News

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when the world unites in a sea of pink ribbons, illuminating the urgency of breast cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. In Arkansas, more than 2,400 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. It is the most common cancer for women in Arkansas and the second […]

This week, the Arkansas Rice Federation announced it will donate 240,000 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Food Bank. That is the equivalent of 1.8 million servings and will go a long way to help alleviate hunger in every county of the state. September is both Arkansas Rice Month and Hunger Action Month. Hunger Action […]

This week, the House convened for an Extraordinary Session to address tax cuts, vaccine mandates for state agencies, amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, and technical corrections to previously passed legislation. SB8 reduces the top personal income tax rate from 4.7% to 4.4%. The bill also reduces the corporate income tax rate from 5.1% […]

Our work for the Extraordinary Session is now complete and the legislation passed has been signed into law. This morning, the House passed HB1007 and SB8. These are identical bills reducing the top personal income tax rate from 4.7% to 4.4%. The bills also reduce the corporate income tax rate from 5.1% to 4.8%. In […]

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee advanced HB1007. HB1007 reduces the top personal income tax rate from 4.7% to 4.4%. It reduces the corporate income tax rate from 5.1% to 4.8%. In addition, the bill provides an income tax credit of $150 to taxpayers making less than $90,000 annually.  The credit would be retroactive to […]

On the second day of the Extraordinary Session, the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee advanced HB1002. This bill states that a state agency, a political subdivision of the state, or a state or local official shall not mandate an individual to receive a vaccine or immunization for COVID-19 or any subvariants of COVID-19. […]

The 94th General Assembly will convene for a special session on Monday, September 11 at 11 a.m. In the call for the session, the Governor outlines several proposals to be introduced including tax cuts, amending the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, and legislation addressing vaccine mandates. The tax cut proposal to be introduced would reduce […]

Labor Day is more than just a day off work. It’s a day to celebrate the invaluable contributions of workers in our communities. In Arkansas, we have a good reason to celebrate. The most recent report from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (ADWS) shows unemployment in our state at 2.6 percent. The jobless rate […]

The State Capitol Offices and all State Buildings will be Closed on  Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, to observe Labor Day. State Capitol offices and state buildings will be closed.  However, the State Capitol building will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. This is a legal holiday by authority of Act […]

Subcommittees of the Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) held meetings this week. ALC convened on Friday. The ALC Higher Education Subcommittee heard a presentation from Dr. Ken Warden, the Commissioner of the Arkansas Division of Higher Education (ADHE). ADHE is currently working on the implementation of Arkansas Teacher Academy. This program is designed to increase the […]

SPEAKER SHEPHERD APPOINTS CHAD MAY TO THE STATE BOARD OF FINANCE Little Rock, Arkansas (August 21, 2023) – Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd has named Chad T. May of Little Rock to serve on the State Board of Finance.   May is the Chief Executive Officer of Armor Bank. He has worked in the financial […]

The latest census figures show 17.8% of our state’s population is over the age of 65. Nationwide, the population aged 65 and over grew nearly five times faster than the total population over the 100 years from 1920 to 2020.August 21 is National Senior Citizens Day. It’s an opportunity to show our appreciation for their […]