law package, the House approved House Bill 1369, now Act 270, which re-sets the limits on campaign contributions to a base rate of $2,000. The limit will be raised on odd-numbered years based upon the percentage established by the Federal Election Commission.

In other House activity, state lawmakers in the lower chamber passed HB1717, the Arkansas Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. This act extends online privacy protections to children and teens aged 13-17 and prohibits tech companies from collecting information from minors for targeted advertising. The bill, which has now moved to the Senate Judiciary Committee, also mandates clear disclosure about what information is collected and the ability for parents and teens to delete or challenge the data.

Other key House bills approved during the week include the following:

• HB1551 creates the crime of coerced criminal abortion by fraud. This offense occurs when someone knowingly administers an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant woman without her consent, intending to cause an abortion. It classifies the offense as a Class B felony.
• HB1505 requires public employers to provide licensed counseling coverage for public safety employees who experience traumatic events.
• HB1669 provides protection from discrimination for adoption and foster care providers acting by their religious beliefs.
• HB1424 mandates health benefit plans to cover bariatric surgery for severely obese patients.
• HB1316 requires coverage for lung cancer screenings.
• HB1656 amends gas production and conservation laws, requiring specific details to be included in itemized statements to royalty owners.