Regnat Populus Proposal Approved By AG For Signature Gathering

A proposal to amend state law to require uniform reporting of campaign finances and the disclosure of donors received certification Thursday from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

Paul J. Spencer, chairman of the Regnat Populus group, submitted the so-called Campaign Finance Act of 2016 to Rutledge’s office in order to get the proposal on the 2016 general election ballot.

In the opinion released Thursday, Rutledge said the proposal met certain criteria to be approved.

“Neither certification nor rejection of a popular name or ballot title reflects my view of the merits of the proposal. This Office has been given no authority to consider the merits of any measure.

This is in response to your request for certification, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107

(Repl. 2013), of the following popular name and ballot title for a proposed initiated act,” the opinion from Rutledge read. “You have previously submitted several similar measures, the most recent of which I rejected in Opinion No. 2015-052. Having altered your proposal’s ballot title and text, you have now submitted the following proposed popular name and ballot title for my certification.”

However, the opinion noted that some work still had to be done.

“In my view, the purpose of your proposed measure is sufficiently stated in the above revised ballot title to satisfy this office’s mandate under section 7-9-107. I believe a cautionary note is warranted, however, due to the significance, complexity, and far-reaching effects of this proposed measure. You should be aware that according to my experience there is a direct correlation between the complexity of an initiated measure’s amendments and its susceptibility to a successful ballot-title challenge. Any ambiguity in the text of a measure could lead to a successful challenge. That is why I urge you, if you have not already done so, to consult private counsel in order to be assured that the stated purpose is accomplished by the text of your proposal,” Rutledge said in the opinion.

PROPOSAL
According to the opinion, the proposal would seek to change state law by creating two new categories of election-related spending by expanding the definition of an independent expenditure; requiring a person who gives at least $2,000 in independent expenditures to report the donation to the Secretary of State or county clerk; requires a person who gives at least $500 in independent expenditures in a calendar year to report the amount electronically to the Secretary of State or county clerk; requires a person or committee that receives at least $500 in independent expenditures, within 60 days of an election, to file additional reports with the Secretary of State or county clerk “for each additional independent expenditure of at least $2,000 in the aggregate.”

The proposal would also require officials to establish and maintain a “Disclosure Internet website” that would identify contributors who gave the top 10 largest cumulative contributions; as well as requires certain election-related advertisements on video, television, telephone or print to have information on the top 10 funders.

The act would also ask the state’s congressional delegation to support and the legislature to ratify a United States constitutional amendment to “regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections, and in so doing, to distinguish between natural persons and corporation or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections.”

According to state law, an initiated act must get 8% of the number of the state’s registered voters to be put on the ballot.