Proposals to dissolve the General Assembly's biennial fiscal session, make several changes to the state's voting system and fight bullying are included in legislation that has been pre-filed since mid-November for the upcoming legislative session.
State lawmakers have filed 16 bills and three potential ballot measures since the pre-filing period for the 2019 legislative session opened Nov. 15.
The 92nd General Assembly will convene for its regular session that starts Jan. 14.
Similar Senate and House joint resolutions have been filed to put on the 2020 general election ballot the proposed constitutional amendments to do away with the fiscal sessions that take place every even-numbered year. The sessions began in 2010 after voters approved a ballot measure referred by the Legislature.
Rep. Charles Blake, D-Little Rock, also filed a bill (House Bill 1104) that would require the automatic registration of voters in Arkansas whenever an eligible voter interacts with the state Office of Driver Services unless the voter requests otherwise.
Additionally, Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, has sponsored a pair of abortion-related bills.
Senate Minority Leader Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, along with the 92nd General Assembly's Senate president pro tempore, Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, sponsored for the second-consecutive legislative session a proposal (Senate Joint Resolution 1) that would eliminate fiscal sessions.
Ingram said the sessions are unnecessary and wasteful. He said the 2017 resolution wasn't referred to the 2018 ballot because lawmakers had other priorities for ballot measures, like tort reform and a voter-ID law.
He said that fiscal sessions are trending toward becoming more like regular legislative sessions, making serving in the Legislature more of a full-time job.
"This is about less government," Ingram said. "[Biennial fiscal sessions] exclude a lot of good people that would serve in the Legislature, but they just can't take away that much time for their job or business. The founding fathers intended for it to be a part-time, citizen Legislature."
A similar proposal -- House Joint Resolution 1002 -- was filed by Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville.
The number of bills pre-filed before regular sessions, which occur each odd-number year, has fluctuated in recent years, but 2017's session saw the highest number of pre-filed legislation (198), according to the Bureau of Legislative Research. In 2015, 74 bills were pre-filed; 25 were pre-filed in 2013.
Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, said she expects a rush of bills to be filed this week because many lawmakers will be in Little Rock for orientation and meetings.
Fite, so far, has pre-filed a bill (House Bill 1006) to increase the fine for passing a school bus with its lights flashing, and she said she expects to file more legislation before the session opens.
In addition to implementing automatic voter registration, Blake's "Arkansas Voter Integrity and Security Act" would also require the state Health Department to report deaths to the secretary of state's office every day for the purpose of removing the deceased from the state's voting rolls. The bill, if passed, would also make voter intimidation a class D felony.
The bill would change Amendment 51 to the Arkansas Constitution, meaning it would need the votes of two-thirds of both chambers. Blake said he structured the bill as an amendment to the Constitution because he wanted it to be a bipartisan measure.
"We hear both sides of the aisle complain that we need a more secure registration system and more accurate voter rolls," Blake said. "This is a true voter reform bill to increase voter integrity and security."
Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, has filed four education-related bills, stemming from his conversations with school officials in his district. If passed, the bills would tighten restrictions on registered sex offenders attending school events involving a family member; provide immunity from criminal prosecution to mandated reporters who report child abuse; and allow school districts to take out-of-state teaching experience into account when determining a new teacher's salary.
"These were all things we've talked about and need to look into to try and make Arkansas more workable and better for our students and school districts," Dotson said.
Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, filed an anti-bullying bill (House Bill 1003) that would require school districts to emphasize several anti-bullying efforts. Each school, for example, would have to appoint an existing faculty member as the "anti-bullying specialist" and provide anti-bullying training. School districts would have to appoint an "anti-bullying coordinator."
Gazaway said he became interested in the issue after the suicide of a young girl in his district. He said the girl was reportedly bullied. Citing 2017 statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gazaway said Arkansas ranks first in the percentage of high school students who reported being bullied while at school. Arkansas also has the highest percentage of high school students who have felt sad or hopeless and contemplated suicide and planned a suicide attempt, according to the CDC.
"You see these trends and these statistics; something has to be done," Gazaway said. "I looked at other states' responses and took some from what different states had done and crafted a bill that I think would be a strong response to bullying, and hopefully, have a strong impact on the environment kids have at school."
SundayMonday on 12/03/2018