Votes at a glance: Arkansas House actions, March 12, 2025

The Arkansas House completed a full floor session March 12, recording votes on numerous bills. Major outcomes included passage of the Arkansas Access Act (House Bill 15-12) and a series of other bills across policy areas from transportation and public safety to health care coverage. One bill, the Ballot Draw Standardization Act (House Bill 10-70), failed on final passage.

Votes at a glance (bill — short description — House outcome):

- House Bill 15-12, Arkansas Access Act — comprehensive higher-education reform and scholarship changes — Passed, 81-17.

- House Bill 16-06 — authorizes local governments to allow defined utility-terrain vehicles (UTVs) on designated public streets — Passed, 91-3 with 3 present.

- House Bill 15-51 — creates a new criminal offense for administering abortion-inducing drugs without consent (coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud) — Passed, 99-0.

- House Bill 15-05 — requires public employers to provide counseling coverage for public safety employees after traumatic events; emergency clause — Passed, 97-0, 1 present (emergency clause adopted).

- House Bill 12-72 — title implications when streets or alleys are abandoned; retroactive to 1945 — Passed, 99-0.

- House Bill 12-74 — allows title insurers/agents to pay real property taxes in conjunction with closings under specified procedures — Passed, 98-0.

- House Bill 17-25 — establishes salary ranges and certification-based pay guidance for county sheriffs — Passed, 76-18, 5 present.

- House Bill 17-17 — Arkansas Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (extends online data protections to ages through 17) — Passed, 99-0.

- House Bill 16-69 — Keep Kids First Act (protections for foster/adoption providers acting on sincerely held religious beliefs) — Passed, 78-17.

- House Bill 12-88 — changes to credentialing retroactive payments under the Arkansas Healthcare Consumer Act — Passed, 96-0.

- House Bill 14-24 — mandates private-insurer coverage for certain bariatric procedures for severe obesity — Passed, 73-13, 10 present.

- House Bill 13-16 — mandates coverage for lung-cancer screening — Passed, 82-6, 8 present.

- House Bill 16-52 — updates law governing self-service storage rental agreements — Passed, 97-1, 1 present.

- House Bill 1700 — amends prior-authorization transparency to withhold reviewing physician's name from adverse-determination notice — Passed, 97-0, 1 present.

- House Bill 16-56 — amends oil-and-gas production and conservation law, including transparency and royalty-accounting clarifications — Passed, 81-11, 2 present.

- House Bill 17-21 — removes greyhound racing and simulcasting from state code (effective synced with industry closures) — Passed, 86-5, 1 present.

- House Bill 10-70 — Ballot Draw Standardization Act of 2025 (standardizes the ballot draw process) — Failed, 34-48, 7 present.

Several other bills and resolutions were considered and adopted by voice vote or unanimous consent; ceremonial resolutions recognizing school teams and AmeriCorps Week were adopted without recorded roll-call tallies.

Notes on counts and procedure: Where the transcript records a roll-call, the numerical tally above reproduces the floor announcement of the vote. For measures recorded by voice or unanimous consent, the transcript often records “the ayes have it” without a numeric roll-call; those items are noted as adopted when the transcript shows clear passage. If the transcript did not include a numerical tally, the entry is described with the floor outcome as stated on the record.

What to watch: Bills that change statutory definitions or funding directions (for example HB 15-12 and HB 16-56) may require follow-up rulemaking or appropriation decisions; stakeholders, agencies and local governments should track implementation guidance and potential supplemental legislation.