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A Green state legislator in Arkansas, Richard Carroll from North Little Rock, got his first bill passed today. I say "his bill" meaning that he introduced it into the House. And to clarify - it passed the state House with a vote of 84-13, but the Senate has yet to vote on it. It is a bill that extends the period for collecting signatures to get on the ballot from 60 days to 90 days for independent and third party candidates. This might not seem like a big deal, but ballot access is one of the biggest problems facing third parties in America. Representative Carroll explained the situation in Arkansas:"If you're running a statewide race, you've got to get 10,000 signatures, and 60 days, you have to have a massive campaign to get that many signatures in that short a time frame," Carroll said after the vote. "Ninety just gives it 30 more days. You're still going to have to mount a very good campaign to get the signatures to get on the ballot."
By quickly and effectively addressing a problem that is serious to Carroll, he has shown that he is a serious state legislator and the Green Party that he represents is also serious. And lack of seriousness or organization is a popular complaint against the Green Party. Especially if this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, it shows that the Green Party can be a channel for political change if it outgrows the stereotypes that surround it.
And Carroll himself is an interesting man. He is not only an elected official - he is also a boiler maker, a member of the working class. The Arkansas Times did an interesting profile on the man, which you can read here:
Though he cleans up well, his button-down work as a legislator is a far cry from what he really does for a living: a dirty, dangerous job as a boilermaker for the Union Pacific Railroad, Thanks to what he calls his very "civic minded" employer, Carroll has been allowed to work the night shift at the Union Pacific yards in North Little Rock part time so he can come to the legislature during the day. From 11 p.m. to around 3 in the morning, he helps rebuild locomotives that have been damaged in derailments and accidents. He catches a few catnaps before and after work, and sleeps a lot on weekends. "I get a couple hours sleep before I go in to the Capitol," he said. "I may stay until 7 o'clock, go home, get a couple more hours sleep, then go to work."
In his first days a state legislator, Carroll has also been at the head of a program to bring deaf students into the Arkansas capitol building to act as pages and contributed his vote to a successful tax hike on tobacco products. It was the first time deaf students were chosen for the page program:
Rep. Richard Carroll, a Green Party House member from North Little Rock, coordinated the effort to match the nine students, from around the state, with their appropriate representatives. All House members have 10 "page days" that they can dole out to their young constituents.
Carroll - whose 7-year-old son Conor has two cochlear implants to help improve his hearing - said he wanted local deaf students involved at the Capitol.
As for the cigarette tax, it shows that the Green Party need not be a nuisance to progressives by impeding Democrats. The most successful Green in the country lent his vote to a mostly Democratic bill to raise the tax on cigarettes over 50 cents, a move that could produce over $80 million in revenue for the state. And with the bill only getting the 75 votes it needed to pass, Carroll's vote was essential. He was not a thorn in the side of the Democrats, because they realized that they needed him as an ally in order to make progress.
As for questioning the seriousness of a party whose highest elected official is a state legislator, I say that that is taking things out of perspective. There are many obstacles to building a credible third party in this country - ballot access, gerrymandering, money issues, press issues, and so much more. The Green Party is young and if it continues to make progress as a party and on issues that matter to it, I think it could be a great ally for liberals in the days ahead.
