Arkansas lawmaking committees will consider legislation aimed at eliminating affirmative action programs in state and local government, a bill described by its sponsor as “tort reform light” and numerous other proposed measures this week.

Additionally, a state senator said he hopes to file a bill this week that would eliminate the Arkansas State Library Board and the Arkansas PBS Commission.

Monday will be the 15th day of this year’s regular session. Arkansas’ 95th General Assembly started the regular session on Jan. 13.

Arkansas House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, said Thursday that he’s “very pleased by the pace and the progress that we have made in the House thus far.”

He also told reporters that he has been pleased “with the additional debate that we are hearing in our committees.”

Evans said Thursday that more than 200 bills have been filed in the House and about 90 bills have been filed in the Senate, “so it is starting to churn and we’ll get much busier (this week).”

By late Friday afternoon, state representatives had filed 223 bills and state senators had filed 102 bills, according to the General Assembly’s website.

Arkansas House Democratic leader Andrew Collins of Little Rock said, “I still feel like (this week) the pace will pick up and we’ll be fully into session.”

Evans said Thursday that “we have not seen anything yet from the governor’s package (of bills),” but some of them could be trickling in as early as the end of this week.

Arkansas Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said, “I think things are going pretty well.

“I knew what to expect when you have got 35 veteran members, 35 people that aren’t afraid to speak up (and) have an opinion, things are just going to be a little different,” he said Thursday during an interview. “It means it is incumbent on me to make sure I am communicating well and listening well and doing what the body expects me to do.”

Hester said, “I think there will be some bills (this week) involving some adjustments to our alcohol laws, (and) that may be the thing of discussion (this week).”

He filed Senate Bill 97 on Thursday that would allow a person, firm or corporation, after obtaining one retail liquor permit, to become the holder of up to two additional retail liquor permits, provided the holder does not hold more than one permit in the same county.

An additional retail liquor permit may be held under the bill only in a county hav

ing a population of 200,000 or more in the most recent decennial census. Benton, Washington and Pulaski counties each have populations exceeding 200,000.

“We are not expanding permits in any way,” Hester said.

The bill is potentially “a win” for Walmart, Costco and anyone in the retail liquor industry that buys out a holder of existing retail liquor permit in these three counties, he said.

Hester said he plans to present the bill Tuesday to the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee.

Arkansas Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, filed Senate Bill 98 on Thursday that would authorize the third-party delivery of wine or beer for grocery stores in wet counties. The bill also would create a third-party delivery permit issued by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.

She said the bill is a good idea and would catch Arkansas up with what’s allowed across the rest of the United States, adding that many people in Arkansas have their groceries delivered from a grocery store by a third party.

Davis said she also plans to present her bill Tuesday to the Senate City, Council and Local Affairs Committee.

In addition, Hester said “I hear that there may be a crypto bill or two running (this week), so those will be the things that we know to prepare for.”

Arkansas Sen. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot, said he hopes to present his Senate Bill 60 that would prohibit businesses from digital mining within a 30-mile radius of a military facility to the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee on either Tuesday or Thursday.

Hill has described his bill as a preemptive move against crypto mining operations that could pose a security threat to military installations around the state as the Legislature has sought to more heavily regulate crypto mines during the past year.

Under SB60, the 30-mile radius where crypto mines would be banned includes all bases, hospitals, training sites or housing operated by any branch of the U.S. military including the National Guard. The bill would not apply to crypto mines already in operation before Dec. 31, 2024, unless there is a change in ownership.

If approved, large parts of the state would be off limits for future crypto mining operations, particularly around Fort Smith — with nearby Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center and Ebbing Air National Guard Base — and the Little Rock metro area, home to Little Rock Air Force Base and Camp Robinson, which houses the Arkansas National Guard. The bill would also include Pine Bluff Arsenal, a U.S. Army installation, and any other base, camp, hospital, command center, training ground or place that houses military personnel and equipment.

Steve Landers Jr., president of Interstate Holdings Blockchain Arkansas, which is constructing a crypto mine in Cabot, has contended that Hill’s bill is meant to specifically target his mining operation located just outside the city limits of Cabot and approximately 5 miles from the Air Force base.

But Hill has countered that. “This isn’t just about the city of Cabot, this is about the state of Arkansas and our military facilities.”

Arkansas Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, posted Thursday on the social media platform X that his Senate Bill 11, which would require crypto mines to comply with the uniform money services act as a transmitter, is not on the agenda on the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee, despite being referred to the committee on Jan. 13.

“In 2 weeks, I will ask the Senate to extract the bill from committee,” he wrote on X. “Last budget session this bill got 27 votes.”

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Arkansas Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Scott Flippo, R-Mountain Home, said the committee on Tuesday will consider Senate Bill 3 by state Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, that is aimed at eliminating affirmative action programs in state and local government.

The bill is similar to legislation Sullivan sponsored in 2023 that passed the Arkansas Senate but failed to clear the House. State Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, is the House sponsor of the SB3.

The bill says, “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, an individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement.”

The bill would also repeal an Arkansas law that requires state agencies to adopt programs designed to increase the percentage of minority employees within their office. The legislation would repeal Arkansas laws on recruitment of minority teachers at public schools and retention of minority staff, faculty and students at state colleges and universities as well.

Sullivan said “the term that has been used is we are color blind, gender neutral and merit based and that is what the bill does.

“I think it’s the direction that Arkansas and the voters want to go (and) it is to end discrimination,” he said.

Affirmative action was a practice instituted across the nation after the Civil Rights Movement to give people from disadvantaged groups a chance to enter white- and male-dominated spaces, professions and universities.

Sullivan said he also is working on legislation to ban state and local governments from having diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state and local government and from using contractors with similar programs, and the legislation will likely mirror President Donald Trump’s efforts.

On Tuesday, Arkansas Sen. Jamie Scott, D-North Little Rock, filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 for the state to affirm “its commitment to DEI as an essential foundation for achieving the American Dream and fostering environments where all individuals have the freedom to be healthy, prosperous, and safe and the opportunity to realize their full potential.”

Under the resolution, the state would encourage local, state and federal policymakers, educational institutions, workplaces and other organizations “to adopt and uphold DEI principles that promote inclusivity, protect freedom of expression, remove barriers, and provide equitable opportunities for all individuals to pursue their dreams.” Scott could not be reached for comment by telephone on Friday afternoon.

LIBRARY BOARD AND PBS COMMISSION

Sullivan said he hopes to introduce a bill that would eliminate the State Library Board and the Arkansas PBS commission sometime this week.

“They already are under the Department of Education, so they will just stay under the Department of Education,” he said. “Their funding remains intact. Their functions will remain intact.”

Sullivan said he plans to introduce the bill because there is no need for these boards “just continuing to meet monthly just for no executive purpose and they also need to align with the LEARNS Act,” referring to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature education initiative.

“We are going to target as many (state boards) as we can that really don’t serve a function,” he said.

Sullivan’s plan to introduce legislation to eliminate the State Library Board comes on the heels of calls by State Library Board member and former state Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, to abolish the seven-member library board. Both Sullivan and Rapert have long been critical of the funds spent on libraries and the materials offered on their shelves.

In December, a federal judge struck down two provisions of Act 372 of 2023, a law sponsored by Sullivan that aimed to criminalize the furnishing of obscene materials to minors at public libraries and bookstores. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, last week asked a federal judge for permission to appeal the ruling.

Earlier this month, Sanders appointed Sidney McKenzie, wife of Rep. Brit McKenzie, R-Rogers, to the State Library Board. Her term will expire in 2031.

Arkansas State Library Board Chairwoman Deborah Knox of Mountain Home could not be reached for comment by telephone on Friday.

In May, Sanders appointed Sullivan’s wife, Maria Sullivan, to the Arkansas PBS Commission, the eight-member board that oversees Arkansas PBS.

Maria Sullivan’ s term will end in 2031. Sen. Sullivan has been a critic of Arkansas PBS.

David Westbrook Doss Jr. of Fayetteville, chairman of the Arkansas PBS Commission, could not be reached for comment by telephone on Friday.

TORT OVERHAUL

The Arkansas House Judiciary Committee will consider House Bill 1204 by Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, on Tuesday, Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana, told the committee last week.

Eubanks said that “this only deals with the past medical bills of the injured party.

“What this bill does is just say the settlement should be only what is actually paid (not the billed amount), and that’s the gist of the bill,” he said.

Eubanks said, “I believe it is a common sense bill.”

He said “this is sort of tort reform light and tort reform has always been an issue that I am interested in and I ran on it in my first campaign.”

Eubanks said he co-sponsored a similar bill by Rep. Marcus Richmond, R-Harvey, during the 2023 regular session and that legislation didn’t clear the House Judiciary Committee.

Justin Minton, an attorney in Saline County who opposes HB1204, said in a written statement, “Proponents of HB1204 say this is just about medical bills, but in fact, it upends longstanding fairness laws in Arkansas.

“It’s little more than the insurance industry’s attempt to reduce what they pay out, all while they deny your claims, raise your rates, and arbitrarily cancel you. This bill will keep most Arkansans from ever getting what they deserve when someone harms them,” he said.

In another development in the House Judiciary Committee, Dalby told the committee last week that Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Karen Baker “is planning on being here” on Thursday, after they “had an opportunity to visit” last week.

AXING HOG FARM MORATORIUM

A bill that would eliminate an existing moratorium on swine farms in the Buffalo River watershed and prohibit future watershed-specific permit moratoriums without the Legislative Council’s approval was filed last week.

Arkansas Senate Republican leader Blake Johnson of Corning filed Senate Bill 84.

The legislation comes after the state Division of Environmental Quality moved last year to make a temporary swine farm moratorium in the watershed permanent. The rulemaking that the moratorium is contained is in Regulation 6, which received hundreds of public comments from supporters and opponents.

The proposed rule was scheduled to be considered by the Arkansas Legislative Council rules subcommittee in December, before the agencies pulled the proposal from the agenda the day before, citing procedural issues that necessitated the removal.

Johnson said Saturday in a text message that he hasn’t decided when he will present the bill to the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.

He said he is “trying to work with the Governor.

“Waiting to hear back from her,” Johnson said.

Last week, Gordon Watkins, the president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, said that his organization was disappointed and that removing the protections against concentrated animal-feeding operations in the watershed was “a recipe for a repeat” of the C&H Hog Farms “debacle.”

“It’s an obvious effort to circumvent those rule makings,” Watkins said.

Asked whether she believes that environmentalists have anything to worry about, state Rep. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, who is the House sponsor of SB84, said in an interview last week, “No, I don’t think they have anything to worry about because there won’t be any hogs here and that was the issue was they thought the hogs were polluting the river.

“Since there isn’t going to be any CAFOs or any hog farms here then there is really no need to have a moratorium there any more,” she said.

Vaught said that she doesen’t believe that “we will see a hog farm there ever.”