Opinion

The legislature completed the 2025 regular session after approving a balanced budget, increasing public school funding, making higher education more accessible and improving maternal health care.

The 2025 Regular Session wrapped up its final week of official business, marking several major legislative achievements. The House adopted two proposed constitutional amendments: SJR15, allowing the General Assembly to establish economic development districts, and SJR11, affirming the fundamental right to keep and bear arms, including the use of ammunition and firearm accessories for lawful purposes. These will appear on the November 2026 ballot alongside HJR1018, the Citizens Only Voting Amendment. Lawmakers also passed HB2003, the Revenue Stabilization Law, which sets the Fiscal Year 2026 budget with a 2.9% increase in state spending. Key allocations include $1 million for foster care, $4.3 million for juvenile facilities, $13 million for maternal health, and $90 million for Educational Freedom Accounts. SB636 allocates surplus funds with $136 million for state property insurance, $100 million for Medicaid sustainability, $90 million for the Education Funding Act, and $45 million for discretionary needs. SB290 introduces a process for future watershed moratoriums while protecting current ones for the Buffalo River and Lake Maumelle. SB612 allows parents to sue social media companies if the platform design harms their child’s mental health. Throughout the session, the 95th General Assembly prioritized maternal health, education, and child safety. Lawmakers passed measures to safeguard children from social media harms, banned cell phones in schools to reduce distractions, and reformed higher education. A landmark step was taken by funding free school breakfasts for every Arkansas student. Finally, families will see relief at the checkout line with the elimination of the state grocery tax. The House will formally adjourn the 2025 Regular Session on May 5, ending a session focused on health, safety, and opportunity for all Arkansans.

Part 6: How Conway County Goes. Killing Clayton is a limited weekly column about a corrupt election, the assassination of possible Clay County namesake John Clayton, and the shadow it cast on Arkansas history.

Arkansas is at the center of a national battle between local pharmacies on the one hand, and on the other hand a giant industry known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). It is a battle of economic life and death.

We’ve got a bike-a-thon coming up Saturday and all the profits will go to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Youngsters are urged to ask parents, grandparents, and other adults to sponsor them… even five cents per mile would help… then report to East First street at 9:30 Saturday morning. The bikers will ride the full length of First Street, all the way from Highway 62 to the end of Lee Drive. The round trip is two miles. There will be certificates to all bikers who turn in money, T-shirts for riders collecting $30.00 or more and T-shirts plus sports bags for those turning in $75.00 or more. Plus, there will be a special gift… a brand-new bicycle… to the boy or girl, age 12 and under, who turns in the most pledge money by Friday, May 1. Boy, I wish an opportunity like that had come along when I was growing up… I always loved to ride a bicycle, even though I never had one to call my very own. When we were in Elementary School my brother and I had a partnership bicycle and that was nothing but around-the-clock bickering. It go so bad that mom laid down the rules… we were to take turns by the day and on his day, no matter if he was or was not riding his bike, I was not to touch it and the same went for him on my days. Being the older and a little wiser, he soon figured out that he could ride the bike until dark on his day, give it a coat of paint and it would be noon before the paint would dry on my day.

As we approach the final days of the 2025 Regular Session, the Arkansas House of Representatives remains focused on passing legislation that will have a lasting impact on the lives of Arkansans. We anticipate adjourning on April 16, and several key bills have advanced as we wrap up our work.

April 16, 1992

Part 4: Chaos in Conway County. Killing Clayton is a limited weekly column about a corrupt election, the assassination of possible Clay County namesake John Clayton, and the shadow it cast on Arkansas history.