What will appear on the ballot?

AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION TO ALLOW THE GOVERNOR TO RETAIN HIS OR HER POWERS AND DUTIES WHEN ABSENT FROM THE STATE.

Full Text

What is in the initiative?

• Removes the provision that allows the Lieutenant Governor to assume the powers of the Governor if the Governor leaves the state.

Support For:

• While this provision was necessary when written in 1914, modern technology, such as cell phones and computers, now makes it obsolete.
• Just as the President doesn’t lose their powers when they leave the country, the Governor shouldn’t lose their powers when they leave the state.
• The current provision was abused in 2013, allowing the Lieutenant Governor to sign legislation into law that the Governor opposed, while the Governor was at the National Governors Association Meeting.

Opposition Against:

• This initiative would lessen the role of the Lieutenant Governor while extending the powers of the Governor.
• There is no provision addressing what would happen if the Governor was out of state, but were unreachable for some reason.