---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS; TO REQUIRE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW AN INITIATIVE PETITION OR REFERENDUM PETITION BEFORE CIRCULATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY."
description: "TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS; TO REQUIRE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW AN INITIATIVE PETITION OR REFERENDUM PETITION BEFORE CIRCULATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1320"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1320 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Payton", "Ray"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-30T17:12:51+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-06T19:35:29+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0f03e40e-6078-436a-8401-3672a3a640b9"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "3e3f047bf035bfa52ec0b9aa99c5508aa93a218e9a03a46b732e89edf7d968a1"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas HB 1320 (2023) — TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS; TO REQUIRE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW AN INITIATIVE PETITION OR REFERENDUM PETITION BEFORE CIRCULATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Act 194** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=194.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **Amendment H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FHB1320-H1.pdf)
3. **Amendment H2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FHB1320-H2.pdf)
4. **HB 1320** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/HB1320.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed. — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J. Payton — primary (person)
- Ray — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-30T17:12:51+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-01-30T19:54:23+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-06T14:31:38+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2023-02-06T14:31:40+00:00** Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-06T15:39:32+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2023-02-13T14:32:14+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2023-02-13T14:32:17+00:00** Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-13T16:34:52+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2023-02-20T22:47:52+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-21T20:17:19+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-21T20:17:21+00:00** EMERGENCY CLAUSE ADOPTED
- **2023-02-21T22:07:56+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2023-02-21T22:08:03+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-28T19:23:06+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-01T20:54:01+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-01T20:54:07+00:00** EMERGENCY CLAUSE ADOPTED
- **2023-03-01T20:54:12+00:00** Returned to the House as passed.
- **2023-03-01T21:20:43+00:00** Returned From the Senate as passed.
- **2023-03-01T21:20:47+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2023-03-01T21:59:09+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2023-03-06T19:35:29+00:00** Notification that HB1320 is now Act 194 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0f03e40e-6078-436a-8401-3672a3a640b9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).