AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - DISBURSING OFFICER SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION.
HB1088 is a supplemental appropriation act for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Disbursing Officer. It provides additional fiscal year 2025-2026 funding for two specific purposes: $8 million for payments related to the Firemen's and Police Officers' Pension and Relief Fund, and $5 million for additional payments to fire departments from the Fire Protection Premium Tax Fund. The bill is framed as supplemental funding on top of amounts already appropriated in Act 1006 of 2025.
The measure is a budgetary bill rather than a policy bill, and it authorizes the Department of Finance and Administration to disburse the funds subject to existing state fiscal controls, procurement rules, accounting procedures, and revenue stabilization requirements. It also includes an emergency clause, allowing the act to take effect immediately upon passage so the funds can be used without delay. The bill was enacted and later identified as Act 111.
HB1088 increases state appropriations for municipal fire and police pension relief and for fire protection services, affecting the Firemen's and Police Officers' Pension and Relief Fund and the Fire Protection Premium Tax Fund. It directs the Department of Finance and Administration to make the supplemental payments and does not amend substantive eligibility rules, but it does increase the amount of state money available for these local public safety-related programs. The bill also reinforces that spending must comply with Arkansas fiscal and procurement laws.
The available record suggests the bill was generally noncontroversial and administrative in nature, with no recorded committee debate, votes, or opposition in the provided materials. Because it is a supplemental appropriation supporting pensions and fire departments, the measure appears to have been treated as a routine funding adjustment with broad practical support. Its emergency clause further indicates a sense of urgency around getting the money out quickly.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcripts or vote history. The only potentially sensitive issue is the allocation of state funds between pension relief and fire department payments, but there is no evidence in the record of disagreement over the amounts, the funding sources, or the use of an emergency clause. In short, the bill appears to have moved without notable dispute.