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Arkansas committee approves bill to require male or female gender marker on driver ID
Summary
A House committee advanced a bill to put into state law a rule requiring Arkansas driver license and ID gender fields be listed as either "male" or "female." Sponsor said the measure codifies an existing agency rule.
Representative Howard Beatty, D-95, told the House Committee on Public Transportation that House Bill 1796 would codify an administrative rule governing the way gender information is displayed on Arkansas driver’s licenses and ID cards.
"Basically the bill requires display of gender information on an Arkansas driver's license ID card and specifies that that gender information must be stated as either male or female," Beatty said. He told the committee the change simply places in statute a rule the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) adopted earlier by rule.
The bill’s sponsor closed by asking for a motion to pass; the committee granted the motion and the bill advanced out of committee. No roll-call tally or recorded dissent was provided in the transcript; committee action was by voice vote.
Why it matters: The measure would put the DFA rule on gender markers into state law rather than leaving the policy only in agency rulemaking. The transcript records no public testimony for or against the bill during the committee hearing.
Committee discussion and outcome: Committee members asked no substantive follow-up questions during the hearing. Representative Beatty described the bill as a standardization of existing practice and said he appreciated the committee taking the bill early in the session. The transcript shows a voice motion to pass and the chair announcing the bill had passed.
