Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1018 3
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By: Representative A. Collins 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE STRONG FAMILIES ACT; TO CREATE 9
AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS THAT PROVIDE PAID 10
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES; AND 11
FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO CREATE THE STRONG FAMILIES ACT; AND 16
TO CREATE AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR 17
EMPLOYERS THAT PROVIDE PAID FAMILY AND 18
MEDICAL LEAVE FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES. 19
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 26, Chapter 51, is amended to add an 23
additional subchapter to read as follows: 24
Subchapter 29 — Strong Families Act 25
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26-51-2901. Title. 27
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Strong Families 28
Act”. 29
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26-51-2902. Definitions. 31
As used in this subchapter: 32
(1)(A) “Family and medical leave” means leave from work for: 33
(i) A serious health condition of the employee that 34
prevents the employee from performing his or her essential job duties; 35
(ii) The birth or adoption of a child of the 36 HB1018
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employee; or 1
(iii) The care of a child, spouse, or parent of the 2
employee who has a serious health condition. 3
(B) "Family and medical leave" does not include: 4
(i) Earned sick leave; 5
(ii) Earned annual leave; or 6
(iii) Earned compensatory leave; 7
(2) “Qualified employee” means an employee who has been employed 8
by the employer for at least twelve (12) consecutive months; 9
(3) "Serious health condition" means an illness, injury, 10
impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves: 11
(A) Inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential 12
medical care facility; or 13
(B) Continuing treatment by a healthcare provider; and 14
(4) "Wages" means remuneration paid for personal services. 15
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26-51-2903. Strong families tax credit. 17
(a)(1)(A) An employer is allowed an income tax credit against the 18
income tax imposed by this chapter in an amount equal to twenty-five percent 19
(25%) of the amount of wages paid to a qualified employee during the period 20
in which the qualified employee is on family and medical leave. 21
(B) If a qualified employee is not paid on an hourly 22
basis, the wages of the qualified employee shall be prorated to an hourly 23
basis. 24
(2) The income tax credit allowed under this section shall not 25
exceed four thousand dollars ($4,000) per qualified employee in a tax year. 26
(b) An employer is eligible for the income tax credit allowed under 27
this section if the employer: 28
(1) Provides full-time qualified employees with at least four 29
(4) weeks of paid family and medical leave over a twelve -month period; 30
(2) Provides part-time qualified employees with an amount of 31
paid family and medical leave that bears the same ratio to four (4) weeks of 32
family and medical leave as the number of hours the part -time qualified 33
employee is expected to work in a week bears to the number of hours an 34
equivalent full-time qualified employee is expected to work during a week; 35
(3) Provides family and medical leave on the smallest increment 36 HB1018
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of time permitted under the employer's payroll system; and 1
(4) Adopts a policy regarding family and medical leave that 2
states that the employer will not: 3
(A) Interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or 4
the attempt to exercise a right provided under the employer's family and 5
medical leave policy; or 6
(B) Discharge or in any other manner discriminate against 7
an employee for opposing a practice prohibited by the policy. 8
(c) The maximum amount of time for which an employer may claim an 9
income tax credit under this section for providing family and medical leave 10
for a qualified employee is twelve (12) weeks in a twelve -month period. 11
(d) Family and medical leave may run concurrently with leave that is 12
required under state or federal law, including without limitation the Family 13
and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. 14
(e) The amount of the income tax credit allowed under this section 15
that may be claimed by the taxpayer in a tax year shall not exceed the amount 16
of income tax due by the taxpayer. 17
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SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. Section 1 of this act is effective for tax 19
years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. 20
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