Legislation – Page 43 – Family Council

Arkansas House Passes School Choice Measure

Mar 2, 2023Jerry CoxLegislationArkansas Legislature, School Choice

On Thursday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed the LEARNS Act, S.B. 294.

The LEARNS Act is an omnibus education measure that Gov. Sanders and members of the General Assembly filed last week.

The bill already has passed in the Arkansas Senate.

Among other things, the bill:

Creates a framework that the State Board of Education will use to implement school choice in Arkansas between now and 2025.
Overhauls Arkansas law concerning hiring, paying, and dismissing teachers at public schools.
Requires the Arkansas Secretary of Education to review all policies to be sure that indoctrination — including critical race theory — is prohibited and that no public school employee or public school student is required to attend training or orientation that is based on critical race theory or other prohibited indoctrination.
Requires child sex abuse and human trafficking curriculum to be incorporated into the Department of Education’s standards for Health and Safety and Physical Education standards.
Prohibits sexual material in classroom instruction before fifth grade.
Extensively delegates authority to the State Board of Education.

The LEARNS Act would give families the option of using state dollars to educate their children at a public or private school or at home, and it would address inappropriate material in public schools.

Family Council and our homeschool division the Education Alliance support the LEARNS Act.

We have always supported school choice, and this is what the act provides.

The LEARNS Act provides another choice for homeschool families.

Some will choose to remain as they are with no funding and no additional regulation. Others may choose to accept the funding and, with it, whatever requirements are established under the LEARNS Act.

It should be a matter for each family to determine which form of education is best for their child.

We are pleased that Governor Sanders has provided another choice for home school families and that she is seeking to improve education in numerous ways.

Good Bill Filed Addressing Consent, Date Rape in Arkansas Code

Mar 2, 2023Jerry CoxLegislationArkansas Legislature, Sexual Assault

A new bill at the Arkansas Legislature would help address consent and date rape in Arkansas code.

H.B. 1141 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R – Elm Springs) and Sen. Clint Penzo (R – Springdale) clarifies the definitions for “consent” and “forcible compulsion” in Arkansas’ laws regarding sexual offenses.

It also amends Arkansas code concerning sexual assault of a person who is incapacitated by drugs or alcohol to make it clear that it does not matter if the person consumed the drugs or alcohol willingly.

In practice, this will help clarify Arkansas’ laws concerning date rape.

H.B. 1141 also amends Arkansas’ laws concerning child molestation, sexual assault, and incest to say that perpetrators can be prosecuted regardless of whether or not their victims consented to the sexual conduct. This will help keep certain sexual predators from evading prosecution.

This is an issue that Family Council has worked on for many years. In 2001 we supported passage of Act 1534 that made it illegal to manufacture or possess gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a designer drug linked to date rape.

Legislation like H.B. 1141 helps further strengthen Arkansas’ laws to stop sexual predators who target their victims with drugs or alcohol.

You Can Read H.B. 1141 Here.

House Rules Committee Unanimously Passes Bill Protecting Children From Internet Pornography

Mar 1, 2023Jerry CoxLegislationArkansas Legislature, Pornography

On Wednesday the House Rules Committee unanimously passed legislation to help protect children from pornography online.

S.B. 66 by Sen. Tyler Dees (R – Siloam Springs) and Rep. Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton) requires pornographic websites to implement an age verification process to protect children from pornography.

This good bill passed with nearly unanimous support in the Arkansas Senate earlier this month. On Wednesday it passed unanimously in the House Rules Committee as well.

S.B. 66 requires pornographic websites to verify users are 18 or older using a government-issued ID or another commercially available age-verification method.

In practice, this means porn sites would rely on IDs like a driver’s license to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material online.

Websites that violate S.B. 66 would be held liable under the law.

Similar legislation has been offered in other states.

Technology has given children unprecedented access to pornography. Among other things, pornography is believed to contribute to mental health problems.

S.B. 66 would help address this problem in Arkansas.

Now that the bill has passed in the House Rules Committee, S.B. 66 goes to the entire Arkansas House of Representatives for consideration.

Below is a list of the members of the House Rules Committee: