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Group seeks to put gay foster parenting ban on ballot Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Christian conservative group that successfully led the drive for Arkansas' constitutional amendment banning gay marriage will push for a ballot initiative to limit who can adopt or foster children in the state, its leader said Tuesday. Arkansas voters should have the opportunity to vote on whether gay people and unmarried couples who live together should be allowed to adopt children or serve as foster parents, said Jerry Cox, executive director of the Arkansas Family Council. The group planned to formally announce its intentions Wednesday. Cox said his organization is drafting a measure that would impose such a ban and plans to submit it to the attorney general's office for approval this summer. The attorney general must certify the popular name and ballot title of ballot issues before their supporters can begin petition drives to get them on the general election ballot. "This is not anything different than what we've been talking about since the Legislature failed to pass a bill during the recent session," Cox said, referring to Senate Bill 959, which passed the Senate but stalled in a House committee. If the measure's name and ballot title are approved, the Family Council would then have until July 7, 2008, to collect the necessary signatures to get the proposal on the November 2008 general election ballot. The proposal being developed would be similar to SB 959, Cox said. Several versions have been written and no decision has been made on whether the measure would be a proposed constitutional amendment or an initiated act, he said. To get a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2008 ballot would require the signatures of 77,468 registered voters. A proposed initiated act would need 61,874 signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot, according to the secretary of state's office. An initiated act could be changed by the Legislature with a three-fourths majority. A constitutional amendment, however, could only be changed by a vote of the people. Rita Sklar, executive director of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Tuesday her organization will fight any attempt to implement such a ban, as it did during the legislative session. Sklar said such a measure would only serve to harm the children of the state, which she said is in desperate need of foster parents. "Our foster care service is in no better condition than it was during the session. No fewer children need homes than during the session," she said. Sklar added that she did not think Arkansans "want to see the government meddling in the question of adoption and families." SB 959 was filed in response to a June 2006 state Supreme Court decision upholding a lower court ruling that struck down a state regulation banning gays from becoming foster parents. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox ruled in 2004 that in imposing the ban the state Child Welfare Review Board exceeded its authority granted by the Legislature. After the ruling, the state stopped asking prospective foster parents about their sexual orientation. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office has already certified three proposed constitutional amendments, including one by former Sharp County Quorum Court member Marvin Coosey that would lengthen the terms of county officials from two years to four years. The attorney general also has also certified two proposals by former state Rep. Charles Ormond of Morrilton. One would create a state commission to oversee expanded gambling in Arkansas. The other would set four-year terms for county officials; allow state senators to serve up to three four-year terms instead of two four-year terms; allow state representatives to serve up to three four-year terms instead of three two-year terms; and limit state Supreme Court justices and state Court of Appeals judges to two six-year terms in office. |
