Amendments Filed Dealing With Marijuana, Casinos in Arkansas

Three measures filed Thursday would amend the Arkansas Constitution concerning marijuana and casino gambling.

S.J.R. 6 by Sen. Bryan King (R — Green Forrest) would let the state use medical marijuana and casino tax-revenue for crime prevention.

S.J.R. 7 and S.J.R. 8 by Sen. King are “shell” amendments dealing with medical marijuana and casinos. A shell amendment is a measure that tells what the legislation’s purpose is, but it has not been fleshed out with actual language. Language can be added to shell amendments at a later point in the legislative session.

Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution legalized “medical” marijuana, and Amendment 100 legalized casino gambling in Arkansas. Today, marijuana and casino gambling are multimillion dollar businesses.

There is evidence that casino gambling is preying on vulnerable Arkansans and that “medical” marijuana in Arkansas may simply be recreational marijuana by another name.

These industries are out of control. At this point, any legislation regulating marijuana and casino gambling might be a welcome change for the State of Arkansas.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

In “Refreshing Return to Sanity,” President Trump Orders Government to Protect Kids From Sex-Change Procedures

On Tuesday, the Trump Administration issued an executive order protecting children from puberty-blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change procedures.

In 2021 Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act protecting children from these procedures. Since then, some two dozen states have followed suit. However, laws like Arkansas’ faced stiff opposition from the Biden Administration — which spent four years pushing one pro-LGBT policy after another.

President Trump’s executive order helps reverse the previous administration’s flawed policies.

The order prohibits federal funding from being used for sex-change procedures on kids — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries.

Medical institutions, and facilities who receive federal research or education grants must “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children” immediately.

The order also directs federal agencies to revoke pro-LGBT policies that were based on guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) — an organization that the order says “lacks scientific integrity.”

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Sharp called the executive order “a refreshing return to sanity,” saying:

“Not a single dollar should be spent to facilitate or push vulnerable kids towards experimental, often irreversible, drugs and surgeries. Instead of being a global outlier, America will now ‘follow the science,’ like the U.K. and other European countries have done, to ensure that we are identifying safe and effective ways to help kids who experience distress over their biological sex.

“The president’s order affirms that the federal government is standing with detransitioners and families hurt by gender transition drugs and surgeries. That includes supporting a legal remedy for those who have suffered at the hands of doctors who have pushed junk science on vulnerable kids. And it directs the Department of Justice to work to ensure that states like California and Minnesota can’t strip parents in other states of their parental rights for safeguarding their children from life-altering hormones and irreversible surgeries. We applaud President Trump for fulfilling his promise to America’s families and taking these critical steps to protect children from harmful, experimental, and often irreversible medical procedures.”

We have written before how files leaked from WPATH make it clear that medical professionals have been fully aware for some time that sex-change procedures can lead to lasting regret and complications — some of which may even be life-threatening. WPATH kept promoting these procedures anyway — and government officials continued to look to groups like WPATH for guidance.

Since 2021, a major hospital in Sweden has announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids, the U.K. has adopted policies that protect children from puberty blockers, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers after discovering they caused some biological girls to experience swelling in the brain.

It is past time for our state and federal laws to protect children from these dangerous hormones and surgical procedures. President Trump’s executive order helps do exactly that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Arkansas House Passes H.B. 1204 Limiting What People Can Recover When They are Injured

On Wednesday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed H.B. 1204 limiting what people who are injured through no fault of their own may recover in damages for their injuries.

Right now, when people are injured through no fault of their own, they can go to court to make the guilty party pay for their injuries.

The person or business who caused the injury cannot use the injured person’s insurance to reduce the damages they owe. Courts can review evidence and award appropriate damages based on the facts of the case. This ensures injured people get fair compensation for harm that others do to them.

H.B. 1204 restricts damages awarded in all civil lawsuits in Arkansas.

The measure limits what people can recover in damages when someone injures them through no fault of their own.

Under H.B. 1204, an injured person’s insurance could be used to reduce what the person or company who caused the injury has to pay.

  • A motel that aids or abets sex-trafficking could use a trafficking victim’s insurance policy to reduce what they have to pay for the victim’s injuries.
  • A drunk driver who kills or injures a stay-at-home mom could use the mother’s insurance to reduce what he has to pay to her or her family.
  • A church leader who abuses a child may get to pay less to the child’s family if the family has insurance.

Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R — Paragould) explained some of the ways H.B. 1204 could hurt Arkansans during his testimony against the bill, which you can watch below.

H.B. 1204 might increase the insurance companies’ profits, but there is no guarantee it will lead to lower premiums for customers. There is no indication that legislation like H.B. 1204 has reduced insurance rates in any other state. That is part of the reason Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry vetoed a similar measure last year.

H.B. 1204 now goes to the Arkansas Senate for consideration. Below is a breakdown of how each representative voted on the bill.

The Following Representatives Voted FOR H.B. 1204

  • Achor
  • Andrews
  • Barker
  • Beaty Jr.
  • Beck
  • Bentley
  • S. Berry
  • Breaux
  • Brooks
  • K. Brown
  • M. Brown
  • N. Burkes
  • R. Burkes
  • Joey Carr
  • John Carr
  • Cavenaugh
  • Childress
  • Cozart
  • Crawford
  • Duke
  • Eaton
  • Eaves
  • Eubanks
  • Evans
  • Furman
  • Gonzales
  • Gramlich
  • Hall
  • Hawk
  • Hollowell
  • Jean
  • L. Johnson
  • Long
  • Lundstrum
  • Lynch
  • Maddox
  • Magie
  • McAlindon
  • McClure
  • McCollum
  • McGrew
  • B. McKenzie
  • McNair
  • S. Meeks
  • Milligan
  • J. Moore
  • K. Moore
  • Nazarenko
  • Painter
  • Pearce
  • Perry
  • Pilkington
  • Puryear
  • Ray
  • Richmond
  • Rose
  • Rye
  • Schulz
  • R. Scott Richardson
  • M. Shepherd
  • Steele
  • Steimel
  • Torres
  • Tosh
  • Underwood
  • Unger
  • Walker
  • Warren
  • Wing
  • Wooldridge
  • Wooten

The Following Representatives Voted AGAINST H.B. 1204

  • Barnes
  • Barnett
  • A. Collins
  • C. Cooper
  • Duffield
  • Ennett
  • D. Garner
  • Hudson
  • J. Mayberry
  • McCullough
  • M. McElroy
  • McGruder
  • T. Shephard
  • Springer
  • Wardlaw
  • D. Whitaker
  • Womack
  • Gonzales Worthen

The Following Representatives Voted “Present” on H.B. 1204

  • A. Brown
  • Clowney
  • Gazaway
  • Henley
  • Holcomb

The Following Representatives Did Not Vote

  • F. Allen
  • Dalby
  • K. Ferguson
  • Ladyman
  • J. Richardson
  • Vaught

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.