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Arkansas Lawmakers Weigh Constitutional Amendments

2 min read

LITTLE ROCK — A package of campaign finance and ethics rules is among proposed constitutional amendments that Arkansas lawmakers will consider referring to voters during this year’s legislative session.

Republican Sen. Jon Woods and Democratic Rep. Warwick Sabin said Wednesday that their amendment would restrict corporate campaign contributions, extend term limits and establish a commission to set the pay for elected officials. The measures also will double the amount of time former lawmakers must wait before becoming a lobbyist, they said.

Their proposal — one of 37 plans to amend the state constitution that lawmakers had filed by Wednesday’s deadline — is similar to an ethics measure that a group called Regnat Populus is trying to place on the 2014 ballot. Paul Spencer, the group’s chairman, said it supports the proposed constitutional amendment filed by lawmakers but will continue gathering signatures to place its measure on the ballot. Regnat Populus fell short of the 62,000 signatures needed to place its measure on the ballot last year.

Lawmakers also are weighing proposed constitutional amendments on voter ID, the election of highway commissioners and public prayer. They will debate competing proposals to place limits on lawsuits to address recent court rulings that overturned part of a 2003 tort reform law.

The Legislature can place on the ballot up to three proposed constitutional amendments that have been approved by a majority in both chambers.

Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, the chairman of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, said his committee would begin discussing a schedule on Thursday for reviewing the proposed ballot measures. Rep. Andrea Lea, the chairwoman of the related House committee, said she would wait several weeks before debating the amendments in order to give members time to fill in the details of their proposals.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)

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