Arkansas Attorney General Rejects Ballot Title for Failing to Comply with New Readability Law

Legislation,

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office rejected a proposed ballot measure on Monday for failing a new readability standard the state legislature recently implemented.

We have written repeatedly about how Arkansas’ ballot initiative process has become the opposite of what it was intended to be. Instead of giving everyday people a way to enact their own laws, special interests have hired people to circulate petitions to place misleading, deceptive, and poorly written measures on the ballot in Arkansas.

Act 602 of 2025 by Rep. Ryan Rose (R — Van Buren) and Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) helps address this problem by requiring ballot initiative titles to be written at or below an eighth grade reading level.

The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 602 earlier this year, and the law took effect as soon as Gov. Sanders signed it on April 14.

A ballot title is supposed to accurately summarize a measure so voters can decide if they support or oppose it. Act 602 requires these summaries to be written at or below an eighth grade level, according to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula, which is a common readability standard the U.S. military and other institutions use.

Act 602 is similar to legislation enacted in other states to help make sure ballot titles are easy for voters to read and understand. It is a good law that will help address deceptive or misleading ballot initiatives in Arkansas.

On Monday, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected the ballot title of a proposed constitutional amendment, because the summary did not comply with Act 602.

The amendment would effectively prevent the legislature from regulating the initiative process. The measure’s ballot title — or summary — was several hundred words long, and it was written above a twelfth grade reading level.

It’s good to see Act 602 working to make sure ballot measure summaries are easy for voters to read and understand, and we appreciate Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office properly enforcing this good law.

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

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Arkansas’ 2025 Legislative Session Adjourns

Legislation,

On Monday the Arkansas House and Senate met to tie up loose ends and officially adjourn the 2025 legislative session.

Lawmakers passed several excellent bills this year. You can learn more about those new laws by downloading our 2025 General Assembly Report here.

You can also read our May edition of the Arkansas Citizen for a brief recap of the session’s highlights.

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

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Planned Parenthood PAC Files Activity Report, Opposes Good Legislation in Arkansas

Legislation,

Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood’s political action committee for Arkansas filed a report with the secretary of state showing the organization did not spend any money campaigning in Arkansas from January through March of this year.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortionist. In 2024, the organization endorsed two candidates running for the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2020, Planned Parenthood Federation announced it would spend at least $45 million working to unseat pro-life lawmakers and elect candidates who support abortion. As part of that plan, the group used its political action committee (PAC) to support candidates for state and federal office in Arkansas.

With that said, Planned Parenthood’s Arkansas PAC spent no money campaigning in Arkansas during the first quarter of 2025. However, the organization did actively oppose good bills at the legislature.

In a document published online, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas made statements against S.B. 444 and H.B. 1678 — two bills Family Council strongly supported.

S.B. 444 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Lee Johnson (R — Greenwood) is a good law that strengthens the healthcare workers’ rights of conscience law Arkansas passed in 2021.

Among other things, this law adds whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, and it helps protect all medical professionals from having their rights of conscience violated.

S.B. 444 passed with strong support at the Arkansas Legislature and has been signed into law as Act 970 of 2025.

H.B. 1678 is a good bill by Rep. Wayne Long (R — Bradford) and Sen. John Payton (R — Wilburn) that would strengthen Arkansas’ Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

The bill would have increased the penalty for selling or prescribing illegal abortion-inducing drugs, and it would have made it easier to take a person to court for violating the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

All of this would have provided additional options for enforcing Arkansas’ pro-life laws.

H.B. 1678 did not come up for a vote at the legislature, but lawmakers did refer it for interim study — meaning the legislature will have opportunities to meet and discuss the bill, but will not vote on it.

On the whole, Arkansas’ lawmakers are very pro-life, and Planned Parenthood’s opposition did not stop legislators from passing S.B. 444 or choosing to continue discussions on H.B. 1678.

Planned Parenthood’s PAC has a little over $11,500 at its disposal for the 2026 election cycle. Time will tell what role the organization might play in Arkansas in the coming months.

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

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