The state legislature will convene in special session this week to consider several bills, one of which intends to reduce the people’s right to know what their electeds are doing. If you are concerned about transparency in government, please make an effort to be at the state capitol. There is strength in numbers. You can speak against this atrocious bill or stand with those who do speak. There are two ways to help. #1:
- Be at the state capitol Monday, 9/11.
- House hearing starts at 1 PM in room 151
- Senate hearing starts at 3 PM
- Understand that the legislature is FLUID. Times and locations change all the time. Plan to stay as long as you are able. These hearings often go into the night.
#2: Contact the sponsors and let them know that the people aren’t happy with this egregious takeover of our FOIA law. Ask them whether they think they work for the governor or the people. (They will argue this is about the governor’s security, but that’s a cover. Sending a FOIA request for a trip she took six months ago does not compromise her security.)
all legislators’ phone numbers: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-legislators-all-by-name-PDF.pdf
Valid points to make to legislators: * If this FOIA bill were about safety, then it wouldn't have the extra provisions added. We already know that any FOIA's that were sent are about PAST trips. We also know that ASP released everything except the passenger list. If there is a need for an exemption for safety, I would happily support it. We also have never seen or heard of FOIA being the cause of any security threats. * Can you imagine if something happened in our state like the child abuse scandal at Penn State several years ago? It is proven that this exemption helped hide any communication that could have helped catch Gary Sandusky sooner. This exemption is overused and abused. This is a dangerous precedent that could have serious consequences. What happens if we have a Democrat Governor or Democrat majority in a few years? Will you be comfortable with them having this same power to exempt anything they don't want the public to know? * The issue seems to be related to something the Governor does not want made public, and I fail to understand how releasing the passenger list of a flight she has already taken equals a security threat. It seems to me, and a lot of others, that this is an excuse to destroy FOIA and our Governor is using the legislature to hide what she doesn't want made public. * If this bill were championed by Chris Jones or any other Democrat - the exact same bill, with the exact wording – not a single Republican would vote YES. That is because it gives the Governor the power to hide anything desired. This bill is wrong. * I am asking that you please reconsider your support for this dangerous bill. This bill is anything but what we would expect from a Republican legislator who believes in transparency. * This bill absolutely destroys any public trust. This bill is anti transparency. Transparency in government is essential to liberty of the people. I am asking you, as your constituent and supporter, to please reconsider your support of this bill and do the right thing by voting NO. * “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” - Benjamin Franklin
More background info from Professor Robert Steinbuch:
Please fight it! The people have a right to know! If everything is legal what is there to hide?