Constitutional amendments get first House hearing

After 33 resolutions were filed to refer various legislative initiatives to voters for the 2024 ballot, 13 of those measures received a hearing on Monday (March 27) during a meeting of the House Committee on State Agencies and Government Affairs.

The legislature is allowed to refer up to three constitutional amendment proposals to voters during each regular session. During the 2022 mid-terms, lawmakers referred three amendments to voters with all three failing to pass.

Prior to the hearing for today, Rep. Dwight Tosh, R-Jonesboro, and chairman of the committee said members wouldn’t cast votes, instead they will each fill out a form and list which three resolutions are their first, second and third choice. Tosh said out of the three amendments the legislature gets to refer to voters, the House will decide two of them with the Senate deciding the other.

PROPOSALS
Rep. Stephen Meeks, R-Greenbrier, presented his bill, HJR1002, which would require the elimination of personal property taxes by 2050. Meeks said he realized the need to remove personal property taxes when he moved from Florida to Arkansas and had to pay taxes on his vehicle.

“In essence, a vehicle I purchased has a lien against it for that personal property tax. It begs the questions ‘do I actually own that vehicle if the state can put a lien against it for that tax?’” he said.

Meeks also said the personal property tax is ineffective because of how much it costs the state to assess vehicles.

Meeks explained to lawmakers that the real property tax, which is the tax on property and permanent fixtures attached to the property, could be raised to make sure schools continue to get funding. Property taxes are one of the ways schools receive funding.

Rep. Frances Cavenaugh, R-Walnut Ridge, presented HJR1003, which would allow voters to recall elected officials. Statewide office holders, members of the legislature, and judges are included in the bill.

Cavenaugh said for recalls involving members of the legislature, only voters in members’ districts would be able to participate in the recall process.

Rep. Wayne Long, R-Bradford, said the state needs to create the Arkansas Taxpayer Bill of Rights. HJR1003 would create an amendment in the state constitution to create that. He said his amendment is based on similar legislation that passed in Colorado.

Long explained his amendment would mandate the state pass a balanced budget, which is already required through the Revenue Stabilization Act (RSA). Long said even with the RSA in place his amendment is still needed because the RSA can be repealed.

The taxpayer bill of rights would also require a three-fourths threshold to pass legislation that raises taxes or increases fees, Long said. Budget increases by the legislature would also be capped at 3%.

The final component of the bill would be a requirement for lawmakers to lower income taxes and sales taxes when the state’s reserve fund is full. Meeks shared concerns, because the bill wouldn’t allow the legislature to direct the state treasurer to put funds into the reserve fund.

“The catastrophic fund is set up for basically what we define as emergency problems only and it doesn’t need to be siphoned for any other reasons,” Long said, when asked by Meeks on why the bill limits the legislature’s ability to move state funds.

Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, introduced HJR1006, which would create an amendment in the state constitution to allow money from the Arkansas Lottery Scholarship to be used for vocational schools. She brought with her former State Senator and former Speaker of the House Shane Broadway to testify for the bill. Broadway explained to lawmakers when the original amendment was created to allow the lottery scholarship fund, vocational schools weren’t included.

Lundstrum said the amendment is needed because additional vocational training could help with the labor shortage.

“In my neck of the woods, we have 2,094 jobs open,” she said.

Rep. Mark McElroy, R-Tillar, asked Lundstrum if adding vocational schools would lead to fewer scholarships or money per scholarship. Lundstrum replied it would be up to the legislature to determine that. Broadway explained current laws prioritize students who have already been awarded the scholarship.

In the midst of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court last summer, Rep. Deborah Ferguson, D-West Memphis, is introducing HJR1008, which she said would protect women’s right to an abortion.

“The issue was thrown back to the states to decide, so I think referring this vote to the people will allow them to dictate what they want for reproductive health,” Ferguson said.

Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, testified against the measure. He said adding this amendment to the constitution would make Arkansas one of the most extreme states on allowing abortions.

Cox also said he was against the proposal because he believes out-of-state groups would meddle in the vote, which he said could be similar to what happened in Kansas.

During the 2022 midterms, Kansas, which is considered a red state, failed to pass a constitutional amendment that would have denied the right to an abortion. Cox said part of the reason why that amendment failed was because the wording of the amendment confused voters. Cox said a situation similar to that would be possible in Arkansas.

Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville, disagreed with Cox and said Arkansas voters are knowledgeable on what they are voting for.

Clowney and Ferguson both argued the amendment is needed because Roe v. Wade’s overturning has left women without protection of their reproductive rights.

Through HJR1009, Lundstrum wants to amend the state constitution to allow for supreme court judges, appeals judges, circuit judges and district judges to be elected on a partisan basis. Currently, these positions are nonpartisan.

Lundstrum said making this change would be beneficial for voters since they are used to voting for offices based on partisanship. She added it would also make the process of electing judges more transparent.

“Judges can’t talk about what they’re going to do, how they’re going to judge a particular case, but they could be able to talk about particular issues or the worldview they have,” she said.

Meeks asked Lundstrum if she believed this would pass with voters, and she replied it would. She said while campaigning she often hears voters tell her they don’t know anything about the judges on their ballots.

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, is wanting to refer an amendment to voters that would limit the ability of voters and the legislature to make changes to the state’s constitution.

According to HJR1011, two-thirds of voters would be needed for a ballot initiative to pass and the legislature would be allowed to refer up to two amendments to voters, instead of three.

A similar amendment to increase the threshold for ballot initiatives was referred to voters last year by the legislature but failed to pass with voters. Pilkington said the issue with that amendment was it created an uneven playing field for voters. He said his proposal levels the playing field and makes it more difficult for voters and the legislature to make changes to the constitution.

Joshua Silverstein, a professor at the UALR Bowen School of Law, testified in favor of Pilkington’s resolution. Silverstein said he was testifying as an individual and not representing Bowen.

Silverstein said when it comes to constitutions only super majorities should be able to make changes, because a simple majority being able to create changes would lead to instability.

The final resolution that received a hearing was from Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, on HB1013, which would amend the constitution to repeal the exception to slavery and involuntary servitude. In her testimony, Flowers said there is an exception in the state constitution that allows for slavery of criminals.

Flowers brought André Douglas Pond Cummings, professor at UALR Bowen School of Law, to testify in favor of the bill. Cummings explained the exception in the constitution is outdated because it was passed in the aftermath of the Civil War when the South needed labor to rebuild the region. He added after the South was rebuilt, the exception was used to enslave African Americans by charging them with petty crimes.

Flowers also brought Kaleem Nazeem to testify in favor of the measure. Nazeem is a movement builder with the nonprofit DecARcerate Arkansas. Nazeem, who spent 28 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said amending the constitution of the exception for slavery is a moral issue and needs to be done to make Arkansas a better state.

Flowers explained to lawmakers, her amendment wouldn’t make changes on how the Department of Corrections pays inmates with cash or good time for their work.

According to the resolution, there is bipartisan support for it, including from Senate President Pro Temp Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs.

Lawmakers will have until Wednesday to turn in their form where they will rank the amendment proposals from Monday’s hearing.