On Monday, the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee began hearing testimony for proposed constitutional amendments. The committee did not take any action on the proposals today but plans to do so when it meets again on Wednesday.
The full House passed the following bills on Monday:
HB1468. This bill prohibits requiring employees of public schools and state-supported institutions of higher education to use a person’s preferred pronoun, name, or title without parental consent.
HB1560. This bill states any person who is 18 years of age or older and observes abuse, sexual abuse, or sexual exploitation of a child is a mandated reporter under the Child Maltreatment Act. It also prohibits anonymous reporting of child maltreatment and amends the penalties for failure to report child maltreatment.
HB1446. This bill seeks to provide state oversight of the quality of care provided to children in psychiatric residential treatment facilities. It directs the Department of Human Services to promulgate rules setting minimum standards and metrics governing the quality of care provided by a regulated facility to a child.
HB1333. This bill expands eligibility of the Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship to 10th-grade high school students. Currently, the scholarship is available to high school juniors and seniors enrolled in an endorsed concurrent course or certificate program.
The House will reconvene on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.