The Arkansas State Legislature continues the 94th General Assembly in Little Rock today.
While most of the focus this week has been on House Bill 1156 — the bill that would require Arkansas public school students to utilize bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their assigned gender, lawmakers have also addressed a number of other issues. (The bill passed the House this afternoon.)
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee advanced HB1004. This bill amends the Sex Offender Registration Act by requiring the physical address of the sex offender, including the house or apartment number, to be made public.
Currently, only the street name and block number are required.
For more information on news from the Arkansas House this week, click here.
According to the Arkansas Senate, legislation was passed that widens the window of dates on which public schools can begin in order to have more flexibility in setting their academic calendars.
The Senate Education Committee also endorsed legislation that encourages schools to dedicate the final week of January as Holocaust Education week. Beginning in the fall, all public schools must teach courses on the causes and effects of the Holocaust, which refers to the systematic murder of more than six million Jews and other people by the Nazi regime of German during the 1930s and 1940s.
The purpose of the requirement is to teach children about the effects of bullying, stereotyping, bigotry, and discrimination, according to the State Senate’s website. Designating the last week of January as Holocaust Awareness Week will be encouraged, but not mandated.
The Senate will soon vote on legislation to clarify that a GED is the equivalent of a high school diploma when people apply for a job.
The Senate also approved legislation to classify drag shows as adult entertainment if they appeal to the audience’s prurient interest. The sponsors say it will prevent sexualized performances in front of children.
And the Senate discussed an obscure statute — one which most people were not aware of — that will be repealed. The statute required motorists to turn off the ignition of their motor vehicle when they left it unattended. In effect, “it made outlaws of everyone who started their car in the driveway on winter mornings to warm up while they step back indoors to finish getting ready for work,” according to the State Senate’s site.
Senate Bill 47 is a bill of one paragraph that deletes the section in the Arkansas code that required drivers to always turn off their ignitions when leaving the car.
For more news from the Arkansas Senate, click here.
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