Panel favors 3 proposals on altering constitution

The Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs voted Tuesday to recommend three proposed constitutional amendments.

The next step is for Senate Majority Leader Scott Flippo, R-Mountain Home; Senate Minority Leader Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis; and committee chairman Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, to decide which of the three will go before the full Senate. A proposed amendment approved by the Senate must also be approved by the House.

Rapert told the committee Tuesday that there seems to be some support building for Senate Joint Resolution 10 by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville.

SJR10 would allow the state Legislature to call itself into special session upon the submission of signatures from at least two-thirds of members of both chambers or by a joint proclamation from House and Senate leadership. Under the current constitution, only the governor can call a special session, and the governor sets the agenda for the special session.

An earlier version of the resolution didn’t include the signature provision.

Davis said she amended the resolution based on feedback from the committee and the desire for more than just the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore to be able to call the Legislature into a special session.

“If both of them were unwilling, than the members themselves had the avenue to do so,” Davis said.

Senate Joint Resolution 13 by Rapert would add a provision to Article 2, the section of the Arkansas Constitution dealing with property rights, to include the right of residents of the state to bear arms.

“I hate the idea of future legislators feeling like they can just amend Article 2,” committee member Sen. Bob Ballinger said.

Senate Joint Resolution 14, also by Rapert, is dubbed the “Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment.” It proposes to add an amendment to the state constitution that prohibits the government from burdening a person’s freedom of religion unless the government can demonstrate that it furthers a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

The Legislature can decide in each regular session to refer up to three constitutional amendments to voters. Both the House and Senate must agree on the proposed amendments. The governor is not part of the process.

Arkansans can propose amendments by gathering a specified number of signatures of registered voters. It takes a simple majority of votes by the people to add each amendment to the Arkansas Constitution.