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HB 1713

Alcoholic beverages; small brewer license; purchase and sell spirits; effective date.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Forrest Bennett

Arkansas HB1713 requires ballot titles for citizen measures to be at or below 8th grade reading level per Flesch-Kincaid; AG may refuse to certify titles that exceed it.

Referred to Alcohol, Tobacco and Controlled Substances
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Bill Summary · HB 1713

Summary — HB 1713 (Arkansas, As Engrossed H3/17/25)

Note on source materials: The file you provided contains multiple different HB 1713 texts from other states and a mixed set of legislative actions. This summary focuses on the Arkansas “As Engrossed” text included in the packet, which addresses ballot-title readability for initiative and referendum measures. According to your top-line metadata, this particular bill’s recorded status is “Died In Committee.” Where the record is internally inconsistent, this summary flags the key policy content rather than resolving conflicting procedural entries.

Main purpose

Require that ballot titles for citizen-initiated measures (initiatives and referenda) be written at or below an eighth‑grade reading level, as measured by the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level formula (as of January 1, 2025), and authorize the Arkansas Attorney General to refuse certification of proposed ballot titles that exceed that reading level.

Key provisions

  • Adds subsection (g) to Ark. Code § 7-9-107 (filing an original draft before circulation of an initiative or referendum petition):
    • The Attorney General must not certify a proposed ballot title with a reading level above eighth grade as measured by the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level formula (version as of 1/1/2025).
    • If the Attorney General rejects a proposed ballot title under this rule, the AG must state reasons for rejection and instruct petitioners to redesign the proposed ballot title or the measure so it complies.
  • Legislative findings asserting a compelling state interest in protecting the integrity of the initiative and referendum processes and protecting voters from confusing, misleading, or unlawful measures.
  • Retroactivity clause: the act would not apply to any proposed ballot title already certified by the Attorney General for circulation before the act’s effective date.
  • Emergency clause: declares the act immediately necessary for public peace, health, and safety; would make the law effective on the governor’s approval (or upon veto-override timing).

Who is affected

  • Petition sponsors and circulators: must draft ballot titles at or below the required reading level and revise titles if rejected.
  • Attorney General’s office: gains a specific, measurable standard (Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level) to use when deciding whether to certify proposed ballot titles and an explicit duty to explain rejections.
  • Voters: likely to see shorter/simpler ballot titles for initiatives/referenda if the provision were implemented.
  • Election administrators and potentially courts: could face disputes or litigation over whether a title meets the formula standard or whether the standard is constitutional or otherwise permissible.

Procedural/timeline aspects

  • Certification by the Attorney General of a ballot title is a prerequisite to circulating an initiative or referendum petition under current law; this bill would condition that certification on the reading-level test.
  • The bill contains an emergency clause intended to make it effective immediately upon the governor’s signature (or the equivalent effective date on veto/override).
  • Retroactivity carve-out means measures already certified before the law’s effective date would not be affected.

Potential implications and issues to watch

  • Administrative: AG office would need processes and possibly software to compute Flesch–Kincaid scores and to document rejections.
  • Drafting: sponsors may need legal/writing assistance to reduce grade-level scores while preserving legal precision.
  • Legal challenges: using a single readability formula to regulate ballot language could prompt constitutional or statutory challenges (free speech, ballot access, or separation-of-powers arguments).
  • Ambiguity: how the AG applies the formula to legal/technical terms and multi-sentence titles could affect implementation.

If you want, I can:
- Draft a one-page brief explaining how Flesch–Kincaid scoring works and examples of how titles might be revised to meet an 8th‑grade level;
- Produce a timeline of the bill’s legislative actions drawn from the mixed records you provided and flag inconsistencies for follow-up.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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