Committee approves House amendments to SB 43; sponsor says changes broaden protections for minors

Little Rock — The committee approved House amendments to Senate Bill 43 after sponsor Sen. Stubblefield described how the amended House version changes the original Senate language.

Stubblefield told the committee the original Senate bill targeted a narrower set of performances while the amended House bill prohibits both types of performances mentioned in the earlier draft, bars admission of minors to those performances and prevents taxpayer funding for them. He said the amended draft had been reviewed with legal counsel and argued it was more likely to withstand judicial scrutiny.

Committee members asked no extensive follow‑up and the committee moved to adopt the amendments and advance the bill. The committee's voice vote was recorded as 'aye' and the chair declared the bill passed as amended.