2023 Arkansas General Assembly: End-of-session update

The 94th Arkansas General Assembly adjourned on April 7. Any bills that weren’t passed and sent to the governor for signature therefore won’t be enacted into law.

HB 1006: Mandating paid maternity leave in certain situations

House Bill (HB) 1006 sought to add Section 11-5-119 to Chapter 5 of Title 11 of the Arkansas Code, Working Conditions Generally, to require employers that offer abortion coverage under their health benefit plans to provide 12 weeks of paid maternity leave to employees.

Update: While there was a lot of early activity regarding this bill, it wasn’t passed.

HB 1400: Tax credit for paid FMLA leave

HB 1400 proposed to create a state income tax credit for employers that provide paid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The credit would have been the same as the federal income tax credit provided under 26 U.S.C. §45S. The federal credit requires an employer to have a policy that provides no less than two weeks’ paid FMLA leave and is on a sliding scale of 12.5% to 25% of the wages paid while employees are on the leave.

Status: HB 1400 never made it out of committee and wasn’t passed.

HB 1451 required unpaid leave for Veterans Day