There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. This week, we’ve seen the wrong way.Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called lawmakers to the Capitol Monday to cut taxes and end covid vaccine mandates. It was no secret she was going to do this.
What wasn’t really talked about – until a few days before the session – was that she wanted to make major changes to Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Passed in 1967 under Republican Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, it’s one of the nation’s strongest government transparency laws. It requires governing bodies like school boards to meet openly, and it requires government agencies to make documents available to Arkansans when they request them.
Sanders announced she was adding the bill to the call Friday while the state was involved in a court case regarding her travel records. Matt Campbell, a lawyer who operates the liberal-leaning Blue Hog Report blog, had made requests about her Arkansas State Police-associated activities. The State Police delayed providing it.
The governor said she was concerned about hers and her family’s safety. But the changes in the proposed bill, which was sponsored by many Republican lawmakers, went far beyond protecting her family. They would have shielded her State Police-provided travel retroactively since the time she entered office. They would have kept secret many documents created by state agencies that now are available. And they would have reduced the ability of citizens to be reimbursed by the state when they win a FOIA case in court.
In other words, if an average citizen requested a document and the government refused to provide it even though it was supposed to, the citizen might have to pay for his or her lawyer, while the government would have a team of lawyers paid for by taxpayers.
Sanders defended the bill by saying it was similar to sunshine laws that exist for the federal government and states like California and New York. (Those are places Arkansas Republicans don’t typically hold up as examples to follow.) She said people can weaponize the FOIA to make government less efficient and slow her agenda.
Special sessions usually are rubber stamp affairs. The governor lines up support, calls lawmakers to the Capitol, and they pass the bill.
Not this time. Between Friday and Monday, an informal and diverse opposition developed. It included not only Sanders opponents like Campbell and the Democratic Party, but, more importantly, lots of Republicans. Party committees in Saline and Pulaski counties strongly condemned the bill.
The most vocal opponents included two of Arkansas’ most powerful conservative groups, Conduit for Action and the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity. They rightly understand that secretive governments tend to grow more corrupt and bigger. One of AFP’s mantras is “Privacy is for citizens, and transparency is for government.”
Republican incumbents fear these groups because they can rile up the base in their home districts and recruit opponents to run against them in their party’s primaries. They don’t want a Republican challenger to accuse them of supporting government secrecy next spring.
Faced with mounting opposition, lawmakers were scrambling to pass amended legislation as this column is being written on Tuesday morning. Alas, the situation evolves while my deadline remains unchanged.
Here’s what remains. This is the second time in recent months that a major change has been sprung on Arkansans with the outcome already settled, or at least presumed to be. The LEARNS Act passed by lawmakers this spring transformed education in this state. Regardless of what one might think about LEARNS – and there’s much to like – the details were not shared with the public until the votes were largely secured. The public process from the formal introduction of the 145-page law to the governor’s signature took a little more than two weeks. The same thing was happening with this, until people revolted.
Of course the Freedom of Information Act occasionally needs updated. It’s been updated many times.
But in a democracy, business, marriage or anything else, how things are done is often more important than what is done. Changing Arkansas institutions like schools or the Freedom of Information Act should be done deliberately, thoughtfully and, usually, conservatively.
It’s no wonder many conservatives are opposed this time.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 13 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.
