NEWS & UPDATES

Arkansas will spend up to $379 million on school vouchers this coming school year. That's $309 million for students already in the program, plus $70 million the governor asked to set aside from the surplus for those still coming. For that money, the state will not ask a single family whether they could afford the tuition on their own. It will not ask whether a single child ever sat in an Arkansas public school. And in three years it has never once permanently barred a school

Arkansas began a "soft launch" of Medicaid work requirements on July 1. Nobody loses coverage yet. In January, the penalties start. Start with the part nobody's saying out loud. The federal deadline to have this in place is January 1. Arkansas didn't wait for it. We moved on July 1, alongside Montana, among the first states in the country to act. We went early, by nearly six months, on the one policy Arkansas has already tried and already watched fail. Here's the receipt. Ark

Supporters of the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment are collecting signatures right now to get the initiative on our ballots this November. I hope every Arkansan voter will consider finding a petition, signing it, and passing it on. Since 1910, Arkansans have been able to put a question directly on the ballot and let voters decide it. But when the partisan theology of our legislature moved to the right of its own voters, and those voters had the audacity to show up and

On his 80th birthday, the President announced what he called a major deal with Iran. A 60-day ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz reopened, by his account permanently toll-free. The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports lifted. He thanked Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin for helping get it done, and he called it a win. Read the reported terms, and here is what this deal actually is. Not a deal at all. A surrender. It sets the clock back to February. Back to before any of this started

The tale of two deals… The one Trump tore up in 2018, and whatever new one the US may have to sign to climb out of the war he started this February. This is a war of his choice. It’s very important to note that Congress, specifically the Republicans, has until just recently chosen not to utilize their power to stop a war that they know is wrong. The first was a landmark, the result of a great deal of hard work, good-faith negotiation, and real diplomatic muscle from this coun

The Arkansas legislature's fiscal session is done, and the Governor got everything she asked for: more money for the LEARNS Act voucher program. The Senate rejected a modest attempt to cap homeschool accounts and tie eligibility to academic accountability. Some lawmakers went so far as to make foolish, public vows to never cap the program at all. And we already know how well that worked out for Arizona. But anyone paying attention can see the heartburn inside their own party.

I'm glad to see that the League of Women Voters and my friend Senator Bryan King have filed a lawsuit challenging Act 236, which makes it...

It's the age-old tale: the GOP cares about the debt ceiling until they don't. Congressional Republicans love to talk about the debt...

Much has been said of how our state has distributed ARPA funds to date, and even more has been said of late about how the remaining funds...

When the legislature adjourned sine die on October 15, it did so with a pair of bills sent to the Governor’s desk. Neither of those bills...

The 2021 Legislative session captured headlines for some of the bills that were passed. But I think some of what my colleagues turned...

Today, I am joining my colleagues from Pulaski County in their earnest plea to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, President Pro Tempore Sen. Jimmy...

The 2021 Legislative session captured headlines for some of the bills that were passed. But I think some of what my colleagues turned...

The 2021 Legislative session captured headlines for some of the bills that were passed. But I think some of what my colleagues turned...

Arkansas has the fourth-highest violent crime rate in the nation. Based on legislation passed by lawmakers this session, the solution to thi

Legislative Wrap-Up: Solving the Wrong Problems In 2008, I decided to run for state office and seek a seat in the Arkansas House of...

In the 2020 election, only 55.5% of eligible voters cast a ballot. That was good for 50th in the nation, second last among all states and

The regular session of the 93rd General Assembly is in the rearview mirror. And while there is plenty to celebrate from our last four...