In 2014, Arkansas state legislators used misleading ballot language to trick Arkansas voters into gutting the state’s term limits law.
Now the same politicians behind that scheme — which called dumping term limits “ethics reform” — have been busted for bribery.
Arkansas State Representative Micah Neal pled guilty last week to taking $38,000 in bribes from two non-profit groups after securing taxpayer-funded grants for the organizations.
According to case documents, Neal and an unnamed state senator used their official positions to appropriate $600,000 in Government Improvement Fund (GIF) money to two non-profit groups in exchange for bribes. Neal is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Multiple sources are reporting that Neal’s partner-in-crime is Senator Jon Woods, the architect of the outrageous 2014 scam to destroy term limits.
The big picture is now coming together. While Woods and Neal were feathering their nests, they were also clobbering term limits to make sure the gravy train would never stop.
This corruption bombshell is the precise reason why term limits are so important.
Without a check on their power, politicians too often turn a place of public service into their own place of profit. We should never let that happen.
Please stay tuned for updates on this developing story.
Nick Tomboulides is the Executive Director of U.S. Term Limits