Latest news with #RevenueStabilizationAct
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas lawmakers approve $182.5 million state budget increase
Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, addresses the Arkansas House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) The Arkansas General Assembly on Wednesday approved legislation to increase the state's general revenue budget to $6.49 billion for fiscal year 2026, a nearly 3% increase from the previous year. As is typical, state lawmakers approved the Revenue Stabilization Act on the final day of the legislative session through two identical bills — Senate Bill 637 and House Bill 2003. The RSA is nearly identical to the budget Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proposed in November. The largest portion of the $182.5 million increase to the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is an additional $90 million for the state's Educational Freedom Account program. Arkansas governor presents $6.49 billion budget proposal to state lawmakers The school voucher program, which permits state funds to be used for allowable expenses such as private school tuition, is expected to see an increase in participation during its third year, when eligibility opens up to all Arkansas students this fall. The legislation also increases county jail reimbursement by roughly $9 million to $34.8 million. The state reimburses county jails for holding state inmates when there's no room in Arkansas prisons. Expanding prison capacity has been a priority for Sanders, but lawmakers failed this session to approve a $750 million appropriation bill to support the full estimated cost of a planned prison in Franklin County. Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, sponsored that bill and told colleagues the estimated total cost of the proposed 3,000-bed penitentiary is $825 million, but several lawmakers said they believe the cost will top $1 billion and were unhappy that the administration couldn't provide more details on the project. Franklin County residents have also objected to the prison's location and to the state's purchase of the property without involving local officials. In the House Tuesday, Joint Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, highlighted a $13 million increase to the Department of Human Services Grants line item, which he said would support maternal health. Sanders in her proposed budget called for a $13 million increase for Medicaid to help support recommendations from the Strategic Committee for Maternal Health that she convened last year to address the state's poor maternal health outcomes. Arkansas has among the nation's highest maternal and infant mortality rates, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Arkansas is the only state to have taken no action on a federal option to expand Medicaid postpartum benefits to 12 months from the current 60 days. Sanders has refused to expand coverage, saying to do so would be duplicative of other health insurance options for new mothers. The RSA also includes $3.15 million for a performance fund that Jean said would support the governor's new state employee pay plan, which is expected to cost a total of $139 million. Lawmakers last month approved legislation for the plan, which aims to clarify promotion ladders within state agencies and improve recruitment and retention by raising some salaries to labor market rates. State agency leaders should be able to accommodate the updated pay schedule within existing budgets, the governor said last fall. Jean told the House Tuesday that the RSA projects the state would be left with roughly $300,000 in surplus funds, though he noted that would likely be closer to $250,000 because $50,000 would be allocated for highways. That is significantly less than the record billion-dollar surpluses seen in recent years. The decrease in surplus funds could be contributed, in part, to several rounds of tax cuts by Arkansas' last two governors. Sanders and the Legislature cut taxes three times in 15 months, most recently last June. To further support the governor's proposed budget, lawmakers also approved Senate Bill 636 Wednesday, which would transfer $572.79 million in surplus money to various funds and set-aside accounts. 'It's spending a lot of money, I'm not debating that point, but I think it's all needs that the governor came up with. House got some needs that we asked for, Senate's got some needs,' Jean said Wednesday. SB 636 includes an additional $90 million for the EFA program and $100 million for the Medicaid Sustainability Set Aside Fund, among other things. When Sanders proposed these set-aside funds in November, State Budget Director Robert Brech noted they would only be used if necessary and are not part of the RSA, which prioritizes state government spending and balances the budget. 'It's not known at this time if those will be necessary,' Brech said then. 'In the event they are, those set-asides could be used and then built into the budget afterwards, but what we didn't want to do is put too much money in the RSA when it wasn't needed.' A worksheet for surplus funding and set-asides for the 2025-2027 biennium presented to the Joint Budget Committee Monday also proposed transferring $250 million to a correctional facilities fund through Senate Bill 633. That bill was pulled down Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas Legislature plans to ‘run right through the finish line,' end session Wednesday
Sen. Jimmy Hickey (right), R-Texarkana, presides over the Arkansas Senate on Thursday, April 10, 2025. At left is Ann Cornwell, Secretary of the Senate. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) A balanced state budget, more money for correctional facilities and proposed constitutional amendments form just part of the lengthy agenda awaiting Arkansas lawmakers on Monday for a planned three-day work week. 'We've got a lot of work yet to do, so just be prepared that Monday will be a long day and a long evening,' House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told the chamber Thursday. 'We're getting close to wrapping this session up and landing this plane. I'm really proud of the job that you've done.' The 95th General Assembly is scheduled to complete most of its work on Wednesday, then recess for a couple of weeks before returning to formally end the session. In the Senate, the hope is that committees will finish their work by the time the chamber convenes at 10:30 a.m. Monday, said Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs. He added that the chamber could take a break for committee meetings if needed. After speaking to the House parliamentarian, Hester said Thursday that amended bills passed off the Senate floor Monday will still have time to make it through the legislative process. Hester also said he was open to batching bills, a process that allows multiple bills to be voted on together. The Senate could have as many as 100 bills on its calendar Monday, according to Hester, who said Tuesday and Wednesday will likely be slower. 'We're going to run right through the finish line,' Hester said. The House adjourned before 5 p.m. Thursday, leaving dozens of Senate bills on the calendar to be taken up this week. Evans said he made this decision after conferring with House committee chairs. 'We felt like the trade-off for a long day Monday [was] being a little rested over the weekend, and cooler heads prevailing would be better than just trying to force stuff through this evening,' Evans told reporters after adjournment. The Senate bills slated for House votes include one that environmental advocates feared would endanger a moratorium on large animal farms in the Buffalo River watershed. Senate Bill 290 would have to receive Senate approval again since it was amended in the House. Evans said the governor's office has told him she supports SB 290, which was amended several times since its introduction in February after negotiations between stakeholders and elected officials. 'I think each [side] had to give a little bit, but in doing so, they brought a better piece of legislation forward,' he said. SESSION SNAPSHOT: Prison, library battles continue as Arkansas legislative session nears end A critical piece of legislation that has yet to receive House and Senate approval is the Revenue Stabilization Act, or the balanced budget for fiscal year 2026. The proposal is nearly identical to the budget Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proposed in November, Evans said. The budget totals $6.49 billion and raises spending by 2.89%. The Joint Budget Committee is expected to approve the legislation, House Bill 2003 and Senate Bill 637, at Monday's 9 a.m. meeting. Joint Budget is also set to consider Senate Bill 633, filed last week by Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers. SB 633 would transfer $250 million from general revenue to a set-aside fund for correctional facilities. The Legislature placed $330 million into the fund in 2023 for expanding prison capacity. A $750 million appropriation bill to support construction of a 3,000-bed state prison in Franklin County is likely dead after the Senate failed five times to garner enough support for the measure. Arkansas lawmakers consider other funding methods as they abandon sixth prison appropriation vote Additionally, the House and Senate will finalize which proposed constitutional amendments the Legislature will refer to the 2026 statewide ballot. On Thursday, the Senate approved a proposal to affirm that the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 'is a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed.' The measure must receive House committee approval before going to the full House. The full Senate is expected to vote this week on the House's proposed amendment, which would affirm that only U.S. citizens can vote in Arkansas. Noncitizen voting is already illegal, and proposed measures to further prevent this failed in the House in March. The Legislature can refer up to three amendments to voters each election cycle, so lawmakers may also consider a third proposal before the legislative session ends. Several committees are scheduled to deviate from their typical biweekly meeting schedules in order to finish business this week. For example, the House Education Committee usually meets Tuesdays but will meet at 11 a.m. Monday. The committee is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 625, which would place some additional restrictions on Education Freedom Account program funding. The state voucher program, one of Sanders' priorities during her first year in office, allows state funding to be used for qualifying expenses, such as private school tuition and extracurricular activities. The latter caused controversy last year when a Fayetteville stable encouraged homeschoolers via social media to use their EFA funds for horseback riding lessons. Among other things, SB 625 would prohibit spending more than 25% of allocated funds on extracurriculars. The same limit would be placed on transportation expenses. Bill sponsor Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, told the Senate Thursday the goal is to ensure the money goes toward education-related items. Participants in the 2025-2026 academic year, the third year of the EFA program and the first time it will be open to all Arkansas students, will receive up to $6,864 annually. The Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda for 10 a.m. Monday includes Rep. Mary Bentley's House Bill 1916, a proposed amendment to her Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023. The Perryville Republican seeks to add mental health treatment to the law's list of gender-affirming healthcare for which doctors who treat transgender minors could face civil liability. Bentley introduced HB 1916 a day before she withdrew House Bill 1668, which she had previously agreed to amend. That bill would have created civil liability for any adult who aids a minor's 'social transitioning,' but lawmakers, the attorney general's office and members of the public said the bill infringed on the right to freedom of expression. Bentley has sponsored several bills related to transgender Arkansans in the past few legislative sessions. She is the House sponsor of Senate Bill 486, which would allow Arkansans to sue for damages if they encounter someone assigned male at birth in a women's bathroom, changing room, shelter or correctional facility. The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs is scheduled to meet twice Monday and is expected to take up SB 486. The State Agencies committee is also set to hear a bill that outlines a petition process to allow voters to decide whether their local water system contains fluoride, while the House Public Health, Labor and Welfare Committee is scheduled to hear a proposed repeal of the statewide mandate for public water system fluoridation. Arkansas lawmakers consider suggestions to improve underfunded scrap tire recycling program The former bill is Senate Bill 613, and Evans said he expects it to pass the House if it passes the State Agencies committee, which is scheduled to meet twice Monday. 'It seems to me that there's a lot of favor in that one because of the efforts that have been put forth by all the stakeholders in that to get some compromised language,' Evans said. Meanwhile, the Senate's equivalent public health panel is set to meet Monday at the call of chairwoman Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View. One bill on its agenda is House Bill 1982, which would remove a prohibition on used tire retailers imposing fees, in addition to an existing rim removal fee, to cover their costs. The state's underfunded scrap tire recycling program has been a regular topic of legislative debate for the past few years. Lawmakers in both chambers have also been considering three bills pertaining to minors' social media use, which Sanders has expressed support for regulating. House Bill 1717 would ban technology companies from collecting data from Arkansas minors except under specific circumstances. The House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, and Legislative Affairs passed the bill in March and will consider an amended version Monday. Senate Bill 612 would create a right for parents to sue social media platforms if content on those platforms harms their children. The amended bill is likely to receive a House vote Monday and would need to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate to reach Sanders' desk before the session ends. The Judiciary Committee is currently not scheduled to meet again after Monday. Senate Bill 611 would amend the Social Media Safety Act of 2023, an enjoined law that required social media platforms to verify the age of new account holders in Arkansas. It would need to follow a similar process as SB 612 to reach Sanders' desk. The Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce, which passed SB 611 before it was amended, was not scheduled to meet this week as of Sunday. Arkansas Senate approves proposed changes to blocked social media age verification law SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
