session snapshot

SESSION SNAPSHOT: The 94th Arkansas General Assembly adjourns

BY: - April 7, 2023

That sound you hear is the rejoicing of lawmakers, lobbyists, reporters and legislative staff that the 2023 legislative session is over. The Arkansas House of Representatives and Senate each met Friday morning to consider the final bills of the session before adjourning. They will still return in a few weeks to override any vetoes (none […]

Anti-abortion activists celebrate Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court ended a woman's right to abortion.

SESSION SNAPSHOT: With a week to go, the Arkansas Legislature kicks it into high gear

BY: - March 31, 2023

It happens every legislative session. As adjournment nears, Arkansas lawmakers cram their biggest priorities through before it’s too late. House and Senate floor sessions go longer, and committees meet well into the night. Trying to keep up with all the legislation advancing, failing and stalling felt like drinking through a fire hose at times this […]

SESSION SNAPSHOT: The Arkansas Legislature takes a break

BY: and - March 17, 2023

The Arkansas House and Senate adjourned on Thursday for a week off, and the Spring Break probably comes at a good time. Each legislative session hits a point — meetings go longer and patience grows shorter. This week, there seemed to be an uptick in bills failing on the floor of both the House and […]

SESSION SNAPSHOT: The LEARNS Act becomes Arkansas law

BY: - March 10, 2023

Every public school teacher in Arkansas will now make $50,000. In three years, the Natural State will have a universal voucher program that could shake up the education landscape in unprecedented ways. By 2025, third graders not reading at grade level could be held back. Those are just a few of the many sweeping changes […]

Rep. Keith Brooks

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas LEARNS marches through the Arkansas House

BY: and - March 3, 2023

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ first legislative priority took the next big step toward becoming law this week. The sprawling, divisive education bill moved through the Arkansas House of Representatives, passing on the House floor Thursday by a vote of 78-21. There is great passion on both sides of the debate, which has really become about […]

Sen. Breanne Davis, lead sponsor of Senate Bill 294, which would enact the governor’s education program, and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, right, share a laugh before a meeting of the Senate Education Committee in Little Rock on Feb. 22, 2023. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas LEARNS zooms through the Senate in Week 7

BY: - February 24, 2023

It felt like the Arkansas Legislature’s 2023 legislative session hit full stride this week. It was a whirlwind with the introduction and Senate passage of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ sprawling education bill. There were also long, tense meetings on a range of other bills from paper ballots to solar energy that probably would’ve gotten more […]

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Tough love at the Arkansas Capitol as bills stall, fail in Week 6

BY: - February 17, 2023

We start our recap of the sixth week of the 2023 Arkansas legislative session wishing you a happy #arlegvalentines. As for the news, there was a lot of it, but fewer major announcements, hearings and debates than in recent weeks. Here are some highlights from Week 6: Lawmakers filed a host of election legislation on […]

Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva (left) listens as Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders outlines her education initiative on Feb.8, 2023, at the state Capitol. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Legislation marches on and a sneak peak at the governor’s education package

BY: - February 10, 2023

The fifth week of the 2023 legislative session finally brought us Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education plan — sort of. The bill hasn’t been filed (more on that later), but she outlined some of the key components of a sweeping piece of legislation that would bring drastic changes to K-12 education in Arkansas. Vouchers, a […]

Rally-goers express their opposition to Senate Bill 43 during an event that was held on the steps of State Capitol in Little Rock on Jan. 19, 2023. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Arkansas Legislature rolls through Week 4 with ice and amendments

BY: - February 3, 2023

The fourth week of the Arkansas General Assembly’s 2023 legislative session brought lots of ice and amendments. Senate Bill 43, which targeted drag shows, has demanded the most attention of any legislation through the first month of the session, but by the time the House and Senate adjourned for the weekend, it had been so […]

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Drag queens, snow, masks and education at the Arkansas State Capitol

BY: - January 27, 2023

The third week of Arkansas’ 94th General Assembly began with the Senate’s passage of a bill to restrict drag shows the same as strip clubs and porn shops, and it ended with a long, tense hearing over a school bathroom bill. Between the culture war battles, the state House and Senate have started passing legislation […]

Drag performer Athena Sinclair speaks to journalists after speaking against SB43 during a senate committee hearing Thursday morning, Jan. 19, 2023. Senate Bill SB43 would define "a drag performance" as an adult-oriented business. The bill passed through committee with a recommendation for approval by the full Senate. (Photo by John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate/01/19/2023)

SESSION SNAPSHOT: Culture wars and the first bills of the Arkansas legislative session

BY: and - January 20, 2023

Week two of the Arkansas General Assembly has come to an end, and it feels like the session is now actually underway. Thursday had it all: a tense committee hearing on a divisive social issue, a school choice rally, a rally in support of drag performers and action on dozens of bills destined to become […]