Arkansas legislature bill to end waterway moratoriums pulled by sponsor
Video: Report on changes to the electric utilities bill and the withdrawal of the moratorium prevention bill
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A bill that would end an Arkansas agency's ability to place a moratorium on issuing permits in watersheds was pulled by its sponsor in committee on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 290 would end moratoriums along waterways, such as the one currently in place by the Department of Environmental Quality on issuing permits for confined animal feeding operations along the Buffalo River. The bill was withdrawn by its lead sponsor, Sen. Blake Johnson (R-Corning), after testimony by both supporters and opponents to the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.
New bill introduced in Arkansas legislature to end Buffalo River, watershed protections
After the testimonies, Sen. Jimmy Hickey (R-Texarkana) expressed concern about the bill's potential conflict with the Administrative Procedures Act, telling Johnson he could not support it in its current form. Johnson responded by withdrawing the bill.
Other Senators on the committee voiced concern about its structure and terms before Hickey's statement. Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Searcy) pointed out that the bill would essentially empower four committee members to have power over moratoriums in the state.
Committee members Sen. Ben Gilmore (R-Crossett) and Sen. Jamie Scott (D-North Little Rock) also had questions about the bill, including its ability to contend with a possible emergency.
Arkansas reaches deal to shutter hog farm near Buffalo River
This is Johnson's second attempt to create a law ending watershed moratoriums. An earlier version of the bill, Senate Bill 84, required approval by the legislative council for a moratorium to be in place. The new version of the bill, Senate Bill 290, mandated approval by the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aldermen advance measure allowing Airbnb bans in Chicago precincts
Aldermen took a step Wednesday toward giving themselves the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals from opening in their wards. The City Council's License and Consumer Protection Committee advanced the ordinance that would allow aldermen to unilaterally block new short-term rentals one precinct at a time. It could now face a final vote by all aldermen as soon as next week. Sponsor Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, called the city's current ordinance made a decade ago 'extremely sloppy.' The existing law allows short-term rentals to be blocked only when 25% of a precinct's registered voters sign a petition calling for it. 'This is the only ordinance written in the city of Chicago where, when there is a problem in the industry, the onus is put on residents to fix it,' Napolitano said. The Far Northwest Side alderman's ordinance seeks to reverse that, allowing aldermen to block short-term rentals in a precinct on their own. It would then give companies the chance to overturn the ban by collecting signatures from 10% of the precinct's voters. Most aldermen in attendance backed the ordinance in a voice vote. Several cited issues in their ward with disruptive parties at short-term rentals, a problem Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said is 'on steroids' in dense downtown high rises. 'The guests are taking over common areas, pool decks, lobbies, fitness rooms,' he said. 'With the late night parties and noise complaints, et cetera, God help you if you own a condo next to one of these nightly rental units.' Napolitano argued the ordinance will not hurt short-term rental companies, but instead simply gives aldermen a tool to advocate for residents when issues arise. But Airbnb is strongly opposed to the proposal. 'Alderman Napolitano's ordinance amendment is an over-broad and misguided violation of Chicagoans' property rights, which would punish responsible homeowners and local businesses who rely on the income from travel on short-term rentals — especially in neighborhoods outside of Chicago's traditional tourism hubs,' Airbnb spokesperson Jonathan Buckner said in a statement Wednesday. Mayor Brandon Johnson is continuing to not take a side on the issue. Asked where he stood on the ordinance at a Wednesday morning news conference, he said he wanted to 'continue to ensure that we are building a safe, affordable city.' 'This particular measure, quite frankly, I'll have to look into a little bit deeper,' Johnson said. 'But I know that there are a number of alders who mean well and are trying to show up for their particular pocket of the city.' Several aldermen noted the absence of staff from Johnson's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, adding that they wished someone could answer questions about how bans could affect tax revenue. Alds. Matt O'Shea, 19th, and Bill Conway, 34th, voted against the measure, with O'Shea noting taxes on the rentals sent around $4 million to fight domestic violence. 'Have we thought of how we are going to replace that?' O'Shea asked. 'It's been my experience working with Airbnb that when a problem is identified, it's addressed.' Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, used the city's current process requiring residents' signatures to ban short-term rentals from every precinct in his Southwest Side ward. The whole-ward ban took 12,000 signatures and seven years to complete, he said. The ward is '95% single family dwellings,' and short-term rentals 'would have an adverse impact on our quality of life,' Quinn said. Asked what he thinks of Airbnb's argument that the ban is similar to historic racist efforts to keep Black and Latino people out of certain neighborhoods, Quinn called it a 'desperate statement from a company who got exactly what they wanted' when the original ordinance passed. 'I'm not saying that Airbnb isn't good in some parts of the city,' he said. 'It's just not good in the Bungalow Belt, and I have 12,000 signatures that would suggest that.' Aldermen also Wednesday advanced a measure to crack down on illegal pedicabs with potential impoundments.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘Resist in this moment': With Trump protests roiling Los Angeles, Chicago leaders continue tough stance
With protests putting a spotlight on unrest in Los Angeles and more agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly heading to Chicago, the city's leaders so far are not flinching when it comes being forced into cooperation with federal authorities taking part in a crackdown. Speaking at a City Hall news conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson went on the offensive. 'This is a necessary fight for all of us to be able to push back,' Johnson said. 'Whether we use the courts or whether we continue to protest or raise our voices, dissent matters in this moment. Look, (Trump) is abusing his power. We warned people though. You all know we warned people.' The mayor called the situation a 'war on our culture' and urged city residents to stand up for each other. 'I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment. Because whatever particular vulnerable group is targeted today, another group will be next,' Johnson said, promising to do what is in his power to maintain Chicago's place as a diversity magnet. Johnson declined to say what specific steps the city might take if President Donald Trump mobilizes the military in Chicago to support ICE raids. He instead focused on the need for local officials and residents to stand together against the federal threat, saying he had spoken about the situation with Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and they are committed to 'maintain the sensibilities of our democracy, the ability to freely express protest, that's fundamental to our democracy.' A curfew remained in place in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday after multiple nights of protests over ICE removals of immigrants and Trump's policies. The president has responded by calling out the National Guard and U.S. Marines to help quell street demonstrations. The promises from Chicago leaders come as ICE may be preparing to step up operations here, and as more Chicago demonstrations are planned. NBC has reported the agency is planning to send additional tactical teams to Democratic-led cities including Chicago. At a status hearing in the city's consent decree Tuesday, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said nothing has changed in the way his officers will respond to agents. 'We are not in communication with anyone from the federal government as it relates to immigration and we don't respond to immigration enforcement,' Snelling said. 'That's not something we do.' Snelling's remarks were in response to questions about CPD officers' response to actions carried out by ICE last week. In Pilsen last Monday, federal agents arrested two residents who work at a local business near the 1800 block of South Carpenter Street. Agents failed to properly identify themselves or present arrest warrants in those incidents, according to Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, and local rapid response teams. A video of the arrests showed a single CPD squad car was on the block shortly before the two people were taken into custody, but a CPD spokesperson said that officer was en route to court and left the area after realizing an immigration enforcement action was underway. Two days later, at an ICE facility in the South Loop, federal agents arrested at least 10 people who, according to ICE, were the subjects of standing deportation orders. CPD said officers remained in the area to assist with crowd control after protesters — and at least three aldermen — confronted the ICE agents. Chicago saw a large-scale anti-Trump and anti-ICE protest in the downtown area late Tuesday, and CPD said 17 people were arrested during the demonstration. The majority of those arrested were charged with misdemeanors as thousands of protesters spray-painted buses and squad cars and marched in traffic. 17 arrested as Chicago protesters march against Donald Trump's immigration crackdown Chicago police in general appeared somewhat less organized and deployed far fewer officers than at times during last summer's Democratic National Convention, when they were widely praised for their handling of demonstrations. As in years past, police could be seen attempting to keep protesters marching around the Loop south of the river, away from North Michigan Avenue and nearby Trump Tower. Other protests could kick off late Thursday, and another large-scale assembly is expected this Saturday. Dubbed the 'No Kings Rally and March,' participating groups were calling for demonstrators to gather at Daley Plaza at noon. In a statement Wednesday, CPD said its officers were directed to 'protect those exercising their First Amendment Rights' ahead of a planned ICE protest on Saturday.' 'With public safety as our top priority, our planning and training for First Amendment assemblies are rooted in constitutional policing and the safety of all those participating, working, and living in the affected areas,' the statement said, while promising also to hold people responsible for breaking the law. The city's downtown area has, for decades, been the setting for large-scale marches and gatherings — from sports championship parades to protests of the city's own police department. Over the last decade, CPD has coordinated with the organizers of permitted marches, but more sporadic gatherings have proven a challenge. As the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold in the summer of 2020, the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer prompted large-scale disruptions in Chicago and other cities across the country. Here, the downtown area and a few other neighborhoods were subjected to looting and violence. The bridges over the Chicago River were raised in an effort to keep people out of downtown. Subsequent reviews of CPD's response found the department was woefully unprepared to respond to the unrest seen that summer. 'Teen takeovers' — impromptu gatherings of young people, mostly from the South and West sides, that sometimes end in gunfire — have rattled downtown residents, businesses and tourists in recent years, and the City Council has toyed with the idea of letting the CPD superintendent impose a snap curfew. Whether a larger ICE protest could bring an LA-style downtown curfew to Chicago remains to be seen. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was in Washington on Wednesday and did not address the situation publicly. Attorney General Kwame Raoul was among those who did. Raoul's office announced it joined a coalition 18 attorneys general to make a statement on the Trump administration. 'The president's decision to federalize and deploy California's National Guard without the consent of California state leaders is unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic,' the statement read. 'The federal administration should be working with local leaders to keep everyone safe, not mobilizing the military against the American people.'
Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Aldermen advance measure allowing Airbnb bans in Chicago precincts
Aldermen took a step Wednesday toward giving themselves the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals from opening in their wards. The City Council's License and Consumer Protection Committee advanced the ordinance that would allow aldermen to unilaterally block new short-term rentals one precinct at a time. It could now face a final vote by all aldermen as soon as next week. Sponsor Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, called the city's current ordinance made a decade ago 'extremely sloppy.' The existing law allows short-term rentals to be blocked only when 25% of a precinct's registered voters sign a petition calling for it. 'This is the only ordinance written in the city of Chicago where, when there is a problem in the industry, the onus is put on residents to fix it,' Napolitano said. The Far Northwest Side alderman's ordinance seeks to reverse that, allowing aldermen to block short-term rentals in a precinct on their own. It would then give companies the chance to overturn the ban by collecting signatures from 10% of the precinct's voters. Most aldermen in attendance backed the ordinance in a voice vote. Several cited issues in their ward with disruptive parties at short-term rentals, a problem Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said is 'on steroids' in dense downtown high rises. 'The guests are taking over common areas, pool decks, lobbies, fitness rooms,' he said. 'With the late night parties and noise complaints, et cetera, God help you if you own a condo next to one of these nightly rental units.' Napolitano argued the ordinance will not hurt short-term rental companies, but instead simply gives aldermen a tool to advocate for residents when issues arise. But Airbnb is strongly opposed to the proposal. 'Alderman Napolitano's ordinance amendment is an over-broad and misguided violation of Chicagoans' property rights, which would punish responsible homeowners and local businesses who rely on the income from travel on short-term rentals — especially in neighborhoods outside of Chicago's traditional tourism hubs,' Airbnb spokesperson Jonathan Buckner said in a statement Wednesday. Mayor Brandon Johnson is continuing to not take a side on the issue. Asked where he stood on the ordinance at a Wednesday morning news conference, he said he wanted to 'continue to ensure that we are building a safe, affordable city.' 'This particular measure, quite frankly, I'll have to look into a little bit deeper,' Johnson said. 'But I know that there are a number of alders who mean well and are trying to show up for their particular pocket of the city.' Several aldermen noted the absence of staff from Johnson's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, adding that they wished someone could answer questions about how bans could affect tax revenue. Alds. Matt O'Shea, 19th, and Bill Conway, 34th, voted against the measure, with O'Shea noting taxes on the rentals sent around $4 million to fight domestic violence. 'Have we thought of how we are going to replace that?' O'Shea asked. 'It's been my experience working with Airbnb that when a problem is identified, it's addressed.' Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, used the city's current process requiring residents' signatures to ban short-term rentals from every precinct in his Southwest Side ward. The whole-ward ban took 12,000 signatures and seven years to complete, he said. The ward is '95% single family dwellings,' and short-term rentals 'would have an adverse impact on our quality of life,' Quinn said. Asked what he thinks of Airbnb's argument that the ban is similar to historic racist efforts to keep Black and Latino people out of certain neighborhoods, Quinn called it a 'desperate statement from a company who got exactly what they wanted' when the original ordinance passed. 'I'm not saying that Airbnb isn't good in some parts of the city,' he said. 'It's just not good in the Bungalow Belt, and I have 12,000 signatures that would suggest that.' Aldermen also Wednesday advanced a measure to crack down on illegal pedicabs with potential impoundments.
