LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The Arkansas attorney general's office cleared the way for supporters of a proposed ballot measure aimed at illegal immigrants to begin gathering signatures. The proposed law would require government agencies to verify all people seeking public benefits in Arkansas are legal U.S. residents.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel approved the language of the proposed initiated act on Wednesday. Secure Arkansas, the group proposing the act, now can try to collect the necessary 61,974 signatures of registered voters to put it on the statewide ballot in November.

Jeannie Burlsworth, a chairwoman for Secure Arkansas, has said the group plans to collect many of the signatures at polling places during the state's primary election on May 20.

The proposal would require those older than 13 years old who seek public benefits from a state agency to sign an oath saying they live legally in the country. The group says those who falsely fill out an affidavit could face perjury charges. Verification would not be required for emergency medical treatment, prenatal care or public school enrollment.

Burlsworth said she hopes to begin distributing petitions to supporters around the state as soon as Wednesday.

"We've got a real grassroots effort and we will get the signatures we need. This is just one huge mountain we had to tackle and we've got something in place to see this through," she said.

Burlsworth said she hoped to boost fundraising for the measure and may hire workers to help gather signatures. Secure Arkansas said it raised only $800.17 in March, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state Ethics Commission.

Gov. Mike Beebe would not say Wednesday whether he supports the measure but said some of the proposals in the measure may already be included in state law.

"There are a lot of similarities with existing law and existing regulations between what the previous initiated act proposal had in it and what's already the practice and law in Arkansas. ... To the extent it already is the law, it becomes redundant and to the extent that it's different, people should have the opportunity to look at that," Beebe said.

The group submitted the proposed ballot measure to McDaniel's office on Friday, two days after he rejected a version of the initiative for the second time. McDaniel was out of the state and unavailable to comment on the proposal, a spokesman for his office said.

McDaniel rejected earlier versions of the measure because he said parts of it were unclear and because he said its length could make it vulnerable to a legal challenge.

The push for the measure comes as Arkansas continues to have one of the fastest growing Hispanic populations in the nation. Studies found about half of Arkansas' immigrant population lives in the state illegally.

Testimony last year concluded that Arkansas pays $170 million a year to educate, imprison and provide services to all immigrants - with the majority of money going toward education. But that estimate of state costs remains a fraction of immigrants' estimated economic power in the state.

The Arkansas Friendship Coalition, a group opposed to any local or statewide immigration enforcement legislation, says it will campaign against the initiated act.

Steve Copley, the coalition's chairman, believes the proposal will be a "litmus test" for how Arkansans feel about immigration. He believes, however, it would be difficult for supporters to gather the signatures necessary by the deadline of July 7.

The coalition includes three of Arkansas' largest business interests - Alltel Corp., Tyson Foods Inc. and Stephens Inc. - as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and state appeals court judge Wendell Griffen.

"It unfairly penalizes (immigrants)," Copley said. "We think it would have a negative impact on the state of Arkansas because of the way it's unfairly targeting folks."

---

To read McDaniel's legal opinion on the Secure Arkansas initiative, click here.