Antoinette Grajeda

5 days ago | magnoliareporter.com | Antoinette Grajeda |Tess Vrbin |Ainsley Platt |Sonny Albarado

With one major exception, Arkansas lawmakers gave Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders almost everything she asked for in the 95th General Assembly, and even then it wasn’t a total loss. The Legislature’s Republican supermajority passed bills addressing Sanders’ priorities: maternal health, a higher-education overhaul, concerns about the effects of social media platforms on children and restrictions on the influence of China in Arkansas.

6 days ago | arkansasadvocate.com | Antoinette Grajeda |Tess Vrbin |Ainsley Platt |Sonny Albarado

With one major exception, Arkansas lawmakers gave Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders almost everything she asked for in the 95th General Assembly, and even then it wasn’t a total loss. The Legislature’s Republican supermajority passed bills addressing Sanders’ priorities: maternal health, a higher-education overhaul, concerns about the effects of social media platforms on children and restrictions on the influence of China in Arkansas.

6 days ago | yahoo.com | Antoinette Grajeda |Tess Vrbin |Ainsley Platt |Sonny Albarado

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, speaks against Senate Bill 354, the $750 million Franklin County prison appropriation, on the Senate floor on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)With one major exception, Arkansas lawmakers gave Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders almost everything she asked for in the 95th General Assembly, and even then it wasn’t a total loss.

1 week ago | arkansasadvocate.com | Antoinette Grajeda |Arkansas Advocate

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate April 15, 2025 A legislative budget committee on Monday pulled down a bill that would have added $250 million to a fund dedicated to prison construction in Arkansas. The decision comes less than a week after state lawmakers said a separate $750 million appropriation bill to support construction of a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County appears dead after five failed votes in the Senate.

1 week ago | arkansasadvocate.com | Tess Vrbin |Antoinette Grajeda

A balanced state budget, more money for correctional facilities and proposed constitutional amendments form just part of the lengthy agenda awaiting Arkansas lawmakers on Monday for a planned three-day work week. “We’ve got a lot of work yet to do, so just be prepared that Monday will be a long day and a long evening,” House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told the chamber Thursday. “We’re getting close to wrapping this session up and landing this plane.