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HB 1705

Appropriation; Hinds County for cleaning blighted property in House District 68.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Zakiya Summers

Arkansas must embed in grades 6-12 social studies standards an account of the Founders' religious and moral beliefs and their influence on founding documents, beginning 2026-27.

Died In Committee
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Bill Summary · HB 1705

Summary — HB 1705 (Arkansas, 95th General Assembly, 2025 session)

Status: Reported in source as "Died In Committee" (see note on legislative history below)

Sponsors: Rep. Duke; primary sponsors also listed include Rep. Dagmara Avelar and Sen. J. Bryant; multiple cosponsors (R. Scott Richardson, Rye, Cozart, A. Brown, Breaux, Bentley, McGrew, S. Meeks, Joey Carr, K. Brown, Long, J. Dotson, Vaught, Harry Benton). Companion: SB 530.

Purpose / Intent

Require the State Board of Education to embed into existing social studies standards for grades 6–12 instruction about the founding of the United States that specifically addresses the Founding Fathers’ religious and moral beliefs and how those beliefs influenced founding documents and ideas.

Key provisions

  • Adds Arkansas Code § 6-16-163 (new) requiring that, beginning with the 2026–2027 school year, the State Board embed specified information into social studies standards/courses for grades 6–12.
  • Required content (emphasized, not limited to):
    • The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, including the meaning/purpose of the phrase “We hold these truths to be self‑evident…endowed by their Creator…Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
    • Core political beliefs attributed to the Founders: ordered liberty; equality; natural rights (including defense of self, community, nation); freedom of speech and press; free exercise of religion.
    • How the Founders’ religious and moral beliefs influenced the founding and founding documents, including topics such as:
    • The Founders’ conception of the “Creator” and human nature;
    • The constitutional requirement for a republican form of government, separation of powers, federalism, and discussion of the “fatal tendency of democracy”;
    • Historical/textual influences (e.g., Ten Commandments, Mosaic Law, New Testament, ancient Hebrews/Greeks/Romans; English Common Law, Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights);
    • Why a Bill of Rights was demanded for ratification;
    • How the Declaration’s recognition of inalienable rights formed a framework that led to abolition of slavery;
    • Tracing present freedoms to the beliefs of the Founders.
  • Amendment H2 clarified language to repeatedly specify “religious and moral beliefs” (replacing earlier generic references to “beliefs”).

Who is affected

  • State Board of Education: required to embed the described information into standards and approve revised standards.
  • School districts and schools (grades 6–12): expected to align curricula, instructional materials, and teacher professional development with the revised standards.
  • Teachers and students in social studies courses across grades 6–12.

Fiscal and implementation notes

  • Arkansas Department of Education fiscal comment: No direct state fiscal impact recorded for the statute itself.
  • Revision/approval process for standards estimated to take 18–24 months (drafting, stakeholder review, State Board approval).
  • Local school districts would bear costs for procuring additional or revised instructional materials and providing professional learning to faculty.

Timeline / Effective date

  • Policy requirement is to be in place for the 2026–2027 school year.
  • The statute would be added as a new section in Ark. Code Title 6, Ch. 16, Subch. 1.

Procedural / status note

  • The bill text provided is the Arkansas HB 1705 (as engrossed with amendments H1/H2). The top-line metadata for this request lists the bill as “Died In Committee.” The legislative action history included with the document appears to combine entries from multiple different jurisdictional HB 1705 bills (different states and sessions) and contains conflicting entries (e.g., readings, passage, enrollment). For the purposes of this summary, content and provisions described above are drawn from the Arkansas HB 1705 text; confirm current legal status with the Arkansas legislative records or the Secretary of State for final disposition.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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