An Act For The Department Of Commerce - Arkansas Waterways Commission Appropriation For The 2025-2026 Fiscal Year.
HB1089 is an annual appropriation bill for the Arkansas Waterways Commission within the Department of Commerce for fiscal year 2025-2026. It authorizes funding for the commission’s regular salaries and operating expenses, including three authorized positions: a director, a business operations manager, and a research project analyst. The bill also provides separate appropriations for two water-related funding streams: the Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and Waterway Development Grant Program, and the Arkansas River Navigation System Fund.
Under the bill, $335,324 is appropriated for the commission’s personnel and operating costs, $5,000,000 is set aside for waterway development grants to port authorities and intermodal authorities for eligible port development projects, and $2,000,000 is appropriated for expenses tied to development, improvement, and expansion of river transportation resources in the Arkansas portion of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The act includes standard fiscal-control language requiring compliance with state procurement, budgeting, and revenue laws, and it takes effect July 1, 2025 under an emergency clause.
HB1089 does not create new regulatory authority or amend substantive program eligibility rules; instead, it funds existing operations and grant programs for the Arkansas Waterways Commission and related waterway infrastructure efforts. Its legal effect is to authorize spending from the Miscellaneous Agencies Fund Account, the Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and Waterway Development Grant Program Fund, and the Arkansas River Navigation System Fund for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The bill therefore affects the commission, port and intermodal authorities, and projects tied to river navigation and water transportation development.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House 95-0 and the Senate 35-0 on third reading, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. No committee transcript or recorded debate is provided, and the absence of dissent suggests the appropriation was viewed as routine and necessary for agency operations and infrastructure funding.
There is no documented substantive contention in the provided materials. Because HB1089 is an appropriation measure, any potential concerns would likely have centered on the size and allocation of funding between agency operations, grant programs, and navigation-system expenses, but no objections, amendments, or opposing arguments are reflected in the vote history or transcripts. The emergency clause and one-year appropriation structure are standard features of Arkansas budget bills rather than points of dispute.