Senate committee rejects measure to require biannual AG lawsuit reports after amendment

Senator Keith Ingram presented a bill modeled on prior executive-review measures that would have required the Attorney General to provide the Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) with semiannual updates on ongoing lawsuits, final judgments or settlements, total taxpayer dollars spent defending or prosecuting litigation, and whether the state prevailed.

An amendment adopted in committee removed language that would have identified the specific state entity, employee or elected official that was the subject of a given lawsuit. Senator Ingram described the proposal as an accountability measure and asked the committee for support.

After a motion to pass the amended measure and a roll-call, recorded votes included Bledsoe (aye), English (aye), Davis (aye), Ballinger (no), Tucker (aye) and Garner (no); the chair announced the bill failed for lack of a majority. Senator Ingram thanked the committee for hearing the measure.

The transcript records the amendment’s adoption and the roll-call failure; no subsequent steps for the proposal are recorded in this hearing.