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Urgent Action Alert: Another Anti-FOIA Bill From ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council)

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RINO Republicans (known as American Legislative Exchange Council/ ALEC players) are taking aim at FOIAs… again! BAM BAM and our 1967 Sunshine Law is devastated! Please take action tonight because tomorrow (Weds, March 29, 2023) is the last day of Arkansas’ legislative session!
 

image credit

This time, it’s HB1726. It means casting a dark veil over our transparency law so government meetings can be done in secret! Why? Could it be because the legislators involved in the anti-FOIA bills have ties to ALEC? This is unbelievable, dear reader…

Take note who these traitors of freedom are, and make sure they never get elected again, even as a dog catcher.

Sadly, our Arkansas Republicans are ganging-up and attempting to totally dismantle over 1/2 of Republican Governor Winthrop Rockefeller’s crowning achievement, our FOIA law, by targeting the open meeting provisions of FOIA and more.

This dangerous last-minute bill was filed Monday, March 27, 2023. Here is the history of HB1726It is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday morning, March 29, 2023, before the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

So, there is a Special Order of Business scheduled for ten minutes upon adjournment for both Anti-FOIA bills (HB1726 and HB1610) in Room 151 at the Capitol.

HB1726  To read the full text of the bill, click the hyperlink.

AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DEFINITIONS USED IN THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT OF 1967; TO ADD PUBLIC RECORDS EXEMPTIONS; TO AMEND PUBLIC MEETINGS REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO CUSTODIANS PROCESSING PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Sponsors:

Rep. David Ray from Maumelle  
Sponsor of HB1726
Consultant/Communications Strategist (Majority Leader (or designee) 2021) 
david.ray@arkansashouse.org   501-916-0286

He is a big RINO player and needs to be exposed because he’s an ALEC Insider. He has lived in these states: TN, AR, LA, CA, GA, VA, KS, KY, & NY and his career experience includes:

  • working as chief of staff to Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin

  • the state director of Americans for Prosperity Arkansas

  • a consultant

  • a communications strategist: Communications Director for Tom Cotton, United States Senatorial Campaign, 2014 and

  • Communications Director for Republican Party of Arkansas, 2013

  • State Chair for American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

His allegiance is to ALEC, not to the voters he claims to represent. ALEC always represents Big Business’ bottom line. Let’s get Rep. David Ray out of office.

Here’s the ALEC oath: The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) asks that the legislators raise their right hand and swear: “I will act with care and loyalty and put the interests of the organization first”. That means placing the corporate and special interests above their elected office! Hello?! This is a conflict of interest. One could conclude that the cabal wants their own appointed talking heads: a greedy corporate governance where their supposedly-elected officials put forth their destructive agenda for their bottom line.

Search Open Secrets for information on Americans for Prosperity and Koch brothers focus on elections and policy battles at all levels of government. Also, see ties with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that provides a venue for lobbyists to meet behind closed doors with state legislators. ALEC is a bill-writing organization for every state in the country. That’s why there are so many copy-cat bills. So, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is an organization designed to link state legislators with corporations and create templates for state legislation. There are a plethora of corporate funders of ALEC. The secretive American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) gets support from Americans for Prosperity. Shamefully, there’s a lot of political dark money involved in these groups.

Charles Koch
image credit

Special Note: here’s a model bill or a template from ALEC entitled “Transparency and Government Accountability Act”.  Now, this particular template may SOUND good… but we always need to read the entire wording in the bill and how it will affect government meetings and info in our state.

————————————

Sen. Breanne Davis from Russellville
Sponsor of HB1726

breanne.davis@senate.ar.gov   (479) 970-0081

From the Arkansas Secretary of State, here are businesses under “Register Agent John Paul Davis” (Senator Breanne Davis’s Husband)

Name

City

State

Status

PERSPECTIVES GROUP FINANCIAL, INC.

RUSSELLVILLE

AR

Good Standing

1 records found

Will the real true conservative republicans in the legislature please stand up, please? Make a difference and vote no on these bad bills. We need representation by true conservatives.

Immediate Action Item for tonight March 28, 2023: Please contact the members of the House State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee TONIGHT March 28, 2023, and tell them you’d like them to VOTE NO on HB1610 AND HB1726. Do not amend our FOIA. We need to keep this blue-ribbon transparency law intact.

 

Rep. Dwight Tosh – Chair  dwight.tosh@arkansashouse.org  870-926-0423

Rep. Mark D. McElroy – Vice Chair  mdmcelroy1@yahoo.com   870-222-8217

Rep. Rick Beck  rick.beck@arkansashouse.org  501-912-1441

Rep. Mary Bentley  mary.bentley@arkansashouse.org   501-889-3556

Rep. Mark H. Berry  mark.berry@arkansashouse.org   479-462-2863

Rep. John P. Carr  john.carr@arkansashouse.org   479-619-5104

Rep. Nicole Clowney  nicole.clowney@arkansashouse.org   479-445-5337

Rep. Cindy Crawford   cindy.crawford@arkansashouse.org   479-782-4693

Rep. Jimmy Gazaway   jimmy.gazaway@arkansashouse.org   870-215-1243

Rep. Justin Gonzales   justinrory@yahoo.com  870-245-6365

Rep. Lane Jean  l_jean@sbcglobal.net  870-904-1856

Rep. Stephen Meeks  Stephen.Meeks@arkansashouse.org  501-314-9250

Rep. Josh Miller  josh.miller@arkansashouse.org  501-365-3599

Rep. Jon Milligan  jonmilligan@ymail.com  870-219-1261

Rep. Jeremiah Moore  jeremiah.moore@arkansashouse.org   870-674-4373

Rep. Marcus E. Richmond  richmond4staterep@gmail.com  479-299-4416

Rep. Jamie Scott  jamie.scott@arkansashouse.org  501-398-2961

Rep. Kendon Underwood  kendon.underwood@arkansashouse.org 479-644-8461

Rep. Jeff Wardlaw  jeff@jeffwardlaw.com   870-226-9501

Rep. Richard Womack  richard@richardwomack.com   870-403-6287

 

You can copy/paste this list of emails below to email all of the members at one time, if you like:

 

dwight.tosh@arkansashouse.org

mdmcelroy1@yahoo.com

rick.beck@arkansashouse.org

mary.bentley@arkansashouse.org

mark.berry@arkansashouse.org

john.carr@arkansashouse.org

nicole.clowney@arkansashouse.org

cindy.crawford@arkansashouse.org

jimmy.gazaway@arkansashouse.org

justinrory@yahoo.com

l_jean@sbcglobal.net

Stephen.Meeks@arkansashouse.org

josh.miller@arkansashouse.org

jonmilligan@ymail.com

jeremiah.moore@arkansashouse.org

richmond4staterep@gmail.com

jamie.scott@arkansashouse.org

kendon.underwood@arkansashouse.org

jeff@jeffwardlaw.com

richard@richardwomack.com

 

Here’s what Secure Arkansas previously wrote about HB1610, the other Anti-FOIA bill.

Sponsors:

Rep. Mary Bentley from Perryville
Sponsor of HB1610
mary.bentley@arkansashouse.org  501-889-3556

Bentley Plastics  https://bentleydrinkware.com/

Statement of Financial Interest for 2020

 

From the Arkansas Secretary of State, here are businesses under “Register Agent John M. Bentley, Jr. (Representative Mary Bentley’s husband)

Name

City

State

Status

BENTLEY PLASTICS, INC.

PERRYVILLE

AR

Good Standing

1 records found

—————————————–

 

Senator John Peyton from Wilburn
Sponsor of HB1610 
john.payton@senate.ar.gov

(501) 362-5815  
He owns two auto auctions and two used auto dealerships.

From the Arkansas Secretary of State, here are businesses under “Register Agent John Payton”:

Name

City

State

Status

CENTRAL ARKANSAS AUTO AUCTION, INC.

BEEBE

AR

Dissolved

CLEBURNE COUNTY FINANCE CORPORATION

HEBER SPRINGS

AR

Good Standing

PAYTON AUTO, INC.

CLINTON

AR

Good Standing

PAYTON CHEVROLET, BUICK, GMC, INC.

HEBER SPRINGS

AR

Good Standing

PAYTON INVESTMENTS, INC.

WILBURN

AR

Good Standing

PAYTON SELECT AUTOMOTIVE, INC.

HEBER SPRINGS

AR

Good Standing

PINES RESORT, INC.

WILBURN

AR

Dissolved

SELECT AUTO RENTAL, INC.

HEBER SPRINGS

AR

Dissolved

SELECT AUTO TRANSPORT & RENTAL, LLC

WILBURN

AR

Dissolved

9 records found

 

If these lawmakers are trying to block us from their private governmental meetings, why in the world would we consider supporting their businesses such as those listed above?

In closing, Secure Arkansas feels that it is important to write about how Republicans are dismantling our Constitution and transparency laws, etc. We will be writing an article and evaluating what happened during this Arkansas legislative session and how we were betrayed by so-called “Conservatives”.

Hopefully, our Sunshine Law will remain unharmed and shine on… or will the sun go down in Arkansas and darkness prevail?

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!

Securing the blessings of liberty,

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


Disclaimer:

Legal Advice is Not Provided

The material in our emails/alerts and on our websites is only intended to provide general information and comment to the public. We make an effort to ensure that the information found in our emails/alerts and on our websites is accurate and timely, but we can’t and don’t guarantee that. Nor do we guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of any information contained on websites to which our websites or emails provide links.

Information found in our emails/alerts and on our websites should not be taken as legal advice. Legal matters can be complicated. For assistance with a specific legal problem or question, please contact a knowledgeable lawyer for assistance.


 



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