Education Bill

Second effort to overturn Arkansas LEARNS Act rejected by attorney general

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

A second effort to place a citizen’s referendum on the ballot to repeal the LEARNS Act, Gov. Sarah Sanders’ signature education bill, has been rejected by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. The Attorney General is charged with approving ballot titles for proposed referenda.

Citizens for Public Education and Students, or CAPES, was rejected in its first attempt to qualify its referendum in late April.

Griffin outlined several reasons for the latest rejection, although he declared a portion of it “legally sufficient.” In a letter to CAPES executive director Steve Grappe, Griffin said:

“Under the foregoing rules, your proposed popular name is legally sufficient as submitted. But your proposed ballot title is insufficient and must be redesigned. As explained in more detail below, the current version of the ballot title (1) fails to adequately summarize the LEARNS Act; (2) fails to make all the changes noted in my response to your first submission; and (3) is printed in a font that is so small, most people would be unable to read it,” Griffin said.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/05/second-effort-to-overturn-learns-act-rejected-by-ag-griffin/