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Nominations open for APA special awards Guest Column:
Making plans for the next 10 years By Kevin Slimp
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly Vol. 16 | No. 21 | Thursday, May 27, 2021 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
APA lobbyists reflect on recent legislative session Last month, the Arkansas General Assembly wrapped up a 108-day legislative session having enacted several bills that impact the Arkansas Press Association and the state’s newspaper industry. Throughout the session, APA’s contract lobbyists at Little Rock-based Gilmore Davis Strategy Group helped support the industry. For this week’s Arkansas Publisher Weekly¸ J.R. Davis of Gilmore Davis answered questions about his views on the session overall and what he expects for Arkansas’s newspapers going forward.
Q) How do you think the newspaper industry fared overall in the last session? The 2021 General Session was a successful one, overall, for the Arkansas newspaper industry. That may seem a bit strange given the barrage of attacks on public notice and FOIA; however, our collective efforts to push back on some of the more harmful legislation is certainly reason to celebrate. One such example, among many others, is HB1280 by Rep. Delia Haak, R-Centerton, that would have gutted the FOIA’s open meetings provision by allowing executive sessions for the purpose of discussing economic development and investment opportunities. After multiple attempts in committee, the bill finally made it to the House floor where it ultimately died.
Other important issues to note: Teachers, for the second session in a row, were given pay raises; high schoolers must now take some form of computer science in order to graduate; sales tax on used cars below $7,500 was eliminated; and ARHOME, the third iteration of the state’s private option model, surprisingly sailed through both chambers and onto the governor’s desk for signature.
Q) What was the tone and theme of the session overall, and what were the “big issues” unrelated to our industry to come out of this General Assembly? Discord between the legislative and executive branch was a constant theme throughout the 2021 session. Defiant legislators on one side and a governor who was more than willing to push back on legislation he deemed harmful set the tone early. Consider this: In Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s three prior legislative sessions, he has only used his veto power three times. In this year’s session, he doubled that total. (Two were sustained, and one was overridden.) Social issues were once again front and center this session with a number of antiabortion, Second Amendment, and antitransgender bills becoming law.
Finally, it’s important to note that tax cuts are still being considered and will be taken up by the Legislature, along with congressional redistricting, when it reconvenes later this fall.
Q) What new laws are going to affect Arkansas newspapers the most?
As mentioned above, there were a lot of victories this session, but there were also some losses, despite our collective best efforts. A few laws that will directly impact the newspaper industry are as follows: • SB 610 (Act 954) by Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Bull Shoals, adds a requirement that public notices placed by Arkansas counties and cities contain extra information stating which entity paid for the notice and how much the notice costs. The entity purchasing the notice is required to supply the additional language (the mandate does not fall to newspapers), and newspapers may levy per-word charges on the added text. Continued on Page 2