Two bills have been filed that wreck Arkansas’s strong FOIA / open meetings laws and will result in public business being conducted behind closed doors and in secret. Both bills will be heard Wednesday, March 29th, around 2:30 PM in House State Agencies. Please contact committee members PRIOR to the hearing. (See list below.)
HB1726 by Representative David Ray and Senator Breanne Davis would require citizens to double pay for FOIA requests. We already pay once through our tax dollars. We would then be charged AGAIN for labor to compile requests and print-outs, even when the information is delivered electronically. This is essentially double-taxation, which will result in individuals not being able to afford to find out what their own government is doing.
HB1610 by Representative Mary Bentley and Senator Payton allows less than 1/3 of a quorum court, city council, or school board to meet in secret. This will undoubtedly result in secret meetings in which deals are cut behind closed doors. It is relatively easy to have a go-between among four groups of members. On a 13 member quorum court, four influential members could legally meet and would almost certainly make decisions for the full body.
Our republic dies in darkness. These are possibly the worst bills filed this session. While we appreciate the good work from all of these legislators in the past, we must strongly oppose these two bills.