HB1065 is an appropriations bill for Northwest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) for fiscal year 2026-2027. It sets maximum numbers of authorized positions and salary rates for a wide range of administrative, academic, technical, public safety, and auxiliary enterprise jobs, including faculty, staff, IT personnel, counselors, and campus safety officers. The bill also authorizes a maximum of 360 extra-help temporary or part-time employees for operations.
The measure appropriates funds for NWACC’s state operations, cash-fund operations, and the college’s Child Protection Training Center. It provides $14,221,641 in state-operations funding, $96,557,111 in cash-fund appropriations, and $274,075 for the Child Protection Training Center. The bill includes standard fiscal controls, requiring compliance with state procurement, accounting, budgetary, revenue stabilization, and higher-education expenditure laws, and contains an emergency clause making it effective July 1, 2026.
HB1065 does not create a new program or change substantive education policy; instead, it authorizes spending and staffing limits for NWACC for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Its legal effect is to establish the college’s spending authority from the Northwest Arkansas Community College Fund and cash funds, define the maximum number of employees and salary ceilings, and provide a separate appropriation for the Child Protection Training Center. It also reinforces that expenditures must comply with Arkansas fiscal-control statutes and related Department of Finance and Administration rules.
The available record suggests the bill was routine and noncontroversial. It was introduced by the Joint Budget Committee, had no recorded committee transcript debate in the provided materials, and no votes are listed in the context. The bill was ultimately enacted as Act 102, which is consistent with a standard annual higher-education appropriation measure moving through the legislature without notable opposition.
No specific points of contention are reflected in the provided materials. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes, there is no evidence of disagreement over the size of the appropriation, staffing levels, salary caps, or the Child Protection Training Center funding. Any potential concerns would likely have centered on budget priorities or college staffing authority, but none are documented here.