Rep. Aaron Pilkington

Maddy summaryHouse Bill 1131 authorizes Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to delegate specific medical tasks. This bill directly impacts APRNs by expanding their ability to assign duties. It also affects medical assistants and other unlicensed staff who may perform these delegated tasks. The key mechanism is granting APRNs the legal authority to assign certain responsibilities to unlicensed personnel. This bill is now Act 959.

Maddy summaryHB 1352 (now Act 937) is a technical amendment to a bill that primarily changes a single word in the legislation - replacing "and" with "or" on page 6, line 31. It does not introduce new policies, alter substantive requirements, or directly affect any specific groups or entities. The bill was passed by the Arkansas Senate with Amendment No. 1 and signed into law on April 21, 2025. As a minor procedural correction, it has no meaningful impact on how the law operates or who it governs.

Maddy summaryHJR 1018, titled "THE CITIZENS ONLY VOTING AMENDMENT," is a joint resolution that successfully passed both legislative chambers and was approved by the Governor. Based on its title, this bill proposes an amendment aimed at restricting voting eligibility to citizens only. However, the provided bill text primarily consists of an amendment adding various representatives and senators as cosponsors to the resolution, and does not detail the specific language, mechanisms, or provisions of the proposed "Citizens Only Voting Amendment" itself.

Maddy summarySenate Bill 241 amends the Uniform Attendance and Leave Policy Act to provide paid leave for public employees. It allows for up to forty hours of catastrophic leave with pay each calendar year in the event of the death of an immediate family member. The bill broadly defines "immediate family member" to include various relatives, in-laws, and individuals acting as a parent or guardian. It also clarifies "child" to encompass biological, unborn, step, adoptive, and foster children. This leave is available to employees if the administrator of their catastrophic leave program elects to provide it.

Maddy summarySenate Bill 9, known as the "Make Arkansas Healthy Again Act," prohibits the manufacturing, selling, delivering, distributing, holding, or offering for sale of food products that contain certain unspecified substances within Arkansas. This legislation directly affects food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers operating in the state. An amendment to the bill changed the effective date of these prohibitions from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2028. (The specific "certain substances" are not detailed in the provided text.)

Maddy summarySenate Bill 576 (Act 623) amends the eligibility requirements for continuous glucose monitor (CGM) coverage under the Arkansas Medicaid program. This bill directly affects Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries who have certain types of diabetes or glycogen storage disease type 1a. Under the amended law, CGMs will be covered for individuals with Type 1 diabetes or other forms of diabetes who use insulin more than twice daily, or who have evidence of Level 2 or Level 3 hypoglycemia. Coverage is also extended to those diagnosed with glycogen storage disease type 1a.

Maddy summarySB 530 is a procedural bill that added 21 senators and 37 representatives as cosponsors to the original bill. It did not change the tax credit policy itself, as the title references an existing Arkansas Wood Energy Products and Forest Maintenance Income Tax Credit. The bill's purpose was solely to expand the list of legislators supporting the tax credit legislation. The bill was passed and became Act 701 on April 18, 2025. No substantive policy changes to the tax credit were made by this amendment.

Maddy summarySB 527 amends the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me Act of 2021, impacting individuals enrolled in the program and participating health insurers. The bill changes the age for exemption from work requirements to over 59 years and clarifies compliance information for the Arkansas Medicaid Program. It establishes a process for suspending coverage for individuals who do not cooperate with work requirements, allowing them to regain active coverage if they demonstrate an intention to comply. Additionally, the bill reduces the required medical-loss ratio for health insurers in the program from 90% to 85%.

Maddy summaryHouse Bill 1529 creates a new criminal offense and a civil cause of action related to "deepfake visual material." It makes it illegal to unlawfully create or distribute such material, directly affecting individuals involved in these actions. Additionally, the bill allows individuals who are victims of unlawfully created deepfake visual material to file a lawsuit to seek compensation. This legislation provides both criminal penalties and a civil remedy for the misuse of deepfake technology.

Maddy summaryHouse Bill 1680, now Act 811, restricts certain foreign entities from acquiring interests in land. It prohibits businesses controlled by a "foreign party" from leasing land. The bill also prevents "prohibited foreign parties" from holding an interest in real property or agricultural land under specific circumstances. An amendment clarifies that an individual is not considered a "prohibited foreign party" if they are also a citizen of the United States.