LITTLE ROCK – Some highlights from the fourth and final week of the Arkansas General Assembly’s Fiscal Session:
The Senate started the week by passing appropriation bills for departments, divisions, and agencies, including the Department of Health; Parks, Heritage and Tourism; Department of Transportation, UA East Arkansas Community College, and more.
Meeting briefly Monday evening, the Joint Budget Committee voted on HB1034, the Treasurer of State appropriation. The members voted to remove all proposed pay increases.
The Joint Budget Committee met on Tuesday to deal with government contracts, funding requests, out of state contracts, and discretionary grants.
The Senate convened at 1:00 and passed appropriation bills for the Board of Election Commissioners, the Division of Emergency Management, the Division of Environmental Quality, the State Insurance Department, and other departments, agencies, and boards.
The Senate also approved HB1103 to increase the homestead property tax credit to $675.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to approve HB1100 to amend the Revenue Stabilization Law. Members also passed the last appropriations bills for UA Little Rock, Tobacco Prevention and Cessation programs, the Division of Environmental Quality, and more.
The Senate passed a bill providing matching funds for Arkansas TV to continue to receive PBS programming, but the bill failed in the House.
Members elected Senator Breanne Davis as the next President Pro Tempore designee. Senator Ronald Caldwell announced he will run for President Pro Tempore on the floor in November. The deciding vote will be given by the 96th Senate during its organizational meeting after the elections.
Republicans chose Senator Joshua Bryant as Majority Leader and Senator Tyler Dees as the Majority Whip. Due to members who are term limited, the Democratic caucus will wait until after the elections to elect its leadership.
At the conclusion of the day’s business, the Senate adjourned sine die, finishing the work of the 2026 fiscal session. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the completed $6.7 billion budget bills Wednesday afternoon.
The crack of bats and the roar of the crowd echoed through Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock on Wednesday night as the Arkansas Senate took on the Arkansas House of Representatives in the inaugural Home Run for Kids’ Sake charity softball game. The Senate power hitters were joined by sluggers from the Governor’s and Attorney General’s offices.
Previous matchups between the two legislative houses have taken place on the basketball court, where the Senate has dominated. This was the first year for softball.
The House edged ahead of the Senate in the final inning, winning 7-6. The real winners, of course, are the recipients of the game’s proceeds: Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Arkansas and the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas.
You can watch any of the fiscal meetings on demand at https://senate.arkansas.gov.
You can read and download PDFs of the bills that were filed for the session at https://arkleg.state.ar.us/. Click on “Bills” in the menu, where you can search by keyword or filing date.
