Legislative Package for the 2015 session is January 30, 2014—about six months from now. This submission is the first step in the Association’s legislative program to facilitate members being able to have an impact on making or changing public policy involving the administration of justice or the practice of law. Establishing the Association’s Legislative Package and representing the interests of the profession are important functions of your Bar Association. Some of the multiple ways in which members may be involved in this important function include suggesting legislation, participating on the Jurisprudence and Law Reform Committee, participating on the House of Delegates, participating on a Section’s Legislative Review Subcommittee, and making a financial contribution to the Political Action Committee (PAC). Communicating your comments to the Association on pending legislation is extremely helpful. We are all impacted, professionally and personally, by enacted laws. Endnotes: Note: The authors wish to thank the Bureau of Legislative Research, which prepared the Summary of General Legislation from which portions of this article derived language. 1. And, by coincidence, the adoption of the Arkansas Constitution of 1874. 2. Twenty-one Republicans; 1 Democrat. 3. Fifty Republicans; 49 Democrats; 1 Green Party. 4. In comparison to the 1,520 new laws enacted in the most recent regular session, in the 2011 regular session, 1,242 new laws
were enacted; 1,501 new laws were enacted in the 2009 regular session. 5. The legislation committee consisted of Bob Estes (Chair), Kristin Pawlik (Representative from District A), Aaron Squyres (Representative from District B), Jobi Teague (Representative from District C), Charlie Harwell (President), Jim Simpson (President Elect), Brian Ratcliff (President Elect Designee), Jim Julian (Immediate Past President), Charles Schlumberger (At Large), and Dennis Zolper (Chair of Jurisprudence and Law Reform Committee). 6. Acts that do not contain an emergency clause or a specified effective date become effective on the 91st day following the date that the General Assembly adjourns sine die. According to the method of calculation stated in Ark. Atty. Gen. Op. 2013-049 (May 24, 2013), the effective date for Acts of the 89th General Assembly that do not contain an emergency clause or a specified effective date is August 16, 2013. 7. On the internet, go to the home page of the legislative website - http://www.arkleg. state.ar.us. Then, in the right margin, select “Summary of General Legislation - 2013”— which is the second subcategory under “Documents – 2013 Regular Session.” That will display the Summary. To review individual Acts, on the homepage of the legislative website (http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us), select “Search Acts” in the left margin; it is the first subcategory under the category “Acts.” Type the number of the Act you wish to review in the first box on the menu that asks for the “Act Number” and select “Search.”
8. An outfitter is defined as “an individual, group, club, partnership, corporation, or business entity, whether or not operating for profit, or an employee or authorized agent, which sponsors, organizes, rents, or provides to the public the use of a watercraft by a participant in a free-flowing stream or river in this state.” 9. A prosecution for murder may be commenced at any time. 10. In accordance with the Association’s governing documents seventy percent (70%) of the membership of the Legislation committee voted to oppose SJR 6. 11. The Task Force consisted of Jim Julian (Chair), Niki Cung, Bob Estes, Don Hollingsworth, Charlie Harwell, Jack McNulty, H.T. Moore, Charlie Schlumberger, John Stroud and David Williams. 12. A “shell bill” is a bill or resolution with a number and title, but no substantive provisions except to generally indicate the subject matter. 13. SJR 5 was amended four times. 14. SJR 2 was filed on January 16 and proposed to add various specific tort reform proposals to the Constitution. The Legislation Committee opposed SJR 2 in its original form because it proposed to put unnecessarily-detailed law in the Constitution. SJR 2 was eventually amended to take out the offending language. The Senate adopted Senate Resolution 30, which encourages the Supreme Court to adopt tort reforms. On August 2, 2013, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued the per curiam opinion reprinted on page 17 of this article to address these issues. ■
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www.arkansasfindalawyer.com Vol. 48 No. 3/Summer 2013 The Arkansas Lawyer
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