The weather was wild and fiery this week, and the Capitol was busy! Highlights this week include Rep. Pilkington’s HB1004 (an innovative approach to ensuring Medicaid coverage for certain groups of postpartum women) getting out of committee and HB1422 (an anti-immigrant bill) failing to pass on the House floor. The legislature is taking spring break next week, so there aren’t any legislative meetings being held. We’ll pop in next Friday to let you know what’s on the schedule for the coming week.
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
Progressed: SB403 | Sen. Clarke Tucker and Rep. Howard M. Beaty, Jr. | Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs
This bill would establish a Complete Count Committee, made up of government officials and local leaders, to help plan for outreach, communications, and data gathering for the 2030 Census. It passed the full Senate on Monday and the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday.
Health
Progressed: HB1004 | Rep. Aaron Pilkington and Sen. Breanne Davis | House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor
This bill would require DHS to submit a state plan amendment or waiver request to obtain federal approval to extend pregnancy Medicaid coverage to a full year postpartum for certain low-income women who do not already qualify for other Medicaid categories. This approach would use existing Children’s Health Insurance Program funding, which would require no new state dollars. It passed the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor on Thursday. News coverage: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Progressed: HB1252 | Rep. Lee Johnson | House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor
This bill would create a certification process for community-based doulas in Arkansas and describes their scope of practice. It outlines requirements for certification, including training, privacy, and application procedures. It would require that the Department of Health maintain a public registry of certified community-based doulas. It would authorize certified community-based doulas to be reimbursed for certain services under Medicaid. It passed the full House on Monday.
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.
Child Welfare
Progressed: SB320 | Sen. Missy Irvin and Rep. Carol Dalby | Senate Committee on Judiciary
This bill would create a new chapter in statute for the Arkansas Juvenile Code and largely reorganizes the existing statute in that chapter for clean-up purposes. It passed the House Committee on Judiciary on Thursday.
Democracy and Voting Rights
Progressed: SB12 | Sen. Bryan King | Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs
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. It passed the full Senate on Monday.
Family Economic Security
Progressed: SB241 | Sen. Jamie Scott and Rep. Aaron Pilkington | Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs
This bill would grant 80 hours of leave in a calendar year to a public employee in the event of the death of an immediate family member; it would grant 640 hours in a calendar year in the event of the death of a child. It passed the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday and the full Senate on Wednesday.
Health
Progressed: SB123 | Sen. Greg Leding and Rep. DeAnn Vaught | Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This bill would amend the law concerning coverage for mammograms and breast ultrasounds under health benefit plans. If this bill became law, health insurance plans could not impose cost-sharing (co-pays, deductibles, or coinsurance) for diagnostic testing. It passed the Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce on Thursday.
New: SB554 | Sen. Clarke Tucker and Rep. Jeremy Wooldridge | Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor
This bill would establish the Behavioral Health Loan Forgiveness Program. The program would forgive a portion of the student loan balance of mental health professionals or licensed substance use counselors working in areas designated as underserved for behavioral health and substance use treatment services. The bill sets eligibility standards and establishes rulemaking for the program.
Progressed: HB1079 | Rep. Fred Allen and Sen. Dave Wallace | House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor
This bill would require health benefit plans to cover genetic testing for inherited gene mutations and evidence-based cancer imaging. The coverage would apply to individuals with a personal or family history of cancer or those with a prior cancer diagnosis. It passed the full House on Tuesday.
Passed: HB1275 | Rep. Frances Cavenaugh and Sen. Blake Johnson | House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor
This bill would prohibit health care insurers from requiring prior authorization for treatment of a mental health crisis. It passed the Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce on Tuesday and the full Senate on Wednesday. It has been sent to the Governor to be signed into law.
Progressed: HB1290 | Rep. Lee Johnson | House Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This bill would require that health insurance plans cover annual mental health wellness examinations starting in 2026. Plans would not require copayments, deductibles, or coinsurance. It passed the House Committee on Insurance and Commerce on Wednesday.
Progressed: HB1296 | Rep. Lee Johnson and Sen. Missy Irvin | House Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This bill would require that health insurers cover services provided in mobile units in the same way they cover services provided in other healthcare settings. It would also ensure that any cost-sharing requirements for mobile unit services are no less favorable than those for similar services provided elsewhere. It passed the House Committee on Insurance and Commerce on Wednesday.
Progressed: HB1300 | Rep. Lee Johnson and Sen. Missy Irvin | House Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This bill seeks to amend the Prior Authorization Transparency Act by expanding disclosure requirements for health care services that need prior authorization. It would exempt certain health care services from prior authorization, establish a process for reviewing approvals when guidelines are not followed, and create a trust fund for educating stakeholders and improving compliance. It passed the full House on Monday.
Progressed: HB1333 | Rep. Ashley Hudson and Sen. Jamie Scott | House Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This bill would require health insurers to cover breastfeeding and lactation consultant services. If enacted, the coverage would begin on January 1, 2026. It passed the House Committee on Insurance and Commerce on Wednesday.
Juvenile Justice
New and Progressed: SB490 | Sen. Missy Irvin and Rep. Nicole Clowney | Senate Committee on Judiciary
This bill would allow courts to waive the $250 registration fee for juveniles who are ordered to register as a sex offender. It passed the Senate Committee on Judiciary on Wednesday.
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.
Democracy and Voting Rights
Progressed: HB1714 | Rep. Ryan A. Rose and Sen. Kim Hammer | House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs
If this bill passes, canvassing volunteers on ballot measure campaigns would be considered paid canvassers if they are reimbursed for meals, mileage, or certain other expenses. If considered a paid canvasser, additional restrictions would apply to them. It passed the full House on Monday.
Education, K-12
Progressed: HB1705 | Rep. Hope Duke and Sen. Joshua Bryant | House Committee on Education
This bill would create new requirements for 6th-12th grade social studies standards and courses in public schools and open-enrollment public charter schools. It would require information about the founding fathers’ religious and political beliefs and how their religious beliefs influenced the United States’ founding documents, like the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It passed the House Committee on Education on Tuesday and the full House on Wednesday. News coverage: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Equity
New and Progressed: SB486 | Sen. Blake Johnson and Rep. Mary Bentley | Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs
This bill would prohibit transgender individuals from using restrooms, changing rooms, sleeping quarters, and other accommodations corresponding to their gender identification. It would require shelters, state and local correctional facilities, and all public buildings to ensure that they do not allow transgender individuals to use facilities that correspond to their gender identity and take steps to prevent transgender individuals from doing so. An individual would be able to file a civil case against the state agency if they encountered a person of the “opposite sex” in any of the above areas and could recover damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs within two years of the incident. It passed the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Thursday. News coverage: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Debated: HB1668 | Rep. Mary Bentley and Sen. Alan Clark | House Committee on Judiciary
This bill would define “castration, sterilization, and mutilation” of a minor to include using legally prescribed medications that temporarily stop puberty. It would also define the term “social transitioning” to mean any act by which a minor adopts or espouses a gender identity that differs from the minor’s biological sex, such as changes to clothing, pronouns, hairstyle, and name. The bill would allow the minor or their parent to sue for damages related to “social transitioning” or “castration, sterilization, and mutilation” for 20 years after the alleged harm. A person could recover statutory damages of at least $10,000 per defendant and punitive damages of $10 million for certain medical interventions. Additionally, the bill would apply “extraterritorially,” meaning it could target out-of-state individuals and providers who assist Arkansas residents in accessing gender-affirming care, which could be as little as providing a haircut for a trans teen to help support their transition, teachers who use a student’s chosen name, and therapists who offer counseling. The bill was heard by the House Committee on Judiciary on Tuesday. The committee members debated the bill extensively and heard from a representative from the Arkansas Attorney General’s office stating the bill had constitutional problems that they would not be able to defend it in court, should it pass. The bill sponsor agreed to pull the bill down for amendments without a vote, but the committee chair allowed several members of the community to testify against the bill, as they had traveled from around the state to do so. Rep. Bentley stated she intends to bring the bill back with amendments that address the constitutional concerns. News coverage: Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Times, Newsweek.
Progressed: HB1669 | Rep. Mary Bentley and Sen. Alan Clark | House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, and Legislative Affairs
This bill would prohibit state government from taking any discriminatory action, such as taking away funding or licenses, against faith-based foster care or adoption agencies that refuse to serve LGBTQ+ individuals and families based on religious beliefs. This bill would also mandate that the state would not take action against a foster or adoptive family who “guides, instructs, or raises a child, or intends to guide, instruct, or raise a child, based upon or in a manner consistent with a sincerely held religious belief.” It passed the Senate Committee on Aging, Children and Youth on Wednesday.
Family Economic Security
Now Law: SB307 is now Act 373 | Sen. Jonathan Dismang and Rep. Les D. Eaves | Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This new law retools the ability of public utilities in Arkansas to finance strategic investments by allowing the utilities to recover costs during the period of construction instead of after, as the law previously mandated. The new law reduces the oversight of the Public Service Commission in the process and changes the energy rate increase rules without protections for lower-income residents. News coverage: Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Times.
Progressed: HB1751 | Rep. Kendon Underwood | House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor
This bill would require a job-ready applicant for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, known in the state as the Arkansas Work Pays Program, to be engaged in job search activities while their application is being processed. It passed the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor on Thursday.
Immigrant Families
Failed: HB1422 | Rep. Wayne Long and Sen. Mark Johnson | House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs
This bill would require the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration to prepare a monthly report with the names and identifying information of anyone who has a driver’s license in addition to a valid nonimmigrant visa or entry into the United States and deliver it to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State would then verify if any person were listed in the voter rolls of the state, and that person would be removed from the voter rolls. This bill would also require DFA to modify the driver’s license of a person with nonimmigrant status to be printed vertically and to clearly state on its face “Limited Term.” This would remove the ability of non-citizens to have a REAL ID compliant driver’s license which will be required as of May 7, 2025, to enter federal buildings, and to fly. This bill would also restrict the forms of ID that Arkansans can use to vote, including concealed handgun carry licenses and college/university IDs. It passed the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday but failed on the House floor on Thursday. Read our testimony against this bill on our website. News coverage: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Advocate.
Progressed: HB1789 | Rep. Rebecca Burkes and Sen. Joshua Bryant | House Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs
This bill would restrict local government from funding any municipal identification card programs either directly through a municipal program or through providing funds to an agency or person to run such a program if the program does not require the applicant for the municipal identification to provide proof of lawful presence in the United States. It passed the House Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs on Wednesday and the full House on Thursday. Read our testimony against this bill on our website. News coverage: Arkansas Times.
Also Worth Noting
New: SB527 | Sen. Missy Irvin and Rep. Lee Johnson | Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce
This bill would amend the ARHOME Medicaid expansion in several ways. It would require that qualified health insurance companies who receive pharmacy rebates from bulk purchasing of medications return those savings to the state. It would also modify the Medical Loss Ratio for qualified health insurance plans from 80-20 to 90-10, meaning that at least 90% of what health plans spend would have to be on medical claims and quality improvements. The bill also clarifies it would implement work requirements for ARHOME enrollees and describes a list of exemptions from work reporting activities.
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