Legislature – Family Council

Arkansas Lawmakers Gearing Up for 2026 Budget Session

Mar 25, 2026Jerry CoxLegislatureAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, LEARNS, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life, Update

The Arkansas Legislature’s 2026 fiscal session will begin at noon on Wednesday, April 8, and lawmakers have already started pre-filing bills. The Arkansas House and Senate probably won’t pass any new laws, but they will set the State’s budget for the coming year.

We are looking forward to working with our friends at the Capitol on two important issues.

First, since 2022 we have worked with lawmakers to secure appropriations for grants to pregnancy help organizations. These pro-life charities provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies — often free of charge.

Now that abortion is generally prohibited in Arkansas, we want to make it unthinkable and irrelevant as well. Giving women real options besides abortion is one way we can do that. That’s what makes this grant funding so vital.

Second, lawmakers will review appropriations for the Educational Freedom Accounts (EFAs) created by the 2023 LEARNS Act. The funding for these accounts lets students in Arkansas use public money to pay for an education at a public or private school or at home.

Many families may feel trapped by failing public school systems or by one-size-fits-all approaches to education. For those families, the EFA program offers options that help them and their children thrive.

We plan to work with lawmakers to ensure Arkansas’ EFA program treats home schooled students fairly in the coming year.

Look for more news and information about Arkansas’ 2026 budget session at FamilyCouncil.org.

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

Family Council Releases 2025 General Assembly Report Showing How Legislators Voted on 24 Key Measures

This report is a snapshot of how lawmakers voted on key legislation related to social and moral issues. Guided by our mission of promoting, protecting, and strengthening traditional family values, Family Council focused heavily on 24 laws that passed in the Arkansas House and Senate during the 2025 legislative session.

These measures dealt with religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, education, alcohol, marijuana, Arkansas’ ballot initiative process, and similar issues. Family Council supported 21 of those laws and opposed three of them.

This General Assembly Report is an educational resource for voters. It is not an endorsement of any candidate or political party. It does not measure any lawmakers’ integrity, commitment to their faith, work ethic, or rapport with Family Council. It is only a report on how each lawmaker voted on 24 specific measures.

Not all lawmakers voted on every bill, and the report notes when that is the case.

One of the most common questions Family Council’s supporters ask is, “How did my legislator vote?” This report should help answer that question.

You can download the General Assembly report on all 135 state senators and representatives using the links below.

Gary Stubblefield: A Good Man, A Faithful Servant

My friend, Senator Gary Stubblefield, passed from this life into Heaven on September 2. When I heard the sad news, my thoughts raced back to 2011—the first day I met Gary. He was serving his first term in the Arkansas House. When I extended my hand to introduce myself, his enthusiasm caught me off guard, but his fearless nature impressed me even more.

At that time, with the House Public Health Committee killing every pro-life bill, I mentioned how difficult it had been to find sponsors for pro-life legislation. Tilting his head slightly and giving me that unforgettable smile, he said, “You get me a bill, and I’ll sponsor it.” We helped him draft a commonsense bill affirming the right of a woman to use deadly force to defend her unborn child against an attack. As expected, the committee defeated the bill along with nine out of ten others that session. But Gary came out of that defeat ready to take on the entire liberal world—and he did, and he won.

During his fourteen-year legislative career, he never once turned us down when we asked him to sponsor a bill. He championed the good causes: ending abortion, protecting religious freedom, defunding Planned Parenthood, fighting filth in our libraries, defending parental rights, standing for the Second Amendment, protecting women’s sports, and opposing sex changes on children. We have an entire wall of framed copies of good laws we’ve worked on—and Gary Stubblefield’s name is on many of them, either as a lead sponsor or co-sponsor.

Passing laws is important, but living as a truly good man is far greater. Gary never set out to be great, but he was. He never sought to be a hero, yet he became one. He never asked to be remembered, but he will be—both in our hearts and in God’s everlasting Kingdom. I only wish I could say to him today what I believe he has already heard from the Lord Himself: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”