From the Arkansas Advocate:
If everything goes as expected, legislative leaders anticipate the fiscal session will wrap up Wednesday, and Arkansas lawmakers will have a few days off before returning to the Capitol for a special session the following week.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said she plans to call lawmakers into a special session to cut taxes, but the Republican governor has not issued a proclamation formally scheduling the session and setting its agenda.
Lawmakers are expected to consider increasing the state’s homestead property tax credit to $675 when they resume their fiscal work Monday. The bill advanced out of a House committee Thursday and must receive approval from the full House and Senate before heading to the governor’s desk. The bill appears likely to pass with 68 co-sponsors in the House and 34 in the Senate.
The proposed amount represents a $300 increase to the tax credit, which reduces property taxes for a taxpayer’s primary residence, since Sanders took office in 2023.
Though Republican lawmakers have generally agreed with Sanders’ budget and her efforts to lower taxes, there has been some disagreement over her employees. Sen. Terry Rice, a Republican from Waldron, this week introduced a proposal to eliminate a senior adviser position in the governor’s office that belongs to Joe Profiri.
Sanders hired Profiri for the role in 2024 after he was fired as the state’s corrections secretary by the corrections board. Rice has voiced his displeasure with the state paying Profiri’s large salary when he hasn’t engaged with lawmakers and Arkansans over a controversial prison project in Franklin County. That project, which has faced resistance in the Legislature, is on hold.
Profiri’s salary is $189,210.94, according to the state’s government transparency website.
After Rice’s proposal failed to advance out of a subcommittee Tuesday, he tried to bring it before the whole Joint Budget Committee Wednesday where it again failed to gain support.
Several other proposals failed to advance out of a very busy Special Language Subcommittee meeting Wednesday. Special language are instructions added to appropriations bills that include policy changes. They’ve prompted complaints that they’re a way to sidestep limits on what can be considered during a budget-focused session.
A few measures did advance and will see further consideration next week including legislation to assist small isolated school districts that form after breaking off from districts they were previously consolidated with.
Lawmakers also advanced legislation that would allow Arkansas’ public television network to provide up to $550,000 for PBS membership dues. Arkansas’ public television commission became the first in the country to vote to split from PBS after losing federal funding following the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s closure. Public efforts are underway to raise sufficient funds to pay the dues and keep PBS programs on the air in Arkansas.
The last piece of business for the General Assembly next week will be approving the Revenue Stabilization Act, legislation that maps out how state dollars will be spent. Lawmakers got their first look at the bill this week.
The legislation closely matches a nearly $6.7 billion budget proposed by the governor that raises spending by 3%. The proposed legislation includes setting aside funding for a variety of programs, including $70 million for the state’s school voucher program. This is in addition to the $309 million budgeted for the program for the upcoming school year.
The budget legislation also calls for setting aside $300 million for “an advanced manufacturing, non-data center facility” officials hope to attract to West Memphis. Half would be for economic incentives for the project and the other half would support road improvements needed for the construction and operation of the facility.
With plenty of work left to be done, lawmakers still plan to find some time for fun Tuesday with their annual charity game that benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas and the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas.
After a decade of basketball games, the House will face the Senate in a softball game Tuesday evening at North Little Rock’s Dickey-Stephens Park.
