Senate Convenes
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (2)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB1
Act 73
· 6 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB1 J. Dismang TO REDUCE THE INCOME TAX RATES FOR INDIVIDUALS,…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS SENATE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. | Senate Efficiency | Notification that SB1 is now Act 73 |
|
HB1001
Act 2
· 3 mentions in transcript
Matched: “adjournment subject to the reading of house bill 1001 across the desk and the clearing of the desk and until 9 a.…”
|
AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATION FOR … | Evans | Notification that HB1001 is now Act 2 |
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- October 2, 2026
Speaker 3
2:10
I I'm sending them a sign that we're can I put my sticky note on here
Speaker 5
4:21
that ain't happen so we can still senate will be called to order the any requests for leave at
Chair
Unverified
4:43
this time. Senator Gilmore you're recognized lead for Senator King
thank you senatorgilmore. Any other requests for
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
4:59
leave? If not madam Secretary, please call the roll Boyd bryantcaldwell, Cclarkroll, Davis deeses dismaying dotson, English flippo flowers Gilmore hammer hester hickey, Hill, Irvin, Blake Johnson, Mark Johnson, Kingledting love Mckee Murdockeyton penzo Petty, Rri,
Chair
Unverified
5:24
Scottimmon Stoneulllivan Tucker Wallace thank you madam Secretary. if everyone in the chamber and in the galleries would please rise. we'll first be led in prayer by Senator Ben Gilmore followed by the pledge
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
5:36
of allegiance. Senator Gilmore you're recognized thank you madam President. please pray with me. Hellly Father we just thank you for your many blessings. we thank you for your sovereignty in all things. We thank youlord that we know that you've ordained government and that you have set those that are in this room here and we trust your plan, trust your will and we thank you for that. So we ask
Lord that you would grant us wisdom as it says in in James if we ask and and not doubt that you will grant us that wisdom. But Father, I also pray that you would help us to stay focused and as your word says in Timothy that we would fight the good fight and lay hold of that which is eternal. So Lord that we not lose sight of what is important and what you have for us. We thank you for everything that you're going to do we thank you for the ability to stand here and to represent Arkansans. I pray that you'd bless the state, bless our governor bless all of those in this room and in the house who are here to do your will and your purpose and we
thank you for all that you're going to do
Speaker 20
6:30
and she's saying we pray amen of America to which is one nation under5 invisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Senator Gilmore ladies and gentlemen in the
Chair
Unverified
6:45
galleries welcome to your Arkansas state senate is our expectation that each of you will exercise proper decorum and govern yourselves accordingly
during today's proceedings without objection the rules will be suspended and the Senate will dispense with the reading of the journal the morning hour has
now begun. Are there any announcements or introductions at this
time Senator Urvi, you're recognized thank you madam governor. Senators again this year we are we are the servers for serving up solutions we would love for you to help wait tables for us we have a sold out event this year for the hunger caucus and for serving up solutions which is a fundraiser for the Arkansas
hunger Relief alliance. if you serve then you can get earn a grant for your local food bank so it's May the 21st that evening here in littlettleRock at the Albert Pike masonic Temple. I have a sign up sheet we just need to recruit more waiters for serving up solutions so if you can come sign up for me I really appreciate it thank you. thank you senator Irvin
Speaker 26
7:49
any other announcements or introductions at this time
Chair
Unverified
7:57
madam Secretary, any adams at the desk No item don'ts at the desk any further business to come for the body in the morning hour if not the morning hour has expired. We'll now begin the business
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
8:12
agenda beginning with Senate Bill1. Senate bill one by senator dismaying etow to reduce the income tax rates for individuals trusts,
Chair
Unverified
8:18
states and corporations. Senator Dismay you're recognized thank governor members this
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
8:22
is a continuation of the income tax reduction that's really been
taking place since 2013. this lowers the top rate from3.9% to3.7%. that will be retroactive because we are running a surplus that's going to help eat into some of that surplus and so to be effective on January1st,2026. It also reduces the corporate income tax rate to4.1% and that will be effective as of the next year start of next year. with that I'd be happy to take any questions. Questions
Chair
Unverified
8:56
for Senator Dismay. Senator flowers you're recognized
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
9:08
Thank you for taking questions and
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
9:14
my question is about sales tax what in the law if anything limits local sales tax and what is that rate now if there is a minimum
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
9:40
maximum? I don't don't have any of that type of information
on sales tax with me I know that if a locality wants to increase their sales tax that has to be done by election. We set parameters on when those elections can occur as
far as dates but I don't have any of the specifics on that so as far as you know the state does not limit a local community city town or county from a certain amount
of sales tax again not my wheelhouse but I'm getting a point that it's 2% something
that2% limit but but again this
isn't my sales tax 2% limit I paid more than that down there in Jefferson County and up
Speaker 39
10:30
here in pulaski County do not know where
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
10:32
did that come from like what's his name Senatorator Bryant if he comes up there he
can explain that since he's spouting out 2% that I pay almost 12% in sales tax but the other question I have for you senator dismay is about making up the difference where's that gonna come from and I'm hearing from individuals and organizations that say we need to spend more
money for healthcare for our education public education where and then we increase those educational freedom accounts and if they continue to escalate where's that money going to come from where would you think it would come from what we come back and try to raise taxes no ma'am I don't believe there's an appetite to raise taxes
and either chamber a whole I think there might be some
I don't know what you expect to do so due to conservative budgeting that we've had over the last several years and the last couple of administrations I think even going back into theibe administration we have set the stage to be able to handle this. We do have savings in place in case there is a need and in fact if you look at this year's RSA while the overall RSa increased at3% for general revenue there were actually two set asides to kind of to address some of the concerns you have. One was a continuation of a previous
citizenide of $100 million for Medicaid in case it is needed in the future and then also a70 million dollars set aside for EFA accounts or the Freedomc accounts if that is needed in the future and that is contemplated in this tax cut we do not you know the tax cut does not go in
excess of those amounts we have our RSA plus another $170 million and that's contemplated in what we're able to
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
12:37
do here with the two tents and so that7 million that's set aside for EFA accounts in the future so is
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
12:44
that going to be a stopping point when we reach that7 million
level I think that would be a determination made by this chamber and also by the number of applicants and monies that are made available I think there was a strong showing of support very recently4 EFAs in this chamber so I would assume that as long as this chamber and the other chamber sees fit will continue to increase the amounts as needed and as requested by the people of Arkansas for educational
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
13:15
freedom. Well just for the record I did not support the bill that provided
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
13:21
for more money for EFAs but I did vote for the RSA which had it in there but you know what's the worst I have to decide but the other question that I have for you is are we contemplating what's happening at the federal level our deficit is just going crazy and we depend on a lot of federal money for our
programs and services that we as a state legislate for so is this really a good time for this with all the uncertainty and the increases in the federal deficit again I worry about what we do here
in Arkansas we have very been very prudent for quite some time with our tax dollars again we've been
we've been having conservative budgets for a number of years that's let us be able to get to the point that
we're able to safely do this without having to worry about jeopardizing any of our essential
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
14:25
programs in the state except that the people say they
Chair
Unverified
14:32
are underfunded. thank you. any other questions with regard to Senate Bill1. Senator dotson you're recognized thank you
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
14:39
madam Chair. Senator I seem to
recall in 2013 when we started cutting the income tax rate that the income tax rate
basically provided about50% roughly of the state's general revenue. Do you have any idea today what that that percentage of the overall general budget or general revenue it might be I don't but I'm hoping you do well it's kind of maintained is still approximately50% I don't know the exact percentage but even with this cut it'll still be in that range of about half of the general revenue even though we've reduced the rate by45% or something like that absolutely we've been taking into account
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
15:21
inflation making sure that our growth rate of state government is below that which has allowed us to have room again
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
15:27
without having an to eliminate services in the state so all of this is completely out
Speaker 56
15:32
of the surplus that was unbudgeted amounts so we can continue that sustainable path thank you
Chair
Unverified
15:44
If not anyone wish to speak against Senate Bill1. I see Senator Ttucker and Senledting
to speak against we'll also ask for anyone to speak for or on. Senator Tucker you're recognized
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
16:02
thank you madam President.embers I know what the votes are for this and I'll be brief. I just want to ask a couple of questions of the chamber. The first is what are our highest priorities as a state you know what do we dream about I understand why lowering taxes is a goal of people I do. I want to pay lower taxes but I think our highest priorities as as a state is to to lead our peers or our region or our country and quality of life and in good
paying jobs to lead our region in health and education outcomes to be the safest place in America to raise a family and we have a lot of work to do on those issues when we make a decision to cut taxes that decision is not made in a vacuum with all of our resources it's a zero sum decision and it is especially so when it comes to money because we're cutting $180 million from our revenue that we could spend on other items some of those items I
mentioned we have3,000 kids in Arkansas whose parents are desperate for them to have an early an opportunity for early childhood education. we could provide all3,000 of those spots and have a lot of that $180 million left over their hospitals at risk of closing or becoming emergency only facilities in all parts of the state we've done a lot of great work on maternal health outcomes but we have a lot more work to do we lag our peers in how much we spend on traditional public school funding on a per pupil basis. there are a lot of
other issues and priorities that we could be spending this money on and those are the ones that I think we should be dreaming about leading with the other question is who are we really helping with this? if you make the median income in Arkansas about62,000 dollars a year then this tax cut is going to net you about $11. if you make a couple $100,000 a year then this tax cut's going to net you a couple $100 and is a couple $100 really going to make a meaningful difference in your life if your family's
fortunate enough to earn $200,000 a year if we prioritize those other issues that I mentioned we know who we would be helping and those issues demand not only our attention but our urge and attention as I mentioned that waitlist right now is3,000 kids whose parents are desperate for them to have high quality early childhood education. Next January that list will probably be just as long but it's going to be different kids there's going to be a couple 1000 kids whose opportunity is gone
because they've aged out of the opportunity to have early childhood education if we get to where we want to be with maternal health comes maternal health outcomes in 27 or 28 that will be wonderful but it's not gonna help that mom and that baby that had a tragic health outcome in 2026. that's why these issues demand not only our attention but our urgent attention. I'll be voting no today but I'm not going to walk away from these other issues just as I know those who vote yesterday today won't walk away from those other issues. My
point is that we have a lot of really important priorities as a state and we have some really important work and conversations to do between now and January so I hope we'll
Chair
Unverified
19:13
do that work together. thank you anyone wish to speak for or on if not send aledting you're recognized to speak against thank you
Senator Greg Leding
Unverified
19:28
madam president Yeah there were better odds that
the sun would not rise today then this bill fail on this floor this morning so as often when we come down here these comments are more for the people who are watching than anybody in this room we don't want government to ever collect more money than it needs to or spend more money than it needs to but we should make all the investments that we need to and we hear a lot about contemplating things and conservating budging conservative budgeting but to some people that just might sound like we're ignoring problems. If I've got 1000 bucks and after my most critical expenses I'm lucky enough to have $100 left but I know I've got a cavity and bald tires on
my car. I do not have a surplus. I'm just choosing to ignore some very obvious problems and I just hope that in the future this legislature will choose to invest more meaningfully in Arkansas because as has been said this money could do a lot more to more meaningfully help people than handing them back a few dollars and telling them good luck. thank
Chair
Unverified
20:22
you to speak for Senator Mcee you're recognized thank you governor. Colleagues,
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
20:33
I appreciate the back and forth on this. I think this is a really important issue. I don't think the people of my district elected me to go after my dreams in the Senate. or in state government and I don't think this is a question about priorities. I think this is a question about how best to implement those priorities. So the question to me is who best serves the people of Arkansas Is it the churches? is it the communities? is it the neighbors that we that we represent or
is it the state and so what is the best expenditure of that money? I believe it's putting it back in the hands of the people that produce it so that they can make
Speaker 15
21:17
those good decisions and help their neighbors. thank you any other senator wish
Chair
Unverified
21:20
to speak against for or on Senate bill one seeing no other senator dismaying or recognized to close
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
21:27
thank you again members I appreciate the conversation. I don't think anyone in this room thinks that I've shied away from difficult issues or making sure
that we embrace and take on issues that we need to be compassionate about so with that and and just one example on the65,000 I stated this at the beginning because it's really easy to lose sight that this has not been something that's happened overnight or a path that we've gone or we started down yesterday that family and I do it was out of my own curiosity yesterday but that family making65,000 dollars a year their tax rate has de their effective tasks rate has decreased by45%.
since 2013. They have an extra $1600 worth of money in their pocket because of the actions that we've s started taking back in 2013. I think that's significant. I think that's important and and again so I don't want to lose sight that this isn't we're not talking about this in a vacuum it's that this is the only thing that's happened. this has been a continuation. with that I appreciate the the conversation and the dialogue and I appreciate a good vote Madam Secretary, please call the roll
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
22:39
we have a pair at the desk Senator King yay senator letting know Boyd bryantcaldwell Clark crowll Davis dees this man dismang dotson
English flippo flowers gilmore hammer hester hickey hill Irvinblake Johnson, Mark Johnson,
Speaker 79
23:32
King yes letting no love
Mckee Murdock ate is a no.eyton penzo eddy rice
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
23:55
Scottimmonsoneulllivan Tucker Wallace any senator wish to change his or her vote
Speaker 74
24:15
seeing no one please cast up the ballot by a vote of 29a 6 nay Senate Bill1 passes please transmit to the house that concludes our business
Speaker 26
24:29
agenda any announcements Senator hickey you're recognized members revin taxxx will meet
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
24:37
15 minutes upon adjournment of the house the only contingency would be of course that they passed
the house version of the tax bill and transmit it to us for some reason that didn't happen then I'll cancel the meeting but again just everybody if you don't mind stay around 15 minutes of bona adjournment of the house Senator hester you're recognized.
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified
25:02
Good hey members the logistics of today like say the House doesn't come inti 9:30. we're going to be able to adjourn subject to clearing of the desk and reading and reading that House bill across so once we adjourn here we're we're done for the day the only thing that
will happen is we'll read the House Bill1001 across and clear anything else off the desk. I will like as soon as we do adjourn if the Republicans would meet down in the old Supreme courtroom I think we have a presentation for our
Speaker 15
25:39
fearless leader any other announcements seeing no other announcements the senate will stand in
adjournment subject to the reading of house bill 1001 across the desk and the clearing of the desk and until 9 a.m. tomorrow May6th.
Agenda
Call to Order
Roll Call
Prayer
Pledge of Allegiance
Announcements
Items to be Read Across the Desk
BUSINESS AGENDA
SENATE BILLS FOR THIRD READING AND PASSAGE
SB1 J. Dismang TO REDUCE THE INCOME TAX RATES FOR INDIVIDUALS, TRUSTS, ESTATES, AND CORPORATIONS.
Vote
Announcements
Adjourn
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Speaker 3
Speaker 5
Chair
Unverified
Senator Ben Gilmore
Unverified
Speaker 20
Senator Missy Irvin Chair
Unverified
Speaker 26
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
Speaker 38
Speaker 39
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
Speaker 56
Speaker 28
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
Senator Greg Leding
Unverified
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
Speaker 15
Speaker 79
Speaker 74
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
Senator Bart Hester
Unverified