House committee refers proposed constitutional amendments

Pursuant to discussions with Chairman Jeff Wood and others, I made a motion in State Agencies & Governmental Affairs this morning to refer a total of five Joint Resolutions to the Joint Committee to determine which resolutions (up to three) will be put to a vote of the full legislature. The only way to get a couple of these through the House committee to the next step is to offer them as a package (I'm sure you can guess which ones are the polarizing proposals that require this package). This motion was approved (barely), and these resolutions now move to the joint meeting on Wednesday. Any resolutions (up to three) approved by the legislature will be referred to the people in the next general election.

The five joint resolutions in my motion will be as follows:

HJR1003 Sponsor: Ragland -- AMENDING THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION TO ABOLISH THE OFFICE OF CONSTABLE;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HJR1004 Sponsor: Harris -- PROPOSING A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO PROVIDE THAT APPROPRIATION BILLS ARE VALID FOR ONE FISCAL YEAR; TO REQUIRE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO MEET IN FISCAL SESSION DURING EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS; AND TO SET LENGTH OF SESSIONS;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HJR1005 Sponsor: Bond -- PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO ESTABLISH A STATE LOTTERY TO HELP FUND COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AND TEACHER BONUSES IN THIS STATE.;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HJR1006 Sponsor: Pace -- PROHIBITS THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FROM ENACTING A LAW TO LEVY A TAX OR TO INCREASE THE RATE OF CERTAIN TAXES EXCEPT UPON THE VOTE OF THREE-FOURTHS (3/4) OF THE TOTAL MEMBERSHIP OF EACH HOUSE.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HJR1021 Sponsor: Bond -- AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION CONCERNING GOVERNMENT REFORM AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE APPLICABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

The other 16 House Joint Resolutions will be considered defeated unless they are referred by separate motion.