AN ACT FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1041 is the annual appropriation act for the Arkansas Secretary of State for fiscal year 2026-2027. It sets maximum regular employee positions and salaries for the office, authorizes extra-help positions, and provides operating appropriations for the Secretary of State’s core functions, including elections administration, business and commercial services, Capitol Police operations, Capitol grounds maintenance, and related administrative expenses.
The bill also includes targeted appropriations for several specific purposes: county voting system grants, Help America Vote Act matching expenditures, the Arkansas Video Service Act, the National Statuary Hall Collection, the Secretary of State gift shop and cafe, the business and commercial services electronic filing system, Capitol security, and a major HVAC upgrade for the north end of the State Capitol building. In addition, it contains special language allowing certain internal transfers within operations appropriations and requiring the Secretary of State gift shop to remain permanently on the first floor of the Capitol.
HB1041 primarily affects state budget law rather than substantive regulatory law. It authorizes spending from multiple state and cash funds, establishes staffing limits and salary ceilings for the Secretary of State, and directs funds to election administration, Capitol operations, security, building restoration, and technology systems. The act also reinforces compliance with Arkansas fiscal-control statutes and includes an emergency clause making it effective July 1, 2026. As enacted, it became Act 125 and governs the Secretary of State’s authorized expenditures for the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no documented debate or opposition in the provided materials. The bill appears to have been treated as a routine Joint Budget Committee appropriation measure and advanced to enactment without visible controversy in the supplied history. Its passage as Act 125 suggests general institutional support for funding the Secretary of State’s operations and capital needs.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcripts or vote history. The only potentially notable policy-specific provision is the special language requiring the Secretary of State gift shop to remain permanently on the first floor of the State Capitol, which could be sensitive if there were disagreement over Capitol space use, but no opposition is shown in the record provided. Otherwise, the bill is largely a standard appropriations package with no recorded disputes.