---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO CREATE THE RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINT ANTIDISCRIMINATION ACT."
description: "TO CREATE THE RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINT ANTIDISCRIMINATION ACT."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 556"
citation: "Arkansas SB 556 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Dotson", "Vaught"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2023-03-31T16:16:39+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-12T13:41:09+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/391b2e7c-25a2-479b-b05c-3976ed585f0e"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "255a15a4b41a85f9662d7ac1b5d9b19444af1b8c64fc4a6db656f320c37e54e0"
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 556 (2023) — TO CREATE THE RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINT ANTIDISCRIMINATION ACT.

## Version chain

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

1. **Act 788** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=788.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **SB 556** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/SB556.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed. — **29–1** (pass) · upper
- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **53–28** (pass) · lower
- Motion by Rep. Duke to reconsider SB556 Passed — **49–34** (fail) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **25–5** (pass) · upper
- Read the third time and failed. — **39–22** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- J. Dotson — primary (person)
- Vaught — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-03-31T16:16:39+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-03-31T18:02:57+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03T18:05:51+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-04T21:06:12+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T21:06:27+00:00** Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.
- **2023-04-04T21:17:12+00:00** Motion to expunge the vote by which SB556 passed. Motion Carried.
- **2023-04-04T21:17:20+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T21:17:25+00:00** Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.
- **2023-04-04T22:14:40+00:00** RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
- **2023-04-05T01:00:05+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`
- **2023-04-06T17:01:33+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2023-04-07T14:44:00+00:00** Read the third time and failed. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-07T15:19:03+00:00** Motion by Rep. Duke to reconsider SB556 Passed
- **2023-04-07T15:19:12+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-07T15:19:18+00:00** Returned To the Senate as passed.
- **2023-04-07T18:11:41+00:00** Returned from the House as passed.
- **2023-04-07T18:11:44+00:00** ORDERED ENROLLED
- **2023-04-07T19:10:22+00:00** Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
- **2023-04-07T19:10:24+00:00** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-12T13:41:09+00:00** Notification that SB556 is now Act 788 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/391b2e7c-25a2-479b-b05c-3976ed585f0e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).