SB116 is the annual appropriation act for the University of Arkansas System and several of its divisions for fiscal year 2025-2026. It sets maximum numbers of regular employees and salary caps for a wide range of positions across system administration and affiliated units, including the Arkansas Archeological Survey, the Criminal Justice Institute, the Clinton School of Public Service, Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network (AREON), the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts (ASMSA), and UA Grantham. The bill also authorizes temporary or part-time “extra help” positions for several units.
The measure appropriates funding from multiple sources, including the University of Arkansas Fund, the School for Math, Sciences, and Arts Fund, and cash funds, to cover salaries, matching costs, operating expenses, travel, professional fees, capital outlay, capital improvements, debt service, promotional items, and other expenses. It also includes a special transfer of $150,000 from the Special State Assets Forfeiture Fund to the University of Arkansas Fund for the Criminal Justice Institute’s drug-related education and training work. The bill contains standard compliance language, legislative intent language, and an emergency clause making it effective July 1, 2025.
SB116 continues and updates the state’s annual budget authority for the University of Arkansas System and named divisions, establishing spending limits and staffing authority for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. It does not create new substantive policy outside appropriations, but it does control how state and cash funds may be spent, sets salary ceilings for numerous positions, and authorizes specific allocations for operations, capital projects, and debt service. The special language also directs a one-time fund transfer to support Criminal Justice Institute programming.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 34-0 on third reading and the House 79-6 on third reading, indicating strong bipartisan approval overall. The absence of committee transcript discussion suggests there was little recorded debate or that the measure was treated as a routine appropriations bill.
No major points of contention are evident in the available record. The only potentially notable item is the special transfer of $150,000 from the Special State Assets Forfeiture Fund to support the Criminal Justice Institute’s illicit drug education and training efforts, but there is no indication in the provided materials that this provision drew opposition. Any disagreement, if present, was limited given the overwhelmingly favorable votes.