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University of Arkansas’ Attack on FOIA Record Laws

March 29, 2017 Featured, FOIA, Freedom of Information Act

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Once again, Senator Bart Hester’s ANTI-FOIA SB 373 is coming up Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 1:30 p.m.

Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act is under attack!  Arkansas’ two university systems, University of Arkansas and the University for Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) are pushing for legislation that would limit taxpayer access to public records!

“[The University of Arkansas] has ALWAYS been an enemy of freedom of information. The system and Fayetteville campus will turn out a phalanx of lawyers to defeat the little citizen who dares to challenge them. The Arkansas Times learned that when they filled the courtroom with $300-an-hour lawyers to defeat our effort to find out what promises they'd made to the Walton family in return for a $300 million gift. (A lot, it turned out.)”

(That’s a snippet taken from this Arkansas Times story.)

Remember, it’s our tax dollars (almost $200,000 a year) that fund the General Counsel, Joann Maxey, of the University of Arkansas! And that’s not all. Click here for the College/University Budget Summaries over the years.  You have to ask yourself:  what are the colleges and universities trying to hide?  

Click here for the State of Arkansas Appropriation Summary for Fiscal Year 2017; then go down to page 3 and page 4 under Total Institutions of Higher Education.  The breakdown from this chart is:

  • General Funds $1,054,585,913
  • Special Revenue $7,150,000
  • Cash Funds $ 5,286,399,266
  • Trust Funds $21,091,571
  • Other/Revolving Funds $800,000
  • Total Operation Appropriation $6,350,006,750

Folks, this is a lot of taxpayers’ money! No wonder the colleges and universities can run around wasting your money fighting FOIA disclosures. It is time that our legislators start trimming back on appropriations funding to the colleges and universities. Click here for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education Fiscal Year 2015/2016 Annual Operation Budgets. To get the individual operating budget for a college/university, just click on that school.

Secure Arkansas is requesting that the Senate STOP this bad bill — SB 373 — immediately — Wednesday afternoon, March 29, 2017. It is your responsibility, Arkansas senators, to keep our transparency open to the public. We do NOT want bureaucrats hiding huge amounts of OUR public records! This bill CREATES a new attorney-client communication and work-product exemption for both current and future litigation that would allow bureaucrats to hide an infinite quantity of the taxpayers public records!

Senator Bart Hester is the sponsor of this bad bill, SB 373.

Senator Hester, do you REALLY want this ANTI-FOIA bill to be your legacy?

Senator Bart Hester (R, Cave Springs) 
479-531-4176;  bart.hester@senate.ar.gov

Another legislator heavily pushing this bad bill is Representative Bob Ballinger.  (Good grief! Why was he involved in so many bad bills this session?)

Representative Bob Ballinger (R, Berryville)
479-443-3700; bob.ballinger@arkansashouse.org

The following is the Voting Record from the Senate on 3/28/2013:

Yeas: 11

Bledsoe

L. Eads

S. Flowers

J. Hendren

Hester

J. Hutchinson

K. Ingram

Irvin

Rapert

B. Sample

E. Williams

 

Nays: 14

Bond

L. Chesterfield

A. Clark

Collins-Smith

Elliott

Files

Flippo

T. Garner

Hickey

B. King

Rice

G. Stubblefield

Teague

D. Wallace

       

Non Voting: 10

Caldwell

E. Cheatham

J. Cooper

J. Dismang

J. English

B. Johnson

U. Lindsey

Maloch

D. Sanders

Standridge

   

Bill Status History

Chamber Date Action  Vote

Senate

3/28/2017 2:41:32 PM

The vote by which SB 373 FAILED was EXPUNGED.

 

Senate

3/28/2017 2:27:43 PM

Read the third time and failed.

Senate Votes

Senate

3/28/2017 2:26:40 PM

House Amendment No. 1, 2, & 3 read first time, rule suspended, read second time and concurred in.

 

Senate

3/27/2017 1:50:44 PM

Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it Do Pass concur in House Amendment No. 1, 2, & 3.

 

Senate

3/20/2017 7:15:42 PM

Re-referred to Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs

 

Senate

3/20/2017 7:14:50 PM

Returned From the House as passed as amended.

 

House

3/20/2017 5:57:19 PM

Returned To Senate as passed, as amended #

 

House

3/20/2017 5:56:15 PM

Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.

House Votes

House

3/17/2017 2:43:06 PM

REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED

 

House

3/17/2017 10:44:27 AM

Amendment No. 3 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.

 

House

3/17/2017 10:43:22 AM

Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.

 

House

3/15/2017 5:37:00 PM

Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 3

 

House

3/9/2017 2:41:07 PM

REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED

 

House

3/9/2017 1:42:23 PM

Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.

 

House

3/9/2017 1:35:31 PM

Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.

 

House

3/6/2017 3:25:25 PM

Re-referred to the Committee on STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE

 

House

3/2/2017 10:49:27 AM

REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED

 

House

3/2/2017 8:40:23 AM

Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.

 

House

3/2/2017 8:40:07 AM

Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.

 

House

3/1/2017 4:53:06 PM

Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 1

 

House

2/27/2017 5:11:37 PM

Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE

 

House

2/27/2017 4:36:01 PM

RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE

 

Senate

2/27/2017 3:35:16 PM

Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.

 

Senate

2/27/2017 3:34:59 PM

Read the third time and passed.

Senate Votes

Senate

2/23/2017 1:57:17 PM

Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass

 

Senate

2/20/2017 4:36:50 PM

Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs

 

Senate

2/20/2017 2:07:00 PM

Filed

 

Our Constitutional Republic has been replaced by a bureaucratic oligarchy that is unelected and unaccountable, and they possess a lot of power! Agency heads have been known to govern corruptly.

Help save our ability – and our legal right – to request FOIA’s! The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that provides the public the right to request access information from:

  • agencies
  • county government
  • municipal government
  • state government  
  • public schools

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED:  Contact ALL 35 Arkansas State Senators by phone and email, and tell them respectfully to VOTE NO on SB 373, the ANTI-FOIA bill.

Especially get with the 10 non-voting senators (highlighted in yellow above in the chart of votes) and tell them to be sure to VOTE NO on SB 373.

Make sure those senators who voted “no” stay voting “no”.

Readers, you may copy and paste these 35 email addresses into your email to send ONE email to all of them. Remember to include your name, address, and county in which you vote.

Cecile.Bledsoe@senate.ar.gov

Will.Bond@senate.ar.gov

ronald.caldwell@Senate.ar.gov

eddie.cheatham@senate.ar.gov

lchesterfield@comcast.net

alan.clark@senate.ar.gov

Linda.Collins-Smith@senate.ar.gov

john.cooper@senate.ar.gov

dismang28@gmail.com

Lance.Eads@senate.ar.gov

Joyce.Elliott@senate.ar.gov

jane.english@senate.ar.gov

Jake.Files@Senate.ar.gov

Scott.Flippo@senate.ar.gov

Stephanie.Flowers@senate.ar.gov

Trent.Garner@senate.ar.gov

jim.hendren@senate.ar.gov

bart.hester@senate.ar.gov

jimmy.hickey@senate.ar.gov

Jeremy.Hutchinson@senate.ar.gov

friendsforkeith@gmail.com

Missy.Irvin@senate.ar.gov

Blake.Johnson@senate.ar.gov

bryan.king@senate.ar.gov

uvalde.lindsey@senate.ar.gov

bruce.maloch@senate.ar.gov

Jason.Rapert@senate.ar.gov

Terry.Rice@senate.ar.gov

Bill.Sample@senate.ar.gov

davidjamessanders@gmail.com

greg.standridge@senate.ar.gov

gary.stubblefield@senate.ar.gov

Larry.Teague@senate.ar.gov

David.Wallace@senate.ar.gov

EddieJoe.Williams@senate.ar.gov

Title

Name

Phone

email

District

Senator

Cecile Bledsoe

479-636-2115

Cecile.Bledsoe@senate.ar.gov

3

Senator

Will Bond

501-396-5400

Will.Bond@senate.ar.gov

32

Senator

Ronald Caldwell

501-682-6107

ronald.caldwell@Senate.ar.gov

23

Senator

Eddie Cheatham

870-364-5659

eddie.cheatham@senate.ar.gov

26

Senator

Linda Chesterfield

501-888-1859

lchesterfield@comcast.net

30

Senator

Alan Clark

501-262-3360

alan.clark@senate.ar.gov

13

Senator

Linda Collins-Smith

870-378-1434

Linda.Collins-Smith@senate.ar.gov

19

Senator

John Cooper

870-761-0130

john.cooper@senate.ar.gov

21

Senator

Jonathan Dismang

501-766-8220

dismang28@gmail.com

28

Senator

Lance Eads

479-435-5139

Lance.Eads@senate.ar.gov

7

Senator

Joyce Elliott

501-603-9546

Joyce.Elliott@senate.ar.gov

31

Senator

Jane English

501-257-7670

jane.english@senate.ar.gov

34

Senator

Jake Files

479-648-9216

Jake.Files@Senate.ar.gov

8

Senator

Scott Flippo

870-421-3420

Scott.Flippo@senate.ar.gov

17

Senator

Stephanie Flowers

870-535-1032

Stephanie.Flowers@senate.ar.gov

25

Senator

Trent Garner

870-818-9219

Trent.Garner@senate.ar.gov

27

Senator

Jim Hendren

479-787-6222

jim.hendren@senate.ar.gov

2

Senator

Bart Hester

479-531-4176

bart.hester@senate.ar.gov

1

Senator

Jimmy Hickey, Jr

903-824-8861

jimmy.hickey@senate.ar.gov

11

Senator

Jeremy Hutchinson

501-773-3760

Jeremy.Hutchinson@senate.ar.gov

33

Senator

Keith Ingram

870-735-9580

friendsforkeith@gmail.com

24

Senator

Missy Irvin

870-269-2703

Missy.Irvin@senate.ar.gov

18

Senator

Blake Johnson

870-323-1766

Blake.Johnson@senate.ar.gov

20

Senator

Bryan King

870-438-4565

bryan.king@senate.ar.gov

5

Senator

Uvalde Lindsey

479-444-6752

uvalde.lindsey@senate.ar.gov

4

Senator

Bruce Maloch

870-235-7041

bruce.maloch@senate.ar.gov

12

Senator

Jason Rapert

501-336-0918

Jason.Rapert@senate.ar.gov

35

Senator

Terry Rice

479-637-3100

Terry.Rice@senate.ar.gov

9

Senator

Bill Sample

501-624-3445

Bill.Sample@senate.ar.gov

14

Senator

David J. Sanders

501-682-6107

davidjamessanders@gmail.com

15

Senator

Greg Standridge

479-968-1562

greg.standridge@senate.ar.gov

16

Senator

Gary Stubblefield

479-635-4314

gary.stubblefield@senate.ar.gov

6

Senator

Larry Teague

870-845-5303

Larry.Teague@senate.ar.gov

10

Senator

David Wallace

870-919-8046

David.Wallace@senate.ar.gov

22

Senator

Eddie Joe Williams

501-286-9366

EddieJoe.Williams@senate.ar.gov

29

As always, you can find our email articles posted on our website: SecureArkansas.com.  The Search box is a handy tool.  For more information about a topic, just type it into the Search box on our website, and click Enter!

And remember:

stop fluoride

Securing the blessings of liberty,

Secure Arkansas
securetherepublic.com/arkansas
info@securetherepublic.com


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