Monday, January 14, 2013
Citizen legislating continues
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 11:41 AM
All politics don't happen under the Capitol dome, though outside events sometimes affect matters within.
For example, the Regnat Populus ethics proposal was approved as to form last week and another petition drive is planned to curb corporate contributions and lobbyist freebies. This could influence ethics legislation in the current legislative session.
Also in the mill:
* MEDICAL MARIJUANA: A new petition will be submitted for a medical marijuana initiated act this week, attorney David Couch says. It will eliminate the "grow-your-own" provision that many believe might have spelled the relatively narrow defeat of the initiative on the 2012 ballot.
* MARRIAGE EQUALITY: A constitutional amendment will be submitted for form approval this week to repeal the state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. A news conference is scheduled Thursday, according to a Facebook post by the Arkansas Initiative for Marriage Equality.
Speaking of...
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Regnat Populus plans lawsuit over petition restrictions
April 25, 2013Regnat Populus, the grassroots group that succeeded in putting its ethics initiative in a legislatively proposed constitutional amendment heading to the ballot in 2014, has circulated a statement touting its achievement and defending some of the items grafted onto that amendment to achieve legislative approval, particularly an extension of term limits and a mechanism to raise legislative pay. /more/
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Morning report: Won't you go home Arkansas legislature?
April 19, 2013The Friday morning warmup: * THE RUSH TO ADJOURN: "Deliberative" is not a word that applies to the death rattle of the Arkansas legislature — not when the Senate rushes out, with virtually no debate, $150 million or so in tax cuts on everything from baling wire purchases to multi-million-dollar windfalls on unearned income for corporate capitalists. /more/
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The Tuesday night line
April 16, 2013The line is open. Closing out: * MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected yet another effort to formulate a medical marijuana ballot intitiative on account of what he says are some ambiguous references in the text. /more/
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Ethics update: Amending the amendment
April 14, 2013I've done some emoting on the blog and in my column about the proposed constitutional amendment, SJR 9, crafted by Rep. Warwick Sabin and others to incorporate some of the Regnat Populus ethics initiative into a multi-pronged proposal with some benefits for legislators. /more/
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Greed rules
April 11, 2013The Arkansas legislature earns its low regard daily, last Friday with committee approval of a constitutional amendment labeled "ethics reform." /more/
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The legislative pay raise and junket protection amendment passes
April 9, 2013The fix is in. When the deeply split Arkansas House passes something 71-12, you know something is amiss. /more/
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The Sunday night oily ethics line
April 7, 2013* COMPLAINT AGAINST SEN. BOOKOUT ON CAMPAIGN SPENDING: Interesting story in the Jonesboro Sun about an ethics complaint filed by a Jonesboro resident against Sen. Paul Bookout (Is he still in the Senate? /more/
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Ethics group fights measure to limit referendum process
April 3, 2013I wrote yesterday about the effort backed by Arkansas's duopoly casinos at Southland and Oaklawn, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and others to cripple the referendum process by, among others, severely limiting signature gathering by paid canvassers. /more/
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The stop-and-smell-the-tulips open line
March 28, 2013Another day done. Final items: /more/
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The fight for equal rights: Too early to celebrate
March 24, 2013The Sunday papers are full of news related to the struggle for gay rights. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a couple of potentially landmark cases — a ban on gay marriage in California and a challenge of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to discriminate against those legally married elsewhere. /more/
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