LITTLE ROCK – Today, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders called a special session of the General Assembly. Grant Tennille, Chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, released the following statement in response:

“The Governor’s attempt to dismantle the right of citizens to request public records has absolutely nothing to do with keeping her or her family safe. Detailing the trips she’s taken in the past will in no way jeopardize her safety — it’s also required by the law that she’s attempting to gut. To claim that the Freedom of Information Act needs to be changed to keep her safe is a ludicrous and brazen lie from a skilled politician who knows she’s been caught. The question now is simple: What is she hiding? 

“The Governor should not get to hide how she spends our tax dollars or how the government makes decisions about policies that affect our families. These are public documents and Arkansans have a right to demand them from public servants.

“Arkansas’s FOIA exists for one very simple reason: to let Arkansans keep an eye on what our Government is doing with our money. You want to know what our government is up to? Follow the money. You want to know where the corruption is? Follow the money. Now, the governor is trying to make it impossible for us to follow the money.

“Why? What doesn’t she want us to know?”