AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1102 is a fiscal-session appropriation bill for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2026-2027. It authorizes a $400,000 grant to the Veterans Council of Northwest Arkansas for costs associated with the construction, renovation, upgrade, and expansion of the Veterans Wall of Honor in Bella Vista, Arkansas. The bill also directs that the money be transferred from the General Revenue Allotment Reserve Fund to the designated cash fund in the State Treasury for this purpose.
The measure is primarily a funding vehicle rather than a policy change. It includes standard appropriation language limiting spending to the amount appropriated and requiring compliance with state procurement, accounting, budgetary, revenue stabilization, and other fiscal control laws. It also contains an emergency clause making the act effective July 1, 2026, so the appropriation would be available at the start of the fiscal year.
HB1102 would have amended state appropriations law for the 2026-2027 fiscal year by creating a specific $400,000 line-item grant within the Department of Veterans Affairs budget. It would not have changed substantive veterans law, but it would have authorized a targeted transfer and expenditure of state funds for a local veterans memorial project in Bella Vista. Because the bill died in House Committee at sine die adjournment, the appropriation did not take effect.
The available record suggests generally favorable treatment of the bill as a veterans-related funding measure, but there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes to show debate or opposition. Its inclusion of an emergency clause and direct appropriation for a named veterans project indicates legislative support for moving the funding quickly if enacted. However, the bill ultimately did not advance out of committee before adjournment.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials, and there are no recorded votes or hearing transcripts. The only potentially sensitive issue apparent from the text is that the bill directs state funds to a particular local project and organization, which can sometimes raise questions about local versus statewide priorities, but no opposition is shown in the record. The bill’s failure was procedural—death in committee at sine die—rather than the result of a recorded policy dispute.