Arkansas Citizens for Transparency to address Tea Party today

The Garland County Tea Party will discuss the proposed Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2024 and the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act at noon today at Smokin’ In Style BBQ , 2278 Albert Pike Road.

The proposed amendment and the act are ballot initiatives that together “will enshrine the citizens’ right to government transparency in our state Constitution,” the Tea Party said in a news release.

Attorney Joey McCutchen and Jimmie Cavin, both members of Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, will speak at the meeting.

Jimmie Cavin, a founding member of the group, said in the release that the act “will protect citizens’ interests in government transparency and punish government officials who violate those interests with stiff personal financial penalties.”

“It’s past time that this twopronged citizen-driven initiative get out of the hands of politicians and restore the power to the people where it belongs. Politicians have proven that they can longer be trusted with our sunshine law,” McCutchen said in the release.

“The initiated act will empower citizens, foster government transparency, and safeguard the public’s right to access public records. Among its key provisions, the Act establishes a strong definition of a public meeting which will require members of governing bodies to discuss public business in public rather than behind closed doors. The initiated act also gives FOIA teeth by allowing citizens to recover legal fees if they are forced to sue governing bodies to enforce their rights under FOIA, as well as, give courts the authority to issue civil penalties against government bodies that don’t comply with a records request. The proposal also calls for the creation of a state commission to assist citizens with their records requests,” it said.

Along with the initiated act, the proposed constitutional amendment “will create a right to government transparency, enshrine the citizens’ right to know in our state Constitution and will make it more difficult for the Legislature to weaken our FOIA laws by requiring support from a two-thirds majority in the Legislature for changes that would only take effect after approval by the votes through a statewide referendum. Importantly, the amendment will also take away the state’s sovereign immunity in cases involving government transparency,” the release said.

“Together, the constitutional amendment and act will set the gold standard for government transparency nationwide,” it said.