Four takeaways from the 12th week of the 95th General Assembly
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Video: Arkansas legislature update for April 3, 2025
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The 95th General Assembly returned to a busy legislative session from spring break off-week.
The Assembly will have one more week of sessions before its adjournment, and legislators are working to see bills through. Bills in the process include a struggling bill to allocate funding for a new prison, bills to tighten social media restrictions for youth, Medicaid for post-partum mothers and efforts to ease the voter initiative process.
PRISON FUNDING
A bill to allocate the remaining $750 million needed to build a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County failed in three votes across three days for the week of March 31.
An allocation bill requires a three-quarter majority to vote in favor of it, and so far, this has not happened in the Senate. Because it is an allocation bill, it may be resubmitted after a failing vote, which is the case here.
The 94th General Assembly allocated an initial $75 million for the prison in 2023.
SOCIAL MEDIA RESTRICTIONS
A pair of bills were submitted Tuesday to increase minors' social media use restrictions with the backing of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The first bill revises the Social Media Safety Act of 2023, which a federal judge overturned on Tuesday due to First Amendment issues. The revision removes the proof-of-age check for social media companies—which the judge cited in making his decision—while adding the need for social media companies to have a parental-control dashboard and regular audits of their system access.
The second bill allows parents or guardians to sue if a child is harmed or tries to harm themselves due to something they saw on social media. If the legislation becomes law, parents could recoup damages and attorney fees.
MEDICAID
A bill to extend Medicaid coverage to 12 months from the current six months for postpartum mothers passed the House on Monday and is making its way through the Senate.
The bill expands the coverage beyond that of the Health Moms, Health Babies Act passed earlier in the session.
VOTER INITIATIVE
The Arkansas League of Woman Voters has re-filed its proposal for a ballot initiative in the next general election. The initiative would allow voters to approve easier access to the voter initiative process, in turn removing a number of restrictions put on the process during the current legislative session.
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