2025 AR Legislative Scorecard

HB1365 removes all race- and gender-based quotas or membership requirements for multiple Arkansas boards, commissions, and advisory councils. The act strikes language mandating minority, female, or diversity representation across a wide range of state entities, including the State Board of Education, the Arkansas Financial Education Commission, the Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap, local community college boards, and several professional licensing and advisory bodies. It repeals entire sections that previously required appointments to reflect racial or gender diversity, ensuring that board appointments are made without regard to race, sex, or ethnicity.

The Arkansas State House of Representatives passed HB1365 on April 3, 2025 by a vote of 60 to 24. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because many of these state boards and commissions are unconstitutional in themselves, and eliminating race- and gender-based quotas is a step toward restoring equality under the law. Government should never elevate or exclude individuals based on immutable characteristics such as race or sex. Such policies violate the American ideal that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. Race-based preferences—whether imposed through quotas, mandates, or so-called diversity requirements—perpetuate discrimination and division, undermining both justice and national unity.

HJR1004 applies to Congress for an Article V Convention to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution imposing term limits on members of Congress.

The Arkansas State House of Representatives failed to reconsider HJR1004 on April 1, 2025 by a vote of 48 to 34. We have assigned pluses to the nays because term limits restrict the people’s right to choose their own representatives—and even more concerning is the call for an Article V “convention of the states.” Despite claims of limitation, such a convention could easily become a runaway convention with authority to rewrite or fundamentally alter the U.S. Constitution, endangering the very safeguards that restrain government power. Article V was designed to correct structural flaws, not fix the moral failings of elected officials who disregard their oaths. Rather than risk the Constitution itself, states should use their lawful authority under Article VI to enforce it as written and nullify unconstitutional federal acts. The true remedy for federal overreach is obedience to the Constitution—not revision of it.

SB189 allows ivermectin for human use to be sold over the counter in the state. This means people may buy or sell ivermectin without a prescription or consultation with a healthcare professional. The act reclassifies the drug as an over-the-counter medication within Arkansas law, making it more accessible to consumers.

The Arkansas State House of Representatives passed SB189 on March 18, 2025 by a vote of 78 to 14. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because this measure restores medical freedom and the individual’s right to make personal health decisions without government interference. For years, federal agencies such as the FDA and CDC have restricted access to safe, affordable treatments such as ivermectin, despite extensive evidence of its effectiveness and long record of safety in human use. By reclassifying ivermectin as an over-the-counter medication, Arkansas is rejecting bureaucratic overreach and affirming that citizens—not unelected federal regulators or pharmaceutical interests—should decide what treatments to use. The right to bodily autonomy is essential to liberty, and SB189 is a step toward reestablishing that constitutional principle.

SB59 requires all public schools to offer every student one free breakfast per day starting in the 2025-26 school year, regardless of income. It creates a Food Insecurity Fund to cover costs using general revenues, private grants, and tax revenue from medical marijuana sales.

The Arkansas State House of Representatives passed SB59 on February 13, 2025 by a vote of 88 to 4. We have assigned pluses to the nays because feeding and educating children are duties of parents, not government. By using taxpayer dollars to provide “free” meals, the state expands the unconstitutional welfare system and fosters dependency rather than self-reliance. SB59 also aligns with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 “Zero Hunger” initiative, which promotes government control over food distribution and social policy—objectives wholly foreign to America’s constitutional framework. Neither Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution nor any other provision authorizes government to provide meals or social services. Such programs divert funds from legitimate functions, increase public debt, and erode parental responsibility. Instead of empowering families, SB59 further entrenches government dependency within an already failing public-education system.

HB1060 requires the state Department of Education to update middle- and high-school social-studies standards by the 2026-27 school year to emphasize the failures of communism and autocratic governments and the strength of the U.S. constitutional republic. The revised curriculum must compare forms of government, highlight constitutional limits and discuss the oppression and bleak historical records of communist and autocratic regimes such as the USSR, China, and North Korea. It also must teach how democracies often deteriorate into autocracies, reinforcing appreciation for America’s system of limited, constitutional government.

The Arkansas State House of Representatives passed HB1060 on February 11, 2025 by a vote of 70 to 16. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because, while parents should ultimately remove their children from government schools and pursue true education through private or home instruction—such as FreedomProject Academy—this bill is a welcome corrective within the public system. For decades, government schools have downplayed or ignored the evils of communism, socialism, and authoritarian rule while promoting democracy as synonymous with freedom. HB1060 begins to reverse that trend by requiring instruction on the failures of collectivist regimes and the unique safeguards of our constitutional republic. Teaching students that democracies often devolve into mob rule and tyranny, while the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect God-given rights through limited government, is essential to preserving liberty. If properly implemented, this measure could help restore understanding of America’s true form of government and the dangers of abandoning it.