SUMMARY: Pope Francis is showing slight improvement after 13 days in a Rome hospital, according to a Vatican update. His kidney failure has resolved, and a CT scan revealed normal progression of pulmonary inflammation, with no worsening of his condition. Blood tests confirmed improvement, though he remains on high-flow oxygen therapy without asthma attacks. Despite his slight recovery, the prognosis remains guarded due to his double pneumonia and history of lung issues. He can eat and move independently and continues to work, announcing significant governance decisions, indicating he is focused on essential tasks while still needing careful monitoring.

Pope Francis is spending his 13th day in a Rome hospital and the Vatican says he is showing a slight turn for the better.

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/nation-world/pope-francis-hospitalization-condition/507-84482812-0a5b-4d6c-b5cc-3ea9ae6d508e

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Arkansas Senate advances two stalled bills that would change citizen-led ballot initiative process

by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
February 26, 2025

In a reversal, the Arkansas Senate allowed two proposed changes to the state’s citizen-led ballot measure process to advance to the House on Tuesday after failing to pass the bills’ emergency clauses earlier this month.

Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, is sponsoring a slew of legislation he has said would deter fraudulent behavior and protect the integrity of the signature collection process for proposed ballot measures.

Opponents of the bills have called them a threat to the public’s right to change laws and the state Constitution, which fewer than half of states allow, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Hammer announced in January that he will run next year for Secretary of State, the executive branch office that oversees elections.

Most of the bills he is sponsoring have emergency clauses, which would allow them to go into effect immediately upon Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature. Emergency clauses require a two-thirds vote of at least 24 senators and at least 67 House members.

The emergency clauses on Senate Bills 209 and 210 each received 24 votes Tuesday without any debate on the proposed laws themselves. The bills initially received 21 and 22 votes, respectively, on Feb. 12, and the emergency clauses again failed to reach 24 votes the following day.

Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds “by a preponderance of evidence” that they violated state law collecting the signatures.

Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser.

Republican Sens. Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana, Clint Penzo of Springdale and Gary Stubblefield of Branch voted against both emergency clauses Tuesday. Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, did not vote on either emergency clause. All four voted against the bills Feb. 12.

Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, voted against SB 209 and for SB 210 on Feb. 12. He voted for both emergency clauses Feb. 13 and Tuesday.

Sen. Jim Petty, R-Van Buren, was absent Feb. 12 and did not vote on the emergency clauses Feb. 13. He voted for both emergency clauses Tuesday. Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, was also absent Feb. 12 but voted for the emergency clauses twice.

All six Senate Democrats opposed SB 209 and SB 210.

The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs will be next to hear the bills.

Amendments in committee

Hammer introduced a total of six bills earlier this month that would alter the ballot initiative petition process. Senate Bill 212 would create a law enforcement agency within the secretary of state’s office that could investigate the validity of submitted documents related to elections and ballot initiatives.

The bill failed in the Senate State Agencies Committee on Feb. 11. Hammer amended the bill and will present it to the committee again Thursday.

The Senate will vote Wednesday on another of Hammer’s bills, Senate Bill 207, which would require canvassers for ballot-measure petitions to inform potential signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense. The section of Arkansas code governing initiatives and referenda designates petition fraud a Class A misdemeanor.

Another section of Arkansas code designates petition fraud a Class D felony, which lawmakers pointed out during a Feb. 17 House State Agencies Committee hearing. House sponsor Rep. Kendon Underwood, R-Cave Springs, amended the bill to avoid confusion between the two statutes.

On Tuesday, the Senate State Agencies Committee voted to concur on the amendment to SB 207 and send it to the Senate floor.

Carol Egan, the only member of the public who testified in Tuesday’s committee meeting, said she opposed the bill because it would discourage participation in the ballot initiative process. She also questioned how it would be proven that someone violated the proposed law, noting that people opposed to a particular measure could derail it by saying that the canvasser hadn’t notified them that petition fraud is a criminal offense.

“I think this needs to be thought out a lot better, and I’m not even sure that it’s necessary,” Egan said. 

The broadness of the term “criminal offense” allows prosecutors to apply a punishment appropriate to the crime, Hammer said. 

“The applicable offense would be applied based on the severity of what they determined the person was doing,” he said. “So I think there’s a little bit of reason to keep it at the criminal offense level instead of making it something as harsh as a felony or as light as a misdemeanor.”

SB 207 passed the House Monday with 67 votes, the minimum required to pass the emergency clause. Seventeen of the 19 House Democrats, as well as nine Republicans, voted against SB 207.

House action and new laws

Two more of Hammer and Underwood’s ballot initiative bills passed the House Tuesday, with one needing a second vote to pass the emergency clause.

Senate Bill 208 would require canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers, and Senate Bill 211 would require canvassers to file a “true affidavit” with the secretary of state certifying they complied with the Arkansas Constitution and state laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery and fraudulent practices in the procurement of petition signatures. Signatures submitted without the affidavit would not be counted.

Both bills passed the House State Agencies Committee twice on split voice votes. The committee heard nearly six hours of public testimony, mostly in opposition, before passing the bills Feb. 17 but needed to pass them again Monday after they were amended.

SB 208 received 70 votes for and 24 votes against it after no debate on the House floor. Four House members did not vote and two voted present.

SB 211 received 65 votes for and 27 against, with five members not voting and three voting present.

All 19 House Democrats voted against SB 211. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, was the only lawmaker to comment on the bill before the vote.

Collins pointed out that state law already requires ballot question committees to submit an affidavit identifying paid canvassers by name and provide proof that the committee explained to canvassers the state’s laws for soliciting signatures and gave them the Secretary of State’s initiatives and referenda handbook before they started canvassing.

He also said the possible disqualification of all signatures collected by the same person would disincentivize people from signing petitions in case the canvasser did not sign the additional affidavit.

“They may not have done anything wrong when it comes to getting your signature — your signature may be perfectly valid — but it’ll be thrown out if this bill passes if the canvasser has any issue, even [on] a technicality,” Collins said. “…Of all of the bills, this one really warrants a closer look because what we’re doing here is going to chill direct democracy, and the people’s voice matters in Arkansas.”

The emergency clause on SB 211 received 69 votes. Democratic Rep. Jessie McGruder of Marion switched his vote from no to yes, and Republican Reps. Rick McClure of Malvern and Ron McNair of Alpena switched their votes from present to yes.

Rep. Cindy Crawford, R-Fort Smith, did not vote on the bill and voted for the emergency clause. Rep. Cameron Cooper, R-Romance, voted present on both.

Also on Tuesday, Sanders signed two other bills co-sponsored by Hammer that alter the ballot initiative process:

Act 153 clarifies that the certification of ballot titles for initiatives, referenda and constitutional amendments as well as the signatures collected for those measures would only be valid for the next general election.Act 154 will expand the attorney general’s existing authority to reject a proposal if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. It will also prevent a sponsor from submitting more than one conflicting petition at the same time.

Act 153 has an emergency clause while Act 154 does not. Both bills went to Sanders’ desk last week.

Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this article.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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Bills to change Arkansas’ citizen-led petition process continue to move through Legislature

by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
February 24, 2025

Proposed changes to Arkansas’ citizen-led ballot initiative process continued to advance through the state Legislature on Monday, with more movement expected throughout the week.

Two bills sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, passed a House committee for the second time after being amended and will go to the House floor next. A third bill passed the House and will return to a Senate committee for concurrence on an amendment.

The bills are among several Hammer is sponsoring that members of the public have said will impede Arkansans’ ability to participate in direct democracy. Hammer, House sponsor Rep. Kendon Underwood and Secretary of State Cole Jester have all claimed petitions for ballot measures circulated last year contained many duplicate signatures, which is prohibited by state law.

Underwood, a Cave Springs Republican, presented Senate Bill 207 to the House and later presented Senate Bill 208 and Senate Bill 211 to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs.

SB 207 would require canvassers for ballot-measure petitions to inform potential signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense. The section of Arkansas code governing initiatives and referenda designates petition fraud a Class A misdemeanor.

“I think many people just don’t know that these are serious government documents, and this corrects that error,” Underwood told the House. “…[This bill would] protect the democratic process by helping to ensure that legitimate signatures are collected and reducing fraudulent activity that undermines the public trust.”

Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, asked Underwood how the state would collect evidence to prosecute canvassers for failure to comply with the requirement in the bill. Underwood said evidence “could be provided in a number of ways.”

McCullough said she thought the requirement could “chill this process” of collecting signatures, echoing concerns expressed in recent weeks by opponents of the bill and by other Democratic lawmakers.

“If you’re putting someone in the position of doing a video recording [to prove compliance], it’s kind of interrupting the process between the canvasser and the voter,” McCullough said.

She and 16 other House Democrats, plus nine Republicans, voted against SB 207. Three of the Republicans who voted against it — Julie Mayberry of Hensley, Mark McElroy of Tillar and Jeremy Wooldridge of Marmaduke — also voted against it in committee last week.

Five Republicans did not vote, and the remaining two Democrats, Glenn Barnes and Ken Ferguson of Pine Bluff, voted present.

SB 207 has an emergency clause, which would allow it to go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature. Emergency clauses need a two-thirds vote in each chamber, and the 67 Republicans who voted for SB 207 gave the emergency clause the bare minimum of support it needed for passage.

More ballot-measure bills

SB 208 and SB 211 also have emergency clauses. All three bills initially passed the Senate at or beyond the two-thirds threshold of 24 votes.

SB 208 would require canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers, and SB 211 would require canvassers to file a “true affidavit” with the secretary of state certifying they complied with the Arkansas Constitution and state laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery and fraudulent practices in the procurement of petition signatures. Signatures submitted without the affidavit would not be counted.

The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs approved both bills as amended Monday, a week after hearing nearly six hours of public comment before passing the bills.

Kwami Abdul-Bey, representing the Arkansas state conference of the NAACP, spoke against the bills both Monday and last week. He said he appreciated the amendment to SB 208, which clarifies the type of photo ID the bill would require under existing state law, since he had expressed concerns about this technicality at the Feb. 17 meeting.

Abdul-Bey said he remained concerned about SB 208 because it did not include exceptions for voters who live in long-term care facilities or are in the military, since state law exempts them from presenting a photo ID to vote.

He also said he opposed SB 211’s requirement for a “true affidavit” because the term carries criminal liability.

State law already requires ballot question committees to submit an affidavit identifying paid canvassers by name and provide proof that the committee explained to canvassers the state’s laws for soliciting signatures and gave them the Secretary of State’s initiatives and referenda handbook before they started canvassing.

This affidavit is not a “true affidavit” and therefore only carries civil liability, Abdul-Bey said. He also questioned why the proposed requirement in the bill could not be incorporated into the existing affidavit requirement.

“Not only are we creating an extra piece of paper, but we are also criminalizing the act of collecting signatures for a ballot measure,” said Abdul-Bey, who works for the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and has participated in multiple citizen-led ballot efforts in the past few years.

No other members of the public spoke for or against the bills, and the committee approved both bills with split voice votes after no discussion.

SB 208 and SB 211 will go to the House floor for a vote and back to the Senate if approved.

The Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs is expected to take up SB 207 as soon as Thursday.

Hammer is sponsoring two more bills, SB 209 and SB 210, which he asked the Senate to place on Tuesday’s calendar.

Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds “by a preponderance of evidence” that they violated state law collecting the signatures.

Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. 

Both bills passed the Senate on Feb. 12, but they failed to receive the two-thirds majority vote required to pass the bills’ emergency clause. The Senate approved Hammer’s motion to expunge the vote, and the bills again failed to gain enough support for the emergency clauses on Feb. 13.

Hammer said Monday that Tuesday will be the last time he brings the bills to the chamber for consideration.

“Members, I promise you no matter who’s in the room or who’s not in the room, we’ll vote it and see what happens and we’ll be done with it tomorrow,” Hammer said.

Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this article.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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