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Arkansas bill would require water authority board contact info on public websites; committee adds ANRC listing
Summary
House Bill 1387, a constituent-driven measure, would require water authority board members’ names and telephone numbers to be posted on public websites; the Senate Insurance & Commerce Committee amended the bill to require the same information on the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission website and advanced the measure by voice vote.
House Bill 1387, a constituent-driven measure requiring members of water authority boards to have their names and telephone numbers displayed online, moved forward in the Senate Insurance & Commerce Committee after members adopted a verbal amendment to expand where the information must appear.
Representative Cameron Cooper, R-District 57, told the committee the bill responds to constituent complaints after a water authority outage left customers without running water and with no clear way to contact board members. “This is a constituent driven bill. It will require the members of a water authority board of directors to have their names and phone numbers displayed on the water authorities website,” Cooper said.
The bill makes water-authority board members public officials by virtue of the Arkansas Water Authority Act and would require consistent online contact information. Senator Keith asked whether simply requiring “any telephone number” could allow unreachable numbers to be posted; Cooper replied that the problem exists for elected officials generally and welcomed ideas to strengthen accountability.
Committee members proposed and adopted a verbal amendment to add a requirement that the same contact information be available via the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) website. Senator Ervin suggested adding a link or a listing on the ANRC site; committee members agreed to incorporate that language so the information would appear on both the public water authority websites and the ANRC site. The motion to suspend the rules to accept the verbal amendment was seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee then voted to give HB 1387 a do-pass recommendation as amended; the action was recorded by voice vote.
The bill’s sponsor said the measure is intended to make water-authority board members “contact and accountable to the people.” The committee did not record roll-call tallies in the transcript; the bill advanced by voice vote with no recorded roll-call opposition.
Votes at the committee were voice votes: the committee suspended the rules to allow a verbal amendment and approved HB 1387 as amended by voice vote. The bill will return to the floor (and the House, as needed) with the committee amendment attached.
The committee recessed after other business and later reconvened; committee leadership said the agreed-upon language needed review before formal filing.
