Two attorneys are working to enshrine FOIA in the state constitution. David Couch and Nate Bell are on opposite sides of the political aisle, but fully support the Freedom of Information Act.
“I think transparency is essential to a government,” Bell said.
Couch explained it this way: “The inter-workings of our government who they deal with, the money they spend, are important to keep them in check.”
The two men met when they were working in the legislature and have collaborated on and off ever since. Both men were inspired by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sander's recent attempts to gut the Freedom of Information Act. They created the organization Arkansas Citizens for Transparency.
Arkansas FOIA laws are some of the strongest in the country. The governor first tried to gut FOIA last month during a special session of the Arkansas Legislature. She put forth a bill mirroring federal FOIA legalization, which is much weaker than Arkansas state laws.
After many days of legislative battles, the legislature passed a compromise bill. The new bill only exempted her travel and security information, which the governor argued would protect her family. Couch and Bell said even this law went too far.
“There is no risk to the governor, to know where she was months ago,” Bell said. He felt as the child of a former Arkansas governor, Gov. Sanders “knows better” that the security protections already in place are enough to protect her safety.
After the legislative session, the governor came under fire for purchasing a $19,000 podium with taxpayer funds. Bell and Couch wonder if her attempts to roll back FOIA actually account for something more sinister.
“This is much bigger than anything about a lectern,” Bell said. “It goes right at the heart of open and transparent government. If the people don't know what their government is doing, this kind of thing and far far worse could be happening and we wouldn't know.”
The proposed FOIA amendment would bring the state back to FOIA laws from before the special session.
The amendment has a long road ahead. First, its language has to be approved by the attorney general. Then they will need over 90,000 signatures from across the state to put it on the ballot for 2024.
The governor's spokeswoman Alexa Henning responded with a statement.
“As the governor has said, she is proud that legislation passed with bipartisan support to ensure the sources and methods used by law enforcement to protect constitutional officers and her family will be protected.”
