Dear Fayetteville,
Here's a quick look at what happened at the Capitol in Week Six and what’s coming up in the week ahead:
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ADUs – An important piece of the affordable housing puzzle
This week, I filed HB1503 with President Pro Temp of the Senate, Bart Hester, aimed at removing barriers to building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). ADUs—sometimes known as granny flats or mother-in-law suites—provide an affordable housing solution by allowing homeowners to build smaller, secondary homes on their property. ADUs allow home-owners to make the most of their own property. Further, they can help families stay close together, offering affordable housing for young renters as well as a solution for seniors to live independently as they age. In short, ADU’s have the potential to ease our state’s housing affordability crisis by increasing housing availability and variety.
I am so proud that Fayetteville is a national leader when it comes to smart ADU policy and hope that the state will soon follow suit!
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Free Breakfast & Bell-to-Bell, No Cell
Two policies that Democrats advocated for became two of the Governor’s top priorities and are now law.
First, Act 123 provides free breakfast to every child in Arkansas schools, ensuring that all students start the school day nourished and ready to learn. I was proud to be a co-sponsor on this important bill!
Second, the Governor signed a bill prohibiting cell phone use in public schools during the school day. This is an important step in addressing the very real impacts that screens and social media have on our children's mental health, while also helping them stay focused and engaged in their learning environment.
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Defending Democracy in State Agencies Committee
This past week, the State Agencies Committee debated a number of high-profile bills impacting the ballot initiative process, Senate Bills 207-211. These bills collectively pose a serious threat to grassroots democracy by creating so much bureaucracy that it will be nearly impossible for citizen-led initiatives to qualify for the ballot. I joined colleagues in fighting these anti-democratic measures and deeply appreciate the many constituents who stayed late into the evening to make their voices heard. I’ve heard from so many concerned Arkansans, both inside and outside of District 21, and urge you to keep that good communication coming. We have yet to vote any of these bills off the House Floor, and a couple of them haven’t even made their way to House State Agencies Committee yet, as they are still working their way through the Senate side.
This week, the State Agencies Committee is also expected to hear SB184, which would abolish the AETN Commission and the State Library Board. This is a proposal I strongly oppose. I will fight this bill in our Committee and advocate for the critical, and critically independent, work that both these bodies do. As on the Senate side earlier, there is a decent amount of Republican opposition to this bill on the House side, so please be in touch with Committee members and let them know your thoughts before we hear it (likely Wednesday).
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Arkansas ACCESS
Finally, last week saw the filing of “Arkansas ACCESS,” introduced as higher education reform. While the bill includes some good ideas for making higher education accessible to more Arkansans (like one common application with one fee in one portal for all state institutions), Democrats have concerns.
Despite being positioned as beneficial for higher education, this 110-page bill significantly impacts K-12 education as well. The bill unfortunately shifts critical decision-making power away from students, educators, and local communities, concentrating authority instead with the Arkansas Department of Education. While I don’t sit on the Education Committee, protecting higher education – specifically the integrity and value of a University of Arkansas education – has always been a guiding principle of mine. I will closely follow and strongly advocate against any measure that harms our states students, faculty, and staff. If there are things you hear or read or see that concern you, please do let me know.
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As always, you can follow along for real-time updates on Instagram, Facebook, and X (@NicoleClowneyAR on all those platforms). There you can get more info on what I've filed and what I've fought, as it happens.
If you want to be in touch directly, the best way to reach me—especially during session—is by text at (479) 445-5337.
Thank you for all your outreach so far. As I said last Monday when we were finishing up a more than five-hour-long State Agencies Committee meeting, thank you for staying in the fight. Even if your work doesn't change an outcome immediately, please know that it matters. Leaving a record of resistance matters. And y'all are doing that beautifully and powerfully. Thank you.
Love,
Nicole
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