The 2013 session of the Arkansas General Assembly was an historic one. Republican legislators took over both chambers for the first time since Reconstruction. Lawmakers passed sweeping health coverage legislation, known as the Private Option, guaranteed to change the way Arkansans access health care in their communities. But some things were the same as ever. Advocates and citizen groups rallied at the Capitol on multiple occasions to support or oppose legislation they believed to be helpful or harmful to this state’s citizens. Lawmakers came together – on some issues – to make the right choice for the people of Arkansas. And, as we have for the last 35 years, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families served as a committed and consistent voice for the state’s moderate- and low-income children and families who don’t have lobbyists or strategic plans or clout in the marble halls of the Capitol.