Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Friday she will add a proposal to amend the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to the call for Monday’s special legislative session, saying the state’s sunshine law slows down state government operations and exposes her and other constitutional officers to security risks.
Sanders’ proposal would expand exemptions for records on the governor’s security from the Freedom of Information Act, which would include records past travel records. If passed, the exemption on the governor’s security records would become retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022.
Under the proposal, state police will be required to issue quarterly reports to lawmakers that list the aggregate expenses of her protection detail.
The proposal also includes a “deliberative process” exemption for executive branch agencies, which would mean records related to policy making would no longer be subject to records requests.
Announcing plans for a special session set to begin Monday, which will include bills to cut taxes and ban covid-19 vaccine mandates for state employees, Sanders said Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act is in dire need of an update.
“Arkansas FOIA laws have largely been unchanged since they were signed in 1967,” Sanders said during a news conference. “In a time before email, cell phones, text messages and sadly before some of the more aggressive polarization that we see across our country today.”
The proposal to amend the Freedom of Information Act comes after attorney and blogger, Matt Campbell filed a request seeking records Arkansas State Police on how much state police spent protecting Sanders. When asked, Sanders said her proposal to amend the state’s transparency law went beyond “any one particular person.”
Sanders said the changes would bring Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act in line with federal law and the sunshine laws of other state such as California, New York, Alabama and Oklahoma.
Robert Steinbuch, a law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, criticized the proposed changes, saying the public has a right to know how much is spent on security protecting the governor.
“This bill is an incredible overreach, an incredible mistake, and has no basis being brought during a special session,” Steinbuch said.