Against will of voters

There was an unsettling amount of disrespect for Arkansas voters this past legislative session. One troubling issue in particular was the assaults on the minimum-wage law proposed by Sen. Bob Ballinger and Rep. Robin Lundstrum. After pressure from the governor and the Arkansas GOP, Ballinger wised up and decided not to run his bill in committee. However, despite these pressures, Lundstrum ran her bills through, after which they lingered on the House floor for a couple weeks, supposedly so she could whip up the two-thirds majority needed to alter Issue 5, passed by 68 percent of Arkansans in November. Knowing she did not have the votes, she decided to run the bills on the floor anyway, where they failed miserably.

Will Ballinger and Lundstrum face recourse for these actions? Probably not; both these legislators live in strongly conservative districts. However, there are some representatives who voted for Lundstrum’s bills who could be held accountable. Three Pulaski County representatives who faced close races—Rep. Jim Sorvillo, Rep. Mark Lowery, and Rep. Karilyn Brown—all live in districts whose voters voted strongly for Issue 5. Any and all campaigns against these candidates should focus on the fact that these representatives were OK with undoing the will of 68 percent of Arkansans. Hopefully these representatives will face true political consequences in 2020.

HENRY EDWARDS Little Rock