Arkansas Legislature Passes Law to Make Ballot Measure Summaries Easier to Understand

Legislation,

On Tuesday evening the Arkansas Legislature passed a law that will help make ballot measure summaries easier for voters to read and understand.

By law, all ballot measures in Arkansas must have a ballot title. The ballot title is a summary that is supposed to accurately describe the measure so voters can read it and decide if they want to vote for or against the measure.

Unfortunately, these summaries are often misleading, confusing, and poorly written. But H.B. 1713 would fix that.

H.B. 1713 is a good bill by Rep. Ryan Rose (R — Van Buren) and Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) requiring ballot initiative titles to be written at or below an eighth grade reading level. This would help address deceptive or misleading ballot measure summaries in Arkansas.

The Arkansas House of Representatives passed H.B. 1713 in March. On Tuesday, the Arkansas Senate passed it as well.

Arkansas’ ballot initiative process has become the opposite of what it was intended to be, and if lawmakers do not act soon, the problem is simply going to get worse.

H.B. 1713 now goes to Governor Sanders to be signed into law.

The Following Senators Voted For H.B. 1713

  • J. Boyd
  • J. Bryant
  • Caldwell
  • A. Clark
  • Crowell
  • B. Davis
  • Dees
  • J. Dotson
  • J. English
  • Flippo
  • Gilmore
  • K. Hammer
  • Hester
  • Hickey
  • Hill
  • Irvin
  • B. Johnson
  • M. Johnson
  • F. Love
  • M. McKee
  • J. Payton
  • C. Penzo
  • J. Petty
  • Rice
  • J. Scott
  • Stone
  • G. Stubblefield
  • D. Sullivan
  • D. Wallace

The Following Senators Voted Against H.B. 1713

  • J. Dismang
  • S. Flowers
  • G. Leding
  • R. Murdock
  • C. Tucker

The Following Senator Was Excused from Voting

  • B. King

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Legislature Passes Law Placing Ten Commandments in Public Schools and Buildings

Legislation,

On Monday the Arkansas Legislature passed a law to place a poster of the Ten Commandments in public schools and public buildings.

Current law requires a copy of the national motto, “In God We Trust” to be displayed in public schools and other public buildings.

S.B. 433 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) requires a historical copy of the Ten Commandments to be displayed as well.

Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that items that are important to our nation’s history — like the Ten Commandments or the national motto — may be honored and recognized publicly without running afoul of the First Amendment. The Ten Commandments are one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have had a profound impact in shaping America’s concept of the rule of law as well.

S.B. 433 will make sure Arkansas continues that longstanding tradition of recognizing the importance of the Ten Commandments. The bill already passed the Arkansas Senate. It now goes to Gov. Sanders to be signed into law.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Governor Sanders Signs Good Law Protecting Women and Children from Abortion Drugs

Abortion, , , ,

On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a good law clarifying that abortion by fraud is a crime in Arkansas.

Right now abortion in Arkansas is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother, and it is illegal to deliver abortion-inducing drugs into the state. Arkansas also has laws prohibiting fetal homicide.

However, Arkansas has no specific law addressing situations in which a person secretly gives abortion drugs like RU-486 to a pregnant woman.

H.B. 1551 by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R — Paragould) makes it a felony to try to kill an unborn child by secretly giving a pregnant woman abortion-inducing drugs without her knowledge or consent.

In 2022 abortion drugs were secretly placed in Catherine Herring’s water in order to cause the death of her unborn child.

Ms. Herring suffered serious health complications and had to be hospitalized as a result. Since then, states have begun proposing laws like H.B. 1551 to prevent this type of crime.

H.B. 1551 passed the Arkansas House and Arkansas Senate without a single lawmaker voting against it. With the governor’s signature on Tuesday, H.B. 1551 is now slated to take full effect later this summer.

Family Council appreciates our friends at Arkansas Right to Life, who were the lead champions of this good law. We appreciate all of the state legislators who voted for H.B. 1551, and we appreciate the governor signing it into law.

H.B. 1551 is a good law that will help protect women and unborn children from dangerous abortion drugs. That is something Arkansans should be proud of.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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