Latest news with #SenateBill207
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bills to change Arkansas' citizen-led petition process continue to move through Legislature
Rep. Kendon Underwood, R-Cave Springs, presents Senate Bill 207 to the Arkansas House on Monday, February 24, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Proposed changes to Arkansas' citizen-led ballot initiative process continued to advance through the state Legislature on Monday, with more movement expected throughout the week. Two bills sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, passed a House committee for the second time after being amended and will go to the House floor next. A third bill passed the House and will return to a Senate committee for concurrence on an amendment. The bills are among several Hammer is sponsoring that members of the public have said will impede Arkansans' ability to participate in direct democracy. Hammer, House sponsor Rep. Kendon Underwood and Secretary of State Cole Jester have all claimed petitions for ballot measures circulated last year contained many duplicate signatures, which is prohibited by state law. Underwood, a Cave Springs Republican, presented Senate Bill 207 to the House and later presented Senate Bill 208 and Senate Bill 211 to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. SB 207 would require canvassers for ballot-measure petitions to inform potential signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense. The section of Arkansas code governing initiatives and referenda designates petition fraud a Class A misdemeanor. 'I think many people just don't know that these are serious government documents, and this corrects that error,' Underwood told the House. '…[This bill would] protect the democratic process by helping to ensure that legitimate signatures are collected and reducing fraudulent activity that undermines the public trust.' Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, asked Underwood how the state would collect evidence to prosecute canvassers for failure to comply with the requirement in the bill. Underwood said evidence 'could be provided in a number of ways.' McCullough said she thought the requirement could 'chill this process' of collecting signatures, echoing concerns expressed in recent weeks by opponents of the bill and by other Democratic lawmakers. 'If you're putting someone in the position of doing a video recording [to prove compliance], it's kind of interrupting the process between the canvasser and the voter,' McCullough said. She and 16 other House Democrats, plus nine Republicans, voted against SB 207. Three of the Republicans who voted against it — Julie Mayberry of Hensley, Mark McElroy of Tillar and Jeremy Wooldridge of Marmaduke — also voted against it in committee last week. Five Republicans did not vote, and the remaining two Democrats, Glenn Barnes and Ken Ferguson of Pine Bluff, voted present. SB 207 has an emergency clause, which would allow it to go into effect immediately upon the governor's signature. Emergency clauses need a two-thirds vote in each chamber, and the 67 Republicans who voted for SB 207 gave the emergency clause the bare minimum of support it needed for passage. SB 208 and SB 211 also have emergency clauses. All three bills initially passed the Senate at or beyond the two-thirds threshold of 24 votes. SB 208 would require canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers, and SB 211 would require canvassers to file a 'true affidavit' with the secretary of state certifying they complied with the Arkansas Constitution and state laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery and fraudulent practices in the procurement of petition signatures. Signatures submitted without the affidavit would not be counted. The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs approved both bills as amended Monday, a week after hearing nearly six hours of public comment before passing the bills. Kwami Abdul-Bey, representing the Arkansas state conference of the NAACP, spoke against the bills both Monday and last week. He said he appreciated the amendment to SB 208, which clarifies the type of photo ID the bill would require under existing state law, since he had expressed concerns about this technicality at the Feb. 17 meeting. Abdul-Bey said he remained concerned about SB 208 because it did not include exceptions for voters who live in long-term care facilities or are in the military, since state law exempts them from presenting a photo ID to vote. He also said he opposed SB 211's requirement for a 'true affidavit' because the term carries criminal liability. State law already requires ballot question committees to submit an affidavit identifying paid canvassers by name and provide proof that the committee explained to canvassers the state's laws for soliciting signatures and gave them the Secretary of State's initiatives and referenda handbook before they started canvassing. This affidavit is not a 'true affidavit' and therefore only carries civil liability, Abdul-Bey said. He also questioned why the proposed requirement in the bill could not be incorporated into the existing affidavit requirement. 'Not only are we creating an extra piece of paper, but we are also criminalizing the act of collecting signatures for a ballot measure,' said Abdul-Bey, who works for the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and has participated in multiple citizen-led ballot efforts in the past few years. No other members of the public spoke for or against the bills, and the committee approved both bills with split voice votes after no discussion. SB 208 and SB 211 will go to the House floor for a vote and back to the Senate if approved. The Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs is expected to take up SB 207 as soon as Thursday. SESSION SNAPSHOT: Battle over regulating citizen-led petitions in Arkansas continues Hammer is sponsoring two more bills, SB 209 and SB 210, which he asked the Senate to place on Tuesday's calendar. Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures. Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. Both bills passed the Senate on Feb. 12, but they failed to receive the two-thirds majority vote required to pass the bills' emergency clause. The Senate approved Hammer's motion to expunge the vote, and the bills again failed to gain enough support for the emergency clauses on Feb. 13. Hammer said Monday that Tuesday will be the last time he brings the bills to the chamber for consideration. 'Members, I promise you no matter who's in the room or who's not in the room, we'll vote it and see what happens and we'll be done with it tomorrow,' Hammer said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this article.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Panel approves amended mandate for Arkansas canvassers to warn petition signers of fraud crime
Sen. Kim Hammer (left), R-Benton, and Rep. Kendon Underwood (right), R-Cave Springs, present an amended bill to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Senate Bill 207 would require canvassers for proposed ballot measures to disclose to signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) A bill that would require canvassers for ballot measures in Arkansas to disclose the criminality of petition fraud to potential signers passed a legislative committee Wednesday after being pulled down for amendments Monday. Senate Bill 207 is one of a slew of proposed laws sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, and Rep. Kendon Underwood, R-Cave Springs, that would alter the citizen-led initiative petition process. Arkansas is one of 24 states that allows this process to change laws and the state Constitution, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hammer and Underwood have said their proposed legislation would protect the integrity of the initiative petition process and deter fraudulent activity. The section of Arkansas code governing initiatives and referenda designates petition fraud a Class A misdemeanor. House members pointed out Monday that the statute pertaining to fraud against the government designates petition fraud a Class D felony. Underwood subsequently amended SB 207 to require canvassers to state that petition fraud is simply 'a criminal offense.' The House is expected to take up the amended bill Thursday. Two people spoke against the bill Wednesday before the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. Existing state law includes a list of actions considered fraud on initiative or referendum petitions, but SB 207's mandated statement for canvassers does not include such specifics, said Christin Harper, policy director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. 'The vast majority of Arkansans already know fraud is illegal and are entering the petition process not with nefarious intentions, but with a desire to participate civically in their communities and support issues they care about,' Harper said. 'A better way to prevent fraud is to enforce current laws and to train canvassers to ask voters if they have already signed.' Brady Shiers, database administrator with the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, said the legislation would 'have a serious chilling effect, not only for signers but also for canvassers.' The bill would make a canvasser's failure to disclose the criminality of petition fraud liable for a Class A misdemeanor charge. Shiers called this 'a gross overreaction.' 'If I'm a volunteer with a grassroots petition campaign and I now see that accidental failure to say a few words means I can not only ruin the campaign I believe in but also end up having serious legal consequences, I'd be scared to death to even sign up to be a canvasser,' he said. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, expressed similar concerns about a chilling effect on participation in direct democracy. Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, offered a different perspective. 'Every time I've ever gone to purchase a gun and I fill out the background check form, I'm asked a series of questions… 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'm committing a felony, but that has never had a chilling effect on my intent or ability to purchase a firearm,' Ray said. The same House committee met for nearly six hours Monday and heard much public testimony, mostly in opposition, before passing two other bills related to ballot initiatives and sponsored by Hammer and Underwood. Senate Bill 208 would require canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers, and Senate Bill 211 would require canvassers to file a 'true affidavit' with the secretary of state certifying they complied with the Arkansas Constitution and state laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery and fraudulent practices in the procurement of petition signatures. Signatures submitted without the affidavit would not be counted. Underwood amended both bills Tuesday, meaning the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs will have to pass them again. The change to SB 208 clarifies the type of photo ID the bill would require under existing state law, and the change to SB 211 would exempt signatures from disqualification due to the 'inability of a canvasser to submit an affidavit due to death or medical disability.' Members of the public could not comment on SB 207 during Monday's meeting after it was pulled from the agenda. Committee members acknowledged that inclement weather likely prevented more speakers besides Shiers and Harper from testifying at Wednesday's meeting. The committee considered waiting to vote on SB 207 until the next meeting Feb. 24 in order to allow more people to testify then, but a motion to do so failed despite bipartisan support. The bill passed on a roll call vote with nine Republicans voting for it, including Ray. Five committee members voted against it: Republican Reps. Julie Mayberry of Hensley, Mark McElroy of Tillar and Jeremy Wooldridge of Marmaduke; and Collins and his fellow Little Rock Democratic Rep. Denise Ennett. If the amended SB 207, SB 208 and SB 211 pass the House, they will return to the Senate, which they passed last week with at least 24 votes each. The bills' emergency clauses require a minimum of 24 votes, two-thirds of the Senate, and would allow them to go into effect immediately upon the governor's signature. Hammer and Underwood are sponsoring two more initiative petition bills that received 22 Senate votes each, meaning the bills passed but their emergency clauses failed. Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures. Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. Hammer said Tuesday that he will bring the two emergency clauses back to the Senate floor Monday. Six senators were absent from the chamber Wednesday due to inclement weather. Arkansas' elections are overseen by the secretary of state, a position Hammer is seeking in 2026. Another bill he sponsored, Senate Bill 212, would have created a law enforcement agency within the secretary of state's office that could investigate the validity of submitted documents related to elections and ballot initiatives. The bill failed in committee last week. Bills to improve Arkansas maternal health, change ballot initiative process head to Sanders' desk Hammer is also the Senate sponsor of two bills introduced by Ray that are currently on the governor's desk: House Bill 1221 and House Bill 1222. HB 1221 clarifies that the certification of ballot titles for initiatives, referenda and constitutional amendments as well as the signatures collected for those measures would only be valid for the next general election. HB 1222 expands the attorney general's existing authority to reject a proposal if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. It would also prevent a sponsor from submitting more than one conflicting petition at the same time.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill Lee's $25M Tennessee farm preservation push squeaks through key Senate committee
A $25 million bill from Gov. Bill Lee aimed at preserving Tennessee farmland squeaked through its first Senate committee on Wednesday ― a narrow but significant step forward for a proposal that stalled in the same committee last year. In an effort to counteract Tennessee's rapid farmland loss, Lee's proposal would offer financial incentives for farmers who wish to voluntarily place their land into a privately-managed conservation easement. Tennessee loses about 10 acres of workable farmland every hour. Members of the Senate Committee on Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources approved Senate Bill 207 in 5-4 vote, with bipartisan opposition. Sens. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, and Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, joined Sens. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, and Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, in opposing the bill. While House members easily approved a similar farmland preservation bill last year, the Senate agriculture committee proved insurmountable. Now, despite the narrow committee margin, the path to Senate passage is open. Former committee Chair Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, who led the Senate panel last year, was replaced in the top post by Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro ― though Senate leaders have declined to say publicly that defeat of the governor's bill was the specific reason for Southerland's ouster. While the state incentives would not pay nearly what developers can offer farmers to sell outright, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson R-Franklin, said the bill could help make maintaining farmland a more viable financial option as farmers face ever-increasing pressure to sell their land. 'For many of these hardworking Tennessee farm families, money is an issue, and having access to a grant pool that the governor is proposing could make the difference in being economically viable for those families to place their land into a conservancy,' Johnson said. More: Tennessee farmers continue struggling to keep land intact: 'Can we keep doing this?' Any property owner can already choose to place a conservation easement on their property. Under Lee's proposal, ownership of the land and related property rights would remain with the land owners, and easements would be managed by private entities such as the Appalachian Highlands Conservancy or the Wolf River Conservancy – not the state. Presenting the bill, Johnson said since 1997 Tennessee has lost the equivalent of six counties in farmland. 'That's a good thing people are moving here, but we need to be cognizant of the fact that as people move in, farmland gets bought, it gets developed, it gets turned into subdivisions – it gets turned into strip centers,' Johnson said. 'And we should slow that as best we can.' Johnson did not mention the vast efforts – and funding – state officials have poured into economic development that have contributed to farmland loss. Sen. Page Walley, R-Savannah, who represents a rural district in southwest Tennessee, called the measure 'a step in the right direction,' but said the state should work to 'get farther upstream' to empower farmers as they make long term decisions about what to do with their land. 'But this isn't the solution in whole,' Walley said. 'I think we are really going to have to do more.' Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee farm preservation push squeaks through key Senate committee
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas secretary of state touts election security, calls for changes to ballot initiative process
Secretary of State Cole Jester presents a report on election security in a press conference on Monday, February 17, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester on Monday declared Arkansas has 'the most secure elections in the country' but cast doubt on the security of absentee voting and the integrity of citizen-led ballot initiatives. Jester, who took office Jan. 2, called for a 'top-to-bottom security review' of Arkansas' election procedures on Jan. 24 and presented his findings at a press conference Monday. The report his office released Monday labeled four of its seven focus areas — in-person voting, county outreach, cybersecurity and physical security — with an 'A' grade. The report labeled voter registration 'B+' and absentee voting 'B-.' The initiative petition process received the lowest grade with a 'D,' and Jester said the review found 'thousands of fraudulent signatures' on petitions for ballot measures. He and his deputy secretary and chief legal counsel, Nathan Lee, expressed support for several bills moving through the Legislature that would add more regulations to the initiative process. 'Right now there's little to disincentivize someone from maybe misrepresenting what might be on the initiative petition when trying to collect signatures,' Lee said. Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, is sponsoring three bills that a House committee will consider Monday afternoon: Senate Bill 207 would require canvassers to disclose that petition fraud is a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 1 year in prison. Senate Bill 208 would require canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers. Senate Bill 211 would require canvassers to file an affidavit with the secretary of state certifying they complied with the Arkansas Constitution and state laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery and fraudulent practices in the procurement of petition signatures. Signatures submitted without the affidavit would not be counted. SESSION SNAPSHOT: Direct democracy takes center stage at Arkansas Capitol All three bills passed the Senate Wednesday, as did their emergency clauses, which would allow them to go into effect immediately upon Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' signature. Two more bills sponsored by Hammer passed the Senate, though their emergency clauses did not. Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures. Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. Under Article 5 Section 1 of the state Constitution, Arkansans can propose laws and constitutional amendments or repeal state laws through the initiative and referendum process, which requires citizens to collect a certain number of signatures that must be certified by state officials before being placed on the ballot for a vote. Arkansas' elections are overseen by the secretary of state, a position Hammer is seeking in 2026. Jester's predecessor, John Thurston, was elected treasurer in November, and Jester's appointment by Sanders means he cannot run for secretary of state. Hammer's five bills passed a divided Senate committee Tuesday. Opponents of the bills called them an attack on direct democracy. Supporters alleged fraud and misconduct by canvassers collecting signatures last year for a proposed constitutional amendment that would have created a limited right to abortion. The Arkansas Abortion Amendment was one of several proposed measures in 2024 that failed to qualify for the ballot due to paperwork issues, insufficient signatures and legal challenges. Lee said the secretary of state's office is 'very reactive' and does not have 'any tools currently to be proactive in combating fraud in the petition process.' The existing law making petition fraud a misdemeanor specifies that a person must 'knowingly' commit fraud, such as signing a petition more than once, in order for the action to be a crime. When asked how to prove a person's intent, Jester said this is 'a criminal law question.' 'If you did it 15 times, there's probably evidence that's on purpose. If you do it twice and there's no other evidence, that would not show intent,' he said. Legislative Democrats are sponsoring a bill that would create no-excuse absentee voting in Arkansas. The bill has not yet been heard in committee. Mail-in absentee ballots account for less than 1% of all Arkansas ballots, Jester said, but it comes with 'inherent risk.' He said his office 'will oppose any effort to expand mail-in voting' and support in-person voting early or on Election Day. Unlike in-person voting, absentee voting does not come with the guarantees that voters were not coerced into voting a certain way and that 'no one else's hands are on the ballots' before election officials receive them, Jester said. He also said Arkansas' rejection rate of absentee ballots is 'a really good thing because that means our clerks are doing their jobs seriously and thoroughly.' Regarding voter registration, Jester said state and local election officials work hard to ensure their records of eligible voters are accurate, such as removing deceased Arkansans from voter rolls. Lee said the secretary of state's office seeks to work with federal authorities to ensure that only United States citizens vote in Arkansas elections. It is illegal on the federal level for noncitizens to vote, but the issue became a talking point in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives last year in the run-up to Election Day. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Arkansas ranks last in the nation for voter participation, according to a study from the National Conference on Citizenship. Arkansas is also one of seven states that do not allow electronic voter registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A Democrat-led bill would institute this policy but has not yet been heard in committee. In 2024, lawmakers approved an emergency rule drafted by the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners that requires a 'wet signature,' meaning signing with a pen, on voter registration applications except at certain state agencies. 'Though online voter registration would be more convenient for many Arkansans, grave concerns exist regarding the accuracy of online registrations,' Jester's report states. '…Accurate wet signatures are not currently possible in an online system. Additionally, such a system would require the cooperation of several government agencies with very different levels of security and software, and thus such a system is not currently feasible.' A federal judge blocked the emergency rule in August in response to a challenge from voter participation advocates, but in September, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an administrative stay that allowed state officials to implement the rule while parties in the lawsuit prepared court filings. North Arkansas voters distrustful of voting machines, poll workers Jester's report states that electronic voting machines are not connected to the internet and therefore are not subject to election interference via cyberattacks. Searcy and Independence counties do not use voting machines and instead use hand-counted paper ballots. When state election officials saw discrepancies in Searcy County's 2024 primary election results after an audit, county officials defended the use of paper ballots and promised to learn from the errors. Local and state officials have repeatedly vouched for the security of voting machines, while local voters have expressed distrust in the election system, whether it be conducted through a paper ballot system or an electronic one.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tennessee governor revives farm conservation bill with $25 million fund
A measure proposed by Gov. Bill Lee would allow farmers to get state money in exchange for giving the state easements on portions of their land. (Photo: John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout) Tennessee Sen. Steve Southerland was stripped of his post as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee after opposing a 2024 bill by Gov. Bill Lee designed to slow down the development of farmland and forests. Southerland, a Morristown Republican, was worried that farmers who accepted state money for an easement to help them preserve their property wouldn't be able to borrow against their mortgage at a later time because the state would hold a lien on the property. The bill never made it out of the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in 2024, even though Southerland said he found a way to assuage concerns with a plan allowing the state to be 'subordinate' to lenders. Now removed as chair and no longer serving on the agriculture committee, Southerland, with more than 30 years in the mortgage industry, is out of the loop. But asked whether he has concerns about this year's version of the legislation, Southerland said, 'Not as long as they put that subordinate agreement in there. If a farmer doesn't want to borrow on his property, that's fine with me.' No major revisions have been made in the legislation, though, as Senate leadership overlooked Southerland's objections, instead receiving assurances from the lending industry that farmers would be able to borrow against mortgages. The Lee Administration is predicting passage of Senate Bill 207 and putting $25 million into a grant fund handled by the state Department of Agriculture to pay farmers across the state for easements that will protect their land from development. The funds are supposed to be recurring but will be subject to the legislature's approval. The governor, who owns a Williamson County cattle farm, spoke about the initiative during his State of the State address Monday, saying Tennessee is losing 10 acres of farmland every hour. 'Which is a staggering number when agriculture is our number one industry,' Lee said. His bill would create a grant program for farmers who volunteer to preserve their land. The agriculture commissioner would administer the fund. Another provision designed for preservation groups says a 'qualified easement holder' with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status could acquire a conservation easement through a purchase, donation or some other type of transfer and would not be allowed to sell, transfer, release or otherwise divest of the conservation easement. Sen. Shane Reeves, the new chairman of the Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said Wednesday he believes concerns with the bill have been resolved. 'An enormous amount of work's been done on that,' Reeves said, involving the executive branch, Farm Bureau and other groups. 'It's no longer an issue.' State easements on farmland were to be temporary under last year's bill. But Reeves said they would be permanent under the new iteration, and farmers would be able to borrow against their mortgage even if the state holds a lien. 'For it to help farmers preserve their land, losing (10) acres an hour, that seems like a fairly affordable price to pay,' Reeves said of the $25 million injection into a state fund. The committee is set to consider the measure next week, he said. Sen. Page Walley, a member of the agriculture committee, also said he is 'comfortable' with the bill after dealing with it in 2024 and hearing from involved groups. Banks and lending institutions assured legislative leaders that liens held by the state wouldn't be 'an issue,' according to Walley. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
