Senate News

This year back to school activities in Arkansas have historic importance, thanks to the far-reaching changes in Act 237 of 2023.

Most of the bills that were approved by the legislature earlier this year became law on August 1.

The Arkansas Highway has held four events around the state to commemorate the 31 projects paid for with a half-cent sales tax approved by voters 10 years ago. In 2012 Arkansas voters approved the sales tax increase and since then it has generated about $1.8 billion in revenue, which has paid for improvements to about 200 miles of highway. The projects are collectively called the Connecting Arkansas Program, or CAP, and they represent one of the largest highway programs in the history of the state.

Every year the sales tax holiday is the first weekend in August. This year it will be Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6.

The governor announced that the state would provide about $11 million to local school districts to help them pay the steeply rising costs of property insurance premiums.

Fiscal Year 2023, which just ended, was one of the best in Arkansas history. The state closed out the fiscal year with a budget surplus of $1.161 billion.

Arkansas officials announced that the state is about to receive more than a billion dollars in federal funding for expanding broadband access throughout the state. Before the end of the year, the state Broadband Office will submit a five-year plan with details of how we intend to spend the funds.

In 2021 the legislature approved Act 626, making Arkansas the first state in the nation to prohibit physicians from performing gender transition procedures on minors. Since then at least 19 other states have enacted similar laws to prohibit procedures such as hormone therapy and surgery for adolescents under 18 who wish to change their genders.

The secretary of Human Services told lawmakers that the Arkansas Medicaid program would continue to reimburse assisted living facilities at the higher rate they were getting during the Covid-19 pandemic, at least until November. Meanwhile, the Department of Human Services (DHS) continues to review the entire Medicaid system, and will recommend methods of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the program.

The Arkansas Human Services Department has officially petitioned the federal government for authority to make changes in the Medicaid expansion program.