On Saturday, August 1, 2020, Convention of States Arkansas State Director Jacque Martin and Legislative Liaison Randy Alexander hosted the first of many virtual town halls.
Their guests were State Senator Gary Stubblefield, who presented the COS resolution in the Arkansas State Senate and carried it across the finish line in the 2019 Legislative Session.
Joining him were State Representatives Marcus Richmond (House Majority Whip) and Brandt Smith from House District 53. Both were very instrumental in the passage of the COS resolution in the House. Arkansas became the 13th state to pass the COS resolution in 2019.
The main topic of discussion was why these Arkansas legislators supported the COS resolution.
Rep. Richmond responded that he had supported the resolution when it first came up in 2015. Then he started hearing from several persons that this would lead to a runaway convention, so when it came up again in 2017, he didn’t vote.
Between the 2017 and 2019 legislative sessions, Richmond did his own research on the topic. At the American Legislative Exchange Council meeting that he attended, Mark Meckler and Dr. Tom Coburn spoke on why it was time for an Article V Convention of States. He became an extraordinarily strong supporter at that time. Rep. Smith and Sen. Stubblefield stated that they had always supported the resolution.
Randy Alexander asked the legislative panelist if there was any specific experience as a state legislator that led them to believe that the time was now for an Article V Convention of States. They all agreed that it was the national debt.
The number one amendment for all three seemed to be a balanced budget amendment. A close second was the lack of educational curriculum concerning our form of government and American history. As legislators, they see federal government overreach all the time.
In 2021 Arkansas will have another legislative session. The guests were asked what legislation they might propose that COS members could help them get over the finish line. The main concern seemed to be the Arkansas Emergency Executive Powers Act.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the legislators to realize that there needs to be more balance between the executive and legislative branches of government in an emergency impacting public health. There is legislation currently being proposed to address this.
When asked about the Arkansas ballot initiatives for the General Election in November, they were all adamant that the people vote against all of them. There is a problem that exists with the people proposing ballot initiatives. Out-of-state influence groups are using this process to control the Arkansas constitutional ballot process, including with the casino issue.
Even though there were technical issues that had to be overcome during the online meeting, Jacque and Randy felt that their first virtual town hall session was a success for COS members that attended.
The legislators imparted valuable information on why they support an Article V Convention of States and why it needs to happen now, as well as issues that will be on the 2020 ballot. COS Arkansas will be planning many more virtual sessions for the future.
