Arkansas Legislative Council
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Good morning. we're going to get started here
if you will please rise Representative Vaught if you'll lead us in prayer Lord we just pray that we would
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
0:42
conduct business here today that would bring honor and glory to your name Lord I pray for each and every one of us have to drive home today that you keep us safe Lord God please be with those that are sick among us Lord God and we just pray your healing hand on them We praise you and we thank you for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and it's in his name we pray.
Amen. All right. First thing is approval of the minutes from last meeting. Do I have a motion to adopt the meetings? Okay. I have a motion. Do I have a second? All in favor, say aye. All right. Any opposed? Motion adopted. Next, we have the presentation of the July 2026 revenue report. Dr. Silva, please come to the table.
Give us your name and who you represent and
Speaker 13
1:45
get started. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Carlos Silva, Bureau of Legislative Research. Today, I'm here to present you the July 2026 monthly revenue report. It's our first revenue report of this fiscal year. As we look into our gross collections here, we have $673 million collected for this first month. That's up $36 million from the first month of the last fiscal year, around 5.8%. The total would be a net of $601 million, and it's also up $43.7 million from the first month of the last fiscal year.
around 7.8%. As you look into this first page, you see that there's a plus here of the major historical rehab that is for this first day of this fiscal year that have this transfer that's 855 of 2019. So we have this first transfer here. That's why we're showing up and that's why we have a plus and then it balanced everything out rather than taking it off the top. As we move into page number two, you see $26.3 million above the forecast from the FNA for this first month
of this fiscal year. As we move into our general revenue collections and our special revenue collections, I would like to just to bring attention to a couple points there. You see that we'll have some updates in due to act 989 of 2025. That's the collections for the reinstatement fees. So if you look into the DUI and things like that, you see some shifts, but that doesn't mean anything major had changed in those collections. It's just about where
that money is going. When you talk about Arkansas in general and the nation, I'll bring to your attention here is labor force participation where in Arkansas we still have some positive news there but while in the nation we see a change in the labor force participation is going down but as we look into unemployment rate is also going down with Arkansas and the nation at 4.1 percent however the difference in the labor force is something to to note with that I'll take
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
4:05
any further questions. All right, any questions?
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
4:18
Representative Leidyman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a quick question on the front
page there. Corporate income tax refunds were up 1,165%. Why is that? Yeah, so that
Speaker 13
4:31
one shifts a lot. If I look into last fiscal year, so 2024, 2025,
You have a number similar to this, around $3.6 million. So it's just the beginning of the fiscal year. It's a small amount of value here. So that will show a lot higher, and it can happen. But this number is something that the 3.6 is something that have happened in previous years. So it's just a fluctuation that will level out
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
4:53
as the year goes on. Yes, sir. That's
Speaker 16
4:55
my understanding from what we have looked up to now. All right. Thank you. Representative Wooten.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
5:05
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In looking at the economic well-being of the state, do you take into consideration the housing situation? And what I'm referring to is we have the highest ownership in the nation, well, almost 70%. Also, our delinquencies and our foreclosures are rising
do y'all consider that when you come up with economic projections what impact do you anticipate that will have so if you're talking
Speaker 26
5:45
about the surplus and so on that is a DFNA forecast if you
Speaker 13
5:50
want to talk about specifically on how we can think about how this is going to impact state collections I'll be happy to talk to you later on and we can talk about different scenarios on how that would occur But if you're talking about specifically the forecast, that would be a DF&A question.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
6:08
Okay. A follow-up, if I may. Also,
Richland Foods has announced that they're closing nine silos or nine storage facilities. What impact will that have on revenues for the
state? So anytime we have some unemployment, we have
Speaker 13
6:33
people that cannot find new jobs, we should expect to see a decline here in collections on income and, of course, sales, right, growth sales collections.
But it's whether or not those individuals can find another job. As we look into the state of Arkansas compared to the nation, I'll say previously, the labor force participation in the state has increased in the past few months and have stabilized somewhat in the last couple months. While you're looking in the nation, you see this decline in labor force participation. So there's some momentum, at least with the preliminary data we have right now, that there are some questions on whether or not those individuals will be able to find new jobs.
If they do, then that's a different question. But once again, if there's a specific scenario that we're talking about a region of the state versus the state as a whole, I'll be happy to talk to you later on. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. representative Bentley
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
7:34
thank you chairman dr. Silva thank you for your report and I just can you tell us what our labor force participation rate in Arkansas is right now I didn't see it in
Speaker 15
7:40
your report no it's not part of the report I'm gonna go here by memory but 5.9 59.2 percent if that's kind of what
Speaker 13
7:47
I remember at the top of my head but I'll be happy to get some other numbers here we can talk about the seasonally just a versatile season and adjusted there's some differences there but that's what I
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
7:59
have my memory here thank I'm just very focused on
that. Thank you so much. I appreciate your report. Seeing no further questions. Thank you, Dr. Silva. The next thing on our agenda is a report of the Executive Subcommittee.
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
8:13
Representative Eaves, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Executive Subcommittee met yesterday and approved waiver requests for cooperative purchasing construction services for the Jonesboro School District and the Greenwood School District.
And I move adoption of the report. Do I have a second? All right, second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Report is adopted. The next thing on our agenda is our reports of standing subcommittees.
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
8:44
Representative Gene, you're recognized for administrative rules. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Administrative Rules Committee met yesterday, August 20th. The subcommittee filed reports from the Executive Medical Marijuana and State Insurance Program Oversight subcommittees.
The subcommittees filed court reports by the Department of Correction and the Post-Prison Transfer Board. The subcommittee accepted recommendations of the Office of Early Childhood concerning the extension of rules pursuant to Act 781 of 2017. The subcommittee received agency updates in outstanding rulemaking from 2023 to 2025 regular session. The subcommittee deferred the DHS Division of Medical Services rule concerning requirements for the acute rehab unit within a hospital and updated the medical utilization management program
for consideration by the legislative council at today's meeting the subcommittee voted not to approve one rule by the arkansas towing and recovering board two rules were pulled down from the agenda at the agency's request all other rules were reviewed and approved as noted I make a motion to adopt the report, but not including the Division of Medical Services clarification of the requirement for the acute rehab unit within a hospital and update the medical utilization management program, which will be considered separately after this vote.
Any questions? I've made my motion.
Seeing no questions. Do I have a motion? We've got a motion. I need a second. I have a second. all in favor of adopting the report any opposed hearing none report adopted so now we will take up the rule regarding DHS do do we have do you want to hear from somebody okay just does anybody need to hear from either entity quickly
or not seeing none uh senator hester you're recognized for your motion okay it is we have a proper motion and a second all in favor say aye any opposed hearing the rule is a approved now we are moving on to game and fish state police uh senator rice you're recognized for your report thank you mr chair
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
11:17
the game and fish state police subcommittee
met on monday at the arkansas game and fish commission training center in mayflower subcommittee heard testimony from arkansas game and fish commission regarding the training center and discuss the annual wildlife management area lake conservation permit and permits for hunting on the saint francis river second sunken lands i move for adoption of the report okay we've got a
motion to adopt the report of 8 17 26 meeting uh do i have a second and i've got a second all in favor say aye any opposed rule is a report is adopted moving on highway commission and advisory
representative mcnair you're recognized for your report thank
Chair
Unverified
12:03
you mr chairman the highway commission review and advisory subcommittee met wednesday and heard testimony on the report on highway construction projects of 10 million or more, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act reports, and a quarterly land conveyance reports. I move for adoption of the report. Okay, we have a motion.
Do we have a second? So we've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? The report is adopted. Moving on to
Hospital Medicaid and Developmental Disability Study. Representative Bentley, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman. The
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
12:41
Hospital of Medicaid and Development Disability Studies Subcommittee met Monday to hear testimony on the following items. Implementation of work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries, denial of Arkansas's Medicaid expansion program requests, update on reimbursement rates under the Living Choices Assisted Living Waiver by DHS. The subcommittee met again on Thursday to discuss the consolidation of local workforce development boards and the implementation of benefit cliffs. Thank you very
much and I move adoption of the report. We've
got a motion. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
13:29
opposed? Report is adopted. Lottery oversight. Senator Hill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The lottery oversight subcommittee met Tuesday and reviewed the Miles partnership llc contract the subcommittee heard testimony on the arkansas lottery director's
report reports from the arkansas division of higher education i move adoption of the report do
i have a second okay we've got a motion we've got a second all in favor of adopting the report any opposed
the report is adopted medical marijuana oversight representative hawk you are recognized
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
14:03
thank you mr chair the the medical marijuana oversight subcommittee met on wednesday the subcommittee reviewed the rules governing the application for issuance and renewal of licenses for medical marijuana
cultivation facilities dispensaries and processors in arkansas i move for adoption of this report
got a motion do i have a second all in favor say aye any opposed report is adopted occupational licensing review representative meeks
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
14:29
you are recognized thank you mr chairman the
occupational licensing review subcommittee met yesterday and heard testimony from the acupuncture pharmacy auctioneer licensing board and from the arkansas motor vehicle commission i move adoption of this
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
14:42
report okay we have a motion we have a second
i have a motion a second all in favor say aye any opposed report is adopted uh performance evaluation expenditure review
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
14:59
representative Eubanks you are recognized thank you mr. chair the peer subcommittee met Tuesday August 18th the subcommittee received reports reviewed requests and approved the following various temporary appropriations of infrastructure investment and jobs act appropriation appropriation transfers and a
restricted reserve fund transfer I move adoption of the report
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
15:19
we have a motion have a
second all in favor say aye any opposed report is adopted review senator
Chair
Unverified
15:30
Johnson you are recognized review subcommittee met on Tuesday and reviewed the method of finance discretionary grants one ratification services contract and received reports item 1a revised method of finance submitted by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture was held pending follow-up
information that was received from the agency and the division has provided the necessary information. I move for adoption of the report with a review of the previously held item. Thank you, Senator Johnson. We've
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
16:01
got a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We've got a motion and we've got a second. All in favor
say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Report is adopted. State Insurance Program Oversight Subcommittee. Representative Beck, you are recognized.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
16:18
The State Insurance Program Oversight Subcommittee met Wednesday to review and approve the following items: rules regarding the independent vendor data and audit process, employee benefit division formulary recommendations, the medical drug recommendations, the Colonial Life and Accidental Insurance Company contract amendment, the United Healthcare contract amendment, the Crow and Shebeck LLP contract. The subcommittee also heard a presentation from the Siegel
Company regarding the health insurance funding and medical price estimates. I move for adoption of this report. We've got a motion.
Do we have a second? All in favor say of adopting the report, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Report is adopted. Uniform Personnel Classification and Compensation plan representative warren you are recognized thank you
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
17:20
mr chairman personnel subcommittee met wednesday august 19th and reviewed the
request continuations and reports listed as items 1 through 14 on the report item 7 a request to utilize a position previously frozen through act 796 required and received approval from the subcommittee uh if there are no questions i move for adoption of the report we've
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
17:46
got a motion do we have a second we've got a motion
we've got a second all in favor say aye aye any opposed hearing none the uh report is adopted um moving on we're on item h so um
There are three items that are going to require action under item H. The first item requiring action is H5, APERS with three investment summaries. Okay. Let me back up for just a minute. All other items listed under item H will be considered, received, and no action will be taken. Please let me know if you have any questions on any of those.
Seeing none, we're – oh, we do. Okay. Senator Hickey, you're recognized.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
18:35
and mainly I guess would somebody just come down I just want to make sure on this one with HarborVest that I fully understand this management fee they're talking about 20 basis points over eight years I just want to know if that's annually because the way it's written I
can't tell and this would be the I guess the last one
on the sheet okay please introduce yourself and your who you represent and feel free
Speaker 72
19:11
to start Amy Fetcher executive director of APERS Carlos
Speaker 74
19:16
Bormail chief investment officer for APERS okay could
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
19:19
you just kind of explain this management fee just a little bit more and And again, I'm looking at the last one where it says HarborVest, APERS, PC Fund. And it talks about that, you know, the management fee is 20.3 basis points on committed capital for eight years. Are you talking about a cumulative total or are you talking about annually? What are you? It would be annually.
Speaker 78
19:43
And we were presented an opportunity. They asked if we would be willing to increase our commitment by $26.5 million. and there would be no fees on it. So I guess
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
19:57
if you don't have the fees on the $26.5 million, did you come up with like a blended management fee? I mean, would we not consider if they weren't charging the management fee on the – let's just say that we didn't have the $26.5 million, would you consider that high on the other part?
No, I would consider that very low. The 20 basis points you would
have? Okay. And what was the 35 basis points that you mentioned there? Is that normally
Speaker 78
20:27
what they would charge? That is normally what they would charge, and I
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
20:32
would also consider that very low. Okay. All right.
Okay. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. All right. Any other questions? Representative Meeks,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
20:43
you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question is on H14 from the Department of Parks, Arkansas State Parks.
Can you wait on that one, Representative Meeks, just a minute? Yes, sir. And we will get back to that? Okay. Any other questions on H5 with Avers? I've got another one. Okay. Do you need
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
21:05
Avers? I'm sorry. I want to go through this a little bit
more. Senator Hickey, you're recognized. And if you will just go ahead and reintroduce yourself just for clarification and then get started. Amy Fetcher with APERS.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
21:22
Carlos Borromeo with APERS. Okay, so on 100 basis points like that, you'd be at 100%, correct? So a
Speaker 78
21:34
typical private credit or private equity investment, they charge a management fee and a carried interest fee. Okay. Over the past few years, we've seen the management fees and carried interest come down. So many years ago, when private markets started, they were charging 2%, so 200 basis points.
And they usually wanted 20% of carried interest once they hit a hurdle. So how this is structured is we're not paying 200 basis points. We're going to average 20 basis points. and we're not going to pay them 20% carrying interest. We're only going to pay five and a half. Okay, so we're talking about 0.2.
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
22:26
0.2 versus 2.0. Okay, and then again, you're not getting charged anything on the 26 and a half million,
so if we took that into there and blended that and extrapolated that all out, it would be even less. It would be even less. Okay. I apologize for that, but I had to get my hands around it whenever we were looking at this. It's quite all right. Thank
you, sir. All right. Any other questions on H5? Senator Tucker, you are recognized if it's on H5. I was going to ask a question on H9. Okay. If you'll hold off a minute, we'll get an opportunity to do that. All right. Any other questions on H5?
Seeing none, I need a motion to review the items under H5. I've got a motion. I have a second all right all in favor of the motion please say aye any opposed motion is adopted we're going to move on to H6 the Arkansas teacher retirement system are there any questions do we need to talk to anybody on H6 seeing none I need a motion to review item H6 I have a motion i have a second all so i have a motion second all in favor say aye anybody any opposed
motion to review uh passes um moving on to so on nine department of
corrections could someone come to the table to answer i don't i don't i don't need anybody come to
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
23:54
the table i just didn't have this report in our packet and i was just going to ask staff to
email the report okay we we will direct staff to to do just that okay thank you for
bringing that to our attention yep thanks all right so h14 um h14 representative meeks do you need to have someone from department
of parks heritage and tourism yeah yes sir if that's possible okay department of parks heritage tourism please come to the table uh identify yourself and tell us who you represent and then Representative Meeks, you're ready to
Speaker 93
24:30
get started once that happens. Thank you. Oh good
Speaker 99
24:44
morning my name is Mike Wilson. I'm the Assistant Parks Director of the
Division of Arkansas State Parks under Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage
Speaker 101
24:54
and Tourism. Marty Ryle, Legislative Director, Arkansas Department of Parks,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
24:59
areas in tourism. Good morning, gentlemen. I'm
over here to your far, far right, about as far right as you can get over here. I was looking at the general revenue comparisons that you had presented to us this morning, and I had just a few questions. It looks like it's on the second or third page. The Park Central Office, your fiscal year 26 budget, $2.3 million, but in 27 it's going
to 1.8 so it's about a half a million dollar drop just was curious about that the next one for Pettigene State Park the expenses for 2025 were 170,000 but they almost doubled this year to over 300,000 and I was just curious to what was driving that and then my final question And down on the emergency services line, in 25, again, 181,000 for fiscal year 26, we jump over half a million.
And then in 27, we plummet down to 90. So just huge fluctuations there. So I don't know if there's a certain order you want to take those in, but just curious
Speaker 99
26:29
about those three things. Yes, sir. Under the general revenue, the way I understand it, all of that is towards regular salaries.
I believe those changes have just come due to a shift in the way that we pay those salaries. We have two other revenue sources within our agency. is cash and the other one is amendment 75 and i believe for the most part that's just going to be a shifting on the allocated funding bucket that that came out of our regular salaries incorporate 29.2 million dollars annually so this is just a small part of it our budget cumulatively remains
pretty much the same so i would have to talk to my cfo on each one of those
Speaker 104
27:13
i think all those three questions kind of relay on that on that situation sir okay so we're just
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
27:19
well we're not having extreme fluctuations in total budget just how these line items are allocated would that be a correct assessment yes sir i really think that's it yes sir okay all right thank you
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
27:28
thank you gentlemen all right representative eaves you're recognized
thank you marty can you tell me what's the deal with poison springs it's showing zero budget zero expenses what is the status of poison
springs and what are the plans going forward oh
Speaker 99
27:46
yes sir even though it shows a zero there that particular park is managed by white oak state park so their funding's incorporated into that park it's just right around the corner all of the all the labor mno it's such a small amount that it it just falls within the white oak
state park budget right thank you yes sir okay seeing no further questions you're excused item h14b division of state parks is
requesting a review of its general revenue allocation report I need a motion to review I've got a motion to have a second I got a second all in favor say aye any opposed motion carries All right. Item I, new business. Senator Irvin is not here. She has an interim resolution in your packets under I.
You will see a draft interim and it is a draft interim resolution by Senator Missy Irvin concerning protecting wetlands and waterfowl in the prairie pothole region. the resolution will be on the september alc agenda but we're bringing it to your attention now so that you may have time to review it and to let blr staff know if you would like to add your name to the resolution this was discussed at the game and fish subcommittee meeting this week and senator ervin urges alc to consider this very important issue so if there are no comments or
questions we are moving to jay
So without objection, we will adopt or we will assign both of these interim study proposals to Senate and House Public Health Welfare and Labor Committee.
Without objection, we will, on interim resolution 2025-008, without objection, we will refer this interim resolution to the House and Senate Committees on Insurance and Commerce meeting jointly for further discussion and
recommendation back to the legislation. Seeing none, with no further business, we're adjourned.
Agenda
A. Call to Order.
B. Roll Call.
C. Approval of the Minutes of the Last Meeting, June 21, 2026.
D. Presentation of the July 2026 Revenue Report (Report for June 2026 is retained in the file) – Dr. Carlos Silva, Legislative Economist
E. Report of the Executive Subcommittee — Sen. Justin Boyd, Rep. Les D. Eaves, Co-Chairs
F. Reports of Standing Subcommittees:
G. Reports of Interim or Special Committees: (none)
H. Review of Communications:
I. New Business:
J. New Interim Study Proposals and Interim Resolutions:
K. Business Carried Over: (none)
L. Adjournment.
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Senator Justin Boyd Chair
Unverified
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 13
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Speaker 16
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
Speaker 26
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
Speaker 15
Representative Lane Jean
Unverified
Senator Terry Rice
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Senator Ricky Hill
Unverified
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
Speaker 72
Speaker 74
Speaker 78
Senator Clarke Tucker
Unverified
Speaker 93
Speaker 99
Speaker 101
Speaker 104