The Arkansas Legislature is gearing up for its common session initially of the yr, and lots of teams and organizations might be pushing adjustments in state legal guidelines. Household Council President Jerry Cox and Laura Kellams, NWA Director for Arkansas Advocates for Kids & Households, mentioned with Discuss Enterprise & Politics what their teams’ legislative priorities might be in the course of the subsequent session.

Arkansas is a pro-life state and Cox stated he doesn’t assume there might be any main adjustments to the state’s restrictive abortion legal guidelines. There is perhaps a push to develop the legislation to permit for abortions in instances of rape or incest, however he doesn’t assume there might be sufficient votes on that entrance. Few Republican lawmakers will need to cope with that situation in a main, he added.

“It’s just about been taken care of,” Cox stated of the state’s abortion legal guidelines.

There may be one abortion-related situation he might see being addressed, nonetheless. A legislation is perhaps handed to limit companies and organizations that make referrals for abortions, he stated.

About half of all girls who give start in Arkansas obtain Medicaid protection and the system must be tweaked, Kellams stated. When a newly expectant mom applies for Medicaid, she is bunched in with all the opposite candidates. Pregnant girls have to be quick tracked, she stated. Her group additionally needs protection prolonged for the mom one yr after start, not the standard 60 days.

“We have to get them that prenatal protection as shortly as doable,” she stated.

Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders has stated {that a} precedence for her might be to enhance the state’s schooling system, particularly studying scores. Kellams stated one confirmed technique of enhancing scores is after college and summer time applications. Funding and increasing these applications might be a key to fulfilling Sanders’ purpose, she stated.

“The state hasn’t made an effort to spend money on these applications,” she stated.

One other drawback the legislature will cope with is human trafficking. Arkansas is woefully behind different states in the case of coping with this drawback, and Cox believes there may be common help amongst lawmakers to make adjustments.

“Arkansas will get an F in the case of coping with human trafficking,” he stated.

Cox expects the statute of limitations for each prison and civil offenses to be prolonged in the case of human trafficking. He additionally thinks that companies akin to motels or motels that “flip a blind eye” to those actions could also be held extra culpable.

Cox expects extra funding to be allotted to companies and organizations that help moms who’re pregnant or have simply given start. He thinks that grants might be created for organizations that assist present housing, system, diapers and different providers and merchandise utilized by moms.

Librarians have been exempt from the state’s obscenity statutes however that would change throughout this session, he stated. He stated that libraries are publicly funded establishments and legislators could need to discover a option to train extra management over the content material of the supplies which can be carried in libraries.

Lastly, the Arkansas Fee on the Standing of Ladies launched a report final week that outlined issues for ladies within the state. One of many prime issues listed was childcare.

Kellams stated she was happy that childcare was on the record. There must be coordination between private and non-private entities to deal with this drawback, she stated. The difficulty impacts enterprise, the financial system and has a direct impression on youngsters’s improvement. Being uncovered to higher applications in early childhood will result in increased check scores when these youngsters get into common college, she added.

You’ll be able to watch Cox’s and Kellams’ interviews within the movies under.