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Committee Concurred in Senate Amendment to HB1669 to Codify Religious-Freedom Policy for Adoption Agencies
Summary
At a meeting of the House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative & Military Affairs Committee, members concurred in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1669, which the sponsor said would codify Arkansas’s current policy protecting the ability of adoption agencies and foster parents to exercise religious beliefs.
At a meeting of the House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative & Military Affairs Committee, members concurred in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1669, which the sponsor said would codify Arkansas’s current policy protecting the ability of adoption agencies and foster parents to exercise religious beliefs.
State Representative Mary Bentley, R‑54, who presented the amendment, said the Attorney General’s office requested small changes to ensure the state did not “abolish totally our state sovereign’s immunity.” She said the amendment reflects those requested changes. "I'm not a lawyer," Bentley said while explaining she was presenting the AG's requested edits.
The amendment prompted one line of questioning from Representative Springer, who said the engrossed bill he had did not match the text on the committee table and raised a specific concern about a provision on sovereign immunity. Springer read language he saw referring to waiver of "sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity to suit and from liability" and asked whether the amendment would waive immunity. Bentley and the chair urged Springer to read the whole subsection; Bentley repeated that the AG's office had requested the amendment to avoid abolishing sovereign immunity.
After brief discussion and no public testimony, Bentley closed and made a motion to concur in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1669. The committee approved the motion by voice vote; members present responded "Aye" and the chair declared the amendment passed.
The sponsor described the bill as placing in statute "what our current policy is with religious freedom for our adoption agencies," adding the intent is to prevent discrimination against faith‑based agencies and prospective foster parents. Representative Barnes asked whether the Department of Human Services opposed the amendment; Bentley said DHS had not opposed the bill.
Action recorded: concurrence in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1669, approved by committee voice vote. No roll‑call tally was recorded in the committee transcript.
The committee moved on to other bills following passage of the amendment.
