Rep. Bruce Cozart (L) and Sen. Terry Rice (R) listen to Arkansas Board of Election Commissioner Director Chris Madison discuss a new voter registration rule during a legislative committee meeting on May 2, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas legislative committee on Thursday reviewed and approved an emergency rule that permits electronic signatures on voter registration applications only when they’re completed at certain state agencies.  The Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners last week gave initial approval to the rule, which requires paper registration applica ..read more

(Getty Images) Arkansas’ Alcoholic Beverage Control Division revoked a Hot Springs medical marijuana dispensary’s license Thursday, the first revocation of its kind in the five years medical cannabis sales have been legal in the state. Dragan Vicentic, owner of Green Springs Medical Marijuana Dispensary, said in an interview that he will appeal ABC’s decision to its board. The appeal will allow the business to remain operational until the issue is resolved, according to a Department of Finance and Administration news release. “The revocation is the result of ongoing violations, most recently ..read more

Jasmine James, third from left, talks about her experiences with Medicaid during an event held on March 24, 2023 in front of DHS offices in Little Rock. A group called Make Medicaid Better gathered in front of the Department of Human services offices in downtown Little Rock to seek a response from the department about changes to Medicaid the group had suggested to DHS in an earlier meeting. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate) About 20% of children insured in Arkansas’ Medicaid program lost access during the state’s “unwinding” period, according to a report released Thursday from the Georgetown Uni ..read more

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order on May 2, 2024 at the Arkansas Capitol directing schools to follow state law over new Title IX regulations. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) In response to new Title IX regulations that include protections for LGBTQ+ students, Arkansas’ governor signed an executive order Thursday that instructs public schools to instead follow state law and directs the education department to provide guidance on how to do so. The final rule, which the U.S. Department of Education announced last month, protects students and employees from sex-based di ..read more

Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 2, 2024, about the need for more support for HBCU schools of medicine. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast) WASHINGTON — Doctors on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation addressing the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and to lower barriers that have hindered people of color from becoming medical professionals. During a hearing in the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and ..read more

Workers sort packages at the Amazon AGS5 facility on October 27, 2022, in Appling, Georgia. Two U.S. Senate Democrats plan to introduce a bill to address quota systems they say lead to injuries for warehouse workers. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) WASHINGTON  — Two Democratic U.S. senators announced Thursday they plan to introduce a piece of legislation that would require large companies to disclose quota practices to workers and prevent those quotas from interfering with a worker’s health. “The Warehouse Worker Protection Act would put an end to the most dangerous quotas that plague warehouses ..read more

University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner) WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but “not the right to cause chaos.” “We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,” Biden said from the White House’s Roosevelt Room. “In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Ameri ..read more

Voters sign a petition to place an education amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot at a signing event April 8, 2024, outside Little Rock's Whitewater Tavern. Other groups sponsoring ballot initiative petition drives were also there. (Paige Eichkorn for Arkansas Advocate) The Little Rock chapter of activist group Indivisible helped gather more than 1,800 signatures for five Arkansas voter initiatives last month and plans another signing event this weekend.  The ballot initiatives include proposed amendments to the Arkansas Constitution on abortion, education, the public’s right to information an ..read more

Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administration’s move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Depart ..read more

Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, addresses the Arkansas House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) The Arkansas House of Representatives passed Arkansas PBS’ appropriations bill Wednesday after two failed attempts for the second consecutive fiscal session. Appropriations bills need a three-fourths majority vote to pass each chamber: 76 votes in the House and 27 votes in the Senate. Two years ago, the fiscal year 2023 Arkansas PBS appropriations bill also took three tries to pass the House. This year’s bill received 68 votes Tuesday and 72 votes on th ..read more