First Pro-Life Legislation of the Session Filed

Legislature, , , , , ,

Senator Missy Irvin and Representative Julie Mayberry have filed the first pro-life bills of the 2015 legislative session in Little Rock.

Senate Bill 53 and House Bill 1076 would require doctors performing a chemical abortion (using drugs such as RU-486) to be present during the procedure and make arrangements for a follow-up visit in the days after administering the drug.

Evidence from around the country suggests abortion-inducing drugs are increasingly being distributed without proper oversight from a doctor. This poses a serious threat to women’s health.

Abortion advocates often say abortion ought to be safe, legal, and rare. SB53 and HB1076 would help abortionists abide by that mantra and would curtail the proliferation of abortion-inducing drugs.

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Fayetteville Looking to Meddle With Local Petition Process

Arkansas, ,

According to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Fayetteville City Attorney has proposed a change to the city’s code governing local option petitions.

The proposal comes on the heels of a vote last month that repealed the city’s contentious “nondiscrimination” ordinance. Local residents were able to repeal the ordinance because state law and Fayetteville City Code allow voters to circulate petitions calling for a special election to keep or repeal any ordinance passed by the city council.

But now the attorney for the City of Fayetteville is proposing a change to the way that local petition process works.

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Arkansas Lottery Earns $12 Per Second, Still Failing

Arkansas Lottery

From July 1 through November 30, 2014, the Arkansas Lottery earned an average of $11.86 every second–but the Lottery is still failing.

According to financial reports published on the Arkansas Lottery’s website, the lottery earned roughly $156.8 million in gross revenue during the first five months of its fiscal year that began last July. That’s an average of $1 million every day! However, lottery revenue is still more than $7 million behind budget.

Even more concerning, the Lottery is more than $2.5 million behind in scholarship funding for the year, and appears–once again–to have reduced the percentage of gross revenue paid out for scholarships.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July $30,925,067.43 $5,928,447.99 19.2%
August 31,571,412.10 5,296,965.80 16.8%
September 30,710,493.31 4,317,227.10 14.1%
October 32,959,739.29 5,939,625.59 18.0%
November 30,617,278.28 5,577,035.16 18.2%
Total $156,783,990.41 $27,059,301.64 17.3%

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