Eureka Springs Calls Election on Ordinance

Current Events, , , ,

News media are reporting the Eureka Springs City Council will hold a special election this May to let voters decide whether to keep the city’s controversial “nondiscrimination” ordinance hastily passed earlier this month.

According to reporters, this move preempts the petition process underway in Eureka Springs to repeal the ordinance, and it will give the city council control over the wording of the ballot.

The Conway City Council passed an ordinance earlier this week addressing city employment policies based on sexual-orientation and gender-identity.

Many argue these ordinances will be nullified when Act 137 (formerly known as Senate Bill 202) takes effect later this year.

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Setting the Record Straight on Religious Freedom Bill HB1228

Legislature, , ,

Yesterday, retail giant Walmart issued a statement against HB1228, the Conscience Protection Act by Rep. Ballinger and Sen. Hester. A Walmart spokesman said the legislation runs counter to Walmart’s “core basic belief of respect for the individual” and that the legislation “sends the wrong message about Arkansas.”

This morning the bill narrowly failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but it can be brought back up for another vote. It is essential that your senator hears from you. Your senator must know you support this bill. Please call your Arkansas Senator at (501) 682-2902, and ask him or her to support House Bill 1228, the Conscience Protection Act by Rep. Ballinger and Sen. Hester.

You can also call Governor Hutchinson’s office at (501) 682-2345, and ask him to support the bill.

Our lawmakers are hearing a lot of misinformation about this bill. Besides Walmart, the Association of Counties, the Municipal League, and others have made incorrect assertions about what the Conscience Protection Act does.

We want to set the record straight. Here are three facts about the bill:

Fact #1: HB1228 is almost identical to religious freedom legislation passed in 20 states. Alabamans even went so far as to write the language into their state constitution in 1998. Additionally, most states that do not have a religious freedom protection law on the books have a court ruling of some sort protecting religious freedom. Arkansas is one of only 11 states without a state law or court ruling affirming the free exercise of religion.

Fact #2: Laws like HB1228 trigger very few lawsuits. From 1993 to 2014, 20 states passed laws similar to HB1228. According to attorneys we have spoken with, only 146 lawsuits have been filed citing these religious freedom laws, nationwide. That’s 146 cases, nationwide, over the course of 22 years. Of those cases, the vast majority of the religious freedom claims were dismissed in court. Religious freedom laws have not led to a flood of litigation anywhere else. There is no reason to think Arkansas will be any different.

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Legislators Abolish Lottery Commission, Bring Lottery Under DF&A

Arkansas Lottery,

Yesterday, lawmakers passed a bill abolishing the Arkansas Lottery Commission and making the Lottery part of the Department of Finance and Administration.

When the Arkansas Legislature established the Arkansas Lottery Commission in 2009, they made it an independent state agency with its own commissioners and very little outside accountability.

As a result, Arkansas has rolled out more gambling more quickly than any other state lottery we know; we have seen Lottery officials paid exorbitant salaries while college scholarships funded by the Lottery declined.

Senate Bill 7 brings more accountability to the Lottery by disbanding the Lottery Commission and making the Arkansas Lottery answerable to the Department of Finance and Administration as well as the Governor’s Office.

The bill passed unanimously in the Arkansas Senate two weeks ago, and it passed overwhelmingly in the Arkansas House yesterday.

It now goes to Governor Hutchinson, who has said he will sign it.

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