Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H2/26/25
2 95th General Assembly
A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1326
4
5 By: Representative Warren
6 By: Senator K. Hammer
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SPECIAL ALLOWANCES
10 TO ENCOURAGE EARLY RETIREMENT FOR EMPLOYEES OF
11 PUBLICLY SUPPORTED COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES; TO
12 MANAGE EARLY RETIREMENT WINDOW INCENTIVES FOR
13 EMPLOYEES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION; TO
14 DECLARE AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
15
16
17 Subtitle
18 TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING SPECIAL
19 ALLOWANCES TO ENCOURAGE EARLY RETIREMENT
20 AND MANAGE EARLY RETIREMENT WINDOW
21 INCENTIVES FOR EMPLOYEES OF INSTITUTIONS
22 OF HIGHER EDUCATION; AND TO DECLARE AN
23 EMERGENCY.
24
25 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
26
27 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code � 24-7-101 is amended to read as follows:
28 24-7-101. Special allowances to encourage early retirement.
29 (a) In order to effect a net savings in personnel costs paid by
30 colleges and universities, the The presidents and chancellors of the various
31 publicly supported colleges and universities may, upon the approval of their
32 respective boards of trustees, negotiate with tenured faculty and staff
33 members of their institutions so that, in order to secure the faculty
34 members' early retirement, special allowances may be paid to them the faculty
35 and staff members or into retirement plans for their benefit.
36 (b) The board of trustees of each institution is authorized to pay
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1 such allowances as the board may approve from any appropriation provided for
2 regular salaries for the benefit of its institution and from any source of
3 funds available to its institution.
4 (c) The amount of all such allowances for any institution shall not
5 exceed, in the aggregate during any fiscal year, an amount equal to five
6 percent (5%) of the aggregate paid for personnel costs during the preceding
7 fiscal year for the institution.
8 (d) The board of trustees of each institution shall report the exact
9 disposition of the special allowances to the Legislative Joint Auditing
10 Committee each year.
11
12 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 24-7-102 is amended to read as follows:
13 24-7-102. Management of early retirement window incentives.
14 (a) The purpose of this section is to create incentives for the
15 efficient management of the public higher education resources of the State of
16 Arkansas by allowing public higher education institutions to establish early
17 retirement window incentives for qualified nontenured faculty and staff who
18 elect voluntary separation from the institution.
19 (b) The boards of trustees of the publicly supported institutions of
20 higher education may provide special allowances for nontenured faculty and
21 staff to effect a saving in personnel salaries and fringe benefits costs when
22 it is determined by the boards that such saving will provide for more
23 efficient operation of the institutions.
24 (c)(1) The boards of trustees shall approve criteria to determine
25 qualifications to be met by the institutions and the employee.
26 (2) Such qualifications shall include, but are not limited to:
27 (A) Assurance that participation is strictly voluntary for
28 employees;
29 (B) Only full-time employees who are at least fifty-five
30 (55) years of age or meet the retirement requirements for the Civil Service
31 Retirement System any state-sponsored retirement program; and
32 (C) A savings in personnel cost will be realized by the
33 institution.
34 (d) The amount of all such allowances for any institution shall not
35 exceed, in the aggregate during any fiscal year, an amount equal to five
36 percent (5%) of the aggregate paid for personnel costs during the preceding
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1 fiscal year for the institution.
2 (e) The boards of trustees are authorized to pay such allowances from
3 any appropriation provided for regular salaries for the benefit of their
4 institutions and from any sources of funds available to the institutions.
5 (f)(e) The board of trustees of each institution shall report the
6 exact disposition of the special allowance to the Legislative Joint Auditing
7 Committee by July 1 of each year.
8
9 SECTION 3. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and determined by the General
10 Assembly of the State of Arkansas that the contracts between institutions of
11 higher education and their tenured faculty and staff are in need of urgent
12 negotiation regarding retirement plans and early retirement window
13 incentives under �� 24-7-101 and 24-7-102; and that this act is immediately
14 necessary because the spring 2025 semester will come to a close before the
15 act would otherwise become effective, and it is imperative that certain
16 contracts be negotiated before the end of the spring 2025 semester.
17 Therefore, an emergency is declared to exist, and this act being immediately
18 necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety shall
19 become effective on:
20 (1) The date of its approval by the Governor;
21 (2) If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor,
22 the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the
23 bill; or
24 (3) If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is
25 overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto.
26
27 /s/Warren
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3 02-26-2025 10:33:08 LJH069Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.