Weekly Updates

The Senate passed legislation to repeal language in state law allowing medical facilities to be licensed in order to perform abortions.

The first three weeks of the 2023 legislative have session have been remarkable for the wide variety of issues the Senate has addressed.

There are many stages in the process of convicting criminals and sentencing them to prison. Senate Bill 2, the “Truth in Sentencing and Parole Reform Act of 2023,” will change many of them.

The 2023 legislative session got off to a smooth start. The full Senate confirmed the governor’s secretarial nominations, and Senate committees got their initial organizational meetings out of the way.

School choice, prison expansion and tax cuts are expected to be the highlights of the 2023 regular legislative session that convenes on Monday, January 9.

When the 2023 regular session convenes on January 9, there will be 13 new members in the Arkansas Senate.

Legislators finished the calendar year with a final round of recommendations for spending federal relief funds and reserve funds. The recommendations include using another $93.8 million for broadband projects and $20 million to upgrade computerized case management for the state court system. Also, $6.25 million was recommended to help cover the expenses of opening the new Sevier County Medical Center.

The state Natural Resources Commission has awarded $270 million in grants for 157 drinking water and wastewater projects in 58 counties. Work will begin in 2023 on the projects and they must be completed before the end of 2026.

Arkansas has been developing a statewide response to the growing health crisis created by Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. During the 2023 session the legislature will consider a series of proposals brought by the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Advisory Council, which was created by Act 319 of 2021.

Arkansas lawmakers have begun pre-filing bills in advance of the 2023 legislative session, which begins on January 9.