---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO ALLOW A STATE-SUPPORTED TWO-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION TO MARKET AND PROVIDE SERVICES TO ANY INDIVIDUAL IN ARKANSAS REGARDLESS OF THE SERVICE AREA IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL RESIDES."
description: "TO ALLOW A STATE-SUPPORTED TWO-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION TO MARKET AND PROVIDE SERVICES TO ANY INDIVIDUAL IN ARKANSAS REGARDLESS OF THE SERVICE AREA IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL RESIDES."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 659"
citation: "Arkansas SB 659 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. English"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-03-28"
last_action: "2019-04-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5c927e21-ba36-42e3-af36-349f1ae24cd0"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "1e434a35cb3a6b5cffff86a5f9a71ff4f6edbc35b664a8008fafdbfbc91f448f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas SB 659 (2019) — TO ALLOW A STATE-SUPPORTED TWO-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION TO MARKET AND PROVIDE SERVICES TO ANY INDIVIDUAL IN ARKANSAS REGARDLESS OF THE SERVICE AREA IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL RESIDES.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **SB 659** (committee substitute) — [source](ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2019R/Public/Searchable/SB659.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **90–3** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **30–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- J. English — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-03-28** Filed `introduction`
- **2019-03-28** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-01** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-02** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-02** Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.
- **2019-04-03** RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
- **2019-04-03** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-04** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2019-04-08** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-08** Returned To the Senate as passed.
- **2019-04-08** Returned from the House as passed.
- **2019-04-08** ORDERED ENROLLED
- **2019-04-09** Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
- **2019-04-09** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-17** Notification that SB659 is now Act 944 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5c927e21-ba36-42e3-af36-349f1ae24cd0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).