Happy Snow Day, Arkansas! Even with almost the entire state blanketed in snow, we are here to provide you with a preview of the 2025 Arkansas Legislative Session. Prefiling of bills began on November 15, 2024, and some legislators did not waste any time! The session is set to convene at noon on Monday, January 13. Time and weather will tell if there are any delays.
Below you will find an overview of bills on AACF’s legislative agenda and that AACF generally either supports or opposes. We are monitoring more bills,listed and frequently updated on our website.
Bills on AACF’s Legislative Agenda
Through conversations with partners, advocates and young Arkansans, and through our own policy research, AACF has identified a series of policies that will improve the well-being of Arkansans. The following bills are in support of our 2025 legislative agenda.
Democracy and Voting Rights
HB1035 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would establish an online voter registration option in Arkansas.
HB1036 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would allow same-day voter registration at voting centers and polling sites during early voting and on election day. It would also allow currently registered voters to update their registration information on the same day.
HB1038 | Rep. Andrew Collins
Under current law, Arkansas voters are only allowed to vote absentee (receive their ballot in the mail and return it via mail or to the County Clerk’s office) if they have a qualifying excuse as to why they will not be able to vote in person. This law would allow voters to vote absentee without needing an excuse.
HB1039 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would repeal a 2021 law that moved, in most cases, the deadline to submit an absentee ballot to the Friday before election day. This bill would restore the deadline to the day before election day.
HB1042 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would repeal a 2023 law that increased the number of counties that signatures must be collected from to allow a ballot measure to qualify. The 2023 act increased the county requirement from 15 to 50 and removed the “cure” period to collect more signatures if a certain threshold was met following the deadline to submit.
HB1064 | Rep. David Whitaker
Currently in Arkansas, voters can only vote absentee if they have a qualifying excuse as to why they cannot vote in person. This bill would add being over the age of 65 to the list of qualifying excuses.
Education, Early Childhood
HB1019 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would provide a refundable income tax credit to businesses providing or paying for licensed child care services for the dependent children of its employees. The tax credit is 30% of expenses if the business provides the child care service and is limited to $30,000 total in a tax year. The tax credit is 50% of expenses in the tax year it creates its own, new childcare service or if it pays an external provider for services (limited to $45,000 total in a tax year). This bill would repeal current employer-provided tax care child credits (which are not currently used by Arkansas employers).
HB1021 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would provide an income tax credit for program directors, teachers, and instructional staff who are employed in an early childhood education program that meets the requirements of the Better Beginnings quality rating system of the Department of Education and earn less than the state’s minimum salary for K-12 public school teachers. The amount of tax credit ranges from $1,800 to $3,000 depending on educational certification. The credit is refundable.
Education, K-12
HB1020 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would get rid of the voucher program that was passed as part of the LEARNS Act (the state educational reform bill of 2023). It would also create new state funding for public school districts to help them serve students with disabilities and would create a new fund where money could be spent on community school support and development.
HB1028 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would repeal Arkansas Code Annotated (ACA) §5-27-212, which introduced a new definition of furnishing harmful material to a minor in 2023. It also removes the criminal penalties put in place to make employees, trustees, and directors of schools, museums, and libraries legally responsible for minors accessing materials “claimed” to be obscene if done in the regular scope of employment. It does not protect people who knowingly import, sell, or provide obscene material to children. It also requires a public library to have a written policy that prohibits books bans because of “partisan or doctrinal disapproval” in order to be eligible for funding from state programs of aid. It also deletes ACA §13-2-704(b), which allowed libraries to disclose information about books checked out to people other than the patron.
HB1030 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would require school resource officers to become certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid, an evidence-based program. This certification was previously mandated, but the requirement was eliminated under the LEARNS Act, which currently requires school resource officers to take a youth mental health training as required by the State Board of Education every four years.
HB1031 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill requires public schools to offer health education for grades 7-12 covering mental health, substance abuse, diet and obesity, tobacco prevention, and teenage pregnancy prevention. The curriculum must be evidence-based, with an opt-out mechanism for parents regarding pregnancy prevention content.
Equity
HB1032 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill bans healthcare professionals from engaging in conversion therapy, defined as practices aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It allows supportive counseling for individuals exploring their identity but prohibits treatments seeking to alter sexual orientation or gender expression. Violations could result in disciplinary action such as suspension of professional licenses.
HB1046 | Rep. Aaron Pilkington and Sen. Breanne Davis
This bill would require the Department of Finance and Administration to create a specific Blue Envelope that would become available to those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by January 2026 that would provide law enforcement with specific information about how to adapt their response when interacting with an individual with ASD during a motor-vehicle related interaction.
Health
HB1004 | Rep. Aaron Pilkington and Sen. Breanne Davis
This bill would extend pregnancy Medicaid coverage to a full year postpartum. Right now, such coverage ends just 60 days after delivery. Despite our state having the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, Arkansas is the only state that has not extended postpartum coverage for women beyond 60 days.
Bills AACF Also Supports
The following bills are not formally on AACF’s legislative agenda, but AACF recognizes they could have a positive impact on Arkansas’s children and families.
Democracy and Voting Rights
SB12 | Sen. Bryan King
If this bill passes, the communications of the Board of Apportionment (the committee that draws legislative districts) will be included specifically as subject to Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act.
HB1037 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would allow 16- and 17-year olds to register to vote. They would still not be able to vote until the age of 18.
HB1040 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would repeal a 2021 law that prevents people from handing out water or other supplies at polling sites and that prevents a person who is not voting to accompany a person who is.
Education, Early Childhood
HB1023 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would allow early childhood education teachers to participate in the state’s student loan repayment program, the State Teacher Education Program. It would also increase the amount of annual repayment for federal student loans to $10,000 and allow eligible applicants to participate for five years instead of the current three-year maximum.
HB1025 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would put back in place the teacher employment due process protections that were repealed by the LEARNS Act. It would require nonrenewal, termination, or suspension of a teacher to be for just and reasonable cause. Currently, there is no specific legal standard for these decisions in the law, just factors the superintendent and public school principal must consider when making employment decisions. The bill allows a teacher to request a private hearing with the school board if they receive notice of a proposed termination or nonrenewal of contract, compared to the current status in which a hearing is only required for a teacher who requests one after receiving notice of recommended termination, and that hearing must be public.
Education, Higher Ed
HB1005 | Rep. David Ray and Sen. Ricky Hill
This bill would provide members of the Arkansas National Guard with free tuition for postsecondary certificate programs, expanding the current program that allows free tuition for undergraduate degrees. This would expand their options to occupational and technical programs, such as welding technology, dental assisting, and hospitality management.
HB1027 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would require the State Treasurer to contribute $100 to all existing and any future 529 College Savings Plans.
Family Economic Security
HB1017 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would expand maternity leave for public school and open-enrollment public charter school employees to all eligible employees, not just those in participating districts, and would shift the cost to 100% paid by the state instead of split between the district and the state. It also would allow maternity leave for school employees who have a foster placement of an infant under 1.
HB1018 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would provide an income tax credit for an employer who provides paid family and medical leave to a qualified employee who has been employed for at least 12 consecutive months. The tax credit is equal to 25% of the wages paid to a qualified employee during the period the employee is on family and medical leave but is limited to a maximum of 12 weeks of leave and $4,000 per qualified employee per year. The credit allowed may not exceed the employer’s tax liability, and any unused amounts may not be carried forward to subsequent tax years.
HB1024 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would restore the rights of public employees and employers to bargain collectively.
Tax and Budget
SB7 | Sen. Clint Penzo
Current law allows the chief executive officer of a county, city, or town to request that the Department of Finance and Administration provide a report listing all businesses remitting sales and use taxes for the governmental entity. This bill would also allow any member of the General Assembly to request such reports.
HB1015 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would provide taxpayers with a refundable child tax credit for each child under 18. The amount of credit is $300 per qualifying child for an individual taxpayer having net income up to $100,000 or taxpayers filing a joint income tax return having a net income up to $200,000. The amount of credit is indexed to the cost of living through the Consumer Price Index.
HB1026 | Rep. Andrew Collins
This bill would create an income tax credit equal to the amount paid for tuition while pursuing a certificate or degree at a public university in Arkansas. The taxpayer must have an adjusted gross income below $90,000. The credit is available for no more than four consecutive academic semesters, and the student must maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
HB1076 | Rep. Ashley Hudson
This bill would provide a nonrefundable tax credit of up to 50% of qualifying expenses associated with caregiving for a family member. The caregiver must have an adjusted gross income of less than $50,000, and the credit is limited to $2,000 per year ($3,000 if the family member receiving the care is a veteran or has a diagnosis of dementia). The total amount of the income tax credits allowed is $1.5 million in a calendar year.
Bills AACF Opposes
The following are bills we believe would be harmful to our state, our state’s children and their families, and our state’s most vulnerable individuals.
Equity
SB3 | Sen. Dan Sullivan
This bill would prohibit state agencies from providing programs targeted toward historically excluded groups, including on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin but specifically excludes veteran status in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement. This could result in the elimination of scholarships to Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans who commit to teaching in the Delta; as well as university retention programs for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students, faculty, and staff. It would also prevent programs designed to recruit more diverse staff in state government. This bill also creates a civil action and a criminal penalty for an individual if they are found guilty of “knowingly” violating the restriction against discriminating or providing preferential treatment to an individual or a group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement. They may be found guilty of a class A misdemeanor ($2,500 fine and up to one year in jail) and civilly may be required to pay reasonable court costs and attorney’s fees.
How You Can Help
1. Sign up for Action Alerts, if you haven’t already. By subscribing to this list, you will be notified when we need you to take action, like emailing or calling your legislator on a specific issue or piece of legislation. You will also receive weekly legislative updates during the session. Find out what bills were filed or made progress during the week at the Arkansas Capitol.
2. Attend our events. These are great ways to stay current on our advocacy work and that of our statewide partners.
3. Donate. The work our staff does during the legislative session is often not paid for by grants, and we do not receive any state or federal funding. We rely on donors like you to help us be effective advocates at the Arkansas Capitol.