This story is from our partner Little Rock Public Radio.
Members of the Arkansas Senate on Tuesday gave final legislative approval to several bills, all of which are likely to be signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The proposals approved by lawmakers could have wide-ranging effects on maternal health, education and the ballot initiative process in Arkansas.
Ballot titles
Senators gave final approval to a pair of bills adding new restrictions to the ballot initiative process.
House Bill 1221 prevents signatures collected by petitioners from being carried over to another election cycle. House Bill 1222 requires the attorney general to reject initiatives which conflict with federal law, or which cover similar topics.
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, was the only lawmaker to speak against either of the bills on the Senate floor Tuesday. Tucker called HB1222 a “roadblock” for Arkansans seeking to put measures on the ballot.
“‘Conflict’ in the bill is written in a very broad way — they just have the same subject matter. So if I submit a ballot measure on ‘topic X’ and then I decide later that I want to change that and I submit a revised topic, I’m prohibited from doing that,” Tucker said.
Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, co-sponsored both bills, saying they’re needed to help the attorney general deal with an influx of illegitimate ballot measures and amendments submitted by voters.
“This is the result of a situation that occurred where the attorney general was presented with multiple petitions at one time,” Hammer said. “What this bill will do is bring some clarity to the attorney general being able to make a determination and also to keep from flooding the system.”
Hammer cited the 10-day turnaround time for the attorney general to approve or deny ballot titles, saying bad actors could “game the system” by submitting several titles at once to slow the process down. Tucker argued the bills constitute an “overreach,” suggesting lawmakers should be subject to the same restrictions the bill puts on citizens.
“It empowers the attorney general to unilaterally strike down ballot measures if he perceives it’s unconstitutional or it conflicts with federal law… why don’t we pass a law giving the AG the same power? We have to ask his permission before we can run bills for his determination of whether they’re constitutional or not. That’s the same thing that we’re doing to the people now.”
The move comes after Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester released an election security scorecard ranking the state’s petition process lowest among all categories. Lawmakers also heard several hours of public comment Monday on other bills, also sponsored by Hammer, which would put new restrictions on canvassers who collect signatures for petitions.
Both bills passed on a vote of 27 to 8, with Republican Sens. Bryan King and Jimmy Hickey joining Democrats in voting against HB1221. King and fellow Republican Sen. Alan Clark also joined Democrats in voting against HB1222.
Both bills now head to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for a signature.
Phones in schools
Senators on Tuesday gave final approval of a measure to ban cell phone use in all Arkansas public schools.
Senate Bill 142, also called the “Bell to Bell, No Cell Act,” prohibits students from using their personal phones, tablets, laptops and other devices during school hours.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders first previewed the legislation in her January State of the State Address. The governor has also made several public appearances with Jonathan Haidt, whose book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” makes the case for limiting screen time for children and teens.
Lawmakers approved an amendment to the bill allowing schools to decide whether students can have their phones at special events, and to exempt students who are taking college-level concurrent credit classes. Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, was the only lawmaker to vote against the bill, while five others voted “present” or did not vote.
Maternal health
Arkansas lawmakers have given final approval to a maternal health bill also supported by Gov. Sanders. House Bill 1427, also called the “Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act,” was approved by the full Senate Tuesday.
The bill makes several changes aimed at boosting maternal health, including establishing presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant Arkansans. It also dedicates new funding for services like doulas and community health workers, and would establish Medicaid coverage for pregnancy-related procedures like remote ultrasounds and blood pressure monitoring.
The bill now goes to the governor for a signature.
