AR
Arkansas House Bill HB1060

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1060 Compare Versions

OldNewDifferences
11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 134 of the Regular Session
3-*TNL016* 02-10-2025 09:57:00 TNL016
4-
5-State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H1/15/25 H1/28/25 H2/10/25 1
2+*TNL016* 12/09/2024 11:20:42 AM TNL016
3+State of Arkansas 1
64 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
75 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1060 3
86 4
97 By: Representative R. Scott Richardson 5
108 By: Senator J. Dotson 6
119 7
1210 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
13-AN ACT TO REVISE THE INSTRUCTION PROVIDED ON THE 9
14-FAILURE OF COMMUNIST AND AUTOCRATIC SYSTEMS AND TO 10
15-REINFORCE IN REQUIRED INSTRUCTION THE RESILIENCY OF 11
16-THE CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC SYSTEM ADOPTED BY THE 12
17-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
18- 14
19- 15
20-Subtitle 16
21-TO REVISE THE INSTRUCTION PROVIDED ON 17
22-THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST AND AUTOCRATIC 18
23-SYSTEMS AND TO REINFORCE IN REQUIRED 19
24-INSTRUCTION THE RESILIENCY OF THE 20
25-CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC SYSTEM ADOPTED 21
26-BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 22
11+AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE PERILS OF COMMUNISM AND 9
12+AUTOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS BE TAUGHT IN ALL PUBLIC 10
13+SCHOOLS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
14+ 12
15+ 13
16+Subtitle 14
17+TO REQUIRE THE PERILS OF COMMUNISM AND 15
18+AUTOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS BE TAUGHT IN ALL 16
19+PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 17
20+ 18
21+BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
22+ 20
23+ SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 16, Subchapter 1, is amended 21
24+to add an additional section to read as follows: 22
25+ 6-16-156. Perils of communism education — Required — Definition. 23
26+ (a) Beginning with the 2024 -2025 school year, education concerning the 24
27+perils of communism and autocratic governments shall be taught in all public 25
28+schools in a manner that generates an understanding of the following results 26
29+of communism and autocratic governments: 27
30+ (1) The record of mass murder and oppression committed as a 28
31+result of communism and autocratic governments; 29
32+ (2) The economic structures and related collapses of the 30
33+economic structures in countries that have adopted communist policies; 31
34+ (3) The issues and failures associated with communist economic 32
35+systems; and 33
36+ (4) The continued failure of communism and autocratic 34
37+governments resulting from the direct influences of: 35
38+ (A) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its 36 HB1060
39+
40+ 2 12/09/2024 11:20:42 AM
41+successor state, Russia; 1
42+ (B) The People's Republic of China; 2
43+ (C) Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and 3
44+ (D) Argentina. 4
45+ (b) The State Board of Education, in consultation with local, 5
46+statewide, and national experts in communism and autocratic government 6
47+education, shall develop and distribute grade -appropriate curricula, 7
48+standards, materials, and units relating to the perils of communism and 8
49+autocratic governments for grades seven through twelve (7 -12) in all public 9
50+schools. 10
51+ (c) As used in this section, “communism and autocratic government" 11
52+means a system of government in which absolute power over a state is 12
53+concentrated in the hands of a single person or party, whose decisions are 13
54+subject to neither external legal constraints nor regularized mechanisms of 14
55+popular control. 15
56+ 16
57+ 17
58+ 18
59+ 19
60+ 20
61+ 21
62+ 22
2763 23
28-BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
64+ 24
2965 25
30- SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 16, Subchapter 1, is amended 26
31-to add an additional section to read as follows: 27
32-6-16-156. Communism and autocratic government education — Update to existing 28
33-standards — Definition. 29
34- (a) Prior to the 2026-2027 school year, the Department of Education 30
35-shall review and update current social studies standards for grades seven 31
36-through twelve (7-12) in all public schools to include age -appropriate 32
37-adjustments in order to ensure curricula, standards, materials, and units 33
38-accurately compare and contrast the resiliency of the United States's 34
39-constitutional republic with the failures of communism and autocratic 35
40-government systems and other democratic government systems. 36 As Engrossed: H1/15/25 H1/28/25 H2/10/25 HB1060
41-
42- 2 02-10-2025 09:57:00 TNL016
43-
44-
45- (b) The updated standards under subsection (a) of this section shall 1
46-include the following without limitation: 2
47- (1) The adherence to constitutional limitation in the United 3
48-States Government; 4
49- (2) The value of an educated citizenry and its ability to alter 5
50-government direction via elections; 6
51- (3) The general subservience of constitutional republics to the 7
52-citizens, while other forms of government require subservience to a single 8
53-government institution or a single government leader; 9
54- (4) The record of mass murder and oppression committed as a 10
55-result of communism and autocratic governments; 11
56- (5) The economic structures and related collapses of the 12
57-economic structures in countries that have adopted communism and autocratic 13
58-government policies or systems; 14
59- (6) The issues and failures associated with communism and 15
60-autocratic governments; 16
61- (7) The continued failure of communism and autocratic 17
62-governments resulting from the direct influences of the following without 18
63-limitation: 19
64- (A) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its 20
65-successor state, Russia; 21
66- (B) The People's Republic of China; 22
67- (C) Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and 23
68- (D) Argentina; and 24
69- (8) The natural deterioration of democracies into autocracies 25
70-over history, including without limitation in Afghanistan, the Democratic 26
71-Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. 27
66+ 26
67+ 27
7268 28
73- (c) As used in this section, “communism and autocratic 29
74-government" means a system of government in which absolute power over a state 30
75-is concentrated in the hands of a single person or party, whose decisions are 31
76-subject to neither external legal constraints nor regularized mechanisms of 32
77-popular control. 33
69+ 29
70+ 30
71+ 31
72+ 32
73+ 33
7874 34
7975 35
80-APPROVED: 2/25/25 36
76+ 36