LITTLE ROCK — Voters would be required to show photo identification to vote under a bill that cleared a House committee Wednesday.
Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, goes next to the House. If approved by the House it would go to the governor’s desk. House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said he expects a vote Friday.
On the 52nd day of the 2013 legislative session, members also considered bills reducing HIV testing in prisons and protecting private-property rights.
King told the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee that most voters already think an ID is required because under current state law, poll workers ask for identifying documents, even though voters are not required to show them.
Rep. Stephen Meeks, RGreenbrier, said requiring the IDs won’t have a large effect.
“This is not a major, fundamental shift we’re asking for here,” Meeks said.
The committee voted 13 to 6 to approve the voter-ID bill without hearing from members of the public who had packed the room. Many opposed the bill.
Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, called restricting testimony “undemocratic.”
“This is an important matter. It involves the most fundamental right of our society, the right to participate in our government by being able to vote,” Walker said. “At least in our committee we should have an opportunity to have discussion.”
The committee allowed people to speak at a Feb. 28 meeting, but most lawmakers didn’t stick around to hear the testimony.
The sponsor said after the meeting that he would have liked more discussion, but he felt the issue had been debated fully over the past few weeks.
“We’ve had a lot of debate, a lot of the questions and stuff seem to be over the same things we’ve had before,” King said.
Under the bill, a voter who could not provide identification would be allowed to vote by provisional ballot. The ballot would be counted only if the voter returned to the county board of election commissioners or county clerk’s office by noon on the Monday after the election and presented photo identification.
Rep. Chris Richey, D-Helena-West Helena, said he doubted people would return to show their IDs.
“I might just go ahead and just drive past the polls because its not going to be worth my trouble,” he said.
Photo-identification cards would be made by county clerks at no cost for registered voters who don’t have other valid forms of identification. If enacted, it would be implemented only if the state has money to issue the cards.
A financial-impact statement produced by the Bureau of Legislative Research estimated hardware and supplies to provide the identification cards at 87 locations across the state would cost $300,000. The bureau anticipated no extra cost to educate voters that photo identification would be required and would be available for free.
Several Democrats questioned whether the secretary of state’s office could educate the public without spending extra money. An attorney for the office said staff members already educate the public about election procedures.
Holly Dickson, an attorney representing the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said after the meeting, “If they pass this bill, we will fight it in court.” PRIVATE-PROPERTY RIGHTS
In an 18-13 vote, the Arkansas Senate narrowly approved a bill aimed at protecting private-property rights.
Eighteen votes are required to approve a bill in the 35-member Senate.
Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette, said a private-property owner who can demonstrate the fair market value of his property has been reduced by at least 10 percent by the implementation of a state or local rule, regulation, law or ordinance would have a claim under his Senate Bill 367.
A jury would determinewhether the regulatory program damaged the value of the property owner’s property as well as his compensation, he said.
Hendren said he favors zoning, environmental regulation and clean water, and he dismissed claims that his bill could have undesirable consequences.
“I have made every attempt to try to make this legislation reasonable and fair,” he said.
But Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, said the bill is misguided and too broad in scope.
“I don’t think this does what is intended to be done and protect private-property values,” he said.
BALLOT-MEASURE SPENDING
In a 35-0 vote, the Senate sent to the governor a bill making it illegal for a public employee, appointee or governmental body to spend or permit the expenditure of public funds to support or oppose a ballot measure.
The measure is House Bill 1187 sponsored by Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena.
In October, the state Highway and Transportation Department reported it spent about $23,000 on radio ads to “educate” the public about a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the state’s sales tax by half a percentage point for 10 years for highways.The ads didn’t advocate for or against the proposal that voters eventually approved, but they referred the public to the department’s website to getmore information about it.
Bell said his bill probably would not have prohibited those ads, but department Director Scott Bennett told him that if the bill becomes law, the department will probably not do similar activities in the future.
Department spokesman Randy Ort said it appears that Bell’s bill would ban such ads, but “it’s probably a moot point anyway as I don’t think we’ll be doing that again.” GOAL-POST CLAIM
A $1 million claim against the state in the crushing death of a Northwest Arkansas boy didn’t have enough support to get out of the Joint Budget Committee.
The committee voted 23 in favor and 7 against accepting the claim. It needed 29 votes to be approved. The committee has 56 members.
The award went back to the committee’s Claims Subcommittee. In late February, the subcommittee had reversed a decision by the state Claims Commission more than a year ago to reject the wrongfuldeath claim by the parents of Jonathan Nelson.
The 9-year-old was killed in 2011 after a soccer goal post fell on him during recess at Elm Tree Elementary School in Bentonville.
The state and an attorney for the Nelson family had argued over whether the Department of Human Services was responsible for inspecting the homemade goal post andif it was part of a playground that was inspected by state officials.
The attorney has said the elementary school hosts a childcare program that’s certified by the state Human Services Department and regulated by the department’s minimum licensing requirements.
The state has said Jonathan was not enrolled in the childcare program, not on property used by the program or using equipment owned or controlled by the program, and not under the supervision of the program’s employees. The program met outside of school hours.
PRISON HIV TESTING
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would remove the requirement for the Department of Correction to perform HIV tests on inmates discharged from prisons.
Senate Bill 654, proposed by Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, would eliminate the testing and screening mandate for the virus that causes AIDS.
Dina Tyler, a spokesman for the department, said the bill would save an estimated $100,000 a year.
Tyler said the department has performed about 36,000 tests since 2007 that have resulted in two positive results.
The department also performs the tests when inmates enter the prisons and performs a follow-up test after 90 days; those tests would not be eliminated, she said.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 03/07/2013