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Arkansas religious rights bill augurs more than just a clarifying guide

Published

6 months ago

February 27, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Sonny Albarado – 2025-02-27 01:30:00

Arkansas religious rights bill augurs more than just a clarifying guide

by Sonny Albarado, Arkansas Advocate
February 27, 2025

Sen. Alan Clark told his colleagues Tuesday he was initially skeptical about Senate Bill 223, which would “Create the Religious Rights at Public Schools Act.”

I too was skeptical. But unlike the Republican senator from Lonsdale, who ultimately voted for the bill, I remain skeptical.

The legislation would require public school districts and open charter schools to distribute at the beginning of each school year a copy of the act alerting students, parents and staff that they have “broad religious freedom” under the U.S. Constitution and First Amendment case law under the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among the rights the bill spells out are the ability to pray silently or out loud, individually or in groups and through other activities permitted to other groups by the school, including forming clubs. Also enumerated in the bill is the right to “display, print, recite or discuss religious texts and religious beliefs” when a student has the discretion to choose a topic or person of interest.

The bill further makes clear that students and staff can “give a Bible or other religious text to any other person at the school.”

Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale (Arkansas Secretary of State)

Bill sponsor Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, assured his fellow senators that the legislation merely serves as a guide “to clarify religious rights at public schools” and doesn’t introduce any new rights.

Republican Sen. Breanne Davis of Russellville echoed Johnson, saying the bill is “solidifying what’s already law.”

“Students, parents and staff want to know what their religious freedoms are. There are situations … where teachers are fired, students get in trouble, and it’s because people do not know where these things are in law. … Nobody knows what their rights are,” Davis said.

If people don’t know what their rights are, it could be because schools aren’t teaching civics. But I suspect what’s going on here is that certain religious sects want free rein to inject their particular brand of religion into public schools.

Despite the senators’ assurances that the bill is innocuous and not insidious, I remain concerned that if the bill becomes law, certain deeply religious people will use it to browbeat students and teachers into accepting their version of Christianity as the one true religion.

And like Democratic Sen. Stephanie Flowers of Pine Bluff, I see the bill as potentially disruptive to public education and public schools.

In speaking against the bill, Flowers delivered a disquisition on Article 14 and Amendment 53 of the Arkansas Constitution, which promise the state will “ever maintain a general, suitable and efficient system of free public schools.”

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“It’s a bill that lends itself to indoctrinating young vulnerable, impressionable children,” she said. “When I talk about the possibility of indoctrination, I’m concerned about these documents of historical significance that are of a religious nature.”

She cited as an example a 1956 publication, Arkansas Faith, published by the White Citizens Council of Arkansas, noting that the subscription form declares subscribers to be white Christians who will oppose integration by any legal means necessary.

Flowers also said she didn’t think the bill was appropriate for public schools.

“It emboldens us to have religious rights outweigh and overpower our educational rights for our children.”

Sen. Stephanie Flowers (right), D-Pine Bluff, speaks against Senate Bill 223, sponsored by Sen. Mark Johnson (left), R-Ferndale, on the Senate floor on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Johnson disagreed with Flowers, saying, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” The bill “simply affirms existing religious rights. It’s not attacking anyone’s beliefs or establishing any beliefs.”

Republican Sen. Missy Irvin of Mountain View described herself as a deeply Christian person, but opposed the bill.

Irvin remembered being told by a fellow fifth-grader in her Catholic school that her parents weren’t going to heaven because “it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.”

“That deeply offended me,” she said.

“Growing up Catholic, do you know how many times I was told I was going to hell because we were baptized as babies? From people that went to Baptist churches?” Irvin asked.

“I’m sorry but I just don’t think you bring people to Christ by beating them over the head with a Bible. I don’t think that’s right.”

She also described the bill as unnecessary: “You can do this already.” Her four children, who attend public schools, “pray all the time,” she said. “They carry Bibles in their backpacks. … This is not a problem, and it should not be in this law.”

While SB 223 carefully notes that “other religious texts” can be studied or read and shared in schools as well as the Bible, the language of the bill is clearly Christian-centric.

Johnson maintained that the legislation stays true to the First Amendment and is inclusive of all faiths.

“The First Amendment is messy,” Clark said. “We are a messy country. … Sometimes we don’t just disagree, we really disagree.

“I am very against the establishment of religion. [But] saying you can pray and this is what you will pray are two very different things.”

Clark is right about that, but SB 223 leaves too much room for someone in authority to tell students and teachers what they must pray.

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Hackett student arrested after shooting threat

Published

4 hours ago

September 2, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-09-02 17:15:16

SUMMARY: A Hackett student was arrested after an anonymous shooting threat targeting the high school was posted in a student group chat. The threat, reported Monday morning, prompted Sebastian County deputies to station officers at Hackett schools for safety as classes resumed. Deputies, aided by Homeland Security, traced the post back to the teenager within ten hours. Investigators say there is no credible evidence the student intended to carry out the threat. The situation escalated through social media, complicating tracing efforts. The investigation remains active, with possible additional arrests, and deputies will continue a visible presence at the schools.

Deputies increased security at Hackett schools in response.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Every fall there’s a government shutdown warning. This time it could happen.

Published

14 hours ago

September 2, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Jennifer Shutt – 2025-09-02 07:40:00

by Jennifer Shutt, Arkansas Advocate
September 2, 2025

WASHINGTON — Congress returns to Washington, D.C., this week following an uneventful August recess where little to no progress was made on government funding, even though lawmakers have just weeks left until their shutdown deadline.

Republican leaders will need the support of several Democratic senators to approve a stopgap spending bill before Oct. 1, since lawmakers have once again failed to complete the dozen full-year bills on time.

But what was once a routine bipartisan exercise has taken on heightened stakes, with Democrats and some Republicans increasingly frustrated by the Trump administration’s unilateral spending decisions.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has issued several reports faulting the Trump administration for impounding, or refusing to spend funds approved by Congress, in violation of the law. And dozens of lawsuits have been filed, alleging the administration has acted to supersede Congress’ power of the purse.

The ongoing tension, combined with party leaders’ increasing focus on next year’s midterm elections, makes the possibility of a shutdown higher than it has been for years.

President Donald Trump said in mid-August he was open to meeting with Democratic leaders once they were back in town to negotiate a government funding deal but minimized the importance of talks.

“Well, I will, I guess, but it’s almost a waste of time to meet because they never approve anything,” Trump said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a letter last week urging Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to quickly begin negotiating a bipartisan stopgap bill.

“The government funding issue must be resolved in a bipartisan way,” they wrote. “That is the only viable path forward.”

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said last week that she wants to keep advancing the full-year spending bills, but that a short-term stopgap would be necessary to give lawmakers enough time.

“We need to avoid a government shutdown, which would be horrendous if that were to occur on October 1,” Collins said, according to remarks provided by her office. “And we also need to avoid having a continuing resolution, by that I mean a stopgap bill that just puts government on automatic pilot for the whole year.

“We’re going to have to have a short-term continuing resolution, but we’re making really good progress with overwhelming bipartisan support, and I hope that will continue.”

Another failure

Congress is supposed to complete work on the dozen annual appropriations bills before the start of the new fiscal year but has failed to do so for decades. This year is no different.

The House and Senate are nowhere near finishing their work on the bills, which provide funding for dozens of departments, including Agriculture, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.

The bills, which make up about one-third of federal spending, also fund smaller agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation and the National Weather Service.

The House has approved two of the dozen bills — Defense and Military Construction-VA. The Senate has passed its Agriculture, Legislative Branch and Military Construction-VA bills.

The House bills have only been supported by GOP lawmakers, while the Senate’s bills are broadly bipartisan, giving that chamber an upper hand if the two chambers begin conferencing full-year bills later this year.

Without a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on how much to spend on all of the bills, it’s highly unlikely Congress will be able to complete its work before the Oct. 1 deadline.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, speaks at a Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Inside Washington luncheon on Aug. 12, 2025. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Leaders will instead need to reach agreement on a stopgap spending bill that essentially keeps government funding on autopilot until lawmakers can work out a final deal on the full-year bills.

The calendar doesn’t give Speaker Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Thune, R-S.D., much time to find compromise with their Democratic counterparts.

Both chambers are in session for three weeks at the beginning of September before breaking for Rosh Hashanah. They’ll return to Capitol Hill on Sept. 29 with less than two days to fund the government or begin a partial shutdown.

Thune said in mid-August at the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Inside Washington luncheon that he expects lawmakers will “have a big fight at the end of September.”

Last shutdown stretched 35 days

It’s been almost seven years since some federal departments and agencies had to navigate a shutdown, when Congress and the first Trump administration were unable to broker a funding deal before a deadline.

A shutdown this year would have substantially more impact than that 35-day debacle since, when that funding lapse began, Congress had approved the Defense, Energy-Water, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch and Military Construction-VA spending bills.

The departments and agencies funded by those laws, including Congress, weren’t affected by the shutdown.

Lawmakers have failed to send any of the full-year bills to Trump so far this year, so every department and agency would need to implement a shutdown plan if Congress doesn’t approve a stopgap spending bill before Oct. 1.

Federal employees who deal with the preservation of life and property as well as national security will likely be deemed exempt and work without pay until the shutdown ends.

Workers who are not considered essential to the federal government’s operations would be furloughed until Congress and the president broker some sort of funding deal.

Both categories of employees receive back pay once the lapse ends, though that doesn’t extend to federal contractors.

On to the stopgap

Congress regularly approves a stopgap spending bill in September to gain more time to complete negotiations on the full-year appropriations bills.

That continuing resolution, as it’s sometimes called, usually lasts until the last Friday in December when both chambers of Congress are scheduled to be in Washington, D.C.

So a September stopgap would likely last until Friday, Dec. 19, assuming the House and Senate can reach an agreement and hold floor votes in the weeks ahead.

Last year, in the lead-up to the presidential election, lawmakers approved a stopgap bill in September that funded the government through mid-December.

Following the Republican sweep of the November elections, GOP leaders opted not to negotiate the full-year bills and used a second stopgap bill to fund the government until March after a raucous 48 hours on Capitol Hill.

Speaker Johnson took a go-it-alone approach on a third stopgap spending bill, leaving Democrats completely out of the negotiations and jamming the Senate with the legislation.

Schumer and several Democrats ultimately helped Republicans get past the 60-vote legislative filibuster, but most voted against actually passing the stopgap.

The dilemma over forcing a shutdown or helping Republicans pass a stopgap bill will resurface for Schumer in the weeks ahead as he tries to navigate another shutdown deadline amid unified GOP control of Washington.

The post Every fall there’s a government shutdown warning. This time it could happen. appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This content presents a balanced overview of the government shutdown situation, highlighting perspectives and actions from both Republican and Democratic leaders without overtly favoring either side. It includes factual reporting on legislative processes, quotes from key political figures across the aisle, and references to nonpartisan sources, maintaining a neutral tone throughout. The article focuses on the procedural and political challenges without editorializing, reflecting a centrist approach to the topic.

News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Arkansas Fall forecast: Warmer temperatures and drier conditions expected as drought persists

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-09-01 11:27:47

SUMMARY: Arkansas is expected to experience a cooler and more fall-like September, starting meteorological fall on September 1st. The last week of August was among the coolest on record, and early September will continue with below-average temperatures. A cold front later next week will bring further cooling, making the second weekend of football season comfortable. Mid-September temperatures will remain fairly mild, with highs dropping from mid-80s to mid-70s in Northwest Arkansas and from low 90s to low 80s in the River Valley by month’s end. Fall colors should appear earlier than last year, likely peaking from late October to early November.