There are certain words and phrases used by the Arkansas Legislature that are intended to give you the impression you don’t need to spend time reading the legislation because it does not do much or only makes a small positive change that no one would object to. Some examples of these words include, “clarify,” “technical corrections,” “cleanup bill,” “common sense legislation,” and “reform.”
When you see such words ignore them! Read it only as “the law is being changed” and look at the legislation closer than ever.
Sometimes these disarming words are used to cover up the fact that the legislation is making big changes, and there will be winners and losers when the legislation passes.
State agencies love to use these words in their draft legislation because their disarming effect can help the bureaucrats find legislators willing to sponsor the legislation. Legislators should view such state agency legislation with much suspicion.
Legislation normally means there will be winners and losers, otherwise why bother tweaking the law. A wild eyed liberal and a conservative will have very different views on what is a reform or merely a clarification, etc. The same is true with people on either side of any issue. What is seen as a minor change to Walmart may be a big deal to a small business owner.
All I am saying is, you need to look at legislation with suspicion if any of the disarming words are used. It does not mean you won’t like the legislation. Your side may be winners. Nor does it mean the legislator is intentionally trying to fool you.
CLARIFY & TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS
The word “clarify” is one of the favorite legislative words used to sell legislation. When I looked about two weeks ago there were already twenty-four bills filed using the word “clarify” in the title. My guess is many of these originally came from a state agency or from a big association and were used to help get a legislator to sponsor the bill.
To clarify something is to “make understandable,” or to “free of confusion.”[i] “Clarify” tends to convey the message “Who can be against this legislation since it is only clarifying what the law says?”
Even when “clarify” is used correctly and the bill is removing confusion, be aware it doesn’t mean the change won’t have a major impact. The law may be confusing, but the clarification may substantially affect your rights, freedom, or pocketbook.
Sometimes the word “clarify” is used when there is no confusion about the law. The law may just not do what bureaucrats want it to do. For example, the agency may want to extend a tax to some situations not covered in current law or the agency may want to extend regulations to some areas not covered by the law. In those instances, the agency may brand the change as a clarification so legislators and the public will think the expansion is how it always should have read.
“Technical corrections,” is similar to the word “clarify” in that it tends to make things seem as if the bill isn’t doing much. You may be thinking “technical corrections” is something like correcting spelling or outdated reference to a state agency or program– but that is not the case.
Words like “clarify” or “technical corrections” are only disarming in fairly low-profile legislation. Such words are not a problem with high profile, highly debated legislation. For example, “technical corrections” was used in the title of Act 746 of 2013 concerning gun rights. It made major changes to protect 2nd Amendment rights, but there was no confusion because gun rights were a hot topic and everyone knew what it did.
CLEANUP BILL
“This bill is just our agency’s ‘cleanup bill.’” Once legislators hear an agency testify the legislation is just a “cleanup” many legislators are ready to pass the bill and move on to something more controversial.
That is what happened in the House Committee on Education in 2011 when an employee of the Arkansas Department of Education described SB383 as the agency’s clean up bill. The bill quickly passed and became Act 989 of 2011 having never gone through much scrutiny. In rushing to move on, many legislators never noticed page 6 of the bill gave the State Board of Education the power to adopt the Common Core standards. Common Core is almost universally hated by parents. Their rush to pass the bill and move on came back to haunt some of the legislators because some lost in the 2012 election in part because of their vote for Common Core.
COMMON SENSE LEGISLATION
When legislation is presented as “common sense legislation” the sponsor is signaling the legislation is too good to even be questioned. After all who would be so silly as to question something that makes “common sense.”
“Common sense” is “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.”[ii]
You will often hear this when someone who favors more gun control, as in “This is common sense gun reform.” Notice the double whammy here with the use of both “common sense” and “reform.” How can anyone be against something described as both common sense and as a reform? That is the intent of using the words. Never mind that people on the other side of the issue see it as not making common sense, and as not being a reform, and see it as an attempt to sidestep the issue of it being an infringement on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
What a wild eyed liberal perceives as common sense and what most Arkansans consider common sense are not even close.
REFORM
“Reform” means “to put or change into an improved form or condition,” “to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses,” “to put an end to (an evil) by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action,” “to induce or cause to abandon evil ways.”[iii]
How can anyone disagree with legislation that is a reform?
But what is “reform” to one person may be tyranny to another person. In the extreme, what a wild eyed liberal and what most Arkansans consider reform, are completely different.
So, read the word “reform” as “change” because the word “reform” does not always mean for the better.
Sometimes “reform” is only used to sell the legislation.
Here is an example of the use of “reform” in a bill from 2017. Act 78 of 2017 by Senator Jim Hendren created the “Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force.” The task force recommended some tax cuts and then looked for places to increase taxes to offset all or a part of the reductions. The alleged reform was just picking winners and losers in deciding whose taxes would be cut and who would have to pay more. The task force decided to study the possibility of increasing the sales tax on groceries to the full tax rate. Conduit criticized the task force’s move which resulted in all the 2016 candidates for governor (Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian) to oppose the task force’s move and the idea was dropped.
Did you consider the reform task force’s idea of raising the tax on groceries to be within the scope of “reform?” If not, this is an example why you should always read the word “reform” with some suspicion. Read it only as “change,” as in “to change the law.”
SUMMARY
When legislation is being described with words that convey “there is nothing to see here” or “nobody can be against this legislation,” that is definitely the time for legislators and the public to be suspicious. Maybe the legislation will turn out to be something you do not really care about. On the other hand, a closer look may reveal the legislation is doing something you really like or really hate.
Legislation is about winners and losers. Don’t be a loser by assuming legislation is doing nothing much.
[i] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clarify
[ii] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/common%20sense
