asa hutchinson

January 24, 2023 - The poverty rate for people with disabilities is more than double that of our nondisabled counterparts, and the disparity is being driven by state policy choices that force us into institutions unnecessarily and allow employers to pay us subminimum wages. Some Southern states have already embraced reforms, and others should act now.

October 29, 2021 - The Republicans who control legislatures in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas have drawn congressional maps that favor their party and disadvantage voters of color. Meanwhile, an independent redistricting commission has faltered in its effort to draw new election maps in Virginia.

September 29, 2021 - Governors and legislatures across the South have banned public schools from requiring masks to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The bans have been successfully challenged in lower courts, but appellate courts overturned some of those rulings. Federal courts in several states are taking up the question of whether mask mandate bans violate the rights of students with disabilities.

August 20, 2021 - A professor confronts the deadly role misinformation has played in the white evangelical Christian church amid a COVID-19 resurgence in his home state of Arkansas, and he shares a still-unfinished poem written by his wife — an emergency physician — about her experience confronting the wages of bearing false witness.

May 13, 2021 - Measures under consideration in states including several in the South are being promoted as protecting the privacy of people who donate to nonprofits. But because the bills don't distinguish between charitable nonprofits and those that engage in partisan politics, they could make it harder to know who's trying to influence elections.

April 9, 2021 - A growing number of companies are publicly condemning discrimination against transgender people and taking steps to support trans employees. But some of the same businesses are also funding Southern politicians promoting policies harmful to the transgender community. One standout is AT&T, the telecom giant headquartered in Dallas — also the top corporate contributor to state lawmakers seeking to restrict voting rights.

July 23, 2020 - A group formed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) to strategize reopening the state's economy is chaired by a scion of the billionaire Walton family who sits on Walmart's board of directors, and it is staffed by employees of his holding company, according to documents obtained by Facing South.