Arkansas 2025 Regular Session Status: Enacted

SB 417 — TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS RELATED TO HIGHER EDUCATION.

Last action — Notification that SB417 is now Act 402

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced March 10, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Republican) on March 31, 2025.

Prognosis

Advancing 52% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    2 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill amends various higher education laws and repeals affirmative action program requirements.

This legislation updates several laws concerning higher education in Arkansas, including the repeal of affirmative action program requirements. It also modifies reporting standards related to remediation and energy research.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

0 added · 2 removed

Plain-language change summary

In the latest version of Bill SB 417, two lines referencing "Act 402 of the Regular Session" and the approval date of "3/25/25" have been removed. This change likely simplifies the bill by eliminating unnecessary details that may no longer be relevant. It matters because it helps streamline the legislation and keeps the focus on the current provisions without outdated references.

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Act 402 of the Regular Session State ofArkansas 95th GeneralAssembly ABill Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 417 5 By:
State ofArkansas 95th GeneralAssembly ABill Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 417 5 By:
APPROVED:
9 03/10/2025 2:56:07 PM CRH246
3/25/25 9 03/10/2025 2:56:07 PM CRH246
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How this bill changes current law

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AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

The bill repeals the requirement for affirmative action programs in higher education and makes various amendments related to higher education reporting and services.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-60-703(b)(1)(H)

    (H) Affirmative action programs summaries, § 6-63-103;

    This repeals the requirement to include affirmative action program summaries in a higher education report.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-60-703(b)(2)(B)

    (B) Changes to affirmative action program plans, § 6-63-103; and

    This removes the requirement to report changes to affirmative action program plans in the higher education report.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-61-141

    6-61-141. Duplication of services. An institution of higher education that has its main campus, satellite campus, or center located within a twenty-five-mile radius of another main campus of an institution of higher education shall enter into a written agreement with that institution of higher education that shall address duplication of services between the institutions of higher education.

    This repeals the requirement for institutions to enter into agreements regarding duplication of services within a specified radius.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-63-103

    6-63-103. Affirmative action programs — Plans — Annual reports. (a)(1) Each state-supported institution of higher education shall prepare an affirmative action program for the recruitment of African-Americans and other members of minorities for faculty and staff positions and for enrollment as students. (2) Affirmative action plans shall be prepared on a continuing basis for future five-year periods. (b)(1) Each state-supported institution of higher education shall prepare annually a summary report on the steps that have been taken to reach the goals of the plan. (2) The report shall: (A) Include information on the progress made by each institution for the various levels of employment within the institution; and (B) Be presented in a table format limited to no more than five (5) pages. (c) Copies of the five-year plan and annual reports summaries of each institution of higher education shall be included in the Comprehensive Arkansas Higher Education Annual Report, filed with the Governor, the Division of Higher Education, the president and board of trustees of the institution, the board of visitors of the institution, if applicable, and the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education. (d) In carrying out the affirmative action plans, each institution of higher education shall provide for a part-time or full-time employee to assist the institution in the recruitment of African-Americans and other members of minorities for faculty and staff positions and for enrollment as students.

    This repeals the entire section regarding affirmative action programs and their reporting.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-62-314

    The following state-supported institutions of higher education shall be exempt as allowed by § 19-4-1415(b)(5) for construction projects exceeding five million dollars ($5,000,000) if they have adopted policies and procedures in compliance with state law involving the awarding and oversight of the contracts for design and construction services: (1) Henderson State University; (2) Southern Arkansas University; (3) University of Central Arkansas; (4) National Park College Arkansas Tech University; and (5) Northwest Arkansas Community College State-supported two-year colleges; and (6) Arkansas Tech University.

    This adds a provision that certain state-supported institutions are exempt from certain requirements for construction project oversight.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-61-221(d)(2)

    (2) The reports developed under this section shall be prepared on or before October 1 each year and include the cost of remediation for each state-supported institution of higher education, which shall be submitted to the Division of Higher Education according to standards developed by the Division of Higher Education and shall include for each state-supported institution of higher education: → (2) The reports developed under this section shall be prepared on or before October 1 each year and include the cost of remediation for each state-supported institution of higher education, which shall be submitted to the Division of Higher Education according to standards developed by the Division of Higher Education and shall include for each state-supported institution of higher education:

    This edits the language requiring institutions to submit remediation cost reports.

  • Arkansas Code § 6-63-321

    (e)(1) In addition, the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences may also make special compensation allowances available, in such amounts as the board may determine or justify equitable in view of the current requirements for registered nurses in the Clinical Programs of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the availability of registered nurses for employment in the Little Rock metropolitan area. (2) However, the special compensation allowances approved by the board for

    This adds provisions regarding special compensation allowances for nursing positions at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Action History

  1. Notification that SB417 is now Act 402

  2. DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR.

  3. Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.

  4. ORDERED ENROLLED

  5. Returned from the House as passed.

  6. Returned to the Senate as passed.

  7. Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.

  8. Returned by the Committee Do Pass

  9. Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE

  10. RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE

  11. Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.

  12. Read the third time and passed.

  13. Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass

  14. Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE

  15. Filed

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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2 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 136 not signed on

Sponsors (2)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (136)

136 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 136 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors SB 417?
SB 417 is sponsored by John Maddox and Jim Dotson.
What is the current status of SB 417?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced March 10, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 417?
Track SB 417 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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