Our View

Our View

A look at just a few of some of our state’s 1,127 new laws…

Of the 1,127 new laws our state politicians so graciously slapped on all of us, it might be interesting to know that Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed only four and turned a blind eye to 13 others, which allowed them to take effect without his endorsement.

Inquisitive minds may wonder why a governor declines to sign a bill and after a designated timeline a bill automatically becomes law. When lawmakers send a bill to the governor, he has three options under the Arkansas Constitution: sign it, veto all or part of it, or simply let it become law without his signature.

A lack of a signature usually means that the governor doesn’t like a particular piece of legislation but realizes its popularity in the 35-member Senate and 100-member House a veto would more than likely be overridden.

Hutchinson’s response to the bills he didn’t sign was that his disagreement doesn’t always rise to the level of a veto. The governor says he would veto a bill if he believed it would be harmful to the state, such as restrictions on the freedom of expression or unnecessary expansions of state government.

He added that he may decline to sign a bill for a number of reasons, some are redundant, some unnecessary, and others may have unintended consequences.

So then, exactly what are the new laws enacted this year without Hutchinson’s signature? Let’s begin with House Bill 1778, by Rep. David Hillman, RAlmyra, authorizing the creation of an industrial hemp research program, which to us is probably a waste of money and effort based on the fact that the 2014 federal farm bill allows research on hemp in states that authorize such research and that 30 states have already do the research. Hemp is used in a range of products, ranging from milk to lotion.

Another bill the governor didn’t sign was one that bars cities, whose airports are paid for in whole or in part with public funds, from naming those facilities after a living individual elected to a federal, state, county or municipality. This bill had something to do with the failed political attempt to strike the name of Bill and Hillary Clinton from the state’s largest airport in Little Rock.

Then there were other bills dealing with exempting records and information related to the operations, emergency procedures and security personnel of the state Capitol Police from public disclosure; a bill that would create a five-member Pawnbroker Licensure Commission as well as a new law that will create a procedure for revoking a charter of a municipal corporation and returning its territory and residents back to the county in which the corporation is located as a result of its noncompliance with state laws. Now that one particular law would come in very handy in Crittenden County where we know of a few incorporated “hamlets” that should have their charters revoked.