Changing Gears

Supporters of immigration ballot issue fall short; adoption ban signatures submitted
Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008
By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK - Supporters of a proposed initiated act to largely ban illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits acknowledged Monday they were thousands of signatures short of qualifying the measure for the November ballot. Monday was the deadline for submitting signatures on behalf of ballot initiatives to the secretary of state's office, and the leader of the group Secure Arkansas said supporters were about 5,000 signatures short of the 61,974-signature threshold for making the Nov. 4 general election ballot. Secure Arkansas chairman Jeannie Burlsworth said she was disappointed but that the canvassing effort had strengthen her group. It's goal now, she said, is to push for passage of legislation similar to the proposed initiated act during the 2009 regular legislative session. "We knew it was a long shot," Burlsworth said. "We're not going away." Also Monday, the Family Council Action Committee submitted 65,899 signatures in support of a proposed initiated act that would ban unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents in the state. Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to lengthen county sheriffs' terms from two years to four years notified the secretary of state's office they did not have enough signatures to turn in. If the petitions that were submitted by Monday's 4:30 p.m. deadline fall short of the required number of valid signatures, supporters will have another 30 days to gather signatures.

Last month, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter submitted 138,000 signatures - well above the 77,468 necessary - in support of his proposed constitutional amendment to create a state lottery to fund college scholarships. The process of verifying those signatures began Monday morning, said Natasha Naragon, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Charlie Daniels. At an afternoon news conference, Burlsworth said Secure Arkansas was buoyed by having gathered 56,122 signatures in less than two months and that registered voters in each of the state's 75 counties signed the petition. Despite falling short, Burlsworth said she was pleased with the effort because more than 4 percent of the registered voters in 26 counties signed the petition. State law requires 4 percent of signatures in at least 15 counties across the state. She said public forums with lawmakers and citizens will be held over the next six months in each of the state's 75 counties in advance of the regular session, which convenes in January. "We're excited about the future," Burlsworth said. "We're going to look at how each county has been affected by the illegal alien crisis." Espi Porter of Hot Springs Village, who immigrated to the United States from Cuba 50 years ago and became a U.S. citizen in 1963, said he supported Secure Arkansas' proposal. "It is not racist," Porter said. "I, along with my family, did the legal route and it's not fair to us that people just jump in here and get everything without working for it." Gov. Mike Beebe came out against the proposal, saying it would duplicate provisions already covered by federal and state law. The proposal would create a larger bureaucracy and cost the state additional money, the governor said.

Earlier Monday, the Family Council Action Committee announced it had turned in 65,899 signatures in support of its measure to bar unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents in Arkansas. Family Council director Jerry Cox said he expects about 25 percent of the signatures to be determined invalid and that the group would take advantage of the 30-day extension to gather enough signatures to make up the difference, which he expected to be as much as 15,000. When the petition drive began last year, Cox said he hoped the effort would produce 100,000 signatures, a number the group secured four years ago for a measure to ban gay marriage in Arkansas. Voters in 2004 overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.The 65,000 signatures for the adoption measure fell well short of the goal. "People simply have not been paying attention to this issue and that's been the greatest difficulty," Cox said at a news conference. "It's not a lack of support as much as it is a lack of attention to the issue." Jennifer Ferguson, a spokesman for Arkansas Families First, a group formed earlier this year to oppose the measure, said the proposal goes too far. She said the state already has a policy banning couples living together from serving as foster parents, but there is no such policy for adoptions. "We think the current policy that is in place, where you've got qualified people like juvenile judges making decisions about what is best for children and where they should be placed is the best way to go," Ferguson said.
www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2008/07/08/
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As the story above states, the petition to stop illegals from stealing state benefits will not be on the ballot for November. I want to thank everyone who took part in gathering signatures for the petition. We did very well under the circumstances and we are actually just getting started. This is an election year where we will decide leaders on all levels. The network we have created will help us choose people who will stop illegal immigration!