Arkansas lawmakers passed 890 laws during this year’s legislative sessions, and most take effect on Tuesday.

The Social Media Safety Act, which requires parental permission for children under 18 to create a new social media account, goes into effect Sept. 1. However, the law could be affected by a federal lawsuit that argues the age verification law violates the First Amendment rights of Arkansans.

I chose a few of the more interesting ones to highlight below.

Act 237 — Commonly called the LEARNS Act, this 145-page piece of legislation brings sweeping changes to the state’s education system. Among other things, the law raises the minimum teacher salary to $50,000, creates a school voucher program that will be phased in over three years, repeals the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, changes graduation criteria and requires students not reading on grade-level by the third grade to be held back.

There is a group that claims to have gained enough signatures to bring a repeal of Act 237 to the ballot. I won’t go into the LEARNS details here but the description above sounds really good where the reality is … not so much.

“Bathroom bill”

Act 317 — Requires students at public and charter schools to use the bathrooms that align with their gender assigned at birth. Republican legislators have said the law will protect children’s privacy, while LGBTQ+ rights activists and Democratic legislators have said the law is one of several passed this year that discriminates against transgender people.

Act 511 — Prohibits public schools and colleges from requiring employees to participate in implicit bias training. An institution would not be prohibited from requiring implicit bias training if 95% of it “is required by an accreditor, grantor, or licensor.”

Act 542 — Requires Arkansas public school teachers and professors to use the pronouns and names students were assigned at birth.

Act 195 — Removes the requirement for children under 16 years old who wish to work in Arkansas to obtain an employment certificate from the Division of Labor.

Act 274 — Allows minors who receive gender-affirming health care to sue physicians for medical malpractice for providing this care up to 15 years after they turn 18.

The reason PornHub is blocked :

Act 612 — Requires pornography websites to verify that users are at least 18 years old.

Act 629 — Outlaws Delta-8, Delta-9 and Delta-10 THC by classifying them Schedule IV drugs.

Act 777 — Clarifies that you don’t have to hold a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Arkansas.

Act 160 — Requires able-bodied adults between the ages 19 and 64 to work, volunteer or participate in a workforce training program in order to receive federal housing assistance.