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HR 1025

TO RECOGNIZE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2025, AS DAISY GATSON BATES DAY, AND TO HONOR DAISY GATSON BATES FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO ARKANSAS, THE NATION, AND THE WORLD, NOW MEMORIALIZED IN THE DISPLAY OF HER STATUE IN THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Tracy Steele

Arkansas designates February 17, 2025 as Daisy Gatson Bates Day to honor her civil rights leadership and commemorative statue in the U.S. Capitol.

READ AND ADOPTED.
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Bill Summary · HR 1025

Summary — Arkansas House Resolution HR 1025 (95th General Assembly, 2025)

Note: the materials provided include an unrelated federal post office naming clause. This summary focuses on the Arkansas House Resolution HR 1025 (by Representative Steele) that recognizes Daisy Gatson Bates Day.

Main purpose

To officially recognize Monday, February 17, 2025 (the third Monday in February / President’s Day), as Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas and to honor Daisy Gatson Bates for her contributions to Arkansas, the nation, and the world — specifically noting her memorialization by a statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol.

Key provisions

  • Formally declares Monday, February 17, 2025, as Daisy Gatson Bates Day (coinciding with President’s Day).
  • Honors Daisy Gatson Bates for:
    • Leadership in civil rights, especially her role in the 1957 Little Rock Central High School integration crisis and mentorship of the “Little Rock Nine.”
    • Founding and editing the Arkansas State Press newspaper.
    • Service with the NAACP Arkansas State Conference and work on national antipoverty programs.
    • Her memoir, public speaking (including the 1963 March on Washington), and community advocacy.
  • Recognizes that Bates is memorialized with a statue (sculpted by Benjamin Victor) unveiled in the U.S. Capitol on May 8, 2024.
  • Reaffirms prior state recognition (the General Assembly enacted a provision in 2001 recognizing the third Monday in February as Daisy Gatson Bates Day) and notes legislative and public honors through the years.

Background on Daisy Gatson Bates (as described in the resolution)

  • Born 1914 in Huttig, Arkansas; experienced racial violence early in life.
  • Moved to Little Rock in 1941; started the Arkansas State Press.
  • Served as president of the Arkansas NAACP State Conference (elected 1952).
  • Key figure in Aaron v. Cooper and the 1957 desegregation crisis.
  • Worked in Washington, D.C., on antipoverty programs and returned to Arkansas in 1965 for community development work.
  • Died 1999; widely commemorated in Arkansas (streets, documentaries, etc.).

Who is affected / impact

  • Primarily ceremonial and commemorative: affects state observance, educational and cultural recognition, and public awareness.
  • No regulatory changes, entitlements, or mandated state expenditures are created by this resolution.
  • May influence state and local commemorations, school curricula, and official events on the designated day.

Legislative status and timeline (as provided)

  • Filed / Read/Introduced: January–February 2025 (filed 01/30/2025; introduced 02/05/2025).
  • Committee action: Referred to committee and reported “Do Pass.”
  • Calendaring: Placed on Local & Consent Calendars and Congratulatory & Memorial Resolutions Calendar.
  • Read and adopted (dates in provided record include 02/17/2025 and adoption entries in May 2025).
  • Reported enrolled: 05/24/2025.
  • Final status: Adopted by the House.

Fiscal/legal effect

  • A house resolution of this type is ceremonial and non-binding. It does not create new law, impose regulatory requirements, or direct spending.

Sponsors / source note

  • The resolution text names Representative Steele as the author. Other sponsor metadata in the provided packet appears to mix federal House sponsor names and an unrelated federal provision; those appear extraneous to this Arkansas state resolution.

If you want, I can:
- Extract a clean timeline of actions with only the state-chamber entries, or
- Prepare a short one-page briefing for legislators or educators describing how to commemorate Daisy Gatson Bates Day.

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

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