Free school breakfast, maternal health Medicaid, school cellphone ban all become Arkansas law

by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
February 21, 2025

About halfway through Arkansas’ 2025 legislative session, some of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ policy priorities have become law while others have yet be debated by lawmakers.

On Thursday afternoon, Sanders signed three bills she championed:

Act 122 requires Arkansas school districts to ban students’ access to cellphones and personal electronic devices during the school day;Act 123 will provide free breakfast to Arkansas students regardless of their eligibility for the federal free or reduced-price meal program beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year;Act 124 — the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act — changes the state’s Medicaid program by establishing presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant Arkansans, offering reimbursements for doulas and community health workers, and establishing pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage for specific treatments.

All three bills passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support.

Sanders named the free breakfast policy and the school phone ban as legislative goals in her State of the State speech on Jan. 14, the second day of the session.

In a press conference before signing both bills Thursday, Sanders reiterated two more goals that have yet to be taken up by lawmakers: the elimination of the state’s 0.125% grocery sales tax and a higher-education overhaul bill.

“We will have a productive session, helping families here in Arkansas live their very best lives,” Sanders said.

So far no legislation has been filed to eliminate the grocery tax, but lawmakers filed Sanders’ proposed higher education omnibus policy, Arkansas ACCESS, in two identical bills Monday.

The bills propose creating a universal college application, a common course-numbering system among all institutions, a direct admissions program that would establish provisional admission to students who meet basic standards and a statewide transfer system that would allow the transfer of college credits between universities and two-year institutions to work both ways.

Bills flesh out Arkansas governor’s higher-education overhaul proposal

Among other things, the bills would also consolidate a number of high school college-level courses into a single “accelerated learning” program that seeks to increase the number of students who graduate from institutions of higher education.

House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, said Thursday that Arkansas ACCESS is not likely to be heard in committee before early March. He said the bills might see some minor amendments before then.

“It looks to me that it’s going to be a very positive piece of legislation, and I fully expect to see strong support in the House,” Evans said in a press conference.

The new laws

Sanders signed the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act two weeks after announcing the policy. The policy moved fairly smoothly through the legislative process, though some lawmakers expressed concerns about a clause on the final page that would make a child’s fifth birthday the statute of limitations for any actions against alleged medical injuries during birth.

Previously, the law allowed a minor or his or her legal guardian to “commence an action” on an alleged medical injury by the child’s 11th birthday or two years after the injury occurred, depending on which is later.

Some lawmakers said their concerns about reducing this statute of limitations meant they could not vote for the legislation, while others voted for it despite their qualms.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families expressed frustration that the law does not expand Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers from 60 days to 12 months after birth. Arkansas is the only state that has not taken advantage of this federal option.

Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, and the third-highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.

Additionally, at a rate of nearly 19%, Arkansas had the highest prevalence of food insecurity in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in September.

Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, was among dozens of lawmakers who co-sponsored Act 123. At Thursday’s press conference, he said the law will have “a truly monumental impact” on Arkansas families, and he praised Sanders for following through on her promises to support policies that reduce food insecurity.

In 2023, many of the same lawmakers that sponsored Act 123 put forth Act 656, which eliminated the co-pay for reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches.

Act 123 will be supported by federal funds as well as state general revenue, private grants and taxes from Arkansas’ billion-dollar medical marijuana industry.

The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance worked on both Act 656 and Act 123, said Patty Barker, the organization’s No Kid Hungry Arkansas campaign director.

“We want to provide students with all the resources they need to thrive in school, and you’ve got to begin with breakfast,” Barker said in an interview.

Arkansas last year opted into the Summer EBT program, a new federal assistance program that provides $120 in food benefits to students during summer break. The Department of Human Services has stated that Summer EBT benefited 260,000 families in 2024, and the state will again participate in the program this year.

Act 122 is the Bell to Bell, No Cell Act, a policy that Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Education offered as a pilot program for public school districts last year. In August, lawmakers allowed the Department of Education to distribute $7 million among school districts to pay for pouches or lockers where students can store their phones during class time.

“Teachers say their students are more engaged, less anxious, and many are happy they no longer have to be the phone police and can actually focus on teaching,” Sanders said, touting the success of the pilot program before signing Act 122.

Sanders and lawmakers have repeatedly warned that excessive access to cell phones and social media has a negative impact on children’s mental health.

“What we’re trying to do is bring back an amazing environment to our schools where [kids] can have authentic, positive relationships, not only with administrators, but also with each other,” Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, said at the press conference.

Dees and Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, sponsored both Act 122 and the Social Media Safety Act of 2023, which would have been the first in the nation to require minors to receive parental permission before signing up for a social media account. A federal judge blocked the law in August 2023 before it was set to take effect.

Sanders said in January that the Legislature should amend the Social Media Safety Act this session “so that it’s no longer held up in court and can begin to be enforced.” So far no such legislation has been filed.

Other policies she mentioned in her State of the State address that have yet to be filed as bills include:

The final draft of a revamped state employee pay plan;A ban on foreign “adversaries,” such as the Chinese government, from purchasing farmland in certain areas;The Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act, which Sanders said will give “violent illegal immigrants” harsher penalties for criminal offenses and “remove them from our state.”

She expressed support for allowing property owners to enlist their local sheriff’s offices to remove squatters from their land. House Bill 1049 would do so, and it awaits action in the Senate after passing the House.

Sanders said in December and January that Arkansas will seek permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prohibit food stamp recipients from purchasing highly processed foods and encourage consumption of more nutritious, locally grown foods. Senate Bill 217 would fulfill this promise and awaits a committee hearing.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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