Lieutenant governor candidate Andy Mayberry said he’s drafted a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the office in 2019 and that the 2015 Legislature will be asked to refer it to voters in the 2016 general election.
The East End Republican, who has served two terms in the state House of Representatives, said he’ll push for the proposed amendment regardless of the outcome of this year’s race.
“‘I’m pursuing this whether I’m the person in office or not.” Mayberry said Thursday at a news conference in the state Capitol in Little Rock. “I believe it is the right thing to do. I think it’s a position whose time has come. … We can make government smaller and more efficient, and we can save taxpayers about $400,000 a year,” referring to office’s annual budget.
Mayberry is vying with U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin ofLittle Rock and state Rep. Debra Hobbs of Rogers for the Republican nomination. Businessman John Burkhalter of Little Rock, a former member of the state Highway Commission and Economic Development Commission, is the lone Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
Under Mayberry’s draft amendment, the secretary of state would become next in line of succession to be governor if the post becomes vacant.
The governor would have the discretion to retain his authority when outside the state or to temporarily delegate that responsibility to the secretary of state under Mayberry’s proposal. The governor is currently required to relinquish that authority to the lieutenant governor when he’s outside the state.
The lieutenant governor’s primary duties are presiding over the Senate and serving as acting governor when the governor is outside the state. Mayberry said the Senate president pro tempore would preside over the Senate under his plan.
The secretary of state’s duties include helping counties with elections, maintaining a statewide voter-registration system, caring for and providing security at the stateCapitol and its grounds, and maintaining some records of businesses.
Mayberry, who announced his plans to run for lieutenant governor in August, said he first discussed his idea with legislative staff members in early January and decided a few weeks later to propose an amendment, before Griffin expressed interest in the post.
He said his wife, Julie Mayberry, who is unopposed in her bid for her husband’s House seat, will introduce a resolution in the 2015 regular session to refer his proposed constitutional amendment to voters in November 2016. A state senator plans to propose a similar resolution, Andy Mayberry said, but he declined to disclose the senator’s identify.
Hobbs, who is barred from seeking re-election to the House under the state’s term limits amendment, said Friday that she supports amending the constitution with a proposal similar to Mayberry’s.
“I do think we could combine those two offices,” she said, referring to lieutenant governor and secretary of state’s offices. “I think that would be a good idea.” But Hobbs said it would be difficult to persuade the Legislature to advance a proposed constitutional amendment if the next lieutenant governor and a majority of the Legislature belong to the same party. Instead, a citizen-initiated amendment would be needed.
Griffin, who has served in Congress since 2011, declined to comment Thursday about Mayberry’s draft amendment.
A month ago, Griffin said the office should be kept, noting that two lieutenant governors have been promoted to governor in the past 22 years, and that the past two lieutenant governors promoted policies during their campaigns - a state lottery and a state website on state spending - that were enacted into law. But he said he wants to reduce the office’s staff from four to two employees.
The lieutenant governor’s office has been vacant since Springdale Republican Mark Darr’s Feb. 1 resignation, more than a month after the state Ethics Commission levied an $11,000 fine against him for 11 violations of state ethics law and regulations. Darr had agreed not to fight charges that he improperly used campaign and taxpayer funds. The next lieutenant governor will be elected in the Nov. 4 general election and be sworn into office in January, after the Legislature enacted a law to allow Gov. Mike Beebe to forgo calling a special election to fill the vacancy.
“The potential for abuse of the office outweighs thepotential for good use of the office, and while one particular person in there may do some fantastic things, all it takes is one person to do some things that really send a sour note throughout the state,” Mayberry said.
A spokesman for Burkhalter - who said last month that he wouldn’t be for running for an office that he “wanted to get rid of ” - said it’s not surprising that “typical politicians like Andy Mayberry and Tim Griffin would seek an office that they don’t even believe in just to get elected to their next political job.”
Burkhalter spokesman Bryan Griffith said that “arbitrarily cutting staff without properly evaluating what the office can accomplish is not a plan for helping create jobs for Arkansans.
“It’s a political stunt by someone who has spent his career mastering just that,” he said.
But Griffin said Friday that “I believe there is an important role for the lieutenant governor in advocating for policies, including tax reform, that will help Arkansas compete for good-paying jobs.
“Contrary to my liberal Democrat opponent, I believe that all government offices should review what they spend and seek to use hardworking taxpayer dollars more wisely,” Griffin said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/22/2014