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Legislators this session are focused on changing Arkansas' 100-year-old citizen initiative process. They've proposed numerous laws and constitutional amendments, and filed bills extending similar changes to the county and city initiative process.
Since our February newsletter, legislators filed bills seeking to establish readability standards for ballot titles, increase the number of votes required to pass citizen initiatives, and to direct the Arkansas Supreme Court to overturn a 1951 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that prevents legislators from repealing or changing constitutional amendments initiated by citizens without voter approval.
Legislators Want Ability to Overturn, Change Citizen Initiatives
In November, we told you how Attorney General Tim Griffin issued an opinion saying legislators can amend citizen-initiated constitutional amendments with a two-thirds vote despite a 1951 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling and a 2011 AG opinion saying otherwise.
Griffin said he believed the Arkansas Supreme Court today would rule differently than the 1951 Supreme Court that found it "inconceivable" that Arkansans meant to give legislators the ability to repeal or change citizen initiated constitutional amendments in the very amendment that allowed them to refer measures to the voters.
Last week during the Spring Break, Sen. Mark Johnson of Little Rock filed SB569, which aligns with Griffin's November opinion in saying the 1951 court erred in its interpretation of Amendment 7 and that the Supreme Court should interpret the amendment precisely as it reads.
SB569 directs the Supreme Court to overturn its decision in the 1951 Edgmon case as inconsistent with recent court opinions that urged plain reading of laws.
SB569 would also require statewide and local ballot titles to be "readable, clear, and concise." The bill would limit citizen-initiated ballot titles to 500 words and permit the legislature to pass laws establishing readability standards.
Currently, the wording of citizen-initiated ballot titles are guided by Supreme Court opinions and laws requiring they be free of partisan language or misleading language.
As of March 31, the bill had not been assigned to committee yet.
The Edgmon decision is also at center of an appeal involving legislative changes to the state's medical marijuana amendment without voter approval. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier this month recounted how medical marijuana businesses successfully sued the state over the changes they said are unconstitutional. A Pulaski County circuit court judge agreed with the businesses in 2023 and voided the 28 new laws. The state appealed.
Follow the state's appeal (CV-24-704).
8th Grade Reading Level for Citizen-Initiated Ballot Titles
Arkansas legislators are debating a new law to require summaries of citizen initiatives be written for the 8th grade reading level, making it easier for voters to understand the policies they're being asked to vote on. The standards wouldn't apply to legislative ballot titles.
No constitutional amendment proposed by Arkansas citizens or the legislature over the past decade scored at an 8th grade reading level when we ran them through this Flesch Kincaid calculator. Every amendment's title scored at the college or college graduate level. Two citizen-initiated laws to raise the state’s minimum wage did pass, scored at a 7th grade reading level required.
Opponents to House Bill 1713 pointed out in House committee hearings that while the sponsor's intent was admirable, the necessary phrase "an Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution” found in ballot titles fails the 8th grade reading level requirement.
On March 19, House members passed the bill by a vote of 60 to 23 (seven additional legislators were listed as not voting and another 10 were marked as present). House Bill 1713 now heads to the Arkansas Senate for review and a vote in the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Read More on Our Blog
Legislator Seeks to Change Threshold for Passing Citizen Initiatives
Under SB434, a majority of Arkansas' 1.8 million registered voters would have to approve a citizen initiative for it to take effect. Currently, constitutional amendments and state laws require approval from a majority of people who turn out to vote.
According to a Public Policy Center analysis, every successful citizen initiative from the past 10 years would have failed under the terms of SB434, including efforts to raise the minimum wage and establish medical marijuana and casinos in the state. All but one successful legislative initiative would have failed, too, although SB434 doesn't apply to legislative ballot issues.
Issue 1 of 2024, which allows lottery proceeds to also be used for vo-tech school scholarships, passed with the highest approval rating of any ballot issue in Arkansas history with 90% approval on Election Day. Although 65% of the state's 1,828,129 registered voters turned out to vote in the 2024 General Election, fewer people voted on Issue 1 than voted for president.
When comparing Issue 1's vote tallies to the number of people registered to vote, the measure received approval from 56% of Arkansas' registered voters.
SB434 failed to pass March 18 in the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Voters in 2022 rejected a legislative ballot issue that would have raised the threshold of passing citizen initiatives to 60% of the votes cast in the election.
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