Latest news with #ClarkeTucker
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas lawmakers send bill eliminating racial, gender board quotas to governor
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, speaks in opposition to House Bill 1365 from the Senate floor on April 15, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would remove race and gender quotas and qualifications for a variety of state boards and commissions. The bill now awaits the governor's signature. Rep. Karilyn Brown, a Sherwood Republican and lead sponsor of House Bill 1365, told a House committee last month that requiring a minimum number of women and members from underrepresented groups to serve on the panels is unfair. Brown said 'diversity occurs naturally' and the state should not codify language that 'makes things more awkward or more difficult to fill positions.' HB 1365 advanced all the way to the Senate before being recalled to the House for an amendment that removed an entire section of the bill referencing the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Brown told the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committees on April 2 that the revision was needed because the commission was created through an initiated act and therefore that section of code needed 67 votes in the House to be amended. Panel OKs proposed removal of racial and gender quotas for Arkansas boards and commissions HB 1365 originally passed the House with 61 votes on March 5. The vote was later expunged and the House approved the amended bill with 60 votes on April 3. Upon its return to the Senate on Tuesday, no one spoke in favor of HB 1365, and Sen. Clarke Tucker was the sole lawmaker to speak against it. Of all the bills related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) during the last two sessions, Tucker called HB 1365 'the most harmful.' DEI-related bills approved by lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session include Act 112, which will 'prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment' by public entities and retention plans and reports from public school districts and higher education institutions, and Senate Bill 520, which would prohibit DEI policies and practices in local government. There's no advantage to serving in unpaid positions on boards and committees, Tucker said, but removing quotas eliminates the opportunity for some people to have a voice in policymaking. Among the panels affected by the proposed law, Tucker singled out the State Board of Education, whose membership would no longer be required to 'reflect the diversity in general education' under HB 1365. 'We are so afraid of diversity that we are eliminating that line from code; it doesn't even say what kind of diversity,' he said. Diversity is important, Clarke said, noting that the Senate's membership represents geographic diversity. 'We have lost all common sense when it comes to that word because of the politics of the time, and this bill goes too far,' he said. 'What it does again is eliminate the ability of populations who have been historically underrepresented or oppressed to even have a voice in their state government, and that is wrong and I hope we don't pass it this afternoon.' HB 1365 passed the Senate Tuesday with 24 yes votes; the body's six Democrats voted no. Republican Ronald Caldwell of Wynne, Jonathan Dismang of Searcy, Jim Dotson of Bentonville and John Payton of Wilburn did not vote, while Jim Petty of Fort Smith voted present. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FOIA bill heads to Arkansas governor's desk
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, questions a bill that would abolish the State Library Board and the Educational Television Commission. Photographed Feb. 13, 2025. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) A bill that clarifies aspects of Arkansas' public meetings law is heading to the governor's desk after it again passed the Senate by a wide margin on Monday. The bill specifies what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards could discuss outside of a public meeting and would also allow a court to nullify any decisions made by a public body if it was in violation of open meetings laws. Senate Bill 227, sponsored by Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, had already passed the Senate once, but the addition of co-sponsors when it was being considered in the House required another vote by the upper chamber. Senators voted 34-1 in favor of passage; more senators voted yes in the second vote, including Sen. Alan Clark, who voted against Tucker's bill when it first passed the Senate last month. Clark introduced his own amendments to the state's Freedom of Information Act that would have defined a public meeting as 'more than two' members of a public body – a change from the current status quo. That bill, Senate Bill 376, has been waiting to be heard in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee, and Clark voted against Tucker's bill the first time it went before the chamber. Only Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, voted no during Monday's vote. The current FOIA does not define the number of people needed for a meeting to qualify as public, but has generally been interpreted to mean a meeting where at least two members of a governing body get together. Tucker's bill, if signed into law, would make that more explicit. Tucker's bill has support from FOIA advocates around the state. The president of the Arkansas Press Association, Andrew Bagley, called Tucker's bill 'a very good piece of legislation' during a committee meeting March 12. The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act gives Arkansans broad access to public records, such as emails sent between state officials and documents used in the course of government action. The law also establishes access to public meetings by members of the public, although the vague language governing this access has led to multiple instances of litigation as local governments ran afoul of the sunshine provisions. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
SESSION SNAPSHOT: Direct democracy takes center stage at Arkansas Capitol
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, speaks in opposition to bills that would regulate Arkansas' petition-gathering process on Feb. 12, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansans' ability to participate in the democratic process came into focus during the fifth week of the 2025 legislative session. Some members of the public took part in a rally Monday that advocated for policies supporting healthy kids and families. Others showed up to committee meetings to speak in support of or in opposition to proposed legislation. The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, for example, heard testimony both for and against a bill that would have repealed state law requiring fluoride in drinking water. The proposal failed after a tie vote from committee members. Members of the public also continued to share their thoughts on a bill that would require public schools to show students a fetal development video produced by an anti-abortion group that has been criticized for being agenda-driven and medically inaccurate. House Bill 1180 stalled in the Senate Education Committee Monday after a handful of senators expressed their own concerns about the bill. Sponsor Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, expressed a willingness to amend the bill, which could be brought back up for consideration in the future. Sen. Ken Hammer, R-Benton, this week proposed six bills to regulate the ballot initiative process in Arkansas. Five advanced out of committee to the full Senate, which also approved all five bills Wednesday. However, only three of Hammer's bills garnered enough votes for an emergency clause, which would allow them to go into effect immediately upon the governor's signature. Hammer tried again on Thursday to get enough votes to approve the emergency clause on the final two bills, but the Senate votes fell short once more. While Hammer maintains the goal of his legislation is to improve the integrity of the petition-gathering process, opponents have argued it would make the process more restrictive and discourage Arkansans from participating. Arkansas' elections are overseen by the secretary of state. Hammer is running for the position in the 2026 general election. People packed into a room at the Capitol Tuesday to make their voices heard on a bill that would require Disability Rights Arkansas, a federally empowered disability advocacy group that doesn't receive state funds, to submit reports to the Legislature. Lead sponsor Rep. Jack Ladyman, R-Jonesboro, called for more oversight of the independent nonprofit because 'they provide services to our most vulnerable citizens.' DRA Executive Director Tom Masseau noted that 'no other private, nonprofit organization' is specifically named in statute, and said lawmakers were going down a 'slippery slope.' Public testimony was limited to two speakers — one for and one against — because a lawmaker called for immediate consideration following their testimony. House Bill 1382 passed, with some dissent from committee members. The legislation barely advanced out of the Arkansas House Thursday with only 53 members voting in favor. Eighteen representatives voted against the bill, 11 didn't vote and 18 voted not present. The bill will next be heard by a Senate committee. A legislative panel on Thursday advanced a bill that would abolish the state boards that oversee public libraries and Arkansas PBS and transfer those powers to the Arkansas Department of Education. Both are under the umbrella of the department, but act independently. Senate Bill 184 is sponsored by Jonesboro Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, a long-time critic of public libraries and Arkansas PBS. Sullivan said the boards 'rarely' make consequential decisions and the move would 'better align' with the goals of the legislative and executive branches. Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, said he believed the Arkansas State Library and Arkansas PBS should continue to have oversight independent of the education department. Tucker was the only committee member to vote against the bill, which will next be heard by the full Senate. Lawmakers filed more than 100 new bills this week, including: Senate Bill 217 by Sen. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale, would require the Department of Human Services to request a waiver to exclude candy and soft drinks from eligible foods under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The governor called for these reforms in a December letter to federal officials. Senate Bill 223 by Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, would create the Religious Rights at Public Schools Act. The bill would require public schools at the beginning of the year to distribute a copy of the act, which declares that students have 'broad religious freedom' to participate in activities like prayer and promoting religious activities at school. House Bill 1443 by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, would create the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, which would prohibit government entities from keeping a list of privately owned firearms or owners of privately owned firearms. House Bill 1841 by Rep. Wayne Long, R-Bradford, would create the Anti-ATF Commandeering Act, which would prohibit the state from providing material aid and support for enforcing federal firearms laws. Issues between state lawmakers and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arose following the shooting death of Little Rock's airport director last year. Among the bills filed this week were proposed constitutional amendments. The Legislature can refer up to three such proposals to voters each session. Lawmakers filed 20 proposals in the House and 24 in the Senate by Wednesday's deadline. Although Monday is a state holiday — George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day — lawmakers will continue their session work with meetings beginning at 10 a.m. Updated schedules and agendas are available on the Legislature's website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas Senate panel passes bill to prohibit discrimination; citizens say it would do the opposite
Sen. Clarke Tucker (right), D-Little Rock, asks questions about Senate Bill 3 from bill sponsor Sen. Dan Sullivan (left), R-Jonesboro, during a Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs meeting on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) After two and a half hours of debate, an Arkansas Senate panel approved a bill Tuesday that would 'prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment' by public entities. Senate Bill 3, similar to a bill that failed in 2023, would repeal requirements that state procurement proposals include language that encourages minority participation or to adopt an equal opportunity hiring program designed to increase the percentage of minority employees. The bill would also eliminate required minority recruitment and retention plans and reports from public school districts and higher education institutions, as well as amending a scholarship designed to attract qualified minority teachers to the Delta, a rural area with a significant Black population and a known teacher shortage. While the bill does not include the phrase 'diversity, equity and inclusion,' a phrase often abbreviated as DEI in the language of business and government, the bill would strike the three individual words from state law several times over. For example, the Equity Assistance Center in the state's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education would be called the Equality Assistance Center. Its purpose would be to assist the state's public school districts with 'desegregation and nondiscrimination' instead of 'affirmative action, program accessibility, human relations, awareness, and desegregation' as currently required. The bill would also strike the term 'civil rights' from state law three times and replace the phrase with 'desegregation and nondiscrimination.' Arkansas senator promises to kill DEI at state higher-ed institutions Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro is sponsoring the bill and has been an outspoken critic of DEI initiatives, which have become a target for conservative lawmakers nationwide since the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions. Senate Bill 3 would apply to the state's higher education institutions. Sullivan told the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs that existing state policy encourages employers to prioritize traits such as race and ethnicity over job qualifications. 'We are focusing on merit, and we're going to hire on merit who's the best for that area,' Sullivan said. 'I think we've kind of lost our focus on what merit means.' SB 3 contains much of the same language as a bill Sullivan sponsored two years ago to end state-sponsored affirmative action, which he also described as ending discrimination. That bill, Senate Bill 71, narrowly passed the Senate in March 2023 but died on the House floor after several passionate speeches from members of both parties. Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, noted during Tuesday's committee meeting that all 18 senators — the minimum number for a bill to pass the chamber — who voted for SB71 in 2023 were white men. White men comprise most of the state Legislature, including all eight members of the State Agencies committee, and much of the executive branch, noted civil rights attorney Austin Porter Jr., who opposed the bill along with nine other speakers. They said they opposed the bill because it would remove opportunities for populations that have historically faced discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from employment discrimination on the basis of 'race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.' Senate Bill 3 has similar language but replaces 'religion' with 'ethnicity.' The text of the bill would allow anyone 'who believes his or her rights have been impacted under this section' to file a civil lawsuit, and a judge that sides with the plaintiff would issue an injunction and allow the plaintiff to recover court costs and attorneys' fees. The bill would give 'reparations' to 'white people who feel like they've been victimized by some preferential treatment that's nonexistent,' Porter said, adding that Black Americans have spent years advocating for reparations for the nation's history of enslavement. ''Merit,' in a lot of people's minds, means simply white,' Porter said. Lance LeVar, a former Arkansas Department of Education employee, disputed Sullivan's statement that unqualified minority job candidates have advantages over qualified candidates. 'What equity [does] is it looks at everybody and recognizes the merit that everybody's done, the work that they've taken… and it recognizes that others have to work harder,' LeVar said. Other opponents of the bill included representatives from Stand Up Arkansas and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Tucker asked Sullivan 'who is harmed' by minority teacher recruitment programs. Sullivan repeatedly said such programs are discriminatory. 'One could also ask who's being helped, and it's just a circular argument,' Sullivan said. Tucker, the committee's only Democrat, and Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, voted against the bill. Clark said he supported the premise of the bill but was concerned it would hurt schools' ability to recruit Black male teachers. He said Black male students need to be able to see themselves in their teachers in order to improve their educational outcomes. 'What I'm looking at here is not a racial preference or discriminatory, but something we need,' Clark said. Sullivan said he understood Clark's point but also said the state should align its policies with the federal government. Senate Bill 3 differs from its 2023 predecessor with the addition of language explicitly stating that the legislation is not meant to affect preferences provided to veterans under law based on their status as veterans. Tucker asked why preferential treatment should be allowed for one group but outlawed for other groups. Sullivan repeated that the bill would align the state with federal policy. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX President Trump's executive order, signed within two days of his inauguration last week, declaring an end to all DEI 'mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities' in the federal government. Trump also put all federal DEI employees on paid leave and ordered agencies to cancel DEI training and contracts. When asked about the bill at a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she hopes lawmakers consider 'anything that brings Arkansas further into compliance with where federal law and federal statute land.' However, executive orders do not change federal law in and of themselves, and states have the responsibility to check and balance the power of the federal government by ensuring that federal policies 'meet the unique needs of their citizens,' said Dr. Gail Choate of the nonpartisan Arkansas Civic Action Network. Choate added that passing Senate Bill 3 would be 'solving a problem that we don't know exists.' She said Walmart executives could not offer data to the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus on Monday when asked to justify the company's rollback of its DEI policies. The Bentonville-based retailer is among several corporations that have done this in recent months. Another provision in SB 3 would eliminate the state's requirement for bids for certain public improvement contracts exceeding $75,000 to include statements encouraging the participation of minority- and women-owned businesses. Knowingly violating the bill would result in a Class A misdemeanor. Conway resident Jimmie Cavin said the bill needed more 'teeth' and that was why he opposed a policy he otherwise agreed with. The only supporter of the bill who spoke was Robert Steinbuch, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock law professor. 'Either you're an affirmative action employer or you're an equal opportunity employer,' he said. 'You can't be both.' Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this article.
