Cell phone ban, free breakfast bills signed into law
Sanders, GOP lawmakers continue to reshape education in Arkansas
By the Times News Staff
news@theeveningtimes.com
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As part of the regular session of the Arkansas 95th General Assembly which began on Jan.
13, there have been several new bills signed into law.
Though the state experienced some inclement winter weather this week, business has seemingly continued as usual at the Arkansas State Capitol.
This includes several key bills that were signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders on Feb. 20.
Bell to Bell, No Cell
One of the most widely talked about bills signed into law by Gov. Sanders is SB142 otherwise known as the 'Bell to Bell, No Cell Act.' This bill will amend requirements for public school discipline policies in relation to student use of personal electronic devices such as cell phones.
Now that the bill has been signed into law, public schools in Arkansas will be required to implement strict phone-free policies that ban the use of cell phones during the school day. However, exceptions are allowed to be made in the event of an emergency or for medical reasons.
Senate lawmakers clarified that any devices such as tablets that were issued by the school would be exempt from the rule.
The House passed the bill last week with 97 representatives having voted for it and only one vote against it. Once the bill made its way back to the Senate on Feb. 18, lawmakers gave their approval and it was then sent to the governor's desk.
Free Breakfast
The new law is set to take effect during the upcoming 2025-2026 school year.
Another bill signed into law on Thursday was SB59 which would provide every public school student with one free breakfast for each school day regardless of their eligibility for a federally-funded free or reduced-price meal.
The effort behind this bill was proposed by Gov. Sanders before the legislative session began in early January.
It was later proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers including lead sponsors Jonathan Dismang (R) and Rep. Zack Gramlich (R), alongside Sen. Clarke Tucker (D), Rep. Zack Gramlich (R), and Rep. Tippi McCullough (D).
The bill passed the Senate on Feb. 6 and then made its way through the House on Feb. 13 with near unanimous support on both sides.
The program will use federal
See CELL, page A3
Photo courtesy of PMG CELL
From page A1
funding and money from the state's Food Insecurity Fund to provide the free breakfasts. Part of the fund will also come from money collected out of the taxes received from the sale of medical marijuana. The free breakfast program available to all public school students is set to also begin during the upcoming 20252026 school year.
Other Legislation
Moving along to another piece of legislation — Gov.
Sanders also signed HB1427, otherwise known as the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act, into law on Thursday.
This act will amend the law in Arkansas to help improve maternal health across the state.
It will do so by helping to establish presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women which means that they can begin receiving prenatal care as they work on completing their Medicaid application. It would also offer doulas and community health workers various pathways for reimbursement.
Another bill signed by Gov.
Sanders is HB1048 which amends the law surrounding the sale of goat, sheep, and whole milk that has not been pasteurized. This bill will now allow for raw milk products to be sold at places outside of the farm where it came from, including farmers markets.
It will also require each jug of milk that is sold to have a warning label on it stating that it is raw milk and will need to have contact information for the farm where the milk came from.
