transparency
A win for keeping the public in public meetings in Arkansas
Government transparency supporters in Arkansas won a skirmish Wednesday in a long-running battle over the public’s right to know. An Arkansas House committee, on a split voice vote, rejected proposed legislation that defined a public meeting as a quorum of a city, county or school district governing body or other state boards or commissions. House […]
Gutting Arkansas’ open meetings law
I spoke too soon. Yesterday, I published a hopeful opinion piece about legislation that, if passed, would enhance the public’s right to know enshrined in Arkansas’ 56-year-old Freedom of Information Act. One of those bills, Senate Bill 382, would define what a public meeting is. As I noted in Monday’s column, the FOIA doesn’t specify […]
Arkansas public notice bill gets delayed for fiscal impact study
An Arkansas House committee delayed action Wednesday on a bill that would allow local governments to publish certain public notices online instead of in a local newspaper. Republican Rep. Frances Cavenaugh of Walnut Ridge pitched House Bill 1399 as a cost-saving measure for county and municipal governments, which are now required to publish notices of […]
The assault on diversity, equity and inclusion continues
Arkansas’ Republican overlords continued their assault on affirmative action and the very basis of righting past wrongs with the passage of Senate Bill 71 in committee on Tuesday. In doublespeak that George Orwell would have recognized, SB 71 sponsor Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro) characterized the legislation as anti-discriminatory because its stated intention is “to prohibit […]