This article was first published by the Arkansas Advocate and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
A proposal to abolish the boards that oversee public libraries and educational public television programs in Arkansas passed the state Senate on Monday and will go to the House next.
Twenty-three Republican senators voted to approve Senate Bill 184, which would transfer the powers and authorities of the Arkansas State Library Board and the Arkansas Educational Television Commission to the state Department of Education.
The Arkansas State Library Board oversees public libraries and disburses state funds to them on a quarterly basis, and the Arkansas Educational Television Commission oversees Arkansas PBS’ programs and finances. Both boards are already under the umbrella of the education department but act independently.
Similarly to Thursday’s meeting of the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, lawmakers spent more time Monday debating the bill’s potential impact on Arkansas PBS than on the Arkansas State Library.
Democratic Sens. Jamie Scott of North Little Rock and Clarke Tucker of Little Rock expressed concerns that Arkansas PBS would lose both federal and private funding if its governance were no longer independent of the executive branch. CEO and Executive Director Courtney Pledger made similar comments Thursday before the committee; Tucker was the only panel member to vote against SB 184.
Arkansas PBS’ funds include approximately $5.8 million from state general revenue, $2.5 million from the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.7 million in private donations, agency Chief Financial Officer Jason Kunau said Thursday.
“Local projects that tell the stories of Arkansan people and their stories and their histories and their struggles — those stories could be lost if they lose this funding,” Scott said.
Tucker noted that the education department would have to apply for the network’s Federal Communications Commission license, which the Arkansas Educational Television Commission currently holds. He also mentioned that Arkansas PBS provides emergency alerts throughout the state, and Scott added that funding cuts would hurt PBS’ ability to broadcast high school sports.
Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, asked Scott if she was “familiar with the audit findings” that put Arkansas PBS under legislative scrutiny in 2023. Its regularly scheduled 2022 audit indicated that administrators might have sidestepped state laws related to contract bidding.
Scott said she was “aware that the audit finding was bad” but did not think dissolving the network’s board was the solution.
A specially requested audit of the network’s expenditures, purchasing procedures and “internal controls” from July 1, 2021, to Dec. 30, 2023, concluded last year, with auditors referring the findings to a prosecuting attorney. Pledger told lawmakers in September that the agency had learned from its “mistakes and errors.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, is the sponsor of SB 184 and one of the Legislature’s most vocal critics of Arkansas PBS. He told the Senate that both the Arkansas Educational Television Commission and the Arkansas State Library Board should have taken action in situations that drew concern from lawmakers and members of the public.
“Our libraries are great resources. AETN and PBS are great resources,” Sullivan said. “They’re not operating well. There’s poor leadership, and that poor leadership falls to the board.”
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Sullivan’s wife, Maria, to the Arkansas Educational Television Commission last June.
The State Library Board held its first quarterly meeting of 2025 on Friday. Former Republican Sen. Jason Rapert of Conway urged his fellow board members to reject the American Library Association and to withhold funds from libraries where “sexually explicit” content is accessible by children. Both motions failed.
Sullivan criticized the State Library Board for its continued relationship with the American Library Association, which is a nonprofit trade organization that advocates for public libraries and helps them secure grant funding.
Rapert and Sullivan have both repeatedly decried ALA’s statement that access to libraries should not be restricted based on a person’s age. Far-right conservatives nationwide have claimed this statement is proof that the ALA believes in forcing content about sexual activity and LGBTQ+ topics onto children.
Sullivan said Monday that ALA’s stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is a reason to detach from the organization. He is sponsoring Senate Bill 3, which is on Sanders’ desk and would “prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment” by public entities in Arkansas if she signs it.
He is also sponsoring Senate Bill 181, which is expected to be heard in committee Tuesday. The bill would loosen the current requirement that library directors hold a master’s degree “from an accredited American Library Association program.” It also would allow someone with “work experience in the field of library operations” but without a master’s degree to run a library with approval from its local governing board.
Sullivan told his colleagues that any emails they’ve gotten urging them to vote against SB 184 are mostly “false” and a result of “mass hysteria.”
Arkansas PBS is based at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, which is represented by Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale. Johnson said one reason he supported the bill was because the Arkansas PBS Foundation has been lobbying him to vote against it.
“I’m not against lobbyists, I used to be one, but I think there should be a line between what private people do with their money … and when funds that are raised to support an institution such as this [are] channeled to hire lobbyists to come defeat specific legislation,” Johnson said. “I’m bothered, and I would be bothered by it if it were something unrelated to this entity.”
Republican Sens. Jane English of North Little Rock and Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana joined the chamber’s six Democrats in voting against SB 184. Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, was absent.
Three Republican senators did not vote: Alan Clark of Lonsdale, Jim Dotson of Bentonville and Missy Irvin of Mountain View.
Irvin declined to comment when asked why she did not vote. She and Tucker agreed during the debate that the Legislature has the power to restructure the Arkansas Educational Television Commission without abolishing it, such as shortening members’ eight-year terms or removing the eight current members to allow the governor to replace them.
Arkansas State Library Board members also serve eight-year terms. Sanders’ most recent appointment to the board is Sydney McKenzie, wife of state Rep. Brit McKenzie, R-Rogers.