This was a busy week in the Arkansas State Legislature. For an excellent summary of the week, please see the March 19 legislative summary from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Transgender rights are under attack in Arkansas:
HB 1570 would ban gender transition treatment for minors, including hormonal treatment and therapies that are provided now in Arkansas. It is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee at 2:00 PM on Monday, March 22. Benton County Senator Cecile Bledsoe, (R) Rogers, is the Chair of this committee. If you live in District 3 (Rogers, Pea Ridge, Bethel Heights, Prairie Creek, Lowell) please reach out as a constituent today with your opinion!
HB 1749 would require that school employees only address students by the name and sex designated on their birth certificates. It was filed this week and is assigned to the House Committee on Education.
Find your Arkansas State Senator here.
Find your Arkansas State Representative here
Last Saturday, your Benton County State Committee members attended the first State Committee meeting of 2021 via zoom. At the meeting, members approved changes to the filing fees for state-level positions in 2022. The approved fees are significantly lower than those for previous election cycles.
This is great news for anyone considering running for a State Representative or State Senate seat in Benton County. For those positions, there will be no fee as long as the candidate obtains a signature from the Chair of the County party or a member of the DPA Executive Committee from the Third Congressional District. For more information about the changes or general information about running for office, please email dpbccandidates@gmail.com.
Members of the Democratic Party of Benton County will vote on the 2022 filing fees for County level elected positions at a meeting later this year.
Senator Jim Hendren leaves the Republican Party
Democratic Party of Arkansas Press Release
A leader in the Republican Party of Arkansas has declared he is leaving a party that has become too extreme, too radical, and too dangerous. He said what most of us already knew, that today’s Republican Party of Arkansas doesn’t focus on the needs of Arkansans but rather on the divisive rhetoric and issues that divide our country.
While we applaud Sen. Hendren for having the courage of his convictions, this information about today’s Republican Party of Arkansas is not news to Arkansas Democrats. We have and will continue to support and lift up candidates whose sole focus has been on the communities in which they live and the state in which they love. These candidates have been focused on healthcare, strong support for public education, and opportunities for people to provide for their families regardless of their zip code.
Sen. Hendren’s exit highlights the mistakes that have been made by blindly voting for Republicans based on the divisive national rhetoric. Arkansas Democrats have been and always will be the party that puts the people of Arkansas first.
Hopeless. That’s the feeling the state legislature inspires this session. It’s been hard to watch bad bill after bad bill roll right through committee, despite so many citizens standing up and speaking out – literally - against these bills and how they will hurt the people of Arkansas. Some have already been signed into law. It feels hopeless.
When our State Legislature makes us feel so hopeless, what gives me hope?
President Biden’s American Recovery plan has been signed into law, providing long-overdue relief needed by our people, our state and local governments, our schools, our small businesses, and much-needed money for vaccine distribution.
Two million Americans are being vaccinated each day (maybe more by the time this hits your inbox).
The Governor finally opened category 1C to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. People with underlying conditions, in the food service industry (finally!), and prisoners are now eligible, among others.
Representative Deb Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, the first Native American Cabinet Secretary in U.S. history.
Last weekend, the DPA State Committee voted to reduce filing fees! That’s great news for future Benton County Democratic candidates!
Working with the DPBC also gives me hope. When I first moved here, I slowly got to know the candidates running for office in 2020. Their energy, optimism, and dedication to the community gave me hope, and that energy, optimism, and dedication will continue through 2021. We have great people, right here, working so hard to keep our party running.
In our February meeting, Vice Chair Cody Little introduced you to the The Pillars - the three concepts that will drive our focus:
Educate & Engage
Unite & Uplift
Recruit & Retain
Everything we need to do stems from these actions. We’ve already started. In February, our guest speaker showed us how to effectively follow bills from the moment they’re filed, how to listen in on committees, and how to engage with our legislators. Since then, we’ve learned about specific bills to follow closely and how to take action to stop them. We’ve heard about local action to relieve medical debt. Our newsletter, started last summer, keeps our readers informed.
We’ve taken a year of COVID-19 stress and turned it into action. Last weekend, we had our first Service Saturday. In collaboration with Arkansas Renters United, we delivered information on the COVID-19 eviction moratorium, rental assistance, and voter registration to 1,000 doors. We hope to reach another 1,600 doors today. If you are reading this early enough on Saturday, you can still join us today at noon at Rogers City Hall (301 W Chestnut St). We will train you quickly and give you all the materials you need! We are having one more event on Saturday, March 27. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/2TK1WqHg8fU7zHPb6
Watch for more Service Saturdays to come. If you have an idea for a DPBC service project, email me at benton@arkdems.org.
My message might be a bit long this month. Each time I write one of these, I find it difficult to contain my sense of urgency and excitement. I’m truly hopeful in what’s to come for the DPBC. I hope you are, too!
