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Republican Sen. Kim Hammer of Benton succeeded in passing a bill regulating how counties can switch to paper ballots on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. He's seen here with Sen. John Payton (R-Wilburn) at a 2022 Arkansas Legislative Council meeting. (Courtesy of Arkansas Senate)

Arkansas licensing board for home inspectors will be combined with two others under bill

BY: - March 7, 2023

A state Senate panel on Tuesday approved a bill that consolidates three real estate-related professional licensing boards into one despite strident objections from members of one of the boards. Senate Bill 354 would abolish the Arkansas Abstracters’ Board, Home Inspector Registration Board and the Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board and replace them with a single […]

COMMENTARY
ACLU Executive Director Holly Dickson speaks against Senate Bill 43. At left is bill sponsor Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch). (Photo by John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

Arkansas’ would-be religious tyrants gather steam with ‘culture-war’ bills

BY: - January 23, 2023

I grew up Catholic in a deeply Catholic region of Louisiana. I don’t think I met any non-Catholics until after second grade. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only were there Christians who worshiped differently from me but believed in a totally different Jesus. Imagine my consternation when I learned that some Christians […]

In this February 2021 photo, protestors hold signs that read "hate is a virus" and "stop Asian hate" at an anti-racism rally in New York City's Washington Square Park. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, the White House announced a multi-agency effort to fight anti-Asian American hate in the wake of the brutal stabbing of an 18-year-old Indiana University student. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Days after Indiana attack, White House vows to fight hate against Asian Americans

BY: - January 17, 2023

WASHINGTON— The White House on Tuesday announced a multi-agency strategy to help combat anti-Asian American hate, promote language access and improve governmental data collection for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. “This unprecedented plan builds on the administration’s broader equity agenda,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Tuesday’s press briefing. […]

U.S. House Republicans roll out a slew of new committee chairs to steer agenda

BY: - January 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans filled their top committee seats this week, choosing the leaders who will set the course for bills and issues for the new majority in the 118th Congress. Veteran GOP lawmakers from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri were among those who won the right to head up […]

Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol hold their last public meeting in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C. The voted to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump fixation on Wisconsin, Ginni Thomas text regrets and more from the Jan. 6 panel

BY: - January 4, 2023

In the final weeks of 2022, the Democrat-led U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol disclosed thousands of pages of transcripts of interviews the panel’s members and staff conducted with key witnesses. The transcripts were central to a committee report released in December that held Donald Trump responsible for the 2021 […]

COMMENTARY
Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol hold their last public meeting in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C. The voted to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

What the criminal referral of Trump means

BY: - December 20, 2022

After 18 months investigating, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol held its final public meeting on Dec. 19, 2022. The panel recommended that the U.S. Department of Justice bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. […]

U.S. Supreme Court denies attempt by Arizona GOP chair to block Jan. 6 panel subpoena

BY: - November 14, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, denying a request from Arizona Republican Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband to block the panel from obtaining their cellphone records. The court’s two-paragraph order ends Kelli and Michael Ward’s federal suit to block the […]

Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (center), vice chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, confers with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) (right) at the conclusion of the committee's Oct. 13, 2022, hearing during which the members voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump. Also pictured is committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (left) (D-Mississippi)(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump to be subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel as the ‘central cause’ of Capitol insurrection

BY: - October 13, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, saying the former president must be held accountable as the “central cause” of a violent attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans voted to authorize a subpoena […]

Four things to watch for at the upcoming Jan. 6 hearing

BY: - October 12, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating a pro-Trump mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is back. It will hold its first hearing in nearly three months Thursday—and potentially its last. In a break from most of the panel’s previous eight hearings in June and July, Thursday’s meeting will not drill down into one […]

Legislative committee OKs salary bump for Arkansas PBS chief

BY: - August 24, 2022

The personnel committee of the Arkansas Legislative Council unanimously approved a salary increase to $180,000 for Courtney Pledger, executive director and CEO of Arkansas PBS. That amounts to a $27,418 raise over her current salary of $152,582. John Brown, chairman of the Arkansas PBS Commission, told committee members Wednesday that the network’s programming quality had […]