A House committee on Monday afternoon narrowly rejected a bill intended to establish rights for Arkansas renters — even after its sponsor, Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R-Paragould), amended the bill to address critics' objections. It could return for another vote later this week or next week.
Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-Elm Springs), despite opposition from Governor Hutchinson and the state Republican Party, is proceeding with her bills to undo significant portions of the state minimum wage hike approved by voters just last November.
A federal judge in the District of Columbia heard oral arguments Thursday morning in a lawsuit challenging Arkansas's work requirement for certain Medicaid expansion beneficiaries. Immediately afterward, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg heard arguments in a related suit over Kentucky's efforts to implement a similar policy.
Governor Hutchinson signed a bill Tuesday that will devote $95 million annually to pay for repairs and expansions to Arkansas’s highways through a combination of existing state revenue and new taxes and fees.
The sponsor of a bill aiming to protect Arkansas tenants pulled it down for modification Wednesday morning after a lawyer from the Arkansas Realtors Association declared the group's opposition and several members of both parties indicated they were skeptical of the proposal.
After narrowly rejecting it on Monday, the Arkansas House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a measure by Rep. Aaron Pilkington(R-Clarksville) that would allow pharmacists to dispense oral contraceptives to women without a prescription from a doctor. House Bill 1290 now heads to the Senate.
Because it’s uncommon for older teenagers in foster care to be adopted, many are emancipated at age 18 or 21 without ever finding a permanent home. In the last state fiscal year, 235 young people “aged out” of the Arkansas system. Too old to be a ward of the state but unprepared to be cast out on their own, they entered adult life highly disadvantaged.
Arkansas's first-in-the-nation work requirement for certain Medicaid beneficiaries expanded in January to include some 45,000 additional people.
But the state may be losing patience with the county.
Judges would be barred from committing misdemeanor offenders to state lockups if they are determined to be low-risk after undergoing an assessment. DYS would also be required to develop a “reinvestment plan” to reallocate funds now used for locking up kids to alternative programs -- but providers worry a new contract to run the lockups could eat up much of that money.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C., released an analysis Jan. 10 summing up the many criticisms of Arkansas's experimental work requirement for certain Medicaid beneficiaries.
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