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Legislative Wrap-up

An update on the bills we advocated FOR / AGAINST during the recently-completed legislative session:

SB435: right to use a paper ballot; failed on Senate floor 13-21 after passing the Senate Judiciary committee with bipartisan support. This should have been an easy YES vote for anyone in favor of election integrity.

SB71: to end affirmative action; passed Senate 18-15; failed on House floor 27-73. This bill should have been an easy YES vote for Republicans, and is consistent with the party platform, but many otherwise conservative representatives were deceived. Others were just afraid of the leftists. It passed the senate committee, the full senate, and the house committee before dying on the house floor.

HB1610: to allow secret meetings among quorum courts, city councils, and school boards passed the House 52-48 but failed in the senate committee twice. This bill was controversial because so many constituents are disillusioned by the rampant secret meetings already taking place. The bill would have legalized the practice. The sponsors were unwilling to compromise with the FOIA task force and members of the public.

HB1726: the FOIA killer bill, failed in House committee. This would have effectively destroyed the FOIA. This one was a huge win for the people.

SB250: to penalize counties which might decide to employ paper ballots by removing state funding. This bill passed and was signed into law but was predominantly replaced by HB1687. The “cleanup” bill removes the financial penalty and allows paper ballots in many instances. What started out as a loss, ended up being a win for the people.

SB81: the library bill passed the senate 24-10 with 5 Republicans voting no; it passed the House 56-44 with 25 Republicans voting no. If any bill was a Republican litmus test this session, this was it. The people won a big victory here, now having the ability to challenge explicit children’s library books.

HJR1007: a substantial sales tax increase, went nowhere, thanks to the people.

HB1468: the pronoun bill passed both chambers and will become law. Teachers will no longer be required to use the “pronoun of the week” when speaking to students.

HB1615: religious freedom passed and might help protect our rights in future health emergencies.

Many other bills were passed (some good, some bad), but these are the ones we spent significant time on. Thanks to everyone who wrote an email, called a legislator, called the capitol, or showed up to testify. You have made a difference in the future of our state.

What can be done to get better legislation (and less bad legislation)? Elect true conservative candidates who aren’t afraid to vote right.

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Legislative Update

The legislature has chiefly concluded their business for the session. The people won a few, lost a lot, but most importantly blocked some really bad legislation. Overall, it was a disappointing session. We will post a recap next week detailing the most important bills that were approved and stopped.

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URGENT 4/4 Action Calls

Two good bills are up for floor votes today. Please call the in-session number and ask your legislators to vote FOR SB71 and SB435. Feel free to text them as well. (Emails are a low priority at this point.)

SB71 is now in the House. This ends affirmative action and DEI programs within state government. Call 501-682-6211 and ask them to hand carry a note to your state representative to SUPPORT SB71.

SB435 is now in the Senate. This bill codifies your right to request and vote on a paper ballot. Call 501-682-2902 and ask them to hand carry a note to your state senator to SUPPORT SB435.

Full contact info: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-legislators-all-by-name-PDF.pdf

Senate contact info: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-Senators-by-name-PDF.pdf

House contact info: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-House-by-name-PDF.pdf

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Action Calls 4/2

The legislative session is winding down, and the pace is furious! These are the most important bills that need action this week:

1.) SB435 (voter’s right to request a paper ballot) passed the senate committee last week and should be voted on Monday.  Please contact any / all state senators by Noon Monday to SUPPORT SB435.  

Contact list: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-Senators-by-name-PDF.pdf

Also, call the senate switchboard Monday morning and ask them to hand carry a note to YOUR own state senator, requesting that he SUPPORT SB435: 501-682-2902. This is an important tool that sends a strong message!

2.) HB1610 unfortunately passed the full house Thursday with 52 votes.  This is the bill which allows portions of quorum courts, city councils, and school boards to hold secret meetings with no public notice, no recording, and not FOIAble.  We believe the senate committee is stacked against us, so contact your own senator (and any others) to vote NO on HB1610.  This is a rare bill, where the Democrats might vote NO with the conservatives, leaving the moderate R’s voting yes.

Contact list: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-Senators-by-name-PDF.pdf

3.) SB71 should be heard in House State Agencies Monday afternoon.  This is the bill that finally ends affirmative action in state hiring.  It passed the senate without a vote to spare, so it will need your support in the House, which is the less conservative chamber.  Let your state rep know that you want to END affirmative action in Arkansas by voting YES on SB71.

Contact list: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-House-state-agencies.pdf

Full House contact list: https://reopenarkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-House-by-name-PDF.pdf