An Act For The Arkansas State University - Mid-south Appropriation For The 2025-2026 Fiscal Year.
Summary
HB1248 is the annual appropriation act for Arkansas State University–Mid-South for fiscal year 2025-2026. It authorizes spending for the university’s personal services and operating expenses, sets maximum numbers of regular and temporary employees, and establishes salary caps for a wide range of administrative, academic, technical, and auxiliary positions. The bill also includes appropriations for state operations, cash funds, and support for ADTEC/University Center partner activities.
The measure provides funding for salaries, benefits, operating costs, contingency needs, capital improvements, promotional items, and subawardee grants and aid. It also allocates a specific amount among participating ADTEC and University Center partner institutions and directs ASU–Mid-South to disburse those funds in consultation with ADTEC. The act includes standard fiscal-control language requiring compliance with state procurement, accounting, budgetary, revenue stabilization, salary, and higher education expenditure laws, and it contains an emergency clause making it effective July 1, 2025.
Impact
HB1248 does not create a new program or broadly amend substantive law; instead, it sets the legal spending authority for Arkansas State University–Mid-South for FY2025-2026. It establishes the university’s authorized staffing levels, salary maximums, and appropriation limits from the Arkansas State University Mid-South Fund and cash funds, and it authorizes allocations for ADTEC/University Center partner support. The bill also reinforces that expenditures must comply with existing state fiscal and procurement statutes and related Department of Finance and Administration rules.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been noncontroversial and broadly supported. There are no committee transcript snippets indicating debate or opposition, and the recorded floor votes were unanimous in both chambers, passing the House 99-0 and the Senate 32-0. That voting pattern suggests general agreement that the appropriation was routine and necessary for the university’s operations.
Contention
No notable points of contention are reflected in the available record. Because this is a budget and appropriation bill, any potential concerns would likely have centered on staffing levels, salary ceilings, or the distribution of ADTEC/University Center partner funds, but no objections are documented in the provided materials. The unanimous votes indicate that any such issues were either resolved in advance or not significant enough to generate recorded opposition.