Policy Tracking
Here, we’ll store our Appleseed policy reports, our bill tracking resources, our press publications, and more! Keep an eye on this page for updates.
All bills filed for the latest Legislative Session can be found in their entirety here. Or, you can follow along with us as we track our priority bills through the committee, public input, and amendment process!
Policy Reports
In 2002, after a series of findings in Lake View School District v. Huckabee, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided our state’s school funding system was unconstitutional, noting that “too many of our children are leaving school for a life of deprivation, burdening our culture with the corrosive effects of citizens who lack the education to contribute.”Special masters were appointed by the Supreme Court to reconfigure our public school funding model. New funds were infused into our state’s public school systems, and the Court was satisfied that the State of Arkansas was set to meet its constitutional responsibility to provide an adequate education to every student.Fast forward to 2026, in our post-LEARNS Act school funding environment, and let’s ask the big-picture constitutional question: Is the State of Arkansas providing an adequate education to all school children on a substantially equal basis? A careful look at the data provides a clear answer: No.This is an original Arkansas Appleseed report - our own 2026 deep-dive into Arkansas’s public school funding numbers, an examination of racial disparities in education outcomes, and a look into how we stack up against national and regional peer states. We also consider remedies for some of the report’s most troubling findings. Read the report here.Maternal Health in Arkansas
Did you know that 50% of Arkansas counties do not have maternal health services? According to a recent March of Dimes report found here, Arkansas's infant mortality rate is around 35% higher than the national rate, and Arkansas's maternal mortality rate is around 65% higher than the national rate. In March of 2024, Governor Sanders signed the "Executive Order to Support Moms, Protect Babies, and Improve Maternal Health." That kicked off a series of meetings that were held all over the state with subject matter experts, Cabinet-level participants, and health practitioners - all geared toward finding ways to improve maternal health in Arkansas.The Arkansas Strategic Committee for Maternal Health published its full report and recommendations here. In it you'll find their methodology, the rationales supporting many of their findings, and the projects that are underway.Below is our summary of the report's Key Findings & Recommendations. For a more exhaustive account of the Committee's work, please reference the full report. In the New Year, one of our priorities will be advocacy work that makes Arkansas a safer place to be a mother or a baby. Read up on the data and stay tuned for more updates!