---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO ESTABLISH THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PROTECTION ACT OF 2025."
description: "TO ESTABLISH THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PROTECTION ACT OF 2025."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 1561"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1561 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hill", "Painter"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 19
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2025-02-24T19:40:13+00:00"
last_action: "2025-04-08T16:43:15+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/85f955f6-3554-4f51-a482-3ca253be50e2"
source_url: "https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument/?path=%2fSessionInformation%2LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "b87a1b2d7b33d0f21822b2cb1d40bb0439e6fa52af34339def43a12893f757bf"
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 HB 1561 (2025) — TO ESTABLISH THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PROTECTION ACT OF 2025.

## Version chain

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

1. **Act 473** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=473.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R)
2. **Amendment H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1561-H1.pdf)
3. **Amendment H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1561-H2.pdf)
4. **HB 1561** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2025/2025R/Bills/HB1561.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Hill — primary (person)
- Painter — primary (person)
- Achor — cosponsor (person)
- Andrews — cosponsor (person)
- B. McKenzie — cosponsor (person)
- Barker — cosponsor (person)
- Beaty Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Beck — cosponsor (person)
- Bentley — cosponsor (person)
- Breaux — cosponsor (person)
- Brooks — cosponsor (person)
- C. Cooper — cosponsor (person)
- Cavenaugh — cosponsor (person)
- Childress — cosponsor (person)
- Cozart — cosponsor (person)
- Crawford — cosponsor (person)
- Eaton — cosponsor (person)
- Evans — cosponsor (person)
- Furman — cosponsor (person)
- Gazaway — cosponsor (person)
- Gramlich — cosponsor (person)
- Hall — cosponsor (person)
- Hawk — cosponsor (person)
- Hollowell — cosponsor (person)
- J. Moore — cosponsor (person)
- Joey Carr — cosponsor (person)
- John Carr — cosponsor (person)
- K. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- L. Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- Long — cosponsor (person)
- Lundstrum — cosponsor (person)
- Lynch — cosponsor (person)
- M. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- M. McElroy — cosponsor (person)
- M. Shepherd — cosponsor (person)
- Maddox — cosponsor (person)
- McAlindon — cosponsor (person)
- McClure — cosponsor (person)
- McGrew — cosponsor (person)
- McNair — cosponsor (person)
- Milligan — cosponsor (person)
- N. Burkes — cosponsor (person)
- Nazarenko — cosponsor (person)
- Pearce — cosponsor (person)
- Perry — cosponsor (person)
- Pilkington — cosponsor (person)
- Puryear — cosponsor (person)
- R. Burkes — cosponsor (person)
- R. Scott Richardson — cosponsor (person)
- Ray — cosponsor (person)
- Richmond — cosponsor (person)
- Rose — cosponsor (person)
- Rye — cosponsor (person)
- S. Berry — cosponsor (person)
- Schulz — cosponsor (person)
- Torres — cosponsor (person)
- Tosh — cosponsor (person)
- Underwood — cosponsor (person)
- Unger — cosponsor (person)
- Vaught — cosponsor (person)
- Walker — cosponsor (person)
- Wing — cosponsor (person)
- Wooten — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-24T19:40:13+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2025-02-24T22:52:14+00:00** 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`
- **2025-03-05T14:29:09+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2025-03-05T14:29:13+00:00** Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2025-03-05T17:46:41+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2025-03-12T13:34:54+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2025-03-12T13:34:56+00:00** Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2025-03-12T18:18:12+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2025-03-13T18:43:31+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2025-03-17T19:29:26+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2025-03-17T23:13:16+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2025-03-17T23:13:24+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-31T18:47:38+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-01T21:47:36+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2025-04-01T21:47:45+00:00** Returned to the House as passed.
- **2025-04-01T22:50:18+00:00** Returned from the Senate as passed.
- **2025-04-01T22:50:20+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2025-04-02T15:35:22+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2025-04-08T16:43:15+00:00** Notification that HB1561 is now Act 473 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/85f955f6-3554-4f51-a482-3ca253be50e2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).