Arkansas House approves a package of bills on brine production, health rules, education and election petitions

The Arkansas House of Representatives on Feb. 20, 2025, passed a package of bills spanning energy regulation, health‑care rules, school safety curriculum and election petition procedures, voting on each measure during a floor session in Little Rock.

The measures approved included changes to how brine production units are adjusted, a narrower restriction and penalty change on chiropractic solicitation after vehicle accidents, a requirement that schools be able to offer age‑appropriate firearm‑safety instruction, and a new disclosure requirement for initiative petition canvassers. Lawmakers also raised the cap for certain literacy‑tutoring grants under the Right to Read/LEARNZ program and approved technical constitutional corrections.

Why it matters: several bills change how state agencies and boards will implement policies (for example, the Oil and Gas Commission and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission), and at least one measure (a petition canvasser disclosure) carries an emergency clause. Several votes included sizable margins, indicating broad support for the package, while a few measures drew recorded opposition.

Representative Shepherd explained a bill to allow acreage to move between brine production units and to allow acreage removal from a unit with Oil and Gas Commission approval. "Ultimately, all of those moves would have to be approved by the Oil and Gas Commission," Representative Shepherd said on the House floor.

Representative Richardson described a bill narrowing a post‑accident "dead period" for chiropractic practitioners from 30 days to 14 days, replacing a felony penalty with a $500 fine enforceable by the board, and prohibiting branded materials except those from the department or commission. The House approved that bill, 69‑13 with seven present.

Representative Richardson also sponsored a separate measure to require the Arkansas Department of Education and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to collaborate on developing age‑appropriate firearm‑safety instructional materials for K‑12 classrooms; the measure passed 74‑8 with four present.

Representative Underwood led Senate Bill 207, which requires canvassers for statewide initiative and referendum petitions to notify potential signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense; the House passed the bill with the emergency clause by a recorded vote of 67‑26 (emergency clause recorded as passed on the House floor).

Other measures passed included raising the literacy tutoring grant cap (Senate Bill 206) from $500 to $1,500 per student when funds permit (passed 96‑0), technical corrections to the state constitution (Senate Bill 169, passed 92‑1), and campaign contribution indexing adjustments to mirror Federal Election Commission changes (House Bill 13‑69, passed 96‑0 with emergency clause).

The chamber also adopted House Resolution 1042 honoring Annie Mabel McDaniel Abrams, recognizing her community service and civic leadership; Representative Joy Springer presented the resolution and it was adopted by voice vote.

Votes at a glance (reported outcomes from the House floor): - House Bill 14‑13 (brine production units): Passed, 93 yes, 0 nay, 3 present. Representative Shepherd explained the bill; the measure allows movements of acreage between units and removal of acreage with Oil and Gas Commission approval. - Concurrence with Senate amendment No. 1 to House Bill 11‑83 (nursing registry/ patient care techs): Concurred, 96 yes, 0 nay, 0 present. - House Bill 14o5 (chiropractic solicitation/consumer protections): Passed, 69 yes, 13 no, 7 present. Representative Richardson said the bill shortens a post‑accident dead period to 14 days and replaces a felony with a $500 fine managed by the board. - House Bill 13‑69 (campaign contribution indexing): Passed with emergency clause, 96 yes, 0 nay, 0 present. - House Bill 13‑79 (special authorization for meal/lodging reimbursement procedures): Passed, 92 yes, 1 no, 1 present. - House Bill 11‑17 (instruction on firearm safety in public schools and charter schools): Passed, 74 yes, 8 no, 4 present. The bill tasks the Department of Education and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to develop neutral, age‑appropriate materials. - Motion to re‑refer House Bill 14‑28 to committee: Adopted (voice vote/motion carried on the floor). - Senate Bill 207 (initiative petition canvasser disclosure; emergency): Passed, 67 yes, 26 no (emergency clause recorded as passed by the House vote). - Senate Bill 206 (Right to Read / literacy tutoring grant cap increase): Passed, 96 yes, 0 no, 0 present. - Senate Bill 169 (technical corrections to Arkansas Constitution/Amendment 51): Passed, 92 yes, 1 no, 0 present. - House Resolution 1042 (honoring Annie Mabel McDaniel Abrams): Adopted by voice vote.

What the bills direct agencies to do: the brine unit bill directs future adjustments to be done under rules of the Oil and Gas Commission; the firearm‑safety bill directs the Department of Education and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to develop curricula that are neutral and non‑branded; the chiropractic bill assigns enforcement of the new fine to the relevant licensing board and narrows the dead period for outreach to accident patients.

Several members asked implementation questions on the floor. Representative Clowney asked Representative Richardson whether annual instructional time would be used for the firearm‑safety program; Richardson compared it to other safety drills and said the item is safety training to be handled similarly. Representative McCullough asked Representative Underwood how violations of the canvasser disclosure would be prosecuted; Underwood said prosecution would require a complaint and an investigation and that evidence could be provided in a number of ways.

The House concluded with procedural announcements, committee meeting notices and an adjournment motion to reconvene at 1:30 p.m. the next day.

The article is based on the House floor proceedings on Feb. 20, 2025, as read into the record and the roll‑call votes announced by the clerk.