On Wednesday morning, Little Rock, like much of the state, was stuck at home after a winter storm rendered roads impassible the night before.
But that didn’t stop a House committee from plowing ahead with a contentious bill directly related to public participation in the democratic process.
Some legislators on the House State Agencies committee urged their colleagues to delay a vote on the bill so that members of the public could have a chance to speak for or against it. On Monday evening, two related bills had attracted hours of testimony in committee, most of it from opponents. The majority on the committee was unswayed and decided to vote on the bill anyway.
The bill in question was Senate Bill 207, one of six bills proposed by Sen. Kim Hammer (R-Benton) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R-Cave Springs) that would make it even more hard for Arkansans to propose changes to state law at the ballot box.
SB207 would require canvassers to inform individuals that “petition fraud” is a criminal offense before they sign a petition. Arkansas law stipulates that more than 90,000 signatures must be collected for a proposed constitutional amendment to make it in front of voters. If a canvasser, who could be a paid worker or a volunteer, fails to provide this verbal or written notification before an individual signs a petition, the canvasser might face legal consequences and signatures he or she already collected could be considered invalid.
Opponents say they are concerned the requirement would create a chilling effect, as potential signees would be scared off by the warning of committing a criminal offense just for signing a piece of paper. Supporters argue it would deter bad actors trying to rig the system with imitation, or duplicate, signatures.
“Do you think that there could be a disproportionately high chilling effect in communities that do not have as much trust in [government] institutions or know the law?” Rep. Andrew Collins (D-Little Rock) asked the bills’ sponsors during Wednesday’s committee meeting. “The reality is there are some places where if you show up with a clipboard and say you may be committing a criminal offense if you sign this, they would be more likely to walk away and want no part of it.”
Rep. David Ray (R-Maumelle), who has sponsored other legislation to limit the ballot measure process, said he didn’t see any difference between buying a gun and signing a petition. When purchasing a firearm, “it states very clearly on the form, that if I respond to any of those questions in a way that I know is inaccurate, I am committing a felony, but that has never had a chilling effect on my intent or ability to purchase a firearm. Would you not agree?” Ray asked the bill’s sponsors.
“It did not deter me because I was not answering the questions inaccurately or lying on the form,” Underwood replied.
While legislators argued about deterrence, the weather had a clear chilling effect on public participation. Only two members of the public attended the hearing to voice opposition to the measure. That’s in acute contrast to the many speakers who came to the committee’s six-hour meeting on Monday night to speak against SB207 and related bills.
The others, Senate Bill 211 and Senate Bill 208, passed out of committee on Monday. SB207 didn’t receive a vote that day because the sponsors decided to amend it to correct a technical issue.
Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R-Paragould), chair of the committee, said he had received at least 15 text messages Wednesday morning requesting the committee delay their vote on SB207 because of the weather. Many of the messages were from individuals who attended the Monday meeting but were not able to speak against the bill at the time because it was pulled down.
“I certainly understand their point,” Gazaway said. “I also understand we have work to do and that the bill’s sponsors would like to proceed. I told Rep. Underwood I would raise this issue and decide whether to vote on the bill today or let members of the public show up when roads are not as bad.”
Gazaway said he would leave the decision to vote “to the will of the committee.”
Even some Republicans seemed uneasy about passing such a controversial bill when many people couldn’t attend the hearing.
Rep. Cindy Crawford (R-Fort Smith) said if the committee is to “keep our word, we should let the people come back and debate again.”
“Is the outcome going to be different? No,” Crawford said. “Is this bill going to pass? Yes. I just want to be fair to our constituents – even if they are not our constituents — to the state of Arkansas.”
Ray, the representative from Maumelle, said that the committee had already given “a lot of leeway to all the members of the public who came to offer their comment [on Monday]” and that “no member of the committee limited debate.”
“I think it is safe to assume that everyone who testified in favor of the other two [ballot initiative] bills were in favor of this bill, and the others who testified against the bills are against this one,” Ray said. “We are not doing anything unfair by voting on a bill we have heard six hours of testimony on.”
Collins, the representative from Little Rock, said members should consider the fact that the measure is specifically addressing citizens’ ability to participate in the democratic process.The optics of “rushing through this bill, in particular” would not be great, he said.
Collins also said there was no public comment specifically for SB207 during Monday’s meeting. He urged other members to table a vote until their next meeting on Monday next week.
“We need to be as up front and open and transparent as we can be,” Collins said. “The downside to waiting to vote on Monday is so minimal, it will not make a difference with our agenda. We are elected to handle that. People feel like they are being shut out of our own democracy. That is more serious than the consequences of waiting until Monday for a vote.”
Of the 15 members present, eight voted in favor of considering the legislation Wednesday without public comment while the remaining seven voted to table it until the next meeting. The committee then held a voice vote to send the bill to the full House.
