An Act For The Office Of The Governor Appropriation For The 2025-2026 Fiscal Year.
Summary
SB41 is the fiscal year 2025-2026 appropriation act for the Arkansas Office of the Governor. It authorizes funding for the Governor’s office operations, including regular salaries, extra help, personal services matching, operating expenses, conference and travel, and professional fees. The bill also includes a separate $500,000 appropriation for the Governor’s Emergency Proclamation fund, which is tied to the statutory authority in Arkansas Code § 19-2-404 for responding to emergency conditions.
The bill sets the maximum number of regular employees at 59 and authorizes up to 7 temporary or part-time extra-help employees. It also contains a transfer provision allowing the agency, with required fiscal and legislative review, to move appropriation among operations line items. Like most appropriation measures, it includes compliance language requiring spending to follow state procurement, accounting, budgetary, revenue stabilization, and salary-control laws, and it contains an emergency clause making the act effective July 1, 2025.
Impact
SB41 updates Arkansas law only for the 2025-2026 fiscal year by providing the legal authority and spending limits for the Office of the Governor. It appropriates a total of $6,492,175 for operations from the State Central Services Fund and $500,000 from the Miscellaneous Revolving Fund for emergency proclamation purposes. The act does not create new substantive policy outside budget administration, but it governs staffing levels, salary authority, and how funds may be transferred and spent within the Governor’s office.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong bipartisan support and no recorded opposition: the bill passed the Senate 34-0 on third reading and the House 97-0 on third reading. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate controversy or dissent. Overall, the sentiment appears routine and favorable, consistent with a standard annual appropriations bill for an executive agency.
Contention
There is no documented contention in the provided materials. The only potentially notable issue is the inclusion of a $500,000 emergency proclamation appropriation and the authority to transfer funds among line items, which are common budget tools but can sometimes draw scrutiny in appropriations bills. However, the unanimous votes and lack of transcripted objections suggest no significant disagreement among legislators in this case.