Good morning folks! We are posted up at the State Board of Election Commissioners! There are some procedural/normal issues they'll be dealing with according to the posted agenda, but the big item today is consideration of the new rule regarding voter registration. The rule would ban electronic signatures on voter registration forms, making Arkansas only one of 8 states that do not have some kind of online/electronic voter registration, and would drastically limit access to the ballot box.

Day 2 of our reproductive healthcare rewind:

The State of Maternal Healthcare in Arkansas. #arpx

forarpeople.org/ar-state-of-ma… Most are aware that we have extremely poor maternal health outcomes, but here's a good visual on just how dangerous it can be to be a mom in Arkansas.

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ARKANSAS!

We have just under 10 days until signatures are due for the Arkansas Abortion Amendment, so we thought we'd do a rewind of related content.

We're starting with one we wrote for the one-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

forarpeople.org/the-fall-of-ro… We reflected on what the first year without Roe looked like.

At the time, we felt very hopeless: a hostile state legislature, a dire national landscape for abortion rights, and an atmosphere of defeat.

Good morning Arkansas, and welcome to what is predicted to be the final day of this special session! The Senate meets at 9, the House at 10, and there's a few committee meetings today to prepare for Friday's Ark. Legislative Council meeting. #arpx #arleg As of now, no one has filed Senate versions of the two undemocratic House resolutions that a number of citizens, us included opposed yesterday, and the subcommittee they'd be heard in hasn't posted any sort of agenda. (We're posted up outside the room just in case).

The House Management Committee meeting is set to start at 1:00pm. There are many people here most likely because of the resolutions against a couple of the direct democracy petitions. We have been told that public comment is available at this meeting so follow along. Rep. Hawk is recognized to discuss House Memorial Resolution 1001 to honor the life and contributions of Mr. Curtis Olan Ferguson.

We are posted up in the Senate with 30 minutes to go before the special session. After the Senate and House adjourn - no agendas have been posted yet - we'll head to the Joint Budget Committee, where lawmakers are scheduled to discuss the Game and Fish Commission. #arpx #arleg We deeply hope that the vote over G&F will be largely perfunctory and lawmakers' concerns were addressed before the start of session. No indications there will be any issues, but that's key for Arkansas' tourism over the next few months.

Goooood afternoon! We're about 20 min away from the Joint Education Committee's afternoon edition. Quite a bit more on the agenda.

While we're waiting for the legislators to file back in, we thought it might be helpful to clarify what's going on today. #arleg #arpx No policy will really be made; there shouldn't really be any major votes today. This is purely a report from BLR and Dept. of Education (our favorite Florida Man, Jacob Oliva, is scheduled for this afternoon) on the state of education.

With all the news lately about SolutionTree, LEARNS vouchers funding, and everything else going on at the Department of Education, we thought we'd pop into the Joint Education Subcommittee meeting this morning, slated to begin in about 20 minutes. Quite a packed agenda: teacher salaries and merit increases, resource allocation, and learning standards.

Follow along with this thread! #arpx #arleg

BREAKING:
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The Supreme Court of the United States just sent a case about AR's 2021 redistricting back to the District Court for the Eastern District, asking it to use the recent voting rights case out of South Carolina in making its judgement.

This will be bad for AR voters. The case the Court is referencing in the above order, Alexander v. SC NAACP, dealt with racial and political gerrymandering in the wake of Rucho v. Common Cause, a 2019 case that held courts have no jurisdiction over political gerrymandering, only racial gerrymandering.

Some interesting fighting in ALC this morning: lawmakers are getting testy over a longstanding advertising with CJRW, claiming that they're not getting good value for the contract anymore. This is the second time in a week a big contract has been under fire; Dept. of Education pulled their shady contract with Solution Tree from the agenda earlier this week. They delayed the vote on the contract to next month to allow CJRW to come and talk with them at the next ALC.

We're here at the Joint Performance Review Meeting at the MAC building. We'll be hearing discussions surrounding the Unlocked: A Jail Experiment Netflix series. In for a wild ride. First Witness is Sheriff Eric Higgins and he just received a round of applause. We were told this is "not a pep rally."

Good morning (again) Arkansas! We're posted up in the Senate gallery, ready for the (please please please) final working day of Fiscal Session. The Senate is voting on the Revenue Stabilization Act and HB1008, the appropriations bill for Arkansas PBS that failed twice before passing the House. The bill has passed the Senate in previous fiscal sessions, but things could change and it could be a bit of a fight. We'll see!

And the House has gaveled into session! Follow this thread as the crypto bills come onto the floor later today. #arpx #arleg As a reminder, these bills-Irvin/Moore and Bryant/McClure-intend to regulate the growing prevalence of crypto mines in the state. Constituents across Arkansas have complained about noise, threats from facility security, and their fears these facilities are taking up resources.

And we are posted up in the House Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs for one of the final stops of the crypto bills!

#arpx #arleg A decent crowded of mostly-suited folks we've seen in some other hearings; this will be the last opportunity to hear public comment on the bills, so if more folks want to express their support/opposition, this is the moment.

Good morning folks! We are in the Joint Budget Committee today, where lawmakers are continuing to deal with the Revenue Stabilization Act. The other very outstanding piece of business is, of course, the fate of the crypto bills in the House. #arpx #arleg (If you missed our short thread about the RSA, here it is!) threadreaderapp.com/thread/1783559…

#arleg fiscal session update: RSA is out and under consideration in Joint Budget Committee this morning, and both crypto bills have been scheduled for the House Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs on Tuesday of next week. There should be time for public comment. #arpx The RSA, or Revenue Stabilization Act, is actually pretty cool and pretty unique among states. Passed in 1945, it eliminated a ton of random special funds and provided a formula for orderly and efficient monthly disbursement of revenue for the state.

Good afternoon folks! We are posted up in the Senate ready for some more voting on crypto! #arpx #arleg

Sen. Irvin's amendment will be voted on, and Sen. Bryant's bill will get voted on. They may suspend the rules to go ahead and vote on Irvin's full bill as well. @ArkDavey reported there was a chance King would try to expunge the vote on his resolutions and try again with updated language, but that may not happen now without Democrats' support.

We're posted up in the Senate Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs. No one yet signed up to speak for or against, and a pretty empty crowd.

Sen. Irvin up first. Wants to expunge previous vote and start over (makes the procedure go a bit faster). Says the new language narrows definition of "digital asset mining business" to include "block chain network" - doesn't pull in *every* blockchain-using business.

Alrighty we are back in the Senate Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs, where the only two things on the agenda are the now-infamous crypto bills. Pretty packed room.

#arleg #arpx Sounds like the bills have some amendments that the hardworking folks at BLR are sending over; then there will be a short recess so a few members can attend an event in the rotunda.

Good afternoon, Arkansas! We are posted up in the Senate. On the calendar are a number of appropriations bills. We don't expect any drama there. #arpx #arleg

BUT. We're hearing rumors that Sen. Irvin may put forward a motion to remove her crypto regulation bill from the Committee on Cities, Counties, and Local Affairs and move it to the Committee on Insurance and Commerce. Why would this be significant?

Good afternoon folks! We're posted up ready for the House session today, where they'll decide whether to let a number of bills regulating crypto/data mining centers in the state into the Fiscal Session. Each resolution has now received the necessary 2/3 vote in the Senate, and House Rules recommended "Do Pass" with no audible Nays.

Other than that, we don't really have any insider knowledge as to how this'll go. They could sail through, or they could hit a roadblock.