Little Rock, AR – The Arkansas State Legislature passed two landmark pieces of labor-reform legislation supported by the Freedom Foundation. HB1724 would revise the election schedule for all Arkansas school boards, and SB402 would ban “captive audience meetings,” during which newly hired teachers and other school staff are forced to sit through high-pressure membership recruiting pitches. The two bills now move to Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is expected to sign them into law.
“We applaud the Arkansas Senate and House for standing strong in defense of schools and educators alike,” said Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation. “Lawmakers are ensuring that our education system remains focused on students—not on a corrupt union agenda. This is a bold and necessary step toward preserving the integrity of Arkansas’s schools at every level of the system.”
HB1724 will work to improve local schools and strengthen communities rather than allowing union influence to control the election cycle, and SB402 will protect Arkansas educators and public employees from high-pressure union organizing activities during the school day.
Both bills represent a critical implementation of new boundaries, which will encourage responsible taxpayer spending and a more accountable system for unions to abide by, preventing the left-wing union agenda from continuing to be inappropriately pushed into Arkansas schools.
Background on HB1724:
Authored by Representative Brit McKenzie (R-Rogers), the measure changes the schedule of elections to be held on the primary date in even years or the second Tuesday in odd years, with current terms set to expire in even years and reset. The bill designates school board member positions as nonpartisan offices, ensuring that candidates are elected based on their qualifications and not political affiliation, and that elected school board members remain accountable solely to the communities they serve.
Background on SB402:
Authored by Sen. Clint Penzo (R-Springdale), the measure allows teachers to teach and would prevent unions and other special interests from interrupting school hours to recruit and retain members with mandatory, captive-audience presentations during new hire orientations and faculty meetings. These occasions frequently involve coercive tactics that encourage employees to join unions, associations, or co-ops—creating the appearance of state endorsement and putting undue pressure on employees.
Under the Biden administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) affirmed that compelling employees to attend anti-union presentations infringes on their constitutional rights, stating: “forcing employees to attend captive audience meetings under threat of discipline discourages employees from exercising their right to refrain from listening to this speech and is therefore inconsistent with the NLRA.” This same principle should apply when employees are coerced into attending pro-union presentations.
