AG Griffin rejects FOIA initiated acts, education amendment

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

A day after rejecting four proposed constitutional amendments affecting the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Attorney General Tim Griffin on Tuesday (Jan. 9) also rejected four initiated act proposals tied to FOIA as well as a proposed education amendment.

Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, the advocacy group seeking to get the FOIA measures on the November 2024 ballot were stymied again by Griffin, who cited problems with the four proposals.

“Having reviewed the text of your proposed constitutional amendment, as well as your proposed popular name and ballot title, I must reject your popular name and ballot title due to the following problem,” he said.

AG Griffin rejects FOIA initiated acts, education amendment

Constitutional amendments get first House hearing

by Ronak Patel (rspatel.personal@gmail.com)

After 33 resolutions were filed to refer various legislative initiatives to voters for the 2024 ballot, 13 of those measures received a hearing on Monday (March 27) during a meeting of the House Committee on State Agencies and Government Affairs.

The legislature is allowed to refer up to three constitutional amendment proposals to voters during each regular session. During the 2022 mid-terms, lawmakers referred three amendments to voters with all three failing to pass.

Prior to the hearing for today, Rep. Dwight Tosh, R-Jonesboro, and chairman of the committee said members wouldn’t cast votes, instead they will each fill out a form and list which three resolutions are their first, second and third choice. Tosh said out of the three amendments the legislature gets to refer to voters, the House will decide two of them with the Senate deciding the other.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/03/constitutional-amendments-get-first-house-hearing/

House Advances Amendment Making Constitution Changes Harder

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

A constitutional amendment that would make it harder to amend the Arkansas Constitution or pass an initiated act passed the House of Representatives. Members voted 74-18-1 on Thursday (April 15) to advance House Joint Resolution 1005.

The Constitutional Amendment and Ballot Initiative Reform Amendment by Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, would raise the bar for amending the Constitution or passing a voter-led initiated act from the 50% to 60%. Referenda, where voters review a legislative act, would continue to require only a 50% threshold. The measure would apply to ballot measures whether they are referred by the Legislature or the voters, Ray said. He said referenda would have a lower threshold because they are a defensive measure.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/04/house-advances-amendment-making-constitution-changes-harder/

Arkansas Lawmakers Consider Proposed Constitutional Amendments for 2022 Ballot

By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA

The Arkansas legislature can refer up to three constitutional amendments to Arkansas voters in the 2022 General Election. We talk to Kristin Higgins from the Arkansas Public Policy Center to learn more about the process for narrowing down proposals.

https://www.kuaf.com/post/arkansas-lawmakers-consider-proposed-constitutional-amendments-2022-ballot