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*CJW017* 03/30/2026 11:24:01 AM CJW017
State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Fiscal Session, 2026 SENATE BILL 9 3
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By: Joint Budget Committee 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO MAKE AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF 9
HEALTH - ARKANSAS MINORITY HEALTH COMMISSION FOR THE 10
MINORITY HEALTH INITIATIVE OF THE TARGETED STATE 11
NEEDS PROGRAM FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 12
2027; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS MINORITY HEALTH 17
INITIATIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - 18
ARKANSAS MINORITY HEALTH COMMISSION 19
APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL 20
YEAR. 21
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
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SECTION 1. REGULAR SALARIES - MINORITY HEALTH INITIATIVE. There is 26
hereby established for the Department of Health - Arkansas Minority Health 27
Commission for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, the following maximum number of 28
regular employees. 29
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Maximum Annual 31
Maximum Salary Rate 32
Item Class No. of Fiscal Year 33
No. Code Title Employees 2026-2027 34
(1) FAC02P ACCOUNTANT II 1 GRADE SPC02 35
(2) PHS05P HEALTH PROGRAM COORDINATOR 2 GRADE SGS07 36
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(3) HDH05P HR COORDINATOR 1 GRADE SGS07 1
(4) FFS04P FISCAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST 1 GRADE SGS04 2
(5) MNU06P REGISTERED NURSE 1 GRADE MED05 3
MAX. NO. OF EMPLOYEES 6 4
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SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION - MINORITY HEALTH INITIATIVE. There is hereby 6
appropriated, to the Department of Health, to be payable from the Targeted 7
State Needs Program Account, for personal services and operating expenses of 8
the Department of Health - Arkansas Minority Health Commission - Arkansas 9
Minority Health Initiative for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, the 10
following: 11
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ITEM FISCAL YEAR 13
NO. 2026-2027 14
(01) REGULAR SALARIES $326,124 15
(02) PERSONAL SERVICES MATCHING 122,431 16
(03) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 17
(A) OPER. EXPENSE 531,788 18
(B) CONF. & TRAVEL 20,000 19
(C) PROF. FEES 250,000 20
(D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 21
(E) DATA PROC. 0 22
(04) PROMOTIONAL ITEMS 0 23
(05) SCREENING, MONITORING, TREATING & 24
OUTREACH 558,554 25
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $1,808,897 26
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SECTION 3. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 28
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. 29
PROMOTIONAL ITEMS. The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall establish 30
upon request for the Arkansas Minority Health Commission a special 31
Promotional Items appropriation to be used in the acquisition of promotional 32
items. When the Arkansas Minority Health Commission wishes to transfer from 33
its operating expenses and/or Screening, Monitoring, Treating, Outreach & 34
Advertising appropriation and funds to the promotional items line, the 35
request shall be forwarded by the Arkansas Minority Health Commission to the 36
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Chief Fiscal Officer of the State for processing and for prior approval by 1
the Arkansas Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee. Determining the 2
maximum number of employees and the maximum amount of appropriation and 3
general revenue funding for a state agency each fiscal year is the 4
prerogative of the General Assembly. This is usually accomplished by 5
delineating such maximums in the appropriation act(s) for a state agency and 6
the general revenue allocations authorized for each fund and fund account by 7
amendment to the Revenue Stabilization law. Further, the General Assembly 8
has determined that the Arkansas Minority Health Commission may operate more 9
efficiently if some flexibility is provided to the Department of Health - 10
Arkansas Minority Health Commission authorizing broad powers under this 11
Section. Therefore, it is both necessary and appropriate that the General 12
Assembly maintain oversight by requiring prior approval of the Legislative 13
Council or Joint Budget Committee as provided by this section. The 14
requirement of approval by the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee 15
is not a severable part of this section. If the requirement of approval by 16
the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee is ruled unconstitutional 17
by a court of competent jurisdiction, this entire section is void. 18
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2025 19
2026 through June 30, 2026 2027. 20
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SECTION 4. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 22
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. TRANSFER 23
RESTRICTIONS. The appropriations provided in this act shall not be 24
transferred under the provisions of Arkansas Code 19-4-513, but only as 25
provided by this act. 26
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2025 27
2026 through June 30, 2026 2027. 28
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SECTION 5. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 30
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. TRANSFERS 31
OF APPROPRIATION. In the event the amount of any of the budget 32
classifications of maintenance and general operation in this act are found by 33
the administrative head of the agency to be inadequate, then the agency head 34
may request, upon forms provided for such purpose by the Chief Fiscal Officer 35
of the State, a modification of the amounts of the budget classification. In 36
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that event, he or she shall set out on the forms the particular 1
classifications for which he or she is requesting an increase or decrease, 2
the amounts thereof, and his or her reasons therefor. In no event shall the 3
total amount of the budget exceed either the amount of the appropriation or 4
the amount of the funds available, nor shall any transfer be made from the 5
capital outlay or data processing subclassifications unless specific 6
authority for such transfers is provided by law, except for transfers from 7
capital outlay to data processing when determined by the Department of Shared 8
Administrative Services - Office of State Technology that data processing 9
services for a state agency can be performed on a more cost-efficient basis 10
by the Department of Shared Administrative Services - Office of State 11
Technology than through the purchase of data processing equipment by that 12
state agency. In considering the proposed modification as prepared and 13
submitted by each state agency, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall 14
make such studies as he or she deems necessary. The Chief Fiscal Officer of 15
the State shall, after obtaining the approval of the Legislative Council or 16
Joint Budget Committee, approve the requested transfer if in his or her 17
opinion it is in the best interest of the state. 18
The General Assembly has determined that the agency in this act could be 19
operated more efficiently if some flexibility is given to that agency and 20
that flexibility is being accomplished by providing authority to transfer 21
between certain items of appropriation made by this act. Since the General 22
Assembly has granted the agency broad powers under the transfer of 23
appropriations, it is both necessary and appropriate that the General 24
Assembly maintain oversight of the utilization of the transfers by requiring 25
prior approval of the Legislative Council in the utilization of the transfer 26
authority. Therefore, the requirement of approval by the Legislative Council 27
is not a severable part of this section. If the requirement of approval by 28
the Legislative Council is ruled unconstitutional by a court of competent 29
jurisdiction, this entire section is void. 30
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2025 31
2026 through June 30, 2026 2027. 32
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SECTION 6. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 34
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. 35
POSITIONS. (a) Nothing in this act shall be construed as a commitment of the 36
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State of Arkansas or any of its agencies or institutions to continue funding 1
any position paid from the proceeds of the Tobacco Settlement in the event 2
that Tobacco Settlement funds are not sufficient to finance the position. 3
(b) State funds will not be used to replace Tobacco Settlement funds when 4
such funds expire, unless appropriated by the General Assembly and authorized 5
by the Governor. 6
(c) A disclosure of the language contained in (a) and (b) of this Section 7
shall be made available to all new hire and current positions paid from the 8
proceeds of the Tobacco Settlement by the Department of Health - Arkansas 9
Minority Health Commission. 10
(d) Whenever applicable the information contained in (a) and (b) of this 11
Section shall be included in the employee handbook and/or Professional 12
Services Contract paid from the proceeds of the Tobacco Settlement. 13
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2025 14
2026 through June 30, 2026 2027. 15
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SECTION 7. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 17
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. 18
COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER LAWS. Disbursement of funds authorized by this act 19
shall be limited to the appropriation for such agency and funds made 20
available by law for the support of such appropriations; and the restrictions 21
of the State Purchasing Law, the General Accounting and Budgetary Procedures 22
Law, the Regular Salary Procedures and Restrictions Act, or their successors, 23
and other fiscal control laws of this State, where applicable, and 24
regulations promulgated by the Department of Finance and Administration, as 25
authorized by law, shall be strictly complied with in disbursement of said 26
funds. 27
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2025 28
2026 through June 30, 2026 2027. 29
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SECTION 8. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 31
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. 32
LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the General Assembly that any funds 33
disbursed under the authority of the appropriations contained in this act 34
shall be in compliance with the stated reasons for which this act was 35
adopted, as evidenced by Initiated Act 1 of 2000, the Agency Requests, 36
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Executive Recommendations and Legislative Recommendations contained in the 1
budget manuals prepared by the Department of Finance and Administration, 2
letters, or summarized oral testimony in the official minutes of the Arkansas 3
Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee which relate to its passage and 4
adoption. 5
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2025 6
2026 through June 30, 2026 2027. 7
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SECTION 9. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and determined by the General 9
Assembly, that the Constitution of the State of Arkansas prohibits the 10
appropriation of funds for more than a one (1) year period; that the 11
effectiveness of this Act on July 1, 2026 is essential to the operation of 12
the agency for which the appropriations in this Act are provided, and that in 13
the event of an extension of the legislative session, the delay in the 14
effective date of this Act beyond July 1, 2026 could work irreparable harm 15
upon the proper administration and provision of essential governmental 16
programs. Therefore, an emergency is hereby declared to exist and this Act 17
being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health 18
and safety shall be in full force and effect from and after July 1, 2026. 19
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