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HB 1810

Medicaid; modifying, adding, and removing certain prior authorization requirements for contracted entities; effective date; emergency.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Christi Gillespie and 1 co-sponsor

Consolidates Arkansas School for the Blind and the Deaf into the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind, standardizing references, funding, and reporting to serve all students.

Becomes law without Governor's signature 05/25/2025
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Bill Summary · HB 1810

Summary — HB 1810 (Arkansas, 95th General Assembly, 2025)

Note: the materials provided contain mixed and partly inconsistent records (including a separate Illinois HB1810 and conflicting status notes). The summary below focuses on the Arkansas bill text as engrossed (House engrossed 3/31/25; Senate engrossed 4/8/25) which amends Arkansas law governing the Arkansas School for the Blind and the Arkansas School for the Deaf.

Main purpose

HB 1810 reorganizes and updates Arkansas statutory references to the state schools for students who are deaf and/or blind by consolidating references and transferring functions into a single entity styled the “Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind.” The bill aligns multiple statutes to reflect that transfer, clarifies program and reporting responsibilities, updates personnel coverage under certain programs, and authorizes related fund uses. An emergency clause is included.

Key provisions and changes

  • Renames/transfers the Arkansas School for the Blind and the Arkansas School for the Deaf into the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind and amends numerous code sections accordingly (multiple sections of Ark. Code Title 5 and Title 6).
  • Amends definitions of “public school” in statutes addressing:
    • Offender prohibitions (§ 5‑14‑132),
    • Tornado/earthquake drill requirements (§ 6‑10‑121),
    • Military child school transitions (§ 6‑28‑104), to include the consolidated Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind.
  • Requires the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind and the Arkansas School for the Deaf to submit student test results and comparable program lists to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (§ 6‑15‑1402).
  • Allows the State Board to adopt alternate support-level processes for specialized schools, explicitly including the consolidated school (§ 6‑15‑2913).
  • Expands entities and staff covered by the School Worker Defense Program to explicitly include employees, aides, student teachers and dormitory staff of the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind (§ 6‑17‑1113).
  • Declares duty of the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind to provide braille and large‑print textbooks and permits use of its Fund Account for braille/large‑print textbooks, and, if funding allows, electronic textbooks, adaptive technology, and library media (§ 6‑21‑105).
  • Amends fund account names and passenger vehicle limits and adjusts board of trustees language (Title 6, Ch. 43; § 19‑4‑906; § 19‑5‑304) to reflect the consolidated school and its fund account.

Who is affected

  • Students who are deaf, blind, or visually impaired statewide (in both the residential/state schools and those served in public districts).
  • School staff and dormitory personnel at the state schools (explicitly listed under protective/coverage statutes).
  • Arkansas Department of Education / Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (reporting and oversight).
  • State procurement and fund management entities (changes to fund account usage and purchasing authorities).

Fiscal impact

  • A Fiscal Impact Statement prepared by the Arkansas Department of Education included with the materials indicates “No Fiscal Impact.” The bill also explicitly permits use of the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind Fund Account for textbook and (if funding allows) technology purchases.

Procedural/status notes and data conflicts

  • The provided legislative actions include entries indicating the bill was engrossed, amended, passed, emergency clause adopted, and listed as Act 796 (April 2025). However, the initial metadata supplied with the request listed the status as “Died In Committee” and the packet also contains a separate Illinois HB1810 text. Because of these inconsistencies, verify the current official Arkansas legislative tracking (Arkansas General Assembly or Secretary of State records) for the bill’s definitive status and final act text.

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

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