AR
Arkansas House Bill HB1705

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1705 Compare Versions

OldNewDifferences
11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 478 of the Regular Session
3-*TNL199* 03-17-2025 12:31:55 TNL199
4-
5-State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H3/11/25 H3/17/25 1
2+*TNL199* 03/06/2025 2:30:12 PM TNL199
3+State of Arkansas 1
64 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
75 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1705 3
86 4
9-By: Representatives Duke, R. Scott Richardson, Bentley, Breaux, A. Brown, K. Brown, Joey Carr, 5
10-Cozart, Long, McGrew, S. Meeks, Rye, Vaught 6
11-By: Senators J. Bryant, J. Dotson 7
7+By: Representatives Duke, R. Scott Richardson, Bentley, Breaux, A. Brown, K. Brown, Joey Carr, Cozart, 5
8+Long, McGrew, S. Meeks, Rye, Vaught 6
9+By: Senator J. Bryant 7
1210 8
1311 For An Act To Be Entitled 9
1412 AN ACT TO REQUIRE CERTAIN INFORMATION BE EMBEDDED 10
1513 INTO EXISTING SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS; TO REQUIRE 11
16-INFORMATION CONCERNING HOW THE RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 12
17-BELIEFS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS INFLUENCED THE 13
18-FOUNDING OF THE UNITED STATES TO BE EMBEDDED INTO 14
19-EXISTING SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS; AND FOR OTHER 15
20-PURPOSES. 16
14+INFORMATION CONCERNING HOW THE BELIEFS OF THE 12
15+FOUNDING FATHERS INFLUENCED THE FOUNDING OF THE 13
16+UNITED STATES TO BE EMBEDDED INTO EXISTING SOCIAL 14
17+STUDIES STANDARDS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 15
18+ 16
2119 17
22- 18
23-Subtitle 19
24-TO REQUIRE INFORMATION CONCERNING HOW 20
25-THE RELIGIOUS AND MORAL BELIEFS OF THE 21
26-FOUNDING FATHERS INFLUENCED THE FOUNDING 22
27-OF THE UNITED STATES TO BE EMBEDDED INTO 23
28-EXISTING SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS. 24
29- 25
30-BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 26
31- 27
32- SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 16, Subchapter 1, is amended 28
33-to add an additional section to read as follows: 29
34- 6-16-163. Social studies standards — Beliefs of Founding Fathers. 30
35- (a) Beginning with the 2026 -2027 school year, the State Board of 31
36-Education shall embed into existing social studies standards and courses for 32
37-grades six through twelve (6 -12) information that addresses the founding of 33
38-the United States, including the founding fathers and their religious and 34
39-moral beliefs and how their religious and moral beliefs influenced the 35
40-founding documents of the United States. 36 As Engrossed: H3/11/25 H3/17/25 HB1705
20+Subtitle 18
21+TO REQUIRE INFORMATION CONCERNING HOW 19
22+THE BELIEFS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS 20
23+INFLUENCED THE FOUNDING OF THE UNITED 21
24+STATES TO BE EMBEDDED INTO EXISTING 22
25+SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS. 23
26+ 24
27+BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 25
28+ 26
29+ SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 16, Subchapter 1, is amended 27
30+to add an additional section to read as follows: 28
31+ 6-16-163. Social studies standards — Beliefs of Founding Fathers. 29
32+ (a) Beginning with the 2026 -2027 school year, the State Board of 30
33+Education shall embed into existing social studies standards and courses for 31
34+grades six through twelve (6 -12) information that addresses the founding of 32
35+the United States, including the founding fathers and their religious beliefs 33
36+and how their religious beliefs influenced the founding documents of the 34
37+United States. 35
38+ (b) The information required under subsection (a) of this section 36 HB1705
4139
42- 2 03-17-2025 12:31:55 TNL199
40+ 2 03/06/2025 2:30:12 PM TNL199
41+shall emphasize the following without limitation: 1
42+ (1) The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, including 2
43+the meaning behind and purpose of the quote, "We hold these truths to be 3
44+self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their 4
45+Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty 5
46+and the pursuit of Happiness"; 6
47+ (2) The core political beliefs of the founding fathers, 7
48+including without limitation: 8
49+ (A) Ordered liberty; 9
50+ (B) Equality; 10
51+ (C) Natural rights, including without limitation defense 11
52+of self, community, and nation; 12
53+ (D) Freedom of speech and press; and 13
54+ (E) The free exercise of religion; 14
55+ (3) How the beliefs of the founding fathers influenced the 15
56+founding of the United States and documents and concepts relevant to the 16
57+founding fathers' beliefs, including without limitation: 17
58+ (A) The identity of the "Creator" as viewed by the 18
59+founding fathers; 19
60+ (B) The nature of mankind, or "human nature", as viewed by 20
61+the founding fathers; 21
62+ (C) The constitutional requirement for a republican form 22
63+of government, including the separation of powers and federalism, and the 23
64+fatal tendency of democracy; 24
65+ (D) The human origin beliefs held by the founding fathers, 25
66+whereby there is a Creator, and that man is endowed by that Creator with 26
67+inalienable rights; 27
68+ (E) The definitions of "religion" held by the founding 28
69+fathers, particularly as found in Section 16 of the Virginia Declaration of 29
70+Rights; 30
71+ (F) Why there was a demand for a Bill of Rights as a 31
72+condition for the adoption of the United States Constitution; 32
73+ (G) To what extent the founding fathers recognized the Ten 33
74+Commandments, the Mosaic Law, the New Testament, and the experiences of the 34
75+ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, and these teachings as a basis for 35
76+American law and public policy; 36 HB1705
4377
44-
45- (b) The information required under subsection (a) of this section 1
46-shall emphasize the following without limitation: 2
47- (1) The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, including 3
48-the meaning behind and purpose of the quote, "We hold these truths to be 4
49-self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their 5
50-Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty 6
51-and the pursuit of Happiness"; 7
52- (2) The core political beliefs of the founding fathers, 8
53-including without limitation: 9
54- (A) Ordered liberty; 10
55- (B) Equality; 11
56- (C) Natural rights, including without limitation defense 12
57-of self, community, and nation; 13
58- (D) Freedom of speech and press; and 14
59- (E) The free exercise of religion; 15
60- (3) How the religious and moral beliefs of the founding fathers 16
61-influenced the founding of the United States and documents and concepts 17
62-relevant to the founding fathers' religious and moral beliefs , including 18
63-without limitation: 19
64- (A) The identity of the "Creator" as viewed by the 20
65-founding fathers; 21
66- (B) The nature of mankind, or "human nature", as viewed by 22
67-the founding fathers; 23
68- (C) The constitutional requirement for a republican form 24
69-of government, including the separation of powers and federalism, and the 25
70-fatal tendency of democracy; 26
71- (D) The religious and moral beliefs held by the founding 27
72-fathers, whereby there is a Creator, and that man is endowed by that Creator 28
73-with inalienable rights; 29
74- (E) The definitions of "religion" held by the founding 30
75-fathers, particularly as found in Section 16 of the Virginia Declaration of 31
76-Rights; 32
77- (F) Why there was a demand for a Bill of Rights as a 33
78-condition for the adoption of the United States Constitution; 34
79- (G) To what extent the founding fathers recognized 35
80-historical events and texts, such as the Ten Commandments, the Mosaic Law, 36 As Engrossed: H3/11/25 H3/17/25 HB1705
81-
82- 3 03-17-2025 12:31:55 TNL199
83-
84-
85-the New Testament, and the experiences of the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and 1
86-Romans, and these teachings as a basis for American law and public policy; 2
87- (H) To what extent the founding fathers recognized the 3
88-English Common Law, the Magna Carta, and the English Bill of Rights as a 4
89-basis for American law and public policy; and 5
90- (I) How the recognition of inalienable rights in the 6
91-Declaration of Independence formed the framework for the abolition of slavery 7
92-in the United States; and 8
93- (4) How the freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of the United 9
94-States can be traced to the beliefs of the founding fathers. 10
78+ 3 03/06/2025 2:30:12 PM TNL199
79+ (H) To what extent the founding fathers recognized the 1
80+English Common Law, the Magna Carta, and the English Bill of Rights as a 2
81+basis for American law and public policy; and 3
82+ (I) How the recognition of inalienable rights in the 4
83+Declaration of Independence formed the framework for the abolition of slavery 5
84+in the United States; and 6
85+ (4) How the freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of the United 7
86+States can be traced to the beliefs of the founding fathers. 8
87+ 9
88+ 10
9589 11
96-/s/Duke 12
90+ 12
9791 13
9892 14
99-APPROVED: 4/8/25 15
93+ 15
10094 16
10195 17
10296 18
10397 19
10498 20
10599 21
106100 22
107101 23
108102 24
109103 25
110104 26
111105 27
112106 28
113107 29
114108 30
115109 31
116110 32
117111 33
118112 34
119113 35
120114 36