Capitol-monuments bill advances; legislature would have first say in placement, removal

Rep. Kim Hammer makes his way back to his seat Monday after presenting House Bill 1273. Under the bill, any proposal to construct or remove a monument on state Capitol grounds would require legislators’ approval before the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission could consider it.
Rep. Kim Hammer makes his way back to his seat Monday after presenting House Bill 1273. Under the bill, any proposal to construct or remove a monument on state Capitol grounds would require legislators’ approval before the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission could consider it.

The House approved a bill Monday that would stop consideration of new Capitol monuments unless they're first approved by lawmakers.

House Bill 1273, by Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, would require lawmakers to approve proposals to erect new monuments before they can be considered the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission. Current law requires the Arkansas General Assembly to approve monuments either before or after the commission has its say.

It passed 91-0. The bill now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

"Instead of us being the last step, we would be the first step," Hammer said. "The bill's intended to clean it up so that everybody knows that if you want to put anything on the grounds ... everything starts with the legislative branch first."

The bill also states that the commission can't consider monument removals unless first approved by lawmakers. Current law does not give the Legislature a role in that decision.

Hammer's bill comes as a Ten Commandments monument resulted in proposals for a satanic monument and a wall for atheists.

Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, and Hammer had sponsored Act 1231 of 2015, which requires the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission to permit a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds. The monument is in storage awaiting placement.

The Ten Commandments monument would quote the Bible and include the words, "I am the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

Subsequently, the New York-based Satanic Temple announced plans for an 8.5-foot-tall bronze statue of Baphomet -- a horned goat. Later, the Saline Atheist & Skeptic Society filed a request for a brick wall to be constructed in front of both.

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HB1273 would cancel public hearings on those monuments if it becomes law before the meetings occur. Rapert is the Senate sponsor of the bill.

Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves said the bill is an attempt to stifle public debate about the Ten Commandments and Baphomet monuments.

"A lot of the public commentary related to this is mostly very much in support of the notion that the government should stay out of the religion business, that perhaps the Capitol grounds aren't an appropriate place for that kind of religious expression," he said.

A date has not been yet for the public hearing for the Baphomet monument. A Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission subcommittee is scheduled to meet Thursday to hear a presentation by the Saline Atheist & Skeptic Society about its proposed wall.

"I've reached out to legal counsel. I would argue that even if this emergency bill is passed, it would be inappropriate to not give us our hearing because that would be applying the bill retroactively," Greaves said. "We've already been going through the process. I think they really still have no grounds to kill our hearing at this point."

Hammer said his bill would save organizations and the commission time and money reviewing applications without legislative support.

"Why not put it on the least costly end first -- which would be the legislative branch first," he said. "Plus, I think we represent the interest of the people and I think we have a pretty good ear to the ground as far as what people want."

Representatives of the Society of Freethinkers and of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have promised lawsuits if any religious monuments are built on Capitol grounds, and they said lawmakers would be to blame for any attorneys' fees awarded to them.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two decisions in 2005 that pertained to Ten Commandments displays.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court held in McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union that Ten Commandments displays needed to be removed from two Kentucky courthouses because they were erected along with other religious passages, and the religious motivations were clear.

But the same day, the court issued a separate 5-4 ruling in Van Orden v. Perry holding that the Texas Capitol could keep its decades-old Ten Commandments monument because it conveyed historic and social meaning, and was merely one of several historical displays.

At the other end of the Capitol, the Senate approved legislation Monday that would require the secretary of state to permit and arrange for the placement of a monument commemorating Gold Star families, whose relatives died while serving in the U.S. armed services, on the Capitol grounds.

In a 34-0 vote, the Senate sent Senate Bill 244 by Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot, to the House for further consideration.

Williams said the Gold Star monument would be placed near the west exit from the Capitol.

Under the bill, the monument is required to be designed and constructed in the manner recommended by the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation or in a manner similar to the design recommended by the foundation.

The secretary of state would be required to approve the design and site selection for the monument through consultation with the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission.

The secretary of state may accept gifts, grants and donations from individuals and organizations to be deposited as trust funds into the Gold Star Family Memorial Monument Fund under the bill.

Williams said it's estimated the project will cost about $500,000, and the goal is to start construction of the monument within a year after the end of the regular session.

A Section on 02/07/2017

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