SB362

Senate Bill 362 appropriates $4,000,000 to the Arkansas Department of Education for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to provide grants to qualifying youth organizations. To receive funding, organizations must conduct out-of-school programs that focus on academic enhancement, such as STEM, leadership, or workforce readiness, and meet specific operational requirements regarding hours, safety, and fiscal accountability. The bill imposes strict eligibility conditions, prohibiting grant recipients from requiring participants to adopt or affirm ideologies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that the bill defines as promoting preferential treatment or social activism based on race, color, sex, or other protected characteristics. Additionally, programs must align with the educational goals of the Governor and General Assembly and support traditional family values. Non-compliant organizations face disqualification from future funding. The bill contains an emergency clause, making it effective starting July 1, 2025.