Governor vetoes bill requiring regional school behavioral-health programs; legislature set to reconvene May 5

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders returned Senate Bill 451 to the Arkansas State Senate with a veto on April 22, saying the measure "would not address the issue in the targeted way we need" and directing state education and human services leaders to work with stakeholders on an alternative approach.

The governor's veto letter, filed in the Senate chamber, said school administrators, teachers and principals are increasingly managing student behavioral issues, including aggression and violence, which disrupt the academic environment. "Therefore, I am vetoing this legislation," the letter states. It adds: "I have directed the secretaries of the Department of Education, the Department of Human Services to work with interested parties to come up with [a] solution that is more tailored to the needs of our local public schools."

The action came as the Senate received a joint proclamation signed by Speaker of the House Brian Evans and Senate President Pro Tem Bart Hester that the regular session of the 90th General Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. Monday, May 5, 2025, "to consider vetoes, corrected errors and oversights, complete work on proposed constitutional amendments, [and] consider the need for further extension of the regular session." The proclamation was presented for the Senate record during the morning hour.

Senate President Pro Tem Bart Hester later moved that the Senate adjourn sine die, "subject to the house's adjournment, sine die," and the motion carried after a voice vote. Hester said he had conferred with the Speaker of the House and determined there was no further business in the regular session. The chamber then stood adjourned pending the May 5 reconvening.

The governor also filed numerous messages notifying the Senate that she had approved many bills from the regular session; the chamber recorded several lists of enacted measures for the official journal. Those filings were procedural and were noted without debate.

The veto of SB 451 leaves in place the existing statutory framework pending any action when the General Assembly reconvenes. The governor’s direction that the Department of Education and the Department of Human Services work with "interested parties" signals an administrative effort to pursue alternatives rather than immediate statutory change. The transcript does not include a detailed plan or timeline beyond the reconvening date for May 5, 2025.

No roll-call vote occurred on the veto in the Senate during this session; the chamber received the governor’s message and recorded it in the journal. The Senate’s adjournment came after procedural items and the filing of multiple gubernatorial messages.