You May Want to Know About These Two Bills

Legislation, , ,

I want to let you know about a couple of bills filed at the Capitol in Little Rock this week that may concern many Arkansans.

The first bill is Senate Bill 745. It amends Arkansas’ so-called “Chuck-E-Cheese Law” by increasing the maximum value of each prize a person may claim for playing coin-operated games.

You’re probably familiar with businesses like Chuck-E-Cheese that allow children to win tickets by playing coin-operated games like skee ball; the tickets can be redeemed for toys or other prizes.

In the mid-1990’s the Arkansas legislature passed a law intended to let family-oriented businesses like Chuck-E-Cheese offer small prizes for these games without allowing full-fledged casinos in Arkansas. To do so, the legislature capped the maximum value of each prize the business offers at $12.50.

Currently, family-oriented businesses like Chuck-E-Cheese may let people play coin-operated games for prizes, provided that the prizes are worth no more than $12.50. S.B. 745 raises that maximum value from $12.50 to $850.

(more…)

READ MORE

Please Call Your Representative

Legislation, Legislature, News, , , ,

Your Arkansas Representative will likely vote on an important piece of legislation next week, and needs to hear from you right away.

House Bill 1228, the Conscience Protection Act by Rep. Bob Ballinger, affirms religious liberty in Arkansas. Arkansas is one of a handful of states with no amendment, law, or court ruling protecting the traditional understanding of the free exercise of religion. Over and over again we have seen Americans marginalized simply for wanting to live out their deeply-held religious convictions. Laws like HB1228 help protect our right to do just that.

Please call and leave a message for your representative at (501) 682-6211 expressing your support for HB1228, the Conscience Protection Act. To learn more about this act and why it is important, click here.

READ MORE

Family Council Says SJR16 Will Arbitrarily Restrict Petition Process

Legislation, News, , ,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 19, 2013

On Friday, Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement regarding the Arkansas House of Representatives’ referral of Senate Joint Resolution 16.

“SJR16 is a serious issue,” Cox said. “It’s going to have a chilling effect on grassroots petition efforts.”

Cox said the resolution was presented as an anti-fraud measure, but has little to do with preventing fraud. “Petition fraud is already a crime. SJR16 doesn’t make fraud any more criminal. It doesn’t provide more oversight to prevent fraud. All it does it make it harder for citizens to place a measure on the ballot via the petition process. That’s it.

“We don’t try to prevent slander or libel by outlawing free speech. We shouldn’t try to prevent petition fraud by arbitrarily restricting the petition process.”

###

READ MORE