SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas legislators seek to clarify FOIA, overhaul state employee pay plan

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
March 14, 2025

Arkansas lawmakers during the ninth week of the 95th General Assembly advanced legislation backed by the governor that would overhaul the state’s higher education system and the state employee pay plan.

Arkansas ACCESS, the higher education bill, debuted Monday in the Joint Education Committee where critics focused on a provision to prohibit excused absences for students who participate in protests or attempts to influence legislation. 

After opponents kept raising concerns about infringing on free speech, the committee approved an amendment that would allow excused absences for attempts to influence legislation if students obtain parental consent. Opponents noted that the amendment only applied to students in high school, not college. 

Arkansas ACCESS, which was filed as two identical bills in the House and Senate, will likely clear final legislative hurdles next week and be sent to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk.

On Tuesday, lawmakers turned their attention to a proposed overhaul of the state employee pay plan, which is expected to cost $139 million. Sanders has previously said the goal of the plan is to recruit and retain employees in hard-to-fill positions, and to clarify the promotion ladders in each state agency. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the bill next Tuesday. 

An Arkansas House committee on Wednesday also approved two bills that mirror stalled legislation aimed at regulating companies’ online interactions with children. Protecting children’s online activity is another stated goal of Sanders’ administration. 

House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told reporters Thursday that lawmakers “made really good strides this week” as they pushed to stay on track to wrap up their business by April 16. 

“We’ve seen really good movement, committees have worked long,” Evans said. “We’ve had committees that’s been meeting up into the night, and the purpose of that is just to make sure that the public is being heard, staying however long it takes.”

Longer days are likely to continue next week, he said, as lawmakers continue considering a variety of bills, including a $750 million appropriations bill for a Franklin County prison project that’s expected to generate discussion. 

1) FOIA bills

A Senate committee approved two bills this week that would define a public meeting, an effort to bring clarity to the state’s government transparency law. 

Senate Bill 376 defines a public meeting as any gathering of more than two members of a public body. Senate Bill 227 would set parameters for what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards can discuss outside of a public meeting. 

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 as a result of violations of open meetings law.

SB 227 passed out of the Senate Thursday. SB 376 is on the upper chamber’s agenda on Monday.

2) Energy and environment

Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday approved an amended bill to streamline the process for building electricity-generating plants in the state, one week after rejecting the original proposal. 

Senate Bill 307 sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said the bill aims to mitigate the sharp increase in rates that’s expected when the state purchases or generates new energy to meet anticipated demand in the coming years. 

While Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, said he appreciated Dismang’s work on the amendments, but he still didn’t believe the bill did enough to protect ratepayers. 

Meanwhile, legislation that would make it harder to protect Arkansas watersheds from possible pollution from large animals farms finally got a hearing Tuesday after weeks of deferrals. The proposal by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, received support from agricultural interests and opposition from environmental advocates. 

Johnson ultimately pulled Senate Bill 290 for revisions. 

3) Nitrogen Gas

Arkansas could become the fifth state to allow executions by nitrogen gas after lawmakers approved House Bill 1489 and sent it to the governor’s desk this week. 

Supporters of the bill say the state has a responsibility to carry out capital punishment and must find new ways to do as securing the necessary drugs for lethal injection has become increasingly difficult.

Alabama is the only state to have carried out nitrogen gas executions, and HB 1489 opponents have criticized the method as experimental and inhumane.

4) New bills 

Arkansas lawmakers filed about 140 bills by Thursday evening, including: 

Senate Bill 426 by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, establishes “enhanced penalties” for immigrants lacking legal status who commit a “serious felony involving violence,” ensures that sheriff’s offices and the Arkansas Department of Correction’s Division of Correction can participate in the Warrant Service Officer program, and expands the state’s ban on sanctuary cities to include counties and unincorporated areas. 

Senate Bill 433, by Sen. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, would require the 10 Commandments to be displayed in public schools and taxpayer-funded buildings. 

Senate Bill 434, also by Dotson, would require that a majority of all registered voters eligible to vote approve a constitutional amendment in order for it to become law.

Senate Bill 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, would require the Arkansas Department of Education to include a human fetal growth and development discussion “in the relevant standards” during the state’s academic standards revision cycle. Davis opposed a similar bill that stalled in committee after critics questioned its age appropriateness, medical accuracy and inclusion of a video developed by an anti-abortion group. 

Lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday for one more week of meetings before taking the following week off for Spring Break. Meeting schedules, agendas and livestream videos are available on the Arkansas Legislature’s website.

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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