[informational hijack]
The administration. i.e. the Executive branch. No, I’m serious, that’s why it’s called the administration/executive. There is really no need for the Legislative Branch to be in session any longer than it takes to pass the legislation necessary to protect the public interest. And specially if they’re not being particularly attentive, as in this case, you may want to limit their chances to do more damage.
OK, lemme explain: there are a (smaller by the decade) number of states of the USA whose legislatures only sit in Regular Session once every other year. In these states, the State Budget runs for TWO fiscal years. During that single Regular Session, say in the spring of the odd-number year, the legislature passes the State Budget as well as attempts to pass such legislation as they understand necessary.
Once they’re done with that, for the rest of the term they meet only in Special Session, which most often is called discretionally by the Governor, or in some cases can be requested by petition of a majority of legislators, and in which cases the agenda of the session is limited to the specific bills for which it was called. During that recess term the *committees * of the Legislature can still meet, for the purposes of oversight and to conduct hearings and inquiries. But you do not pass laws except in Session.
In some other States, there’s annual sessions but one may be longer, where the legislature meets for the budget, platform planks, statewide legislation, bills that may generate debate, etc. while in alternate years there’s just the budget, bills that affect localities, and noncontroversial housekeeping. And variations thereof.
Only a mere handful of states have officially"full time legislatures" in the style of the Federal Congress, that sit in both Fall and Spring terms and require the member to quit any other job. Of course, as society and government became more complicated, the legislators in many states found that in addition to their lawgiver functions they also had to do a lot of oversight, citizen advocacy, mediation, civic booster, etc. so for a majority of the states nowadays the legislator is serving the public in all seasons. But still, most of them have the actual Regular Session, where Bills are passed, run only about half the year, with the rest being dedicated to committee work and District-Office citizen-service work.
[/informational hijack]
That said, it is parliamentarily correct that the inadvertent omission or inclusion of a word that causes a change of the substantive meaning of the statute, is something that cannot be dispensed with as a mere grammatical correction. It requires amendment by the legislative process.
Now, I’m pretty sure that if someone attempts to take undue advantage of this mistake, someone at the State AG office will discreetly advise some official at the proper level to take one for the team and flout the law. Then Hubert will have to sue the official/agency to make them write the marriage license for him and Lolita, and the AG and the Arkansas courts will be delighted to take the case… and drag it out (under an injunction for no other licenses to be issued under the new rules until it’s resolved) for as long as it takes for the Legislature to moot the issue.
At least that’s how I would do it…
Parents can’t the sign a few papers and marry their underage children off against their will, can they? Child welfare authorities could intervene and get the marriage annuled by the family court for lack of consent.