HB1024 is the fiscal year 2026-2027 appropriation act for the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, Division of Heritage. It establishes the maximum number of authorized positions and extra-help employees for the division and its shared services unit, and it sets out line-item appropriations for salaries, operating expenses, travel, professional fees, capital outlay, grants, aid, construction, special maintenance, land acquisition, and resale/cost-of-goods-sold activities across multiple heritage-related programs and facilities.
The bill funds a broad range of state heritage functions, including state operations, Amendment 75 conservation tax operations, the Delta Cultural Center, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Old State House Commission, historic preservation programs, Main Street Arkansas, Natural Heritage Commission activities, the Historic Arkansas Museum Commission, Arkansas State Archives, Arkansas Arts Council, and the Natural and Cultural Resources Council. It also includes major grant and program appropriations, notably $48 million for state-owned lands or historic sites grants and $40 million for the Arkansas Major Historic Rehabilitation Program, along with $6 million for historic preservation and Main Street programs.
The bill’s impact on state law is primarily fiscal and administrative rather than substantive policy-making. It authorizes spending from multiple state, cash, special, trust, and federal fund sources, defines staffing limits, and includes special language governing shared services transfers, promotional materials purchases, and the Ouachita River Commission grant allocation. It also contains standard compliance, legislative intent, and emergency clause provisions, making the act effective July 1, 2026, so the department can continue operations without interruption.
The overall sentiment around the bill appears routine and supportive, consistent with a budget measure that was enacted and became Act 124. No committee transcript or recorded vote information was provided, and the bill text itself reflects a standard appropriations package rather than a controversial policy proposal. The emergency clause and the need for uninterrupted agency operations suggest the measure was treated as necessary for ongoing government functions.
There is little explicit contention in the available record, but potential points of interest are the size and allocation of the grant appropriations, especially the large funding levels for historic sites and major rehabilitation tax credit expenses. The special language directing how funds may be transferred and how certain grants must be spent could also draw scrutiny from legislators focused on budget flexibility, oversight, or program-specific earmarks. However, no direct opposition or debate is documented in the provided materials.
HB1024 amends state appropriations law for fiscal year 2026-2027 by authorizing spending and staffing for the Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism’s Division of Heritage and related programs. It sets maximum employee counts, authorizes extra-help positions, and appropriates funds from general revenue, cash funds, special funds, federal funds, and trust funds for operations, grants, maintenance, land acquisition, and historic preservation activities. The act also includes special language affecting fund transfers, grant administration, and limited purchases of promotional and educational materials, while leaving substantive program law unchanged.
No direct contention is documented in the provided transcripts or votes. The most likely areas for disagreement would be the scale and targeting of appropriations, particularly the large grant lines for state-owned lands or historic sites and the Arkansas Major Historic Rehabilitation Program, as well as the special language governing transfers and earmarked grant use. Those provisions could matter to legislators concerned with oversight, flexibility, or the balance between administrative funding and program grants.