Senate Narrowly Passes Bill Letting Cities Permit Public Drinking

A little before 2:00 PM Wednesday the Arkansas Senate passed S.B. 492, a bad bill that lets cities and municipalities in wet counties create entertainment districts.

Entertainment districts are areas of town where people can carry and drink alcohol on streets and sidewalks.

Under current law, people caught doing this could face charges of public drinking and public intoxication. S.B. 492 changes state law and ultimately will lead to increased public drinking and public intoxication in our communities.

The bill received only 18 votes in the Arkansas Senate, which is the bare minimum it needed to pass. It now goes to Governor Hutchinson’s desk.

Below is a breakdown of how the Arkansas Senate voted on this bad bill.

Voted FOR S.B. 492

Sen. Bob Ballinger (R – Berryville)
Sen. Will Bond (D – Little Rock)
Sen. Ronald Caldwell (R – Wynne)
Sen. Linda Chesterfield (D – Little Rock)
Sen. Breanne Davis (R – Russellville)
Sen. Lance Eads (R – Springdale)
Sen. Joyce Elliott (D – Little Rock)
Sen. Jane English (R – North Little Rock)
Sen. Trent Garner (R – El Dorado)
Sen. Jim Hendren (R – Gravette)
Sen. Jimmy Hickey (R – Texarkana)
Sen. Ricky Hill (R – Cabot)
Sen. Keith Ingram (D – West Memphis)
Sen. Mark Johnson (R – Little Rock)
Sen. Greg Leding (D – Fayetteville)
Sen. Terry Rice (R – Waldron)
Sen. Bill Sample (R – Hot Springs)
Sen. David Wallace (R – Leachville)

Voted AGAINST S.B. 492

Sen. Cecile Bledsoe (R – Rogers)
Sen. Alan Clark (R – Lonsdale)
Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R – Beebe)
Sen. Scott Flippo (R – Bull Shoals)
Sen. Kim Hammer (R – Benton)
Sen. Bart Hester (R – Cave Springs)
Sen. Blake Johnson (R – Corning)
Sen. Bruce Maloch (D – Magnolia)
Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway)
Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Branch)
Sen. James Sturch (R – Batesville)
Sen. Larry Teague (D – Nashville)

Voted “Present” on S.B. 492 (Did Not Vote For or Against It)

Sen. John Cooper (R – Jonesboro)
Sen. Stephanie Flowers (D – Pine Bluff)
Sen. Missy Irvin (R – Mountain View)

Did Not Vote on S.B. 492

Sen. Eddie Cheatham (D – Crossett)
Sen. Matthew Pitsch (R – Fort Smith)

Updated: S.B. 304 Fails in Committee

Yesterday around 6:00 P.M., S.B. 304, the bad sex-education bill by Sen. Will Bond (D – Little Rock) and Rep. LeAnne Burch (D – Monticello), failed in the House Education Committee.

This bill would make it possible for Planned Parenthood to worm its way into junior high and high schools across Arkansas under the auspices of teaching teen pregnancy prevention and sex-education.

After a lot of testimony and discussion, the bill received eight votes from the committee members; it needed 11 to pass.

During the meeting, Rep. Mark Lowery (R – Maumelle) offered a good amendment to S.B. 304 that would have prevented abortion-providers like Planned Parenthood from teaching the sex-education courses this bill authorizes, but the committee did not add his good amendment to the bill.

Thankfully, the bill ultimately failed to pass.

Below is a breakdown of how each representative voted on S.B. 304 (please note that some of the committee members who did not vote were absent from the meeting).

Voted FOR S.B. 304

Rep. Jon Eubanks (R – Paris)
Rep. John Walker (D – Little Rock)
Rep. Jim Dotson (R – Bentonville)
Rep. Jana Della Rosa (R – Rogers)
Rep. DeAnn Vaught (R – Horatio)
Rep. LeAnne Burch (D – Monticello)
Rep. Frances Cavenaugh (R – Walnut Ridge)
Rep. Denise Garner (D – Fayetteville)

Voted AGAINST S.B. 304

Rep. Stephen Meeks (R – Greenbrier)
Rep. Mark Lowery (R – Maumelle)
Rep. Dan Sullivan (R – Jonesboro)
Rep. Nelda Speaks (R – Mountain Home)
Rep. Mickey Gates (R – Hot Springs)
Rep. Brian Evans (R – Cabot)

Did Not Vote on S.B. 304

Rep. Gary Deffenbaugh (R – Van Buren)
Rep. Grant Hodges (R – Rogers)
Rep. Rick Beck (R – Center Ridge)
Rep. Fred Allen (D – Little Rock)
Rep. Reginald Murdock (D – Marianna)
Rep. Bruce Cozart (R – Hot Springs)

This was a hard-fought victory, and it would not have been possible without everyone who called, texted, and emailed their legislators about this bad bill. Hats off to everyone who helped defeat S.B. 304 last night!

Also, we’ve reviewed three decades-worth of data from the Arkansas Department of Health and the federal CDC that shows why sex-education programs like S.B. 304’s don’t work. You can read about that in our April update letter.

Updated

Here is how the House Education Committee voted on Rep. Lowery’s good amendment that would have kept abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from teaching sex-education under S.B. 304:

Voted FOR Rep. Lowery’s Good Amendment
Rep. Stephen Meeks (R – Greenbrier)
Rep. Mark Lowery (R – Maumelle)
Rep. Rick Beck (R – Center Ridge)
Rep. Dan Sullivan (R – Jonesboro)
Rep. Nelda Speaks (R – Mountain Home)
Rep. Brian Evans (R – Cabot)

Voted AGAINST Rep. Lowery’s Good Amendment
Rep. Jon Eubanks (R – Paris)
Rep. John Walker (D – Little Rock)
Rep. Jim Dotson (R – Bentonville)
Rep. Jana Della Rosa (R – Rogers)
Rep. LeAnne Burch (D – Monticello)
Rep. Frances Cavenaugh (R – Walnut Ridge)
Rep. Denise Garner (D – Fayetteville)
Rep. Bruce Cozart (R – Hot Springs)

Did Not Vote For or Against the Amendment
Rep. Gary Deffenbaugh (R – Van Buren)
Rep. Grant Hodges (R – Rogers)
Rep. Mickey Gates (R – Hot Springs)
Rep. DeAnn Vaught (R – Horatio)
Rep. Fred Allen (D – Little Rock)
Rep. Reginald Murdock (D – Marianna)

You can read S.B. 304 here.

You can read Rep. Lowery’s amendment to S.B. 304 here.

You can download an official copy of the roll-call vote on Rep. Lowery’s amendment to S.B. 304 here.