Alert: They're coming for your power.

SB 260 would make it virtually impossible for citizens to pass laws

Listen:

The people of Arkansas have passed some great laws through our citizen initiative process:

• abolishing poll taxes

• setting terms limits for politicians

• increasing minimum wage

• reforming campaign finance

Most of these are things the People of Arkansas wanted but our politicians don’t have the stomach to do.

So is it any wonder they’re trying to keep the people from making laws?

The latest attack on the Power of the People would make it virtually impossible for you and I to get laws made or changed. A recently filed bill, SB 260, would make signature gathering even more onerous than it already is by jumping the county requirement from 15 to at least 50, and the percent required in those counties from 5% to 7.5% of the people who voted in the last governor’s election to even be allowed on the ballot.

💰 It’s a dramatic change in a system that is already almost prohibitively expensive for regular folks like you and me to use the right to direct democracy guaranteed us in the Arkansas Constitution.

This is a red phone kind of moment. ☎️

We aren’t knee-jerkers. We don’t panic over here at Common Ground. We’re pretty steady, pretty pragmatic. But this is a red alert situation.

📅 SB 260 is on the agenda for Thursday, Feb. 16, in the Senate State Agencies Committee meeting.

By the way, they’re taking this from you, but not from themselves.

The Legislature gets 3 free passes on the ballot every cycle. They don’t face any signature gathering requirements or even the same ballot title restrictions that you and I do. And their track record is pretty abysmal lately. All three of the ballot measures they referred to the People of Arkansas failed last cycle.

When politicians are that out of touch with the People, they can only stay in power by taking it away from you.

Don’t let them. Ask our legislators to vote NO on SB 260.

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Start with these guys. And hey, be nice. The bill sponsors are good people who just have different ideals. The committee members listed below are doing their best to serve what they think their constituents want, and our goal is to help them see that lots of us think this is pretty important. When in doubt, be kind. 🫶

Senator Blake Johnson

Senator Clarke Tucker

Senator Steve Crowell

Senator Jim Dotson (⬅️ Bill sponsor, but not a bad guy, ok?)

Senator Stephanie Flowers

Senator Bart Hester

Senator Bryan King

Senator John Payton

AND THANK YOU for your help. 🙏