Vote No on Ballot Issue One!

[DeBo]

Please get the word out to vote no on Ballot Issue One. I can't tell you how important this is. This will policise every decision made buy any state agency. Agencies like ADEQ and AGFC may not always make the decisions we like but they at least try to make their decisions based on science and the realities on the ground. If this issue passes we will have complete gridlock on every decision that concerns things we care about like hunting and fishing and dams and access. Please share this far and wide.

Vote No on Ballot Issue One!

[DeBo]

This law will:

Undermine the separation of powers fundamental to our system of government. It gives the legislature powers that have traditionally been in the executive branch (Governor and state agencies under him/her).

Allow a small number of legislators to block implementation of laws that were passed by the General Assembly -- even if the majority of legislators support a measure, a minority sitting on the right committee could still block implementation

Diminish the importance of knowledge that agency staff have on complicated issues -- will dumb down our state regulations. The legislature usually sets objectives in law -- we want to regulate banks so x, y and z occur -- and then they leave it to the experts in the Banking Commission to draft the rules needed to actually achieve that goal. Most legislators do not have the technical knowledge needed to implement rules as well as agency staff and commissioners who are experts

Make the process more tedious and time consuming to establish and change rules. Not only would you have to pass a law and get an agency to draft rules to implement it, but then you would have to go back to the legislature to essentially pass the law again -- and if you fail the second time you go back to square 1 with the agency rule making and try to read the tea leaves of what the legislature will accept.

It puts politics where it doesn't belong. There are large ideological differences in how medical insurance programs should be run, as one example, and it is the Legislature's proper role to set parameters on how they should be run, but the legislature with all of their partisan and ideological divides does not need to be micro-managing how an insurance program is run.

It is totally unnecessary. Under normal separation of power principal, the legislature controls the BUDGETS of state agencies and can punish an agency for rules they dislike through the budget. Because of this the legislature already has enormous sway over the rules that agencies create. This takes the implied threat of a budget problem and turns it into an outright veto power for the legislature, distorting the balance of power that has governed Arkansas since statehood.

[Yarbrough]

The idea of issue one is to take control of these issues out of the hands of state employee bureaucrats who have no accountability to the citizens or Arkansas. Right now it is a cesspool of unchecked liberalism inside state bureaucracies. This amendment is making people accountable for their actions. We can vote them out of office based on their record. This has made it to the ballot for a reason.

[DeBo]

I am afraid that you couldn't possibly be more wrong about issue one. I don't believe that your assertions are based on any evidence that I am aware of and you statement affirms my position that this change will politicize all decision making that we depend upon to protect our rivers and streams. This is not a liberal or conservative issue. The reasons that this measure should not pass are stated above. That is our position.

[Shark Attack]

I voted for it so that the elected officials will be able to hear from their constituents and will be able to keep radical state employees from putting unwanted rules on private property. After the Hog farm mess I no longer trust state agencies without representation from elected officials.

[DeBo]

This change is a disaster for the hog farm mess. Anyone who votes for this has just voted to make my job a whole lot harder. This thing is written to confuse people. I have worked on our issues with state agencies and the legislature for 15 years. Issue 1 is a very bad idea.

[sig]

Can someone post examples of "radical state employees" and the so-called "cesspool of unchecked liberalism"?

Arkansas wouldn't know liberalism if it bit them in the arse.

This message board is such a sad place sometimes.

Thanks for your hard work, Debo.

Vote no on 1, 2, and 3. Vote yes on 4, 5, and, if you are in Saline County, 6.

[Tim Eubanks]

Plus one for Debbie's efforts to help protect the resources that are the basis of our club's activites. The policy writers at agencies are trained in their respective fields, unlike our state legislators. Prop one is a power grab

[Yarbrough]

It is already political. It is just one sided as it is. Being able to make people accountable just says that both sides get to have a say in the decision process.

Just because we all paddle doesn't mean we all agree with you.

[cpresoz]

Here is some helpful information:
http://www.uaex.edu/business-communitie ... Review.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[magicmike]

Thanks Curtis. - M-

[Robbie]

At first I thought Issue Number 1 was a good idea. In general, "we the people" loose freedom when authority is delegated to agencies (non-elected officials) who have the power to regulate where we can and cannot go, what we can and cannot eat, what we can and cannot do in our businesses, etc., etc.. Issue Number 1, at first blush, seems to move power back to the people by putting veto power (so to speak) in the hands of elected officials.

However, what Issue Number 1 actually does is put the veto power in the hands of a COMMITTEE of elected officials, who could conceivably block the implementation of a law passed by the General Assembly, by refusing to accept rules made by the agency tasked with implementing the rules surrounding the law. If both the agency officials, and the proposed committee are honest and competent, then the committee is redundant, and not necessary. But when big business with its big money gets involved, which group is most likely to be influenced away from the popular will of the people? Unfortunately, it is the elected politicians who are always up for reelection and in need of money to get reelected. (Of course agency officials can be bribed, but that is VERY illegal, while receiving "campaign contributions" is not.)

I'll vote "NO" on Issue #1.

[magicmike]

Now what? -M-

[BEubanks]

Now we have to be diligent in monitoring and communicating with whatever committee(s) are charged with reviewing agency regs. And those writing the regs will have to be prepared to make the case for the regs both to the committees) and to the broader electorate. Those who voted NO will need to communicate to the legislators their worries and readiness to oppose misuse of committee power.

[Tim Eubanks]

Well said, brother. Now we've really got to pay attention.