Guide to the 2019 Arkansas General Assembly
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Guide to the 2019 Arkansas General Assembly www.citizensfirst.org | Arkansas Citizens First Congress | [email protected] 1308 West Second Street | Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 The Arkansas Citizens First Congress is a multi-issue and non- partisan coalition of organizations who work together for progressive change. Coalition members come from all corners of the state and work on many different issues. At the Arkansas Legislature, the coalition members advocate together on a common agenda. They also watchdog the legislature and fight against threats to progressive policy. Selecting the CFC Priorities Delegates from the CFC’s member groups attend the CFC Convention where they present the issues they want the CFC to support in the upcoming legislative session. The issues are considered, discussed and debated. From these, delegates elect the CFC’s broad platform and the Ten Priorities for a Better Arkansas, which the CFC and member groups will work together to push during the session. Join the CFC for the next Convention in 2020, where we will prepare for the 2021 Legislative Session! Go to citizensfirst.org to find out more about becoming a member organization in the Arkansas Citizens First Congress. Contents Introduction to the Guide 5 What is a vote guide? Issue Bill Reviews: Details: Major bills filed and legislative votes. Civil Rights 8 Economic Development & Justice 15 Education 21 Election & Government Reform 28 Environment 32 Executive Summary What is a Vote Guide? The Citizens First Congress designed this voter guide as a toolkit to empower everyday citizens to advocate for themselves and the issues they care about. This guide is also intended for nonprofit advocates, state lawmakers and those who are interested in learning more about how policy that advances equity and opportunity can be moved in Arkansas. Each section contains information that sheds light on the unique conditions across the state, and key policies that CFC allies have fought to pass or kill. CONSTITUENTS CAN USE THIS GUIDE FOR: Calling Representatives: Politicians care about the opinions of their constituency and will acknowledge advocacy coming from a significant voter block. This guide shows how each lawmaker voted on each of the policy issues included in this guide and gives their phone number. Please contact your representatives and tell them what you think about their vote. Voting: The most powerful way to understand policy in Arkansas is to know how legislators voted to support or defeat legislation. Use this guide to research the voting history of your elected legislators and decide whether you would like them to represent you for another term. Grassroots Activism: The last page of this guide provides a list of current CFC members. Joining with other community organizations to challenge government bodies and poor policy gives people the power and platform to tell their own story about the issues in their community. Consider joining our coalition. For information on how, visit http://www.citizensfirst.org/membership This is a guide to how every legislator voted on the 53 active bills that the CFC thought were most important. Though the CFC took positions on other bills, many were not voted on. During the legislative session, the CFC Steering Committee votes to support, oppose or track various bills based on the CFC’s platform. We advocate for those positions, send alerts to the public and monitor how legislators vote. This is the final record of how those bills played out. This guide does not endorse or condemn any legislator—or tell you whether your legislators are “good” or “bad”—it simply compares votes taken by legislators to the CFC’s Ten Priorities for a Better Arkansas and other issues on our broad platform. There are many complexities that are impossible to put in a voting chart—this guide tells you how your legislators tend to vote, but it does not tell you why. Legislators are volunteers who generally hold other jobs (they do receive a stipend, but not a salary). Most of them don’t have legislative staff or aides, and they considered 1,670 pieces of legislation in just three months. It’s an incredible load to keep up with, and we respect every legislator, even when we disagree. Each issue section has a summary of the bills we supported and opposed and a record of how each legislator voted on the bills that came up for a vote. Other important legislation was considered which is not included in this guide. You can find more atcitizensfirst.org or the Arkansas Legislature’s web site—www.arkleg.state.ar.us Arkansas Citizens First Congress www.citizensfirst.org 5 HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW SENT TO FLOOR FOR DEBATE 1 ALL BILLS START AS 5 IDEAS, AND ANYONE CAN If a bill passes committee, then it heads to the floor where legislators HAVE AN IDEA! discuss the bill and explain why they You can generally get a lawmaker to agree or disagree with it. If a help you draft a bill, but in Arkansas, committee recommends changes, only a Representative or Senator can amendments must be adopted before introduce a bill and guide it through the bill is ready for a final vote. The the General Assembly. bill may be amended, pass or fail. Most bills require a simple majority, but some require a two-thirds or three- quarters vote. 2 FILING The bill is drafted and a lawmaker files it with the Clerk of the House or 6 SENT TO SECOND CHAMBER the Secretary of the Senate, and it is Once passed by the one chamber, the assigned a number. Bills that begin in bill is sent to another chamber . where the House are assigned a "HB" it begins in committee again and number, and bills that begin in the follows a similar process. A bill from Senate are assigned a "SB" number. the Senate goes to the House. A bill from the House goes to the Senate. If the bill fails in either chamber, it cannot advance any further. The bill COMMITTEE will either fail, be amended or pass. 3 It is signed by the sponsor(s) and read twice to the entire body of the House and Senate. It is assigned to a committee, and then presented. 7 GOVERNOR Committees are where the After passing both chambers, the bill opportunities for public input are goes to the Governor who can sign greatest.All meetings of the the bill or veto the bill. Within five legislature are open to the public. days, a bill will become law with or without the Governor's signature. A simple majority vote of both chambers will override a Governor's veto. 4 COMMITTEE VOTE The Sponsor explains it and brings in ARKANSAS expert testimony to support it. Those who oppose the bill also present their case. It is CITIZENS FIRST CONGRESS the responsibility of the committee to 1308 W. 2nd Street • Little Rock, AR examine a bill carefully and make one of three recommendations: pass, do not pass, (501) 376-7913 or do pass as amended. They may also www.citizensfirst.org table or defer action on a bill. House committees generally have 20 members, and it takes 11 votes to pass a bill. Senate committees generally have eight members, and it takes five votes to pass a bill. 6 How to Read this Guide Bill Descriptions: In each section, you will see the bills related to the CFC Priorities as well as other bills of interest. Each bill shows the bill num- ber, the sponsor, the bill’s status, and a brief description. Bills we supported are shown in blue; bills we opposed are shown in red. The bill descriptions include more bills than the charts, as not all bills came up for a vote. Notes on bill status: Died: The bill was not voted on, it neither passed nor failed. Failed: The bill failed to get enough votes (usually a majority, but some tax and all budget bills require a 3/4 majority vote). Bills that fail in committee are usually unrecorded voice votes, but bills that fail on the floor of the House or Senate are record- ed and have been included in this guide. Enacted: These bills have passed the House and Senate and become law! They will have an Act number listed. Note: the Governor does not have to sign a bill for it to become law. Vote Charts: P means “present” and NV means “nonvoting.” They are counted as “nay” votes because not voting has the same effect as voting against a bill (the bill can’t pass without “yes” votes). Occasionally, members are excused from a vote (E). It is customary for the Speaker of the House to be excused from all but the most controversial votes, as he must also make sure the House functions smoothly—no easy task! Arkansas Citizens First Congress www.citizensfirst.org 7 This legislative session brought many challenges when it came to defending the civil rights and voting rights of Arkansans. At the last minute, the legislature pushed through an anti-immigrant law banning cities in Arkansas from having sanctuary policies by threatening to withhold state funding from them. The legislature approved a measure to be placed on the ballot that would make it increasingly difficult for citizens to access the ballot through the initiative process. They also passed a law making it easier for the state and counties to purge voter rolls across the state. However, we did have a few bright spots as we were able to stop several “Stand Your Ground” bills and attempts to eliminate gun-free zones in public places.