Racial impact bill falls short in Senate

A bill requiring legislators to consider the racial impact of future changes to the state’s criminal laws failed to clear the Arkansas Senate on Monday afternoon.

Senate Bill 604 by Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, fell five votes short of the 18 required for approval in the Senate. The Senate’s vote was 13-9. The Senate later expunged its vote on the bill to clear the way for another vote.

The bill would require a “racial impact statement” to be conducted through the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to look at the effect of any new or altered criminal statute to determine, among other things, if a particular racial demographic is likely to be disproportionately arrested or incarcerated because of the change.

Elliott said lawmakers routinely have economic, fiscal, victim and environmental impact statements developed for bills. Requiring a racial impact statement for bills changing criminal laws is important, she said, because 44 percent of Arkansas’ prison population is black, while 16 percent of the state’s overall population is black.

But Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, said UALR could develop racial impact statements on proposed changes to the state’s criminal laws without SB604.

Elliott said similar legislation failed to clear the Senate two years ago by three votes. That vote was 15-10.

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