# Arkansas SB3: TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION OR PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT BY THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND OTHER PUBLIC ENTITIES. Arkansas SB3, TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION OR PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT BY THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND OTHER PUBLIC ENTITIES., is a 2025 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Mary Bentley (Republican), Dan Sullivan (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-02-18 (Notification that SB3 is now Act 116); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB3-2025 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas SB3 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION OR PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT BY THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND OTHER PUBLIC ENTITIES. - Status: enacted - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2024-11-20 - Last action: 2025-02-18, Notification that SB3 is now Act 116 - Sponsors: Mary Bentley (Republican), Dan Sullivan (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 3 (113 yes, 40 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 9 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Teacher scholarships open beyond minority applicants: benefit, high. The renamed Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship is open to qualifying applicants regardless of minority status, including full-time and part-time students. Applicants must be enrolled or accepted at a qualifying Arkansas degree-granting institution with an approved teacher education program or accre… - Alcohol permits must consider consumer competition: benefit, low. Arkansas alcohol regulators must consider how competition benefits consumers when issuing permits under the state’s alcohol laws. This replaces the consideration of limited diversity in local ownership and financial interests. The law does not guarantee lower prices. - Public contracts drop minority participation requirements: cost, low. Arkansas agencies no longer must encourage minority participation in requests for proposals or qualifications. They also no longer must consider minority inclusion in projects or let applicants explain why minority-owned businesses were not included. For public construction, major repairs, alterati… - Housing cases lose explicit affirmative remedies: cost, low. The law removes express permission for courts to order affirmative action as a remedy for housing discrimination. Courts can still issue injunctions and take other appropriate action under the affected housing-discrimination provision. - Colleges lose required minority support programs: cost, low. Arkansas state-supported colleges no longer must run recruitment and retention programs for Black and other minority students, faculty, and staff. The law removes related affirmative action recruitment programs and the requirement to assign an employee to help with recruitment. It also ends require… - Public entities face new discrimination limits: mixed, medium. Arkansas public entities cannot discriminate or grant preferences based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. This covers public jobs, education, and procurement, and applies to actions after the law’s effective date. Exceptions protect veteran preferences, necessary sex-based job or… - Schools drop required staff recruitment plans: mixed, low. Arkansas public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools no longer need three-year teacher and administrator recruitment and retention plans. They no longer must review, update, and post those plans each year. The repealed plans included goals for minority staff representation and encou… - Schools get help but risk funding: mixed, low. The Equality Assistance Center helps Arkansas school districts meet desegregation and nondiscrimination duties through visits, workshops, and program reviews. It also links the state education division with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights. Districts must file annual compliance assurances in the re… - State employers drop minority hiring goals: mixed, low. Arkansas state employers no longer must pursue hiring goals that bring minority employment closer to the state population’s share. Covered employers include agencies, boards, commissions, public colleges, and constitutional officers. They no longer must report those efforts to the Legislative Counc… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Mary Bentley (Republican), House - Sponsor: Dan Sullivan (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-02-12 | Senate | Senate Vote - Wednesday, February 12, 2025 1:56:05 PM | pass | 24 | 6 | | | 2025-02-06 | House | House Vote - Thursday, February 6, 2025 4:30:27 PM | pass | 65 | 27 | 4 | | 2025-01-29 | Senate | Senate Vote - Wednesday, January 29, 2025 2:52:28 PM | pass | 24 | 7 | 2 | ## Actions (29) - 2025-02-18: Notification that SB3 is now Act 116 (Senate) - 2025-02-13: DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor. (Senate) - 2025-02-12: ORDERED ENROLLED (Senate) - 2025-02-12: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-02-12: Rules suspended. (Senate) - 2025-02-12: House Amendment No. 2 read first time, rule suspended, read second time and concurred in. (Senate) - 2025-02-12: Placed on second reading for purpose of amendment. (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it Do Pass concur in House Amendment No. 2 (Senate) - 2025-02-06: Re-referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE (Senate) - 2025-02-06: AS AMENDED, Amendment # 2 (Senate) - 2025-02-06: Returned from the House as passed. (Senate) - 2025-02-06: Returned to Senate as passed, as amended # 2 (House) - 2025-02-06: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-02-05: Returned by the Committee Do Pass (House) - 2025-02-03: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-02-03: Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-02-03: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-01-29: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE (House) - 2025-01-29: RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE (House) - 2025-01-29: Ordered immediately transmitted to the House. (Senate) - 2025-01-29: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-01-28: Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass (Senate) - 2025-01-21: Re-referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE (Senate) - 2025-01-21: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (Senate) - 2025-01-21: Amendment # 1 read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and adopted, ordered engrossed. (Senate) - 2025-01-21: Withdrawn from Committee and placed on 2nd reading for purpose of amendment # 1 (Senate) - 2025-01-13: Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE (Senate) - 2024-11-20: Filed (Senate) ## Bill text - SB3 - Introduced, 2024-11-20: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FSB3.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=116.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related bills - HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. (enacted) - HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. (failed) - HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO SET PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THE PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF INJURED INDIV… (failed) - SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE USE OF ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS; AND TO REGULATE ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS FACILITIES. (failed) - HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO PETITION TO SET ASIDE THE SALE OF PROPERTY TO CERTAIN P… (failed) - HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO REQUIRE THAT A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BE SELECTED A… (failed) ## Sources - [SB3 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FSB3.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=116.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related - [HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1265-2025) - [HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1686-2025) - [HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO S…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1237-2025) - [SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE US…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB440-2025) - [HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1695-2025) - [HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HR1012-2025) - [Arkansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas/bills) - [Arkansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB3-2025 (as of 2026-10-16).