An Act For The Department Of Parks, Heritage, And Tourism - Division Of Heritage Appropriation For The 2025-2026 Fiscal Year.
HB1175 is the fiscal year 2025-2026 appropriation act for the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, Division of Heritage, along with related heritage, archives, arts, and natural/cultural resources programs. The bill sets maximum employee counts, authorizes extra-help positions, and appropriates funding for salaries, operating expenses, travel, professional services, capital outlay, grants, and aid across a wide range of division functions. It covers shared services, state operations, Amendment 75 conservation tax operations, several museum and cultural center cash funds, historic preservation programs, the Arkansas State Archives, the Arkansas Arts Council, the Natural and Cultural Resources Council, the Natural Heritage Commission, and the Arkansas Major Historic Rehabilitation Program.
The bill also includes special language governing how certain funds may be used and transferred. It authorizes promotional and educational materials purchases, directs the Secretary of the Department to serve as disbursing officer for certain council appropriations, permits internal transfers for shared services, and requires a $20,000 grant allocation to the Ouachita River Commission. The act is temporary and tied to the 2025-2026 fiscal year, with an emergency clause making it effective July 1, 2025 so the agency can continue operating without interruption.
HB1175 primarily affects state budgeting and administrative authority rather than substantive regulatory law. It establishes and funds the personnel and operating budgets for the Division of Heritage and related programs, including significant grant and aid appropriations for historic preservation, Main Street programs, state-owned lands or historic sites, and the Arkansas Major Historic Rehabilitation Program. It also authorizes use of multiple funding sources, including general state funds, cash funds, federal funds, special funds, and trust funds, and sets spending limits and staffing caps for the covered programs and commissions.
The available voting history shows strong bipartisan support, with the bill passing the House 95-0 and the Senate 34-0 on third reading. No committee transcript is available, but the unanimous votes suggest the appropriation was broadly viewed as routine and necessary to fund ongoing agency operations and heritage-related programs for the next fiscal year. The emergency clause further indicates legislative agreement that the act needed to take effect by July 1, 2025 to avoid disruption.
No notable opposition appears in the provided record. Because this is an appropriation bill, any potential points of contention would likely have centered on funding levels, the size of grant programs, or the use of special language allowing transfers and designated allocations, but the unanimous votes suggest those issues were not divisive. The bill’s large appropriations for historic preservation, state-owned lands or historic sites, and the major historic rehabilitation program are the most likely areas where stakeholders could have had differing priorities, though none are reflected in the available discussion.