House Management
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Transcript
1 document
Bills discussed (16)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HR1038
· 4 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…Sonia Eubanks Barker REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle HR1038 Wooldridge TO RECOGNIZE APRIL AS CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MON…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE APRIL AS CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH IN ARKANSAS AND TO COMMEND THE COURT … | Wooldridge | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1039
· 4 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “HR1039 Lundstrum TO RECOGNIZE RANDALL CHRISTY FOR SAVING THE GREAT…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE RANDALL CHRISTY FOR SAVING THE GREAT PASSION PLAY IN ARKANSAS AND TO CELEBRATE … | Lundstrum | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HR1042
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A GIRLS' CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONS. HR1042 Richmond TO RECOGNIZE THE MANSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL LADY TIGERS…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE MANSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL LADY TIGERS VOLLEYBALL TEAM AS THE 2025 CLASS 3A … | Richmond | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1043
· 4 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HR1043 Holladay TO RECOGNIZE THE NORTH LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL LAD…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE NORTH LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL LADY CHARGING WILDCATS GIRLS' BASKETBALL TEAM AS … | Holladay | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1045
· 4 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…DEMY BELLES GOLF TEAM AS THE 2025 CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONS. HR1045 K. Brown TO CONGRATULATE THE CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN HIG…”
|
TO CONGRATULATE THE CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR FOR ITS ACHIEVEMENTS AT THE 2026 … | K. Brown | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1050
· 4 mentions in transcript, chapter, agenda
Matched: “…ye. Opposed, no. Your resolution has passed. Moving down to House Resolution 1050 by Representative Brooks. Please introduce yourself for the…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE JOE T. ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL SENATORS AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A FOOTBALL … | Brooks | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1052
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…SWIM AND DIVE TEAM AS THE 2026 CLASS 1A-4A STATE CHAMPIONS. HR1052 House TO RESCIND THE ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE CHAMBER OF TH…”
|
TO RESCIND THE ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE CHAMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES … | House Management | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HR1040
· 3 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “the fastest one. We're going to move down to House Resolution 1040 by Representative Painter. You're recognized. Please introd…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNTAIN HOME HIGH SCHOOL BOMBERS AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A BOYS' CROSS … | Painter | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1041
· 3 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…S AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONS. HR1041 Painter TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNTAIN HOME HIGH SCHOOL BOMBERS…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNTAIN HOME HIGH SCHOOL BOMBERS AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A GIRLS' CROSS … | Painter | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1044
· 3 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HR1044 McCullough TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNT SAINT MARY ACADEMY BELLES…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNT SAINT MARY ACADEMY BELLES GOLF TEAM AS THE 2025 CLASS 6A … | McCullough | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1046
· 3 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “…Chair. Thank you, committee. We're going to move back up to House Resolution 1046. Is that right?”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN SUNS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM FOR WINNING THE GREAT … | Duffield | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HR1049
· 3 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…EAM FOR WINNING THE GREAT AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP. HR1049 Hall TO RECOGNIZE KOPPER KETTLE CANDIES FOR ITS ACHIEVEMENT…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE KOPPER KETTLE CANDIES FOR ITS ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE ART OF CANDY MAKING. | Hall | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1047
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EAM FOR WINNING THE GREAT AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP. HR1047 Duffield TO RECOGNIZE THE MANY ACHIEVEMENTS OF COACH DAVE W…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE MANY ACHIEVEMENTS OF COACH DAVE WILBERS OF THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN … | Duffield | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1048
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HR1048 Duffield TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN S…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN SUNS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM FOR WINNING THE GREAT … | Duffield | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR1051
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HR1051 Brooks TO RECOGNIZE THE JOE T. ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL SENATOR…”
|
TO RECOGNIZE THE JOE T. ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL SENATORS BOYS' SWIM AND DIVE TEAM AS … | Brooks | READ AND ADOPTED. |
|
HR10
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “chair you're also recognized to do house resolution 10 51 please introduce yourself for the record”
|
Pre-2017 bill |
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We'll begin this meeting of House Management. We're going to begin with House Resolution 1038. Representative Wooldridge, you're recognized to introduce yourself, and then you may present your resolution. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
0:13
you, Committee Jeremy Wooldridge, State Representative District 1. House Resolution 1038 is a resolution to recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Arkansas and to commend the court-appointed special advocate programs. happy to answer any questions would appreciate a good vote are there any questions seeing no
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
0:33
questions do i have a motion any discussion on the motion
seeing no discussion all in favor say i oppose no your resolution is passed thank you madam chair down the road to house resolution 1039
oh hey representative oldridge just one second we're these will be uh on the blue
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
0:54
calendar in morning at 8 30. so everybody everybody's will be in the morning at 8 30 on
the blue calendar all right house resolution 1039 representative lundstrom you're recognized introduce yourself
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
1:08
for the record and then you may begin state representative robin lundstrom district 18 i would like to um honor the passion play um unfortunately they're not able to attend and so if i can move this to regular session and just take it off the agenda okay thank you ma'am Told you I'd be
the fastest one. We're going to move down to House Resolution 1040 by Representative Painter. You're recognized. Please introduce yourself
to the record, and then you may begin.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:39
Stetson Painter, State Representative, District 3, Max from Fulton County's God's Country, H.R. 1040 is to recognize the Mountain Home Bombers as the 2025 5A Boys Cross Country State Championships. Are there any questions? Seeing no questions,
do I have a motion? Motion, is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion,
all in favor say aye. Opposed, no. Your resolution has passed. House Resolution 1041, Representative
Painter, please introduce yourself again for the record and then you may begin.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
2:12
State Representative Stetson Painter, District 3, Baxter and Fulton County, God's Country, H.R. 1041 is to recognize the Mountain Home Bombers 2025 Championships in the 5A Girls Cross Country. Are there any questions? You're a recognized representative, Richardson. Oh, wait,
I've got to figure out how to make you come on.
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
2:37
Thank you. Mr. Painter, thank you for being here. can you just kind of tell me in that cross-country meet who
Speaker 23
2:44
do they beat they beat uh let's see here
Speaker 24
2:46
i'm glad that you did that to me they were the only ones no everybody they beat a
bunch of teams seeing no the entire rest of the 5a seeing no more questions do i have a motion i have a motion is there any discussion on the motion motion seeing no discussion all in favor say aye opposed no your resolution is passed moving down to house resolution 1042 by representative
richmond please introduce yourself for the record and then you may
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
3:27
begin thank you madam chair thank you committee representative richmond district 52 house resolution 1042 is housekeeping we passed this resolution last week
presented it to them what happened was the coach left off a name of one of the girls and this correct is it and it has to go through there's every i has to be dotted every t's got to be crossed are there any
questions seeing no questions do i have a motion i've got a motion any discussion on the motion
seeing no discussion all in favor say i oppose no congratulations your resolution is passed moving down to house resolution 1043 representative holiday representative holiday okay let's move past that one and we'll go down to house resolution 1044 representative mccullough
you're recognized please introduce yourself the record and then you may begin
Representative Tippi McCullough
Unverified
4:20
thank you madam chair representative tippy mccullough district 74 i'm here to present
resolution 1044 which is to recognize the mount st mary academy bells golf team as a 2025 class 6a state championships champions happy to answer any
Speaker 35
4:34
questions ask for a good vote are there any questions seeing no
questions do i have a motion got a motion is there any discussion on the motion seeing no discussion all in favor say aye opposed no your resolution has passed moving down to house resolution 1045 by representative carolyn brown please introduce yourself
for the record and then you may begin
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
5:00
thank you madam chair representative carolyn brown district 67 here to present house resolution 1045 to congratulate the central arkansas christian high school choir for its achievements at the 2026 state choral festival are there any questions seeing no
questions do i have a motion i've got a motion
any discussion on the motion seeing no discussion i'll say i oppose no your resolution has passed thank you moving down to committee you're welcome ma'am you're welcome moving down to house resolution 1049 representative hall you're recognized Please introduce yourself for the record, and then you may begin.
Representative Brad Hall
Unverified
6:08
Thank you, Madam Chair. Brad Hall, State Representative, District 24. I'm here to do this. It's a candy shop in my district. It's won first place across the state of Arkansas, and it won the fifth place all across the United States. So we're just here to recognize them. Is there any
questions? Seeing no questions, do I have a motion? I've got a motion. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion, all in favor say aye. Opposed, no. Your resolution has passed. Moving down to House Resolution 1050 by Representative Brooks. Please introduce yourself for the record and then you may begin.
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
6:45
thank you madam chair keith brooks state representative district 78 this is house resolution 1050 we are recognizing the joe t robinson senators i guess that would be west little rock which is god's country representative painter wherever you went uh recognizing joe t robinson senators to be the 2025 class 5a state football champions and i would be happy to take any questions and would like to appreciate a motion do pass are there any are there any uh
questions seeing no questions do i have a motion i've got a motion is
there any discussion on the motion seeing no discussion all in favor say aye oppose no your resolution has passed thank you madam
chair you're also recognized to do house resolution 10 51 please introduce yourself for the record
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
7:38
and then you may begin keith brooks state representative district 78 west little rock again god's country uh this would be to recognize joe t robinson senators who uh rj representative rj hawk likes to call bryant titletown we now have west little
rock as titletown uh for the one to four a state championship swim uh swim and dive team and uh outstanding stuff going over on going on over on highway 10 super proud of the senators happy to take any questions are
there any questions seeing no questions do i have
a motion i've got a motion Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion, all in favor say aye. Opposed, no. Your motion, your resolution has passed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, committee. We're going to move back up to House Resolution 1046. Is that right?
1047. Representative Eaton, you're recognized. Introduce yourself for the record and then you may begin.
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
8:33
Thank you, Madam Chair. James Eaton, District 26 in the House. This resolution is for the many achievements of Coach Dave Wilbers and the Arkansas Tech University Golden Suns. Coach Wilbers is retiring, and I want to run this resolution for him. Are
there any questions? Seeing no questions, do I have a motion? I've got a motion. Is there
any discussion on the motion? Seeing no discussion, all in favor say aye. Opposed, no. the resolution has passed
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
9:04
thank you chairman madam chair I'd like to go to
HR 1048 would you please introduce yourself again for the
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
9:14
record and then again James Eaton district 26 this resolution is for the Arkansas Tech University Golden Suns cross-country team they won a great American championship in 2025 fall are there any questions seeing no questions do
I have a motion I've got a motion
is there any discussion on the motion seeing no discussion all in favor say aye opposed no your resolution has passed thank you madam chair thank you committee
we're gonna have to take a five-minute recess Thank you.
Unknown speaker
10:32
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Madam Chair, are you recognized?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
we're back we're down to house resolution 1043 representative holiday please introduce yourself for the record and then you may begin it's first time i've
Speaker 65
14:51
spoken in this room uh house uh district 70. Alex Holliday. State representative. Now you can present your resolution. This is a resolution for the championship basketball team from North Little Rock. The girls team who beat
somebody 63 to 61. I can't remember the score. I apologize. I broke every law I could to get back here. I apologize for my
tardiness. Are there any questions? Seeing no questions. Do I have a motion? I've got a motion do
pass any discussion on the motion seeing no discussion all in favor say aye opposed no congratulations your resolution has passed thank you now we're going to go down to house resolution 1052
representative Walker you're recognized to introduce yourself for the
record and and then you may begin. Stephen
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
16:00
Walker, District 27. You may begin. Thank you, Madam Chair and Committee. This is House Resolution 1052. At its core, this resolution is about fundamental fairness and standing up for the youth of our state.
We have several outstanding, highly qualified young women across our state who are selected by their schools to be delegates for Arkansas Girls State. They did everything right, yet they are being denied participation solely due to an inadvertent administrative oversight by their schools. This resolution is our way of fighting for these young women and asking that they not be arbitrarily punished for adult mistakes that were entirely out of their control. Our message is simple. Kids matter. it is unacceptable to punish students for an administrative oversight made by educators who
are working tirelessly during one of the busiest times of the year this is the end of year testing season at this time i'd like to bring representative brooks representative hudson representative hawk and senator davis with your permission chair please come to
the table introduce yourself for the record and then you may
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
17:24
begin Breanne Davis, State Senator, District 25.
Speaker 79
17:28
Keith Brooks, State Representative, District 78. Ashley Hudson,
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
17:32
State Representative, District 75. R.J. Hawk, State
Speaker 81
17:35
Representative, District 81. Jim Dotson, State Senator, District 34. I forget
Speaker 84
17:44
the order. Sorry. Representative? Oh, Senator Davis,
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
17:47
you're up first. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, you know, some of you may have seen some things in the news talking about this and maybe wondering, I think most of you probably know how we got here,
but since we're live streamed and people at home may be watching we really last week found out that there were several schools that missed the deadline that was over spring break and immediately once they got back to school tried to email and contact and ask you know for an extension if they could get their girls in which has been granted in the past every year boy state and girl states both offer extensions, multiple extensions, oftentimes leading up to girls and boys state. So we found
out about some schools and we thought this was about 40-ish girls. And we found out today that it's actually at least 150 girls across the state that are being denied access or even application for girls state simply because their counselor missed the deadline. So we started by just calling the American Legion auxiliary and trying to speak to people on the committee and figure out what was going on if we could come to some type of resolution in this situation for these girls
and we were met with no return to calls and nobody really reaching out to communicate back and so last week 135 members of the legislature as you know signed on to a letter thanking them for all that they do and the life-changing program that they offer and asking if they would please communicate with us to come to some type of resolution for these 150 plus girls across the state. That was also met with silence essentially and so we decided to run a resolution, introduce
a resolution, just really trying to get them to communicate and speak with us because all of us probably have girls in our district that are being denied access to girls state for this really administrative error that the adults have admitted to and feel terrible about, and it's punishing the girls because of it. So that's really where we landed and why we're here, just really fighting for some of the core principles that Girls State teaches those young girls, civic engagement, fighting for justice, fighting for people. When you see something in your community,
stand up for it and fight back. And, you know, with 25 percent of the applicants of Girls State being denied access to girls state we feel like that's pretty significant um so i'll go ahead and turn it over to the other members up here um to fill in some gaps and speak to it not to pile
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
20:30
on to what senator davis has already explained but just briefly i mean one of the things that we found really shocking and
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
20:36
in discussing this with some of the counselors
and some of the girls from all over the state is not only was there a lack of communication, but the communication that was coming to them was often pretty hostile. There were at least two counselors in schools that were brought to tears in conversations with people in the auxiliary who referred to this as, was it weaponized delay, weaponized incompetence, when these were truly people who were very busy and who made a mistake in at least one case the counselors missed the deadline because there was a
death of a parent on campus the week that this was due and they were busy counseling the kids on campus because that's their job and even that was met with with with dismissiveness when they tried to correct that error and so we really felt like especially as we saw that this number continued to grow and grow that this was important so that we could stand up this is not about denying any girl access to participating in girls state girls state will go on harding has said that they
have room and they're ready to have the girls there and they have room for more girls we've also checked that to make sure that there's space and that we're not just tilting at windmills on that but we want to make sure that that they know that we're paying attention and that these girls know that we're paying attention and that we're willing to stand up for them and try to make sure that they're given the same opportunity that their peers are being given
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
22:06
so let me just talk madam chair factually about what um what took place i apologize represent hawk would you like to go ahead no you're fine okay sorry i beat you to the button
so let's just talk factually about about what's taking place so girls state through the american legion auxiliary which is the oversight organization there's an oversight board so i want to delineate that between uh the the local girls state event which are their volunteers that volunteer to put the event on. So you have the American Allegiant Auxiliary Board, which is the oversight of Girls' State now. They're the ones who make all the decisions. No decisions are made without that board. We have requested to speak with the board. We were denied the opportunity to speak with the full board,
but we did make that request. They put out this year, as Representative Hudson and Senator Davis indicated, in years past, it's been a fairly common practice that the application window would be extended. Frankly, we all know how busy school counselors are, educators are, superintendents, principals. It's a very hectic time of year. This year, the deadline was March the 27th, which is Friday. That may also trigger something in your mind to know that was a Friday of spring break.
So there was no one at the school that entire week. That was the
deadline. Girls State or the American Legion Auxiliary did communicate full transparency. They did communicate with an email that I received today to counselors that said that there would not be exceptions. They communicated that to them, which, unfortunately, in years past, that has not been the status. There have been a very common – it's very common for them to extend the deadline. So looking back to 2023, they extended the deadline to May the 8th. They sent out consistent reminders.
And so, frankly, a lot of these counselors had the experience in the past that they were able to get girls in much after the deadline. This year, they decided to hold fast to that and make no exceptions. Boys State, on the other hand, has continued to take applicants. So that's factually what happened. But I want to speak specifically to what the impact is. So I reached out to several constituents that I know had young ladies who attended Girls State last year. And I just asked for their feedback on what they experienced in the situation. I'm going to read three of those.
I'm not going to give any names, but three young ladies that were willing through their parents to send me text messages. One of them says, Girls Day, it's a privilege that not everyone gets to be a part of, and the ones that do, it's an honor to be a part of the program. It's a place to make lifelong friends and keep a hold of those friendships. It teaches you lessons that you'll use the rest of your life. I'm so grateful to be a part of something so special, and I hope that other girls can experience it just like me. The second one, Girls Day was such a wonderful experience that taught very valuable life skills. These couple days taught me more about civil duties as an American citizen, but it also taught communication skills between peers and between oppositions.
Preventing a young lady from this opportunity is preventing a member of society from digging deeper into politics and their own minds. As someone who is fortunate enough to attend this event, it would be a great disappointment for me to see women unable to attend based on someone else's mistakes. And finally, Girl State's an incredible program that teaches leadership, civic responsibility, and confidence in a way that cannot be replicated in a classroom. It opens doors and inspires young women to be involved and use their voices. Preventing students from attending due to an application error undermines that purpose of the program. These students deserve the same opportunity to grow and learn that we had.
So going to be very clear, a mistake was made. A mistake was made by the counselors and by school personnel. Those adults have very actively taken responsibility for the mistake that was made. That's all that we can ask in society is what we're trying to teach. I teach my own kids. We're all trying to teach young folks is take responsibility for your actions. And they have taken responsibility. It's now time for us to not punish the young ladies who are facing the actions that we're not taking correctly.
This is not about a legislature trying to make a power move. There's no way that we in any sense of the imagination would want to deny anyone any opportunity. At the same time, I think that any of the girls that have been approved, that are about the 610 girls that did get their applications in on time, the counselors did, if it were one of those girls they would want us to fight for them and so what we've decided to do as as a body is we've decided to say that we believe that these girls are worth it we believe
that 150 girls in the state of Arkansas who may be the next young lady that is an attendee to girls nation maybe the next governor of girls state or maybe the next president of the United States of America as we see from boys state with President Clinton from many years ago we believe that that opportunity which is a once in a lifetime opportunity they can only do it after their junior year of high school we believe that it is worth enough to fight for these young ladies to have the opportunity to go to this program thank you madam chair well i can't follow much i mean i can't
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
26:57
add more than what these three have already said but i
will say this i brought this issue to all three of them almost a week ago because i have 10 young ladies in my district that uh their parents called me individually and said something's got to be done we as parents have reached out to the auxiliary our superintendents have reached out to the auxiliary the counselors have reached out the auxiliary and they will not return emails they will not return phone calls they will not have any communication with us that's when we stepped in a lot of times you'll hear people say well they just didn't meet the qualifications every single one of these these young ladies
met the qualifications they did exactly what they were told to do to get their paperwork into their counselor on the time that they needed it was lost in the third party the counselor who has all three have stated they dropped the ball and didn't get the the paperwork in because the deadline moved it moved from a traditional at the same time as boys state to a week later and it got it just got slipped up it wasn't just one district it was multiple districts we're talking 150 kids across the state of Arkansas and that that really affects if you look at it
almost every legislator in both the house and the senate somebody's going to touch one of those 150 kids and so that's really why we brought this before uh the body because while it is controversial at the same time as representative brooks said these girls need to have the opportunity to be able to do a once in a lifetime um you know i experiment with with government you know one thing i heard somebody say on on social media the other day was um these girls are getting to experience government for the first time right they're they're in the high school level and and
they may have never even thought about being a state representative or being a senator or being a governor or whatever it might be. And they get to experience it right here. These are our future leaders in the state of Arkansas that are going to girl state, that are going to boy state. We want to encourage them to keep going. What kind of message are we sending other generations when we say, well, you know what? You did the right thing. The adult in the room dropped the ball and you're not going to get to go. What kind of message are we sending? All because the auxiliary is saying no we we don't want to take on any more people because it's too much of a hassle
that's what they're saying so with all that being said uh we really hope we get this passed
Speaker 92
29:10
out of out of committee we know it can be a bit controversial but at the same time we're doing it for
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
29:17
the kids of our state and madam chair if i can just add one more thing so and and representative hawk touched on it there so senator davis and i had the opportunity to spend about 40 minutes on a phone call this morning with two members of the board and we presented our request and we were denied. They indicated that they would not change their minds. And so what we did is we offered them what I would consider, and I believe Senator Davis would
agree with me, would consider every opportunity for us to step in and help. If this is an issue
relative to space, then we have offered to help coordinate that. If this is an issue relative to funding, then we have stepped in and offered to help them with that. If this is an issue with needing more volunteers, we've stepped in and offered to help with that. Every potential challenge that is out there, we have set out that we are more than willing to bend over backwards, and I'm fairly confident that a majority of our colleagues would do the same to ensure that this
opportunity is there for those students. And so that was our goal. And again, frankly, we were denied based upon the idea of a board that's deciding that this is their decision, they've stuck with it and they're not going to move off of that but again us as a legislative body we've offered every possible solution that we could think of senator Dotson thank you madam
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
30:37
chair members of the committee I would
just there's not a lot more to be said about the resolution in front of you just as a legislator who's gone to girls state several years to help with the process and the procedures that the the girls learn as many of you have I've seen several of you there throughout the years this is an incredible opportunity and has been stated a couple of times this is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I think it is it is incumbent upon us as legislators to make a very strong statement with this to say we want this opportunity for every girl who wants
to participate and be involved as a dad and my daughter has participated and has even been a counselor at girl state and it if if we can send any public message to the board and those that are making the decision please let these girls participate because they don't get another chance thank you
a question um i think um if i remember correctly representative brooks i think you were treated very poorly by a phone call and i would say that
in our line of business one thing that I think Arkansas legislature should be very proud of is we're very civil when we're trying to come up with whether we're trying to concede or trying to figure out a way that we don't make everybody happy but we could try to bring everybody to the middle um what do you think this teaches girls this moment
Speaker 33
32:15
in time what what what we're doing what would it teach the girls
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
32:20
i think it's a great question representative valk i believe number one what uh this would teach these young ladies is that number one uh that respectful civic discourse is is necessary and vital in our society to respectfully have a conversation with someone uh and speaking of that i'll let other people decide what was disrespectful or not other people heard the phone call um you know my my goal to always and i believe it was validated this morning on our phone call was that was to always treat people with respect uh which i've done so and i
think that our young ladies would want to see that modeled in how they approach it. So I think what they're seeing from us is the desire to have an open and honest dialogue, a transparent dialogue, but also one that advocates very, very strongly for their needs and for their opportunities. Again, as many people at this table have said today, what we're doing is we're advocating for the good of these young ladies to have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I hope what they would learn from this is that their elected representatives are willing to
go to bat for them It may be two of them. It may be 150 of them in this situation, but we're willing to go to bat for them because we believe they're worth it.
I think somewhere on social media, it might have said that we were doing this because we had representatives who had
children who had not been accepted. Would you agree with that statement or disagree with
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
33:42
that statement? I would disagree that that is the genesis of this entire experiment. uh i have heard of of one member uh who may have had a daughter denied did not know about that until thursday evening uh and and everyone on here can can certainly validate that we began reaching out well before then because we heard from our schools we heard from schools we heard
from parents we heard from superintendents we heard from uh from a number of people involved in the process
well before asking us to to reach out and be helpful to them which is what our job is as representatives and senators
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
34:17
yes ma'am i wanted to add one more thing just because i think it's important from a logistical standpoint but the deadline for these schools to pay for girls to go to girls state hasn't passed yet it's not until may 1st so really any sort of deadline that these that the auxiliary is working on right now is an arbitrary deadline that they set they there there's nothing that's been lost to this point with regard to letting these girls
participate and I think that all of us here in this room have had situations in life where we have missed a deadline or we have needed to ask somebody for forgiveness and we would I think hope that we're teaching these girls some grace and to understand that if you take responsibility for your actions that there is a path forward and so all we're trying to do is help make that path for these girls with this resolution. Did they happen to give y'all any reason why
they could not extend the deadline correct me if i'm wrong senator davis the
Speaker 101
35:10
reason given was that it was the deadline
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
35:14
and that they had made a choice that in years past uh in years past they have been flexible with the deadline and they've been very clear about that you can see that on social media from previous years and instagram posts and facebook posts uh they moved those deadlines to accommodate again this year american legion boys state has has done the same they've moved their own deadline. My sense was that it was done to teach a lesson and teach a lesson that deadlines matter, which I absolutely agree that deadlines matter. But this year appeared to be the first time that they were going to stick with that. And I believe that a little bit of grace would
have been appropriate in this situation. But beyond that, there was no other reason given outside of this was a deadline. You know, there was they obviously have have venues they have to work with. I'm very confident that the venue where girls go would have the ability to accommodate as many as they would send. They have other things they've got to work with, t-shirts and hats and a number of things. Again, as I said previously, should any of those be barriers, you have
an entire team of legislators who are willing to help. We will volunteer. I will put in my own hours. I
will phone call. I will do work. I will go pick t-shirts up, whatever's necessary. And I'm one person i'm sure the other 133 members of our legislature right now would also be willing to do the same thing for these young ladies
i'm going to ask one more question then i'm going to representative barker do you see a case where the boys get accepted the deadline was moved for boys in certain schools and they got accepted and the girls are not going to get accepted do you foresee that any of y'all it's already happening absolutely so it is happening okay
representative Barker you're recognized thank you madam
Chair
Unverified
36:55
chair and I have a question similar to your first one but on the other side of that coin which kind of goes to representative Hudson's point and that since these schools thinking about these schools that will be sending their boys and not their girls and as a parent who sent a boy to boy state and a girl to girl state I can only imagine how that would feel if your son was sent and I'm sure some of these have siblings as well that have already experienced that so i'd like to hear you articulate that negative message
we're sending they are sending we're not sending but that negative message that's being sent to girls by those boys getting sent and the girls not thank
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
37:38
you representative barker and i think you make a really good
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
37:42
point you know statistically speaking we know that girls often have to fight harder for participation in higher education in sports opportunities and academic opportunities in the workplace and and all over the place and I think that what this message is is that we're making it easier for these boys than we are for these girls and girls should not have to fight
harder than boys in the same situations exactly same situation and and be denied access to this type of opportunity and I think that the message right now is that we're going to let these boys have a better opportunity and easier time of getting into this um experience and we're going to make the girls work harder and i don't think that's the kind of message we want to send to these girls and representative barker i want
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
38:25
to address i've got i told you i have 10 right in my district two of those families have that same exact situation that you just talked about where
the the brother is going one's a set of twins and and one's going to boy state and the daughter got left behind bryant high school by the way is trying to accommodate to do some type of camp and pay out of their own out of their own pocket to send her to a camp of her choosing because girl state is not allowing her to come and once again she got her documents in to the counselor the same time the brother did and she's being denied so to the example you just gave it's happening in real life right now in bryant arkansas
would anyone else like to okay representative richard and you're recognized
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
39:17
i'm trying there you go thank you to
to your point right there uh representative hawk the counselor so a set of twins turned in their paperwork at the same time so how did the counselor would not send both packets of paperwork in?
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
39:31
I don't know the details on that. I don't. I just know that it was the week of spring break,
and I don't know all the details as far as that's concerned. That's just what was told to me. Yeah, the boys' state deadline was later. Oh, it's later. Okay, I thought I heard
Speaker 111
39:46
it was before then. Yeah, Representative Hudson just said it was
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
39:52
later. So, yeah. Well, and I think there's different sponsors also in the school that say they're the sponsor for boy state or girl state too and so it may not always be the exact same person handling each program are there
any other questions seeing no other questions
Unknown speaker
40:13
would y'all like to close you can close representative walker Thank you.
Thank you.
me. I've been chair of Girls State since my second term, and it has been an honor to be able to be there and visit with those girls, and it is truly an experience in which they will remember forever. Just in case you didn't know, Mr. Boy Band here is very, very well known through Girls State because they played in a band back in the day there at Girls State.
It breaks my heart to think that 150 girls are not going to get to participate just because we want to be kind of hard, when in reality no monies have been taken and we could actually allow those girls to come in and be a part of the group. I want to emphasize again that they only get this once in their life. It's right after their junior year going into their senior year. So it's not like those girls can apply again because they're not going to be able to apply again.
This is all they have. They did everything correct. And I want to stress that they did everything correct on their end. but when overworked counselors who are doing testing who are also dealing with children with mental behavioral health issues going on there's so much on our counselors plates and for that deadline to be the Friday of spring break that that in itself doesn't seem fair
someone asked well why did some of the girls know their counselors know to get it turned in and others didn't well maybe some of the counselors did their emails during the week they were off and they went ahead and did their emails I know I have some teachers and during spring break they pretty much check out that's their time to check out it's a time for them to revive for the last little part of school. To me, it's hard to punish 150 girls. I also don't want to see 600 girls
punished at the same exact time because they did get all their paperwork turned in and everything got done so I don't want to discount that either but what I'm saying is we're not trying to be heavy-handed as it was said on line I think our jobs as representatives is to represent our constituents to the best of our ability and if anybody knows me you know that I am going to fight
to the death for a kid the kids are our future and like they said this 150 girls in that might be somebody who's going to sit in our seat one day or somebody who might sit on the second floor or in Washington DC or maybe they'll be a county judge and we shouldn't deny them any chance that they might have to get the opportunity to see what that's like at girls state
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
44:46
so i ask for a good vote and i'll follow up i really can't follow anything up that representative fault said again i just want to i want to make the point that we as a legislature are asking and we're offering whatever solution is necessary for these young ladies um board of american legion auxiliary i'm look straight
in the camera and i'm going to say this to the board to the national board to
whomever is looking we are offering every single possible opportunity to work this out on the benefit of those young ladies we will come alongside you if there's a problem we will help you solve that problem we are willing and eager to help 150 young girls out in the state of arkansas to have the life chance life-changing chance to
go to arkansas girls state please allow us the opportunity to come alongside you and help
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
45:46
representative vod is closed with the resolution um what's will of the committee all right we have a motion any discussion on the motion
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
45:54
you're recognized thank you thank you mr chair i think it's important and And, you know, for the legislature to come up and provide us with such detailed information about the impact of 140 students is something that I think we need to take into account. And if there is unwillingness for an organization to even have a basic conversation with members of the legislature, I would also put out there that maybe we should consider or understand what the ramifications are for just removing all access to the state capitol during that point in time.
Because to me, it's extremely unfair that you have one group who's able to do it and another group who has been significantly impacted all because of adults' decisions. And it's my recommendation that we seriously consider limiting the use of the facilities here and the staff that is used to help support that until we can get this rectified.
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
47:03
That's just my opinion. Seeing no other discussions, all in favor say aye. all opposed congratulations the resolution passes
seeing no further business we are adjourned
Agenda
Call to Order
HR1038 Wooldridge TO RECOGNIZE APRIL AS CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH IN ARKANSAS AND TO COMMEND THE COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE (CASA) PROGRAMS.
HR1039 Lundstrum TO RECOGNIZE RANDALL CHRISTY FOR SAVING THE GREAT PASSION PLAY IN ARKANSAS AND TO CELEBRATE THE SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE "NATIONAL WONDER IN THE NATURAL STATE" CHRIST OF THE OZARKS STATUE.
HR1040 Painter TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNTAIN HOME HIGH SCHOOL BOMBERS AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1041 Painter TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNTAIN HOME HIGH SCHOOL BOMBERS AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A GIRLS' CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1042 Richmond TO RECOGNIZE THE MANSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL LADY TIGERS VOLLEYBALL TEAM AS THE 2025 CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1043 Holladay TO RECOGNIZE THE NORTH LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL LADY CHARGING WILDCATS GIRLS' BASKETBALL TEAM AS THE 2026 CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1044 McCullough TO RECOGNIZE THE MOUNT SAINT MARY ACADEMY BELLES GOLF TEAM AS THE 2025 CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1045 K. Brown TO CONGRATULATE THE CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR FOR ITS ACHIEVEMENTS AT THE 2026 STATE CHORAL FESTIVAL.
HR1046 Duffield TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN SUNS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM FOR WINNING THE GREAT AMERIHCAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP.
HR1047 Duffield TO RECOGNIZE THE MANY ACHIEVEMENTS OF COACH DAVE WILBERS OF THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN SUNS AND TO CONGRATULATE COACH WILBERS ON HIS RETIREMENT.
HR1048 Duffield TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY GOLDEN SUNS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM FOR WINNING THE GREAT AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP.
HR1049 Hall TO RECOGNIZE KOPPER KETTLE CANDIES FOR ITS ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE ART OF CANDY MAKING.
HR1050 TO RECOGNIZE THE JOE T. ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL SENATORS AS THE 2025 CLASS 5A FOOTBALL STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1051 Brooks TO RECOGNIZE THE JOE T. ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL SENATORS BOYS' SWIM AND DIVE TEAM AS THE 2026 CLASS 1A-4A STATE CHAMPIONS.
HR1052 House Management TO RESCIND THE ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE CHAMBER OF THE HOUSE OF AND DIVE TEAM AS THE 2026 CLASS 1A-4A STATE CHAMPIONS. Management REPRESENTATIVES BY ARKANSAS GIRLS STATE FOR ITS ANNUAL MEETING.
Motion to Adjourn
Adjournment
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — HOUSE MANAGEMENT, Apr 27, 2026 | Agenda | 2 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative DeAnn Vaught Chair
Unverified
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 23
Speaker 24
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
Representative Tippi McCullough
Unverified
Speaker 35
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
Representative Brad Hall
Unverified
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
Representative James Eaton
Unverified
Speaker 65
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Speaker 79
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
Speaker 81
Speaker 84
Representative Ashley Hudson
Unverified
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
Speaker 92
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
Speaker 41
Speaker 33
Speaker 101
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 111