AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS, HERITAGE, AND TOURISM - DIVISION OF HERITAGE APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1024 is the fiscal year 2026-2027 appropriation act for the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, Division of Heritage, and related departmental shared services and program accounts. It sets maximum employee counts, authorizes extra-help positions, and appropriates funding for salaries, benefits, operating expenses, travel, professional services, capital outlay, grants, and aid across a wide range of heritage-related functions.
The bill funds the division’s shared services operations, state operations, conservation-tax-supported heritage activities, and cash-fund operations for entities such as the Delta Cultural Center, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Old State House Commission, Historic Arkansas Museum Commission, Arkansas State Archives, Arkansas Arts Council, Natural Heritage Commission, and the Natural and Cultural Resources Council. It also includes major appropriations for historic preservation, Main Street programs, land acquisition, museum and facility construction, and the Arkansas Major Historic Rehabilitation Program, along with special language governing promotional materials, shared services transfers, and the Ouachita River Commission.
HB1024 primarily affects state budget law rather than substantive regulatory law by authorizing spending from multiple state, federal, cash, and trust fund sources for the Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism and its heritage-related divisions and commissions. It establishes staffing limits and spending authority for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, including significant appropriations for historic preservation grants, state-owned lands and historic sites, land acquisition, and tax-credit-related rehabilitation expenses. The act also includes temporary special language that directs how certain funds may be transferred and spent, and it becomes effective July 1, 2026.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House and Senate unanimously on third reading, with 92-0 and 32-0 votes, respectively, and there is no committee transcript indicating debate or opposition. The voting history suggests strong bipartisan agreement on the need to fund the department’s heritage, preservation, archives, museums, and cultural programs for the upcoming fiscal year.
No notable substantive contention is reflected in the available record. The only potentially sensitive features are the large appropriations for the Natural and Cultural Resources Council, historic preservation programs, and the Arkansas Major Historic Rehabilitation Program, as well as the special-language provisions allowing fund transfers and directing expenditures for the Ouachita River Commission. However, the unanimous votes and absence of recorded committee discussion indicate these items did not generate visible opposition in the legislative process.