Analysis: health care policy FAQ
What proposed state and federal changes mean for the future of health care policy in Arkansas.
Health Department working to establish suicide prevention call center
Arkansans soon will have an accredited suicide lifeline center for the first time since last August, thanks to a new law requiring the state Department of Health to establish and maintain a hotline.
Federal health care bill undercuts governor’s plan for altered Medicaid expansion
On Thursday, the same day that Governor Hutchinson signed legislation approving “Arkansas Works 2.0,” his plan to enact changes to the state’s Medicaid expansion program, the U.S. House passed a bill that would undermine many of the program’s key tenets.
Analysis: Governor’s proposed changes to Medicaid will increase costs for the working poor
The Arkansas Legislature was considering whether to approve Governor Hutchinson’s proposed changes to the state's Medicaid expansion on Tuesday. In addition to adding work requirements, the governor wants to cut eligibility, removing around 60,000 Arkansans from Medicaid coverage, with the idea that they would move to the subsidized Affordable Care Act marketplaces or employer-sponsored plans.
Battle over future of education far from over, lawmakers say
As expected, the tug of war between school choice advocates and defenders of traditional public schools played out in Arkansas’s 91st General Assembly, which concluded its flurry of lawmaking last week.
Online tax bill fails
Online companies that do not already collect sales tax in Arkansas will not be forced to do so by state law after a controversial bill aimed at collecting sales tax on purchases from online merchants failed in a 43-50 vote in the House Monday.
Voucher-like bill dies again in House
For the second time this legislative session, a controversial bill that would establish education savings accounts to be used at parents' discretion to fund private school and other education costs failed to pass in the Arkansas House.
Internet sales tax bill revived in committee
A bill aimed at collecting sales tax on purchases from Amazon and other online merchants advanced out of the Arkansas House Revenue and Tax Committee Thursday after having failed to pass three times before in the same committee. Each time the previous…
Revived bill for racial impact statements advances out of House committee
An amended version of a bill that would allow for racial impact assessments for certain criminal justice bills advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee today on a 10-7 vote with three members not voting.
Voucher-like bill clears another hurdle
A controversial bill that would establish education savings accounts to be used at parents' discretion to fund private school and other education costs passed in an 11-5 vote in the Arkansas House Education Committee Tuesday.
$1.3 million appropriation would expand voucher program
The Joint Budget Committee adopted an amendment last week to expand the appropriation for a special needs voucher program. An earlier version of the appropriation bill for the state Department of Education called for $800,000 to fund the Succeed Scholarship program for the 2017-18 school year, the same amount of money for the program that was appropriated in the 2016 fiscal session of the General Assembly. The amended version increases the appropriation to $1.3 million.
Amended bill to strengthen dyslexia intervention in schools clears hurdle
A bill that would give teeth to a law that requires dyslexia screening and intervention in public schools passed by unanimous voice vote out of Senate Education Committee Monday.