Governor Hutchinson on Monday voiced enthusiastic support for legislation to create a school voucher pilot program in Pulaski County, calling it “the right model” for Arkansas.
Category: Arkansas General Assembly
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.
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.
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 man in the middle of a massive public corruption probe gave money to dozens of Arkansas lawmakers.
On Wednesday, both chambers of the Arkansas legislature approved identical versions of a bill to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the powerful health care companies at the center of a dispute over cuts in reimbursements paid to pharmacists. Governor Hutchinson…