40 proposals floated to alter constitution

Lawmakers have filed 40 proposed amendments to the Arkansas Constitution this legislative session, 25 from House members and 15 from senators. The proposals range from abolishing a constitutional office to reinstating the state’s court-overturned voter-ID law.

Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, chairman of the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, said he plans to start conversations with lawmakers over the next week to determine whether some of the proposals could be combined.

“As it stands right now, Sen. [Eddie Joe] Williams and I are just working through the pile, trying to identify them, generally by category,” Bell said. “And then it’s at least my intent to go to people who may have very similar proposals and see if we can merge some of those proposals and have agreement that one of them will run.”

Bell said he hopes to hold informational meetings on the House side to present those amendments, without calling for motions or approvals. He said he’ll first have to get the green light from the House leadership.

Many of the proposals have names but few details, and leaders said it’s hard for lawmakers to debate measures that haven’t been fleshed out yet.

“The vast majority of what was filed was done in a shellbill format, and that’s also a big part of why people aren’t talking about content yet,” said House Speaker Rep. Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia. “Most people will start to fill in that language over the next couple weeks. By the end of the month, people will have a better idea of what they want and how they plan to go about it.”

Eight resolutions deal with changing civil litigation laws, practices and claims, commonly called tort reform. All but one of those bills were in shell form as of Friday night.

Those bills are House Joint Resolution 1009 to allow the General Assembly to enact laws concerning civil cases; HJR1010 to amend court rules and procedures in civil claims; and HJR1011 to authorize the General Assembly to enact laws regarding civil claims. All are by Rep. Andy Davis, R-Little Rock, and all were in shell form.

HJR1014 to amend judicial procedure related to civil litigation — by Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville — was also in shell form.

In the Senate, Senate Joint Resolution 1, by Williams; SJR8 by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest; and SJR15, by Sen. David Johnson, D-Little Rock, were all in shell form.

SJR14 — by Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock — would cap any punitive damages in a civil lawsuit at five times the amount of compensatory damages. If added to the constitution, the amendment would prohibit punitive damages from exceeding $1 million.

Four other proposals — HJR1005, HJR1015, HJR1016 and SJR12 — deal with judicial elections or changes in the judicial branch of government.

While the latter three are shell bills with no details, HJR1005 — sponsored by Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado — would end nonpartisan elections for the Arkansas Supreme Court and enact a “merit-based” system of judicial selection.

Justices would be appointed to the bench by the governor after the governor selected from a list of three candidates put together by a 15-member commission made up of members appointed by the governor, the Arkansas Bar Association, the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore.

Instead of re-election, justices would face retention votes every eight years where a simple “yes” or “no” majority of voters would decide if they stay on the bench.

The House minority leader, Rep. Eddie Armstrong, D-North Little Rock, said House lawmakers are adamantly opposed to tort-reform efforts and attempts to tinker with judicial elections.

Armstrong also said fellow Democrats will oppose any renewed effort to require voter identification at the polls.

HJR1007 by Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, and Senate Joint Resolution 7 by King both deal with reinstating the state’s voter-ID laws.

In 2013, the Legislature passed a voter-ID law that the Arkansas Supreme Court voided last October as unconstitutional.

The court struck down the law, saying that requiring a voter to present a government-issued ID in order to cast a ballot amounted to an additional qualification to vote. The qualifications to vote are set out in the Arkansas Constitution as: the voter must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen and an Arkansas resident.

Lowery said the proposed amendment, if adopted, would resolve the court’s objections and allow the Legislature to set exceptions to the voting requirements.

The voter-ID measures are among several proposals that deal with elections and elected officials.

SJR13, by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, seeks to change the terms of office for county sheriffs to four years.

SJR5 by King and HJR1027 by Rep. Jack Ladyman, R-Jonesboro, both seek to change the terms of office for a handful of county-level officials and to allow the counties to put to a vote whether justices of the peace should serve two- or four-year terms.

SJR2 by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, would amend the term limits for legislators to allow lawmakers to serve no more than five two-year terms in the House and no more than three four-year terms in the Senate, with none serving more than 16 years total in both chambers.

Amendment 94, approved by voters in November, allows legislators to serve a maximum of 16 years, which can be spent in the House, the Senate or in both chambers.

In the House, HJR1020 by Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, is a shell bill but seeks to amend the rules regarding voting by mail during elections. HJR12, by Bell, would certify unopposed candidates for office without having their names appear on the ballots.

At least four constitutional amendment proposals have to do with changing the lieutenant governor’s office or abolishing it.

SJR3 by Williams seeks to allow the governor to retain his authority while traveling out of state, rather than relinquishing it temporarily to the lieutenant governor, as directed under the state constitution.

Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, filed three shell resolutions dealing with the lieutenant governor’s office. Her husband, former state Rep. Andy Mayberry, ran unsuccessfully for that office last year.

She said she initially wanted to disband the position in the wake of former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr’s resignation from office, but now she wants a real “dialogue” with lawmakers about the practicality of the part-time constitutional position.

One proposal would end the state’s tradition of allowing the governor and lieutenant governor to be from different parties. Another proposal would change the scope of authority of the lieutenant governor’s office, and a third would scrap the office altogether.

“We need a serious dialogue about eliminating the [office] or making it more useful. Use it or lose it,” Mayberry said. “We can’t do it the same way we always used to. [The office is] kind of archaic.”

HJR1002 and SJR9 — by Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, and Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis — deal with eliminating the state’s fiscal legislative session and reducing the number of days in a legislative session.

Leding and Rep. Charles Armstrong, D-Little Rock, filed resolutions to adjust the state’s tax code. Leding’s HJR1021 would exempt business property that has limited useful life from valorem taxes, and Armstrong’s HJR1022 asks for some veterans to be exempt from paying property taxes.

The other 11 proposals from House and Senate lawmakers would change how certain state agencies, boards or commissions operate, or present cleanup language for state laws.

SJR4 by Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, would exempt boards governing colleges and universities from Amendment 33 of the Arkansas Constitution, which restricts the abolition or transfer of power from the board, prohibits the increase or decrease of the number of board members, and provides an appeal process for removing a member.

SJR6 by Clark would allow lottery scholarship funding to be used by students attending vocational technical schools.

SJR11 by King and HJR19 by Dotson deal with how the state Game and Fish Commission operates. King’s proposal would change the selection process for commissioners, while Dotson’s resolution would change the structure of the agency so it would “be governed in the same manner as all other state agencies.” Both resolutions were shell legislation as of Friday afternoon and contained no details.

Dotson also filed HJR1017, which would require the state Highway and Transportation Department to be governed in the same manner as state agencies. It provided no details of what would change. He also filed HJR1018, a shell resolution that combines his proposals about the Game and Fish Commission and the Highway Department.

Bell filed HJR1004 to limit state spending on public education to a certain percentage of overall state expenditures, but the percentage was not listed in the shell legislation. He also filed HJR13, which seeks to require an adequate education for all Arkansas students by limiting what the state spends on public education to an undisclosed percentage of total state expenditures.

SJR10 by Ingram would increase the millage cap that local communities can charge on property taxes to pay for fire or police retirement funds from 1 mill to 2 mills.

In the House, Rep. David Branscum, R- Marshall, filed HJR1006 that would define “infamous crime” as it’s used in the Arkansas Constitution to disqualify candidates for the Arkansas General Assembly as a felony offense, misdemeanor property offense, abuse of office, tampering or certain other misdemeanors.

Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, filed HJR1023, a shell bill “concerning prosecution of certain alleged offenses committed by public servants.”

Rep. Mickey Gates, R-Hot Springs, filed HJR1008, which would allow the Legislature to determine how certain notices are published and to no longer require publication specifically in newspapers.