JBC-Personnel
Video
Transcript
15 documents
Bills discussed (15)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1005
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “K. GL#20- HB1055 & HB1005 Department of Education Amendment KMW081, KMW082”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1009
Act 118
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…- SB36 Department of Agriculture Amendment BSS056 M. GL#23- HB1009 Department of Public Safety Amendment DJC038 Member Amendme…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1009 is now Act 118 |
|
HB1018
Act 122
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ent of Public Safety Amendment DJC038 Member Amendments: N. HB1018- University of Arkansas East Arkansas Community College HAR…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS EAST ARKANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1018 is now Act 122 |
|
HB1023
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “I. GL#13- HB1023 Department of Human Services- Secretary’s Office Amendment…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - SECRETARY'S OFFICE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 … | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1036
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…- Educational Television Division Amendment KMW086 C. GL#8- HB1036 Department of Health Amendment CJW031 D. GL#16- SB4 Departm…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1055
Act 126
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “K. GL#20- HB1055 & HB1005 Department of Education Amendment KMW081, KMW082”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1055 is now Act 126 |
|
HB1068
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “J. GL#15- HB1068 Department of Finance and Administration Amendment JAP070”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's … |
|
HB1077
Act 127
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…, and Behavioral Health Services Amendment LCW089 F. GL#10- HB1077 Department of Human Services- Division of County Operations…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF COUNTY OPERATIONS APPROPRIATION FOR … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that HB1077 is now Act 127 |
|
SB21
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “E. GL#9- SB21 Department of Human Services- Division of Aging, Adult, and…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF AGING, ADULT, AND BEHAVIORAL … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB23
Act 133
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…elopmental Disabilities Services Amendment LCW091 H. GL#12- SB23 Department of Human Services- Division of Youth Services Am…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF YOUTH SERVICES APPROPRIATION FOR … | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB23 is now Act 133 |
|
SB24
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…s- Division of County Operations Amendment LCW090 G. GL#11- SB24 Department of Human Services- Division of Developmental Dis…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - DIVISION OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SERVICES APPROPRIATION … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB29
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…bers and Staff Only'. Items held from previous meeting: O. SB29 Lieutenant Governor- Letter dated February 20, 2026, from L…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB36
Act 135
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “L. GL#21- SB36 Department of Agriculture Amendment BSS056”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Joint Budget Committee | Notification that SB36 is now Act 135 |
|
SB4
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “D. GL#16- SB4 Department of Health- Licensing and Regulation Boards Amend…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - LICENSING AND REGULATION BOARDS APPROPRIATION FOR THE … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
|
SB59
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…s, ex officio A. Call to Order Governor’s Letters: B. GL#4- SB59 Department of Education- Educational Television Division Am…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION DIVISION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 … | Joint Budget Committee | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. |
Machine transcript
May contain errors. Verify important quotations against the official video.
About transcript accuracy
- Source
- Whisper
- Model
- ggml-large-v3-turbo.bin
- Processing date
- October 5, 2026
It's called order. Good morning, everyone. It's early. Without objection, I want to call the Lieutenant Governor's office up concerning their budget and personnel items as a carryover from yesterday. Anyone object to that? If not, Ms. Wells and the rest of you, if y'all
can come up. Come forward. Good morning. Thanks for being here. If you would identify yourself, pull the record, and then present whatever you would like, and then we'll take the action. John Austin Lynch, Lieutenant Governor's Office.
Speaker 10
1:34
Sandy Hall, Lieutenant Governor's Office.
Speaker 11
1:41
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I know yesterday, whenever we were here, there was a lot of unanswered questions, so I just want to clarify a few of them. Ultimately, like I mentioned yesterday, we would like to move the Lieutenant Governor's Office to the state pay plan to be able to get every position just up to where we are
with our counterparts and other constitutional offices, just to continue to be competitive with state agencies and the private sector, and I know one of the questions with these maximums in the pay grades, the lieutenant governor does not intend to max out any position. That room is there to be able to, whether that means if she decides to do a raise in the future or just to be able to give the next lieutenant governor also the room to
be able to just accommodate whether you know depending on what position and the person they are hiring to to be able to compete with with everyone else and then we did as well and Miss Barnhill put you on the spot too but we did meet with Miss Barnhill and her team at OPM and we did get approval on every position and the pay grade that aligned with that position and so there were no no concerns um i do understand that the percentage is a big number uh when you look at
the when you look at the spreadsheet but that percentage is is that way because um in with that in 2024 when we did have a 10 percent raise prior to that it's been nearly a decade since that office has had um raises to those positions and so that number will just it's that high because of that um and uh i think i think the biggest question was if we were going to max out and i think we we got that clarified with members and so if anyone does have any more concerns i'm happy to
talk about that but um i don't think there's
Speaker 15
3:59
anything else okay well appreciate a good vote thank you
okay i have uh senator johnson and senator hill in the queue senator johnson there you are so uh
Speaker 19
4:18
during the pay plan did we not give y'all a million dollars to matt to meet that no sir you want an increase during the pay plan
Speaker 26
4:30
I can't speak, Senator, to whether or not they received money at this point within the pay plan. We can research that and see if they received money. But the pay plan itself, the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act, would have not provided anything to any constitutional office.
It's all executive branch agencies. So whether or not they receive some money at that time, I don't know. But I know the pay plan itself, the Classic Compact, would not have provided them anything. Okay, thank you. Senator Hill. Thank
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
5:20
you for covering everything the way you did. did you come up with a percent that i
Speaker 33
5:25
asked you to yes sir um with kind of ballpark where we are
Speaker 9
5:30
looking to take all of these positions with an initial increase based on the appropriation we're asking for the actual percent would be around 30 it's still not a small number and I understand that but if we took it from the decade that we have not received an appropriation increase it about matches with adjustment for inflation from that point to now and so but yes
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
6:02
sir the initial yes sir thank you that that's that that was where I was at your statement what our what our percentage increase was on it because when you look at the other one if you went up to max,
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
6:20
it was pretty substantial. Which is not the plan, Senator. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think after we discussed a little bit with this yesterday afternoon, some hesitation that I had is you work for a constitutional officer that this legislature 50 years ago stripped a lot
of power from and made them a part-time position. And so you have an executive branch constitutional officer that is expected to do the duties of leave the Senate during session and outside of that you know politicians be politicians they got to do what they got to do but my question was like you're asking to go to a salary that is competitive within the market I'm a firm believer that government markets aren't meant to be competitive with the private
sector they just aren't you get security you get retirement you get things the private sector can't but then you're asking to be compenserate with other agencies that have more more duties that work for a full-time constitutional officer so i'd like for you just kind of give us your day-to-day operations like what does your staff
Speaker 11
7:25
do to justify the ask no great question senator and thank you for taking the time yesterday afternoon to just talk to us and with that there's three of us that are in the office full-time for example
chief of staff John Austin handles our legislative policy and communications but even with that we both I'll step in and help with those duties as well just because there is really just the both of us that would hit that handle that and then we have our executive assistant who keeps us all in line uh make sure everything runs smoothly at the office and so with mine um day-to-day is i still have to handle the admin side excuse me the admin side of the office which is dfna opm um talking to
you all you know making sure everything as far as a constitutional office because we still have to no matter how small we are we they treat us just like every other agency so i still have to um make sure closing books, audit, everything is still done correctly, make sure we keep up with that. But in addition to those duties, just like I mentioned, being able to assist with the policy, the legislative work, being able to make sure the office runs smoothly when we are working with constituents. And that may mean we're working with constituents who have issues where we need
to delegate and reach out to our federal delegation. That may mean a different state agency that they're having issues with that we're helping them um and then a lot of the times we get a lot of um hispanic constituents where uh i'm to my knowledge um i i think i'm the only one who speaks spanish and so everything comes to me and you know if any of you all um i think have in the past you know have someone and so you know being able to delegate you know um assist the you know
those constituents and then in addition uh and I I could be here for a long time but you know John Austin the speech writing the legislative word being able to we're still expected my uh lieutenant governor was attorney general for eight years and so it comes with a lot of work coming into the lieutenant governor's office she does expect a lot of us and just be able to know uh what the current bills are what the legislative work you all are working on and what is going on on the national level everything from local to national we are we have to keep up with that and then
like I said I could be here so much we are always happy to help we have an incredible team that we do manage and while I do understand other positions and other agencies do have a workload because we are not able to delegate that with five other staff members it's John Austin and I that handle that handle a lot of that workload okay thank you thank you any further
questions seeing no questions we'll move to a motion do I have a
motion to adopt the proposal as presented A motion? Does it need a second? Second. Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? No. Chair
of the rules, no, has the motion.
We'll take this up later. Thank you. You want a roll call? Just see five hands. All right, call
the roll, please. Do you want me to call the House first? Call
Speaker 41
11:19
the House. Call the House first. All right. I'm not
Speaker 44
11:24
spoiling myself. I'll go to the House. Well done, that's fine, yeah.
Speaker 48
11:40
representative kavanaugh representative kavanaugh votes no representative jeremiah moore representative richmond representative holcomb representative tippy mccullough representative clowny representative gene
representative evans not seeing representative evans going to his first alternate representative magruder not hearing representative magruder going to representative barnett Senator Petty, Senator Blake Johnson, Senator Bryant, Senator Caldwell, Senator Hill, Senator
Letting. Senator Dismang. I'm not hearing Senator Dismang going to Senator Scott. Senator Hester.
Unknown speaker
13:34
Thank you.
I'll take the chairs now. Yes, I'll take the chairs now. Yes, I'll take the chairs now. Yes, I'll take the chairs now. Yes, I'll take the chairs now. So what do we do? Is it in time? Mm-hmm.
Speaker 43
14:34
Thank you.
40, we got six, it needed nine, it only got eight in total. So it
okay the motion the motion fails for a lack of majority it reverts back to the present budget current items and then we'll uh if if if the committee decides to hear it again we'll have
to expunge the record with a vote and have another vote but at this time it fails thank you thank you both mr chair yes
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
16:23
ma'am i'd like to make a motion that we
expunge the vote okay i have a i have a motion that we expunge the vote. Do I have
a second? A second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? No.
No's have it. Chair rules. Thank you. Thank you.
We'll go back to our regular items on the agenda and I'll turn the meeting over to Mr. Robertson to make his comments on each letter.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Starting with item B. Item
Speaker 48
17:12
B is Governor's Letter 4. This is a request for the Department of Ed
Education Television Division, or AETN. The request includes elimination of one ARPBS deputy director position, taking the agency from 93 to 92 positions and cutting $140,000 from regular salaries and match in their state
Speaker 63
17:30
operations and cash appropriations. Any questions? Do I have a motion? Motion.
Second. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye.
All opposed, likewise. Hearing none. motion passes. Next item. Mr. Chairman,
Speaker 48
17:55
items C and D, these are related. We're transferring positions within divisions of the Department of Health. Item
Speaker 63
18:02
C is Governor's Letter 8. This is a request for the Department of Health, Division of Health, to transfer three positions, a nurse practitioner and two registered nurses from the Division of Health to the Nursing Board, taking the Division of Health from $2,206 authorized positions to $2,203.
The letter also requests the transfer of $300,768 in regular salaries and match to the Nursing Board as well. Any questions?
Seeing none, do I have a motion? A motion
to have a second? Second. All in favor indicate by saying aye. opposed likewise motion passes
Speaker 25
18:47
next item mr. chairman item D is governor's letter 16 this is a request for the
Speaker 63
18:53
Department of Health Nursing Board and the
dietetics board this letter is a follow-up to governor's letter 8 shows the nursing board receiving the three positions transferred in from the Division of Health taking them from 30 to 33 authorized positions along with $300,000 in appropriation additionally the letter also requests one additional administrative coordinator position at an SGS 04 for the dietetics board this takes them from one to two positions along with an additional fifty three thousand dollars in regular
salaries and match you've heard the recommendation any questions if not a motion motion second second all in
favor aye opposed likewise motion carries
Speaker 25
19:39
next item thank you mr. chairman items e f g
Speaker 63
19:46
dhs requests transferring positions from one division to another due to previously approved reallocation of resources item e is governor's letter nine this is a request for dhs division of aging and adult behavioral health services they're receiving two transfer positions a DHS Division Administrator from DDS, and a Program Eligibility Specialist from County Ops.
This will increase their total authorized positions by two, from $11.79 to $11.81, and their total regular salary matching appropriation will increase by $237,000. You've heard the recommendation. Any questions?
Hearing none. Seeing none. Do I have a motion? Motion. Motion. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor indicate by saying aye.
Speaker 25
20:37
Aye. Opposed, likewise. Seeing none, motion carries. Next item. Mr. Chairman, next item
Speaker 63
20:46
is item F. This is Governor's Letter No. 10, a request for DHS Division of County Ops. Transfers out three positions, one social services supervisor expert to youth services, one program eligibility specialist to DABA, and one procurement coordinator to the Secretary's office. This will cut their total position authorization from 2013 to 2010, lower their appropriation for regular salaries and match by $240,000.
Thank you. Any questions? I have a motion. Motion. Second. Second. All in favor, indikable, second. All in favor, indikable, saying aye.
Speaker 25
21:24
Aye. Opposed, likewise. Hearing none, motion carries. Next item, thank you. Mr. Chairman, item G is Governor's Letter 11. This
Speaker 63
21:31
is a request from DHS Division of Developmental Disabilities transferring out one DHS Division Administrator position to DABA. This will increase their total appropriated positions from $2490 to $2489
and lower their regular salary and matching appropriation by $183,000. Any questions? Saying
none, do I have a motion? Oh, and
the motion is made. Second. second all in favor in the cape is saying
Speaker 25
21:59
aye any opposed motion carries next item item H is governor's letter number 12 this is a request for DHS division
Speaker 63
22:06
of youth services receiving the one social service supervisor expert expert from County Ops this takes their total position appropriation from 121 to
122 and increases their regular salary and match
Speaker 66
22:17
appropriation by eighty three thousand dollars. You've heard
the recommendation. Any questions? Seeing none, I have a motion. Motion. I have a second. I have a second. All in favor indicate we're seeing aye. Opposed, likewise. Seeing none, the motion carries. Next
Speaker 25
22:39
item. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, last item for DHS is item i this
Speaker 48
22:44
is governor's letter 13 request from dhs secretary's office receiving one procurement
coordinator from county ops taking their total number of authorized positions from
Speaker 63
22:53
642 to 643 and increasing their regular salary and match appropriation by 103
000. you've heard the recommendation any questions seeing none to have motion motion to have a second they have a second And all indicated in favor, say aye. Aye.
Speaker 25
23:15
Opposed, likewise. Motion carries. Thank you. Next item. Mr. Chairman, next item is item J.
Speaker 63
23:21
This is Governor's Letter No. 15, a request from DFA for their Shared Services and Budget Management Services Appropriation. The request calls for four positions to be transferred from Budget Management Services to the Shared Services Division. This will increase Shared Services' total authorized positions from 42 to 46 and increase their regular salary and match appropriation by $614,000. The letter also requests that Budget Management Services Appropriation eliminate four additional positions and realign a number of existing classifications within the salary section.
With the transfer of the four positions to shared services and the elimination of the additional four positions, Budget Management Services will cut their total authorized positions from 190 to 182. They have also requested to lower their regular salary and match appropriation by $948,000. You
heard the recommendation. Any questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion? I have a motion. I have a second. Second. All in favor, indicators saying aye. Opposed, likewise.
Speaker 25
24:25
Seeing none, the motion carries. Next item, thank you. Mr. Chairman, the next two items, items K and L, are
Speaker 63
24:32
related. this is the transfer of 66 positions for the child nutrition program moving from the department of ed to the department of agriculture uh starting with item k this governor's letter 20 a request from the department or for the department of education this is
Speaker 48
24:49
for uh elementary secondary education and the office of early childhood so there's two amendments here and two bills being affected
any questions would the department has come forward
thank you all for being here would you identify
yourself good morning Courtney solace for a chief of staff
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
25:40
Greg Rogers department Senator Bryant you're recognized thank you mr. chair and just just for staff we're on governor's letter 20 correct yes first page I was just looking through this yesterday and And I was trying to, just looking at section of my first page, where we're reducing positions 335 to 308,
typically the following section is where the salaries follow, but the number of positions to the drop of the requested salaries doesn't math for me. Because if I had 335 positions at 13 million eight, I reduced that to 308 and I have 13 million five, It's only $300,000 of change. Am I reading
that wrong? Let me interrupt here.
If you would, would you explain what we're talking about in these letters so the whole committee will be aware that this is the one moving the breakfast from the Department of Ed to the Department of Agriculture, correct? It's moving nutritional programs from? Nutrition, all nutritional programs. Correct. If you would, give some background and explanation for the other
Speaker 77
26:57
early childhood transferred over to us last session, part of it came from DHS was nutritional programs,
which included commodities, some different adult feeding programs, different programs that came in, and it went over with our child nutrition program that we already had. And looking at how those are aligned up, we began having discussions with the Department of Agricultural, and it would fit better with them because all these grants come from the U.S. Department of Agricultural. By having all these programs with our Department of Agriculture, it opens up some different opportunities for Arkansas suppliers, things going on with Arkansas,
and it just fits better with the Department of Agricultural than it does with the Department of Education. So we went and we've had many discussions with the Department of Agriculture. We entered into an MOU with them to go ahead and start this process to see how it's going. It's going well. And so we've made this request now to just transfer the nutritional programs that we currently have to the Department of Agriculture. And the positions that you're seeing there are positions that are currently assigned to or working in the different nutrition programs.
And it's based off the grades and the number of positions that we have there. So that's why it's not, it depends on what grades are moving over there. So it might not be all the one-to-one thing. I'd have to go looking at each
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
28:22
grade that's going over there. Broadly, is it, am I reading that wrong? You've got a couple sections where you're, I can see where you're moving staff, but I can also, I don't, I just looked at the next governor's letter and where the staff is moving into the department of ag it goes up oh
Speaker 77
28:40
yeah because that's just what we're amending sorry
that there's other line items in there that aren't showing up in there that's why it's not adding up we're just changing the ones that are moving so when you see that there's like extra help line items and other line items in that appropriation that's why the the totals aren't adding up because we just are including in the letter what's being amended not all the lines in our operation appropriation there so there's like operate there's um more there's extra help conference fees and travel professional fees capital a all those different things are going to be amended
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
29:12
that are still in the appropriation i understand that but i'm just looking at on page two of 24 line item one regular salaries 13 million eight hundred forty thousand reduced to 13 million five hundred twenty thousand the math of about 320 000. usually that ties up to the number of employees in positions in the column above it and if we're going from 335 to 308 in my in my simple marine head the math usually those line up if you add a position you add a hundred thousand if you delete a position you add you delete a hundred thousand i'm just not seeing where those employees
regular salaries match i don't know
Speaker 77
29:50
if i'm under because that's just the appropriation for the regular salaries and it would depend on the grades that were
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
30:05
there would be a exact one-to-one match unless you're
Speaker 84
30:14
paying 30 employees ten thousand each yeah yeah
Speaker 77
30:18
I mean it's it we've moved the appropriation assigned with
those employees for the salaries they're even making or the vacant positions of which that are assigned there to them. So if someone's already in that position, then that appropriation is going with them as well. And if it's a vacant position, whatever grade that position is authorized to start at
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
30:41
is going with them as well. Yeah, I understand. It just doesn't. 30 positions should equal more than 300,000 if we're just lumping those together. So I'm just trying to make it math in my head.
Speaker 87
30:53
Mr. Chairman, if your permission. You recognize, Mr. Hudson. Thank you, sir. Jim Hudson, Secretary of DFA. Senator, what you have there is the state appropriation for state funding. I think these are majority federally funded or a large portion federally funded. That's a different appropriation section, so that's why you're not seeing the numbers foot.
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
31:19
We're just strictly reflecting in there the state piece that's making the move. Okay. So if you were just to broadly look at Governor's Letter 21, which moves those positions into Department of Ag, you go from $607 to $673, and then on regular salaries, you're asking for $2.4 million for those 70 positions, which to me matches.
So if we're just talking about state dollars, it looks like you'd pull at least that much, $2.4 million out of ed, and move it over to ag. Yes, sir,
Speaker 91
31:59
Senator. So what's going into ag is the whole thing. And so you're reflecting both state and federal on that
Speaker 87
32:05
side. That's a bigger number that's going to be there. But what we're pulling out in this particular appropriation section is strictly just the state funding
It the numbers do foot There's not all reflected there in that because the things that don't change we're not putting in the
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
32:25
governor's letter obviously Okay, I guess I look at page seven it's kind of the same thing we're going from 177 employees down to 138 Section one section three tying to section one takes the salaries from 1.4 to 969,000. It's 500,000 for Almost 50 employees
Speaker 82
32:44
Right because that once again, that's what talking about as a secretary. It just seems
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
32:48
like we're leaving more money in ed and Then finding new money for AG now because there's a federal
Speaker 77
32:53
appropriations that are going with that as well That that's showing the state appropriations that we're taking out of the state appropriations and the state funding that's going with that all the federal appropriation and all the federal for those fully funded federal positions is going to AG as well and so that's what you're looking at that section is just those that are reflected to the for the state appropriations okay because there's some that are paid from states
because I'm gonna pay from federal so what that section two there's is the state appropriations not the federal appropriations most positions are federal appropriations okay I'm
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
33:28
gonna hit the I'm gonna hit the believe button and I might get offline so you can maybe and again I think everybody's completely aligned here we
Speaker 87
33:36
want to make sure that we've got the money going where it needs to go so and I think I think we've looked at this enough we're pretty comfortable about it but we will give you an explanation one-on-one if you'd Okay, thank you.
Senator Bryant, and I apologize for interrupting a while ago, but I wanted the explanation because of the same reason of the questions you're asking. Let me ask of the chair, if I may, and Ms. Representative Kavanaugh, I'll get to you in just a second. Is everything being transferred? Yes. All the money, every dime, every penny, every position that's involved in this program is what's going over to the Department of Agriculture.
The Department of Education will not retain any funding, any position, any know-how, anything to say. Well, they may have something to say, but it's all going over to the Department of Agriculture. And I think that's what Senator Bryant was after, and that's what I'm after. That's what most of the committee wants to know. We want to know what's going on down there and what's coming out of the governor's office and what's coming out of your office and what's coming out of Secretary Ward's office.
We want to be sure that every bit of this is being transferred into the department. That's your call. But we want to be sure that all of the money, funding, and positions, again, I repeat myself, but that's what we want to be sure of. Can you assure this committee that all program assets involved in the nutritional program of the state for the children of this state, for the well-being of these children,
is going to the Department of Agriculture. It will be administered, so far as you're concerned, in the same manner, but it's being transferred to the Department of Agriculture, which has control over commodities and other nutritional programs. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Representative Wooden,
Speaker 76
35:57
on that page two right there, it says please delete Section
Speaker 77
36:00
10 appropriation for child nutrition programs entirely and renumber that is where most of the appropriation for those positions is and that appropriation is transferring to the department to the department
Speaker 99
36:11
well you said the word most what i'm after is the
word all yes the rest of the appropriation
Speaker 77
36:18
is in those state appropriations so that's what i'm saying that's why it doesn't add up because if you look at on page um two also where it goes with the regular salaries that is just the state appropriations and we are transferring the state appropriations and funding related with those positions that are paid from from state funds to department of agriculture the rest of the positions on there are covered in that section 10 that we're taking completely out of our section and amend into the department of agriculture that cover all the federal positions all the federal funding that go with child nutrition programs and
other nutritional programs that are transferring to it that's why it says that whole section 10 is coming out of our section and they have an amendment putting that whole section 10 in their Appropriation Act, that's where all the, most of the positions, sorry, I'm saying most again, that's where the federally funded positions are paid from in that appropriation. So the entire programs are transferred to the Department of Agriculture. What you're seeing there is the split of the appropriation between whether it was a federally funded position or a state
funded position. Okay. Well, I hope you can understand my position.
when when i see everybody go to scrambling down there that tells me you know we need we need to be on the same page
Speaker 79
37:28
that that's just because i need i guess better glasses because i was missing that appropriation 10 that i was looking
Speaker 99
37:34
for to explain it because i was i was messed up why i wasn't in there but i was just
overlooking it that's my fault all right represents kevin all you're recognized thank you mr. chair there you are I'm gonna switch and we're
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
37:57
gonna I'm gonna go to EFA educational freedom account acts we've got where we've got it at 309 million is that at the current level that we've been funding it does that match what we've been funding yes ma'am so it's all the money that we put in the EFA accounts this actually matches that funding yes okay and do we have a projection of what we might have to have moving forward because there has been such an increase in it we've been taken out of restricted
Speaker 79
38:30
reserves do we have any so the 309 does match what we have a
Speaker 77
38:37
number of participants for this year that's going in it the application process is open right now but the 309 does cover what the two restricted reserve transfers were done
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
38:48
are we seeing as the people applying so what I'm trying to say is if we're at 309 are we expecting a bigger increase are we gonna have to come back and take more money out of restricted
reserve or something else as we're trying to budget forward I
Speaker 79
39:03
think that That's why, in the governor's balanced budget, she did set aside that $70 million,
Speaker 77
39:08
just in case that does happen, since we are going through the open portal process right now. And is there an increase in
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
39:15
the application so far? Have you seen that? I haven't seen an increase, because we're still
Speaker 77
39:20
going through seeing who's approved and seeing it is. It is popular. I don't know that we are going to have an increase, but we are at about the same right now.
Okay. All right. Thank you. That's a very good question, and if the chair may, I want to comment on that, and I want you to take it back to ADE and to Jacob down there, whatever his name is. We cannot continue, in my opinion, having been director of the Department of Finance and Administration and having been involved in the legislature, we cannot continue to fund it at the level we're funding it.
Close to $400 million, and I'll carry that forward today in the House Rules Committee. But I'm telling you, we're headed for financial disaster if we don't get a handle on these applications and the number of folks involved in it. And I'm talking about the 440,000 other kids in this state. And I've heard everybody has said comments from others relative to the program.
But we can't fund it. If it goes like it went in Arizona to a billion dollars this year, Mississippi just voted it down. Several other states have gone back and changed. So you need to take that message back down there. And the governor's office needs to be aware of that, too. Sorry. I've got
to use my coaching voice. You're free to respond.
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
41:06
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it's important to remember something that we've overlooked that is actually in the LEARNS Act is that when they go universal, which this has been the first year, will be headed into the second year, it says that the State Board of Education will come up with rules to efficiently and effectively administer the funds. And so it's not that we just have to continue on if 100,000 kids apply or whatever. At some point, we can ensure that the State Board of Education comes up with rules to determine how we're going to distribute funds
based on the number of people that apply and based on how much money we are willing to put into that program. And that's something that is overlooked. It's not talked about. And so I think it's an important conversation to have. And if we, you know, continue to watch the rules that are going through on the EFA program to look at how and what expenditures are allowed for homeschool and private school students, I think it's important to keep an eye on that and not just live in the comment section on Facebook and read headlines because there's a lot of other things going on
that are in the details and if we're paying attention to those which we should be doing as members of this legislature to ensure that we're we're paying attention to the way we're administering funds and that the state board of ed is doing their job and coming up with those rules and that we're doing our job in passing rules to ensure the long-term sustainability of the program and what parents and families are allowed to spend those funds on. So there's a lot going on and sometimes I think we you know just look at maybe the phone calls or like I said the
comment section on on Facebook and we need to we are responsible as members of the legislature to pay attention to the facts and the details about what is actually happening versus the noise and so I just encourage all of us to look at the facts of what is going on right now in terms of applications in terms of rules and how we are administering the program and that would be that would be my advice and word and encouragement to those in this room thank
you mr. chair thank you madam co-chair let me add to it we currently
fund, or this year is $8,162 in the foundation. $8,162 next year goes to $80,37. It's going down. But here's the thing. We're still $4,000 short of what is being provided by surrounding states. And that involves the loss of funding and money. When we spend $400 million on another program, and I appreciate the fact that they're coming up with rules
and regulations, but your department estimated 37,000 people or students would be involved this year, 44,000, and you're still working on the applications. Where is it going to end is the question I have, and how much money are we going to spend, And what about the $4,000 shortfall and adequacy funding? And you can call it whatever you want to call it, but that still involves 440,000 other children and teachers in this state.
Thank you. Any further business? Mr. Robinson? Okay. Okay. Any further questions? Any other comments?
okay hold it okay representative rules willridge you're recognized there we go thank you mr chair
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
45:07
i just had a question uh kind of what the chairs were talking
about so foundation funding obviously we're in adequacy study that i'm assuming is going to increase i don't know that it's decreased since i've been here does the 309 million for efa's
Speaker 72
45:26
account for an adequacy increase so the amount of the EFA scholarship is 90% of what foundation funding is so if you all increase the foundation funding amount then the EFA scholarship amount automatically increases it is decreasing to what representative Wooten said to 8,030 because
three hundred dollars paid by the state on behalf of school districts for insurance
Speaker 119
45:48
is coming out of that so the EFA scholarship amount will again decrease in proportionate to
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
45:55
that so I appreciate that so if funding increases though is there a budgeted amount for the EFAs to increase but I'm assuming you can't budget it because we don't know what that potential increase will be right that's
Speaker 72
46:08
completely dependent on what you all determine is the adequacy foundation funding amount okay do you
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
46:13
know what the breakdown is like I don't expect dollar for dollar but if it
increased by 100 dollars do we know what that it would increase the
Speaker 72
46:23
efa budget i mean yeah 90 cents on on each dollar um so potentially could be a large amount of money it could to representative i'm sorry senator davis's point we prioritize the applications based on the amount of funding available so whatever is appropriated and budgeted that's how many we approve um obviously yes in this case, the governor put 70 million set aside in case we need to, because the difficulty with
budgeting sometimes is we know how many private schools are out there. We know how many private seats are out there, but we don't know how any homeschool students are out there other than filing a notice of intent. We have no way of tracking students who are homeschooled or knowing how many of them are going to apply for the EFA count. That is where we've seen the increase in numbers this year. Um, it to what Mr. Rogers said, it kind of levels out because we had about 2500 students graduate so then when you have about that same number come in with homeschool students it balances out but it is difficult to budget going forward without knowing how many
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
47:26
students are actually out there so will you have room in your appropriation to make that work or will you have to come back to this body after the
Speaker 77
47:39
foundation funding set we would have to come back i mean right now the 309 for efas does cover the 44 000 but with the DFA's going up, being more next year, that depends on how many re-sign up for that. But anything over that, we would have to come back here for. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just want to comment on that.
We have $790 million in the trust fund, and we're spending $400 million, not of the $790, but I'm just using this as an example of where we are financially. We're spending $400 million out of reserve-restricted funds or other funds in general revenue, and that's half of what we have already in the adequacy funding. Do you follow my train of thought? We're spending half on $44,000 of what we've got to support 440,000 children that are not involved in it.
Speaker 82
48:40
Is that not correct? So, yeah, so there is $400,000, $309 million is ready, is
Speaker 77
48:48
for EFAs. Roughly. For adequacy fund, we spend almost $600 million a year out of adequacy into public school fund, which is a $3 billion budget. So, yes, we do want to make sure that the adequacy fund is building because we're going to turn right around and take almost $600 million out of it again. As Ms. Hollis Ford was talking about, one of the reasons when foundation funding is going down is because the state is now going to be paying the employer portion of all the insurance for everyone who elects to participate in the teacher's insurance program, which right now is going to be close to $300 million.
So when you're saying that adequacy is below that, you're not including that $300 million, we're also going to be paying in teacher's insurance for everyone that participates in it. Foundation funding also doesn't include the maternity leave or any of the other categoricals that are in there that are going to schools that do support students every day on that. It's not just foundation funding. Foundation funding is just the bottom level
of it. I realize that foundation is just one part of the total appropriation, but the point being that we've got to take care of what we've started with $440,000.
This is just my personal observation. Learns is in direct conflict with the state Supreme Court ruling on adequacy. Learns flies in the face of that. And then Constitution, well, that's just my personal opinion. And we'll leave that to the courts to decide. But Learns flies in the face of that. And, again, we're talking about 44,000 versus 440,000 young people.
So with that, I didn't intend to get into this discussion, but we did. I think it's overall, I think it's a discussion that needs to be made. And, colleagues, we need to be considerate of those people that are involved in public education today. Any further business? Mr. Chair? Yes. Well, I do appreciate the voting debate on this it is
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
50:57
well outside of the scope of the committee So with that I would like to make a motion to approve item K
Okay, all in favor say aye Opposed likewise Thank you his motion carries Thank you,
mr. Chairman moving on to item L.
Speaker 26
51:15
This is the follow-up to item K. This is governor's letter 21 for the Department of Agriculture
Speaker 63
51:20
This is the companion Letter and amendment receiving the 66 positions from the Department of Education along with regular salaries match The request will increase the total positions authorized from 607 to 673 And you can see the classifications being added on pages 1 and 2 of the governor's letter
Okay, any questions? Involving the transfer of the nutritional programs from the Department of Education and this is the acceptings of it by the Department of Agriculture. Any questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion? I have a second and a motion. A motion and a second. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Opposed, likewise. Thank you. Next item. Mr. Chairman, moving
Speaker 48
52:11
on to item M. This is Governor's
letter number 23, a request for the Department of
Speaker 63
52:16
Public Safety Shared Services Division. They're requesting to realign a user support analyst grade IST04 to an IC security analyst at IST06. This does not change the total number of positions authorized, and they are not requesting any change to the appropriation within the bill. Any questions?
Seeing none, do I have a motion? I have a motion.
Do I have a second? Second. All in favor say aye. Opposed, likewise. Seeing none, the motion
Speaker 25
52:47
carries. Next item. Mr. Chairman, last item is item N. This is a member amendment from Senator Caldwell. Changes
Speaker 63
52:55
the title from assistant to the president to assistant to the chancellor. This is the East Arkansas Community College. There is no change in positions and there is no change in appropriation. It's
just a title change. You've heard the recommendation. Any questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion? I have a motion and a second.
All in favor indicate we're saying aye. Opposed, likewise. Seeing none, motion carries. Any further business? Being no further business,
we're adjourned, and thank you for your forbearance.
Agenda
A. Call to Order
Governor’s Letters:
B. GL#4- SB59 Department of Education- Educational Television Division Amendment KMW086
C. GL#8- HB1036 Department of Health Amendment CJW031
D. GL#16- SB4 Department of Health- Licensing and Regulation Boards Amendment CJW032
E. GL#9- SB21 Department of Human Services- Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services Amendment LCW089
F. GL#10- HB1077 Department of Human Services- Division of County Operations Amendment LCW090
G. GL#11- SB24 Department of Human Services- Division of Developmental Disabilities Services Amendment LCW091
H. GL#12- SB23 Department of Human Services- Division of Youth Services Amendment LCW092
I. GL#13- HB1023 Department of Human Services- Secretary’s Office Amendment LCW097
J. GL#15- HB1068 Department of Finance and Administration Amendment JAP070
K. GL#20- HB1055 & HB1005 Department of Education Amendment KMW081, KMW082
L. GL#21- SB36 Department of Agriculture Amendment BSS056
M. GL#23- HB1009 Department of Public Safety Amendment DJC038
Member Amendments:
N. HB1018- University of Arkansas East Arkansas Community College HAR139 Senator Caldwell
Items held from previous meeting:
O. SB29 Lieutenant Governor- Letter dated February 20, 2026, from Lt. Governor Leslie Rutledge Amendment JAR134
P. Other business
Q. Adjournment
Documents
Speakers
Representative Jim Wooten Chair
Unverified
Speaker 10
Speaker 11
Speaker 15
Speaker 19
Speaker 26
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
Speaker 33
Speaker 9
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
Speaker 41
Speaker 44
Speaker 48
Speaker 43
Speaker 57
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Speaker 63
Speaker 25
Speaker 66
Speaker 76
Speaker 77
Speaker 80
Speaker 84
Speaker 87
Speaker 91
Speaker 82
Speaker 99
Speaker 79
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
Speaker 72
Speaker 119