March2021
Amendments 
for 
2022 
Ballot 
Under 
Discussion 
Eliminating 
Personal 
Property 
Tax, 
Court 
Rules 
Vetted 


Discussion 
started 
this 
week 
on 
43 
proposals 
filed 
at 
the 
state 
legislature 
for 
the 
2022 
ballot. 


Members 
of 
the 
State 
Agencies 
and 
Governmental 
Affairs 
Committee 
in 
the 
House 
reviewed 
seven 
of 
the 
25 
proposals 
before 
them. 
Under 
session 
rules, 
the 
House 
can 
refer 
one 
constitutional 
amendment 
to 
voters. 
The 
Senate 
can 
also 
refer 
one, 
and 
then 
the 
two 
chambers 
can 
jointly 
refer 
a 
third 
proposal. 


TIMELINE 


Committee 
members 
in 
the 
House 
have 
listened 
to 
sponsors 
present 
their 
ideas, 
but 
they 
did 
not 
vote. 
The 
Senate's 
committee 
is 
expected 
to 
start 
meeting 
soon 
as 
well 
to 
narrow 
down 
their 
18 
proposals. 


Presentations, 
along 
with 
an 
opportunity 
for 
public 
comment, 
are 
expected 
to 
continue 
Monday 
but 
probably 
not 
much 
longer 
than 
that, 
said 
Rep. 
Dwight 
Tosh, 
who 
chairs 
the 
House 
committee. 


He 
told 
members 
Wednesday 
legislative 
staff 
has 
attempted 
to 
contact 
other 
sponsors 
but 
haven't 
heard 
back 
from 
many 
of 
them. 
But 
by 
today, 
the 
March 
15 
agendanow 
includes 
the 
remaining 
11 
proposals. 


PERSONAL 
PROPERTY 
TAX 


One 
committee 
member 
on 
Wednesday 
said 
he 
favoredHJR1004, 
a 
proposal 
to 
eliminate 
the 
personal 
property 
tax 
in 
Arkansas 
by 
2047, 
as 
one 
of 
his 
top 
three 
issues. 


Sponsor 
Rep. 
Stephen 
Meekssaid 
personal 
property 
taxes 
are 
one 
of 
the 
most 
disruptive 
taxes 
to 
collect 
and 
they 
have 
had 
a 
negative 
impact 
on 
businesses 
wanting 
to 
locate 
in 
Arkansas 
because 
counties 
apply 
the 
tax 
to 
their 
equipment 
and 
inventory. 


Cars, 
trucks, 
boats, 
recreational 
vehicles 
and 
mobile 
homes 
are 
also 
taxed 
as 
personal 
property. 
The 
tax 
helps 
fund 
public 
schools 
as 
well 
as 
county 
and 
city 
government 
operations. 
Meeks 
said 
the 
legislature 
would 
have 
to 
make 
up 
the 
taxes 
lost 
to 
schools 
and 
that 
the 
time 
to 
phase 
out 
the 
taxes 
would 
give 
local 
governments 
several 
years 
to 
account 
for 
the 
losses 
in 
their 
budgets. 
Those 
details 
would 
have 
to 
be 
discussed 
later, 
Meeks 
said. 


COURT 
RULES 


Only 
one 
proposal 
attracted 
public 
comment 
during 
the 
two 
days 
of 
discussion.HJR1015 
would 
allow 
the 
legislature 
to 
override 
court 
rules, 
practices 
and 
procedures 
set 
by 
the 
Arkansas 
Supreme 
Court. 
Legislators 
would 
also 
have 
the 
ability 
to 
set 
them 
through 
legislation 
passed 
by 
a 
three-fifths 
vote. 


Rep. 
Jim 
Dotson 
said 
the 
amendment 
would 
provide 
checks 
and 
balances 
between 
the 
two 
branches 
of 
government. 


This 
proposal 
may 
sound 
familiar 
-it's 
one 
part 
of 
a 
2018 
ballot 
issue 
the 
Arkansas 
Supreme 
Court 
struck 
from 
the 
ballot. 
Justices 
said 
Issue 
1 
of 
2018 
had 
too 
many 
unrelated 
parts 
and 
violated 
a 
single-subject 
rule 
legislators 
must 
follow. 


A 
law 
school 
professor 
and 
the 
president 
of 
the 
Arkansas 
Bar 
Association 
spoke 
against 
the 
bill. 
Members 
also 
received 
a 
letter 
from 
the 
Arkansas 
Family 
Council 
opposing 
the 
measure. 
Testimony 
centered 
around 
some 
of 
the 
same 
reasons 
people 
opposed 
Issue 
1 
-a 
concern 
about 
separation 
of 
powers 
between 
legislators 
and 
the 
court 
system. 



Other 
Bills 
Discussed 
in 
the 
House 
Committee 
This 
Week 


Wednesday 


HJR1002 
-A 
Constitutional 
Amendment 
To 
Provide 
that 
an 
Annual 
Ad 
Valorem 
Tax 
for 
the 
Maintenance 
and 
Operation 
of 
Schools 
and 
the 
Retirement 
of 
Indebtedness 
Shall 
Not 
Appear 
on 
the 
Annual 
School 
Election 
Ballot 
if 
the 
Proposed 
Rate 
of 
Tax 
is 
the 
Same 
as 
the 
Rate 
of 
Tax 
Approved 
at 
the 
Last 
Annual 
School 
Election 
at 
Which 
a 
Rate 
of 
Tax 
Levy 
Appeared 
on 
the 
Ballot 


HJR1003 
-A 
Constitutional 
Amendment 
Providing 
for 
the 
Maintenance 
and 
Operation 
of 
Libraries, 
Capital 
Improvements 
to 
Libraries, 
and 
the 
Construction 
of 
Libraries 


Monday 


HJR1001 
-A 
Constitutional 
Amendment 
to 
Allow 
the 
General 
Assembly 
to 
Convene 
Itself 
in 
Extraordinary 
Session 
Upon 
the 
Joint 
Proclamation 
of 
the 
Speaker 
of 
the 
House 
of 
Representatives 
and 
the 
President 
Pro 
Tempore 
of 
the 
Senate 


HJR1006 
-A 
Constitutional 
Amendment 
to 
Create 
a 
Procedure 
for 
the 
Recall 
of 
Persons 
Elected 
to 
the 
Offices 
of 
Governor, 
Lieutenant 
Governor, 
Attorney 
General, 
Secretary 
of 
State, 
Treasurer 
of 
State, 
Auditor 
of 
State, 
Commissioner 
of 
State 
Lands, 
Chief 
Justice 
of 
the 
Supreme 
Court, 
Justice 
of 
the 
Supreme 
Court, 
Chief 
Judge 
of 
the 
Court 
of 
Appeals, 
Judge 
of 
the 
Court 
of 
Appeals, 
Circuit 
Judge, 
or 
District 
Judge 


HJR1009 
-A 
Constitutional 
Amendment 
Concerning 
the 
State 
Highway 
Commission 
and 
Amending 
the 
Name, 
Membership, 
Powers, 
and 
Duties 
of 
the 
State 
Highway 
Commission 


Find 
the 
full 
list 
of 
the 
proposals 
and 
topics 
at 
our 
blog 


Arkansas' 
1874 
Constitution 
currently 
has 
102 
amendments, 
the 
latest 
which 
were 
approved 
by 
voters 
in 
November 
2020 
changing 
the 
state's 
term 
limit 
laws 
and 
approving 
a 
permanent 
0.5% 
sales 
tax 
for 
roadwork 
and 
maintenance 
across 
the 
state. 


WatchHouseDiscussions
2022 
Citizen 
Initiative 
Proposals 



Arkansas 
is 
one 
of15 
stateswhere 
citizens 
have 
the 
right 
to 
put 
constitutional 
amendments, 
state 
laws 
and 
referendums 
on 
the 
ballot 
for 
voters 
to 
decide. 


The 
citizen 
initiative 
process 
involves 
filing 
a 
ballot 
title 
with 
the 
Secretary 
of 
State's 
Office, 
collecting 
voter 
signatures 
across 
the 
state 
and 
submitting 
the 
petitions 
for 
verification. 
The 
Board 
of 
Election 
Commissioners 
also 
must 
approve 
the 
ballot 
title. 


Referendums 
require 
voter 
signatures 
equaling 
6% 
of 
the 
number 
of 
people 
who 
voted 
in 
the 
last 
governor's 
election. 
State 
laws 
require 
8%, 
and 
constitutional 
amendments 
require 
10%. 


Submitted 
to 
the 
Secretary 
of 
State 


Act 
376 
of 
2019 
requires 
ballot 
issue 
groups 
to 
submit 
a 
copy 
of 
their 
ballot 
title 
to 
the 
Secretary 
of 
State's 
Office 
before 
collecting 
voter 
signatures. 


Ballot 
titles 
that 
have 
been 
filed 
for 
the 
2022 
ballot 
include: 


Feb. 
4, 
2021 
-The 
Arkansas 
Township 
Amendment 
of 
2022-A 
proposal 
that 
would 
create 
another 
layer 
of 
local 
government 
-township 
assemblies 
-among 
other 
things 
was 
submitted 
by 
Academy 
of 
Democracy. 


Jan. 
5, 
2021 
-An 
Amendment 
Concerning 
Jurors' 
Rights 
-A 
proposal 
that 
would 
impact 
the 
legislature's 
ability 
to 
pass 
laws 
regarding 
jury 
awards 
in 
lawsuits 
over 
injury 
or 
death 
was 
submitted. 
The 
person 
who 
submitted 
the 
proposal 
did 
not 
provide 
their 
contact 
information 
to 
the 
Secretary 
of 
State's 
Office. 


May 
22, 
2020 
-The 
Arkansas 
Recreational 
Marijuana 
Amendment 
of 
2022-A 
proposal 
to 
legalize 
adult 



marijuana 
use 
and 
to 
allow 
certain 
marijuana 
convictions 
to 
be 
expunged 
was 
submitted 
by 
Arkansas 
True 
Grass. 


INCYMI
The 
Cooperative 
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moving 
to 
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Why 
are 
we 
moving, 
you 
may 
be 
asking? 


This 
new 
URL 
reflects 
that 
the 
University 
of 
Arkansas 
System 
Division 
of 
Agriculture 
is 
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home 
of 
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very 
own 
UAEX. 
You 
may 
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but 
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As 
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move 
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domain 
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please 
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patience 
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If 
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our 
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#ARballot 


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