The organization has established this Fund for the purpose of instituting a legal challenge to the Governor’s unconstitutional exercise of unlimited power under his emergency orders due to the coronavirus, and in the interest of protecting the lives and fundamental liberties of the citizens of the State of Arkansas.
All money received and disbursed by this Fund would be strictly for the purpose of paying the organization’s legal expenses associated with bringing this challenge. Once all legal expenses are satisfied, any residual funds will be donated to a charitable organization of this organization’s choosing.
The Arkansans for Constitutional Government board is comprised of three individuals who will oversee the donations process:
Bob Hester
Iris Stevens
Janette Hendrix
For accurate documentation, donations must be made either by check or online using the vehicle [PayPal] provided on the Northeast Arkansas Tea Party website or the Citizens Taxed Enough FaceBook page. And cash donations should be made to one of the three board members
Because this fund is NOT a 501C3, donations will not, at this time, be tax deductible. At the end of this action, any residual funds will be donated to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
For information about the necessity for this funding mechanism, Arkansans for Constitutional Government, please read the information below.
Arkansans for Constitutional Government is the mechanism for a fund comprised of donations from liberty-minded Arkansans seeking to contest Governor Asa’s bypassing of the Legislature and resulting overreach in response to COVID-19.
These funds will pay for legal services and action by the law firm which has already been active in this arena. This law firm assisted Representative and Senator-Elect Dan Sullivan in writing a letter to the Secretary of Health highlighting various grievances that have occurred since March 11th, 2020 when Gov. Hutchison originally issued Executive Order 20-03.
In that letter, they clarified that they were not contesting the Governor’s emergency powers granted him by the Emergency Act of 1973, but rather the unchecked authority granted to the Department of Health to issue orders as given to them in EO 20-03. This is in contrast to the Administrative Procedures Act that limits State Departments to significantly less powerful “rules” instead of the “orders” specified in the EO.
Sullivan highlighted four specific issues:
1. A requirement of the APA is generally 30 days notice to implement a rule, but in emergencies that can be waived. However, there must be a statement in writing of the reasons for that decision. Neither a 30 day notice, nor an explanation for those reasons was ever issued.
2. Also, “an agency shall not file an emergency rule with the Secretary of State for adoption until the emergency rule has been approved”, and said approval requires Legislative involvement. This has not happened.
3. An emergency rule may only exist for 120 days, meaning that EO 20-03 should have expired July 3rd. This was bypassed by ‘ending’ the Executive Order on June 18th with EO 20-36 and immediately renewed with EO 20-37 on the same day. However, the reasons for the emergency, COVID-19, had not changed.
4. “All rules promulgated pursuant to this subsection shall be reviewed by the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor and the Senate Committee…”. This has also not happened.
This letter sent by Representative Sullivan stating such was sent July 8th. On the 22nd, the Governor’s office responded by blurring the lines between “rules” and “orders,” but acknowledged acts such as stripping a concert venue of their liquor license, and closing a bar because they declined to limit their capacity. He does not mention the arbitrary closing of the economy, reopening at will, or the mask mandate that would follow.
What the letter also fails to address is the bypassing of the state of emergency expiration date, something that requires legislative approval to be extended. There is no mention of that sidestep, and instead, they’ve restated and intensified their claims of autonomy.
The Attorney for the Executive branch even stated before the Arkansas Legislative Council that there are no limits and the Governor can extend the Emergency as many times and for as long as he chooses. This is an overreach. This is not about masks or closed businesses. It’s about one man ruling through state agencies and no legislative oversight.
The People of Arkansas have not had representation in these matters because there have been no special sessions called when there should have been. The best way forward is through the courts where a special session may be forced upon him. Until then, Arkansans can continue to contact their Representatives, but the legislators have no power as long as the Executive Branch operates outside legislative oversight.
The subject of this action today is COVID-19 and the actions by the governor and various bureaucratic departments, but what public fears in the future will allow the Governor to arbitrarily call a state of emergency from which there is no return? A special session must be forced, our representatives given a say, and the emergency powers of the Governor limited in the future.
That’s what this fund is for, to provide a mechanism through legal action for our Representatives get back to Little Rock where they can do the job Arkansans elected them to do.
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