LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed two bills she said were destined to impact education and mental health in a ceremony at the capitol on Thursday.
The legislation signed into law will provide a free breakfast for every public school child and a ban on cell phones while classes are in session at public schools.
The governor said the breakfast legislation would help learning while at the same time removing stress for parents “who would otherwise have a difficult time” providing for their children.
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The governor said that the phone-free legislation is “just the beginning of my family-friendly legislation this session,” adding that she was expecting the grocery tax to be eliminated.
Sanders was joined by legislators who played a part in passing the two bills.
Sen. Tyler Dees (R-Silom Springs) said the phone-free legislation was important because “our kids are guinea pigs,” who are being used by “big tech” to test technology. Rep. Jon Eubanks (R-Paris) joined him, who added that the legislation was “going to have a big impact on our schools and teachers.”
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Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) spoke about the importance of the breakfast bill because “hungry kids miss more school [and] don’t learn as well.” The breakfast legislation would impact over 425,000 families in Arkansas, Tucker said.
Rep. Zach Gramlich (R-Fort Smith), a teacher, pointed to his experience of knowing how cell phones can interfere with social development and how they are used for things such as organizing fights that are recorded and posted by students.
“This [legislation] is going to affect things directly,” he said.
