Arkansas Legislature Passes Measure to Help Keep Planned Parenthood Out of Public Schools

Abortion, , ,
Sen. Ballinger presents H.B. 1592 on the floor of the Senate.

On Monday the Arkansas Senate passed H.B. 1592.

This good bill by Rep. Mark Lowery (R – Maumelle) prohibits public schools in Arkansas from engaging in transactions with abortion providers. It previously passed the Arkansas House of Representatives.

In March, Family Council obtained nearly 1,400 pages of documents that revealed how Planned Parenthood has worked in public schools in Pulaski County for several years.

H.B. 1592 will help make sure Planned Parenthood and other abortionists don’t access Arkansas’ public schools.

The bill now goes to the governor to become law. Below is a breakdown of the vote on H.B. 1592.

Voted FOR H.B. 1592

  • B. Ballinger
  • Beckham
  • Bledsoe
  • Caldwell
  • B. Davis
  • J. Dismang
  • L. Eads
  • J. English
  • Flippo
  • T. Garner
  • Gilmore
  • K. Hammer
  • Hester
  • Hickey
  • Hill
  • Irvin
  • M. Johnson
  • B. Johnson
  • M. Pitsch
  • Rapert
  • Rice
  • B. Sample
  • G. Stubblefield
  • J. Sturch
  • D. Sullivan
  • Teague
  • D. Wallace

Voted AGAINST H.B. 1592

  • L. Chesterfield
  • Elliott
  • K. Ingram
  • G. Leding
  • C. Tucker

Excused From Voting

  • S. Flowers
  • J. Hendren

Did Not Vote

  • A. Clark

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Despite Banner Month, Lottery Gives Little to Scholarships, Most to Prizes

Arkansas Lottery

The Arkansas Lottery recently released its monthly financial report for March 2021.

The report reveals that the Arkansas Lottery spent only 12% of its gross revenue on scholarships — despite bringing in a record-setting $67.9 million in March.

More than 70% of the Lottery’s revenue went to prizes instead.

For perspective, the typical state lottery budgets approximately 25% – 30% of its revenue for education and about 60% for prizes.

S.B. 649 by Sen. Charles Beckham (R – McNeil) and Rep. Richard Womack (R – Arkadelphia) would require the Arkansas Lottery to increase the percentage of its revenue budgeted for scholarships to 25% over the next six years. This would bring the Arkansas Lottery up to the standards of the typical state-run lottery — and it most likely would provide millions of additional dollars in scholarship funding.

Below is a breakdown of Lottery revenue and prize spending for Fiscal Year 2021.

Scholarship Spending

MonthGross Lottery RevenuePaid to Scholarships% Gross Revenue
July$49,780,369.99$8,592,573.9317.3%
August49,672,105.047,862,917.4415.8%
September47,501,224.727,691,576.9916.2%
October42,615,839.968,447,337.0019.8%
November43,115,514.848,207,598.8819.0%
December50,329,644.305,970,922.5311.9%
January, 202162,994,737.2710,913,192.3217.3%
February42,099,444.225,592,370.9513.3%
March67,975,057.808,341,917.3812.3%
Total$456,083,938.14$71,620,407.4215.7%

Prize Spending

MonthGross Lottery RevenueTotal Prizes% Going to Prizes
July49,780,369.9935,641,717.4871.6%
August49,672,105.0435,023,856.8370.5%
September47,501,224.7233,422,556.1470.4%
October42,615,839.9629,995,072.5070.4%
November43,115,514.8430,548,473.7270.9%
December50,329,644.3033,661,170.7566.9%
January,202162,994,737.2741,745,065.1766.3%
February42,099,444.2227,955,512.1966.4%
March67,975,057.8047,945,090.7870.5%
Total456,083,938.14315,938,515.5669.3%

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Bad Bill Would Permit Internet Gambling on Sports

Gambling,

On Monday Rep. Lee Johnson (R – Greenwood) filed H.B. 1942.

This bad bill lets casinos in Arkansas conduct internet gambling on sporting events.

The bill is incredibly open-ended.

H.B. 1942 authorizes internet sports betting on professional sports, amateur sports, and college sports.

Besides applying to athletic events like football or basketball, the bill also permits internet sportsbetting on motor race events, electronic sports, competitive video game events, and any other event authorized by the Arkansas Racing Commission.

Between the state-run lottery and the casinos, Arkansas already has too much gambling. We don’t need any more.

Read The Bill Here.

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