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 1120 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 PERSONAL SERVICES 9
AND OPERATING EXPENSES FOR THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC 10
EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 11
ENDING JUNE 30, 2026; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
AN ACT FOR THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC EMPLOYEES 16
RETIREMENT SYSTEM APPROPRIATION FOR THE 17
2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. 18
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
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SECTION 1. REGULAR SALARIES. There is hereby established for the 23
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, 24
the following maximum number of regular employees. 25
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Maximum Annual 27
Maximum Salary Rate 28
Item Class No. of Fiscal Year 29
No. Code Title Employees 2025-2026 30
(1) U014U APERS DIRECTOR 1 GRADE SE04 31
(2) A147C APERS DEP DIR OF INVEST AND FINANCE 1 GRADE SE01 32
(3) N254N APERS DEP DIR OF OPERATIONS 1 GRADE SE01 33
(4) U078U APERS DEPUTY DIRECTOR 1 GRADE SE01 34
(5) D148C APERS ASSOCI DIR OF INFORMATION TECHNO 1 GRADE IT11 35
(6) D015N APERS DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNO 1 GRADE IT10 36 HB1120
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(7) D006N STATE SYSTEMS ARCHITECT 1 GRADE IT10 1
(8) D030C INFORMATION SYSTEMS COORDINATOR 1 GRADE IT07 2
(9) D044C SYSTEMS ANALYST 1 GRADE IT05 3
(10) G042N APERS CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL 1 GRADE GS14 4
(11) A003N SENIOR INVESTMENT ANALYST 1 GRADE GS14 5
(12) R003N APERS DIRECTOR OF BENEFITS ADMIN 2 GRADE GS13 6
(13) G037N APERS DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS 1 GRADE GS13 7
(14) A027C ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS MANAGER 2 GRADE GS11 8
(15) R013C AGENCY HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER 1 GRADE GS11 9
(16) R054C APERS BENEFITS OPERATIONS MGR 1 GRADE GS11 10
(17) G047C ATTORNEY SPECIALIST 1 GRADE GS11 11
(18) A052C ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR 1 GRADE GS09 12
(19) A034C RETIREMENT SECTION MANAGER 3 GRADE GS09 13
(20) A082C ACCOUNTANT II 10 GRADE GS08 14
(21) A066C INTERNAL AUDITOR 1 GRADE GS08 15
(22) A062C RETIREMENT COORDINATOR 5 GRADE GS08 16
(23) R024C ASSISTANT PERSONNEL MANAGER 1 GRADE GS07 17
(24) A079C INVESTMENT ANALYST 3 GRADE GS07 18
(25) A078C RETIREMENT COUNSELOR 15 GRADE GS07 19
(26) P031C MEDIA SPECIALIST 1 GRADE GS06 20
(27) P027C PUBLIC INFORMATION SPECIALIST 1 GRADE GS06 21
(28) A083C RETIREMENT ANALYST 9 GRADE GS06 22
(29) X115C SOCIAL SECURITY ANALYST 1 GRADE GS06 23
(30) C022C BUSINESS OPERATIONS SPECIALIST 1 GRADE GS05 24
(31) A091C FISCAL SUPPORT ANALYST 2 GRADE GS05 25
(32) C056C ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST III 3 GRADE GS04 26
(33) A098C FISCAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST 2 GRADE GS04 27
MAX. NO. OF EMPLOYEES 78 28
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SECTION 2. EXTRA HELP. There is hereby authorized, for the Arkansas 30
Public Employees Retirement System for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the 31
following maximum number of part -time or temporary employees, to be known as 32
"Extra Help", payable from funds appropriated herein for such purposes: six 33
(6) temporary or part-time employees, when needed, at rates of pay not to 34
exceed those provided in the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act, or 35
its successor, or this act for the appropriate classification. 36 HB1120
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SECTION 3. APPROPRIATION - PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT - OPERATIONS. 1
There is hereby appropriated, to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement 2
System, to be payable from the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System 3
Fund, for personal services and operating expenses of the Arkansas Public 4
Employees Retirement System for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the 5
following: 6
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ITEM FISCAL YEAR 8
NO. 2025-2026 9
(01) REGULAR SALARIES $4,769,661 10
(02) EXTRA HELP 75,000 11
(03) PERSONAL SERVICES MATCHING 1,685,938 12
(04) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 13
(A) OPER. EXPENSE 2,137,473 14
(B) CONF. & TRAVEL 67,500 15
(C) PROF. FEES 2,000,000 16
(D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 17
(E) DATA PROC. 0 18
(05) BENEFITS-NON EMPLOYEE 40,000,000 19
(06) REFUNDS/REIMBURSEMENTS 85,000,000 20
(07) DATA PROCESSING SERVICES 7,000,000 21
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $142,735,572 22
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SECTION 4. APPROPRIATION - PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT - CASH. There 24
is hereby appropriated, to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System , 25
to be payable from cash funds as defined by Arkansas Code §19 -4-801, for 26
payment to beneficiaries by check or wire transfer , by the Arkansas Public 27
Employees Retirement System for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the 28
following: 29
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ITEM FISCAL YEAR 31
NO. 2025-2026 32
(01) BENEFITS $675,000,000 33
(02) REFUNDS/REIMBURSEMENTS 50,000,000 34
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $725,000,000 35
36 HB1120
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SECTION 5. APPROPRIATION - STATE POLICE RETIREMENT - OPERATIONS. There 1
is hereby appropriated, to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System , 2
to be payable from the State Police Retirement Fund , for operating expenses 3
of the State Police Retirement System , by the Arkansas Public Employees 4
Retirement System for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the following: 5
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ITEM FISCAL YEAR 7
NO. 2025-2026 8
(01) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 9
(A) OPER. EXPENSE $20,000 10
(B) CONF. & TRAVEL 0 11
(C) PROF. FEES 265,950 12
(D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 13
(E) DATA PROC. 0 14
(02) BENEFITS-NON EMPLOYEE 5,000,000 15
(03) REFUNDS/REIMBURSEMENTS 25,000,000 16
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $30,285,950 17
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SECTION 6. APPROPRIATION - STATE POLICE RETIREMENT - CASH. There is 19
hereby appropriated, to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System , to 20
be payable from cash funds as defined by Arkansas Code §19 -4-801, for payment 21
to beneficiaries of the State Police Retirement System by check or wire 22
transfer, by the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System for the fiscal 23
year ending June 30, 2026, the following: 24
25
ITEM FISCAL YEAR 26
NO. 2025-2026 27
(01) BENEFITS $31,000,000 28
(02) REFUNDS/REIMBURSEMENTS 1,500,000 29
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $32,500,000 30
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SECTION 7. APPROPRIATION - JUDICIAL RETIREMENT - OPERATIONS. There is 32
hereby appropriated, to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System , to 33
be payable from the Judges Retirement Fund , for operating expenses of the 34
Judicial Retirement System , by the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement 35
System for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the following: 36 HB1120
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1
ITEM FISCAL YEAR 2
NO. 2025-2026 3
(01) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 4
(A) OPER. EXPENSE $12,000 5
(B) CONF. & TRAVEL 0 6
(C) PROF. FEES 140,879 7
(D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 8
(E) DATA PROC. 0 9
(02) BENEFITS-NON EMPLOYEE 500,000 10
(03) REFUNDS/REIMBURSEMENTS 8,000,000 11
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $8,652,879 12
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SECTION 8. APPROPRIATION - JUDICIAL RETIREMENT - CASH. There is hereby 14
appropriated, to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System , to be 15
payable from cash funds as defined by Arkansas Code §19 -4-801, for payment to 16
beneficiaries of the Judicial Retirement System by check or wire transfer , by 17
the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System for the fiscal year ending 18
June 30, 2026, the following: 19
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ITEM FISCAL YEAR 21
NO. 2025-2026 22
(01) BENEFITS $20,750,000 23
(02) REFUNDS/REIMBURSEMENTS 250,000 24
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $21,000,000 25
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SECTION 9. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 27
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. JUDICIAL 28
RETIREMENT FUND TRANSFERS. A sum not to exceed $150,000 in the 2024-2025 29
2025-2026 fiscal year may be transferred from the Judges Retirement Fund to 30
the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System Fund for costs incurred by 31
the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in administering the Judicial 32
Retirement System. Such transfer request shall be made to the Chief Fiscal 33
Officer of the State, and upon his approval, said transfer shall be made on 34
his books and those of the Treasurer of the State and the Auditor of the 35
State. 36 HB1120
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The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2024 1
2025 through June 30, 2025 2026. 2
3
SECTION 10. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 4
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. STATE 5
POLICE RETIREMENT FUND TRANSFERS. A sum not to exceed $250,000 in the 2024-6
2025 2025-2026 fiscal year may be transferred from the State Police 7
Retirement Fund to the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System Fund for 8
costs incurred by the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in 9
administering the State Police Retirement System. Such transfer request 10
shall be made to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and upon his 11
approval, said transfer shall be made on his books and those of the Treasurer 12
of the State and the Auditor of the State. 13
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2024 14
2025 through June 30, 2025 2026. 15
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SECTION 11. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 17
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. EXEMPTION 18
FROM PRIOR REVIEW. The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System is hereby 19
exempted from seeking prior review by the Arkansas Legislative Council or 20
Joint Budget Committee with regard to transfers between the Benefits and 21
Refund line items in the Public Employees Retirement Cash appropriation 22
section and the Benefits -Non Employee line item in the Public Employees 23
Retirement Operations appropriation section which are specifically related to 24
transfers necessitated by the changes in retirees' selection of the method of 25
payment of retirement benefits. All other provisions of Arkansas Code §19 -4-26
522 shall be applicable. 27
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2024 28
2025 through June 30, 2025 2026. 29
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SECTION 12. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 31
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. SPECIAL 32
STATE POLICE RETIREMENT FUND TRANSFERS. A sum not to exceed $50,000 may be 33
transferred from the State Police Retirement Fund to the Arkansas Public 34
Employees' Retirement System Fund to share in the costs incurred by the 35
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in the purchase and 36 HB1120
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implementation of a new , and for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the 1
pension administration system, which will be is utilized to administer State 2
Police pension transactions for members and retirees. Said transfer shall 3
sunset at the end of fiscal year 2025 2026. Such transfer request shall be 4
made to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and upon his approval, said 5
transfer shall be made on his books and those of the Treasurer of the State 6
and the Auditor of the State. 7
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2024 8
2025 through June 30, 2025 2026. 9
10
SECTION 13. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 11
CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. SPECIAL 12
JUDICIAL RETIREMENT FUND TRANSFERS. A sum not to exceed $50,000 may be 13
transferred from the Judicial Retirement Fund to the Arkansas Public 14
Employees' Retirement System Fund to share in the costs incurred by the 15
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in the purchase and 16
implementation of a new , and for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the 17
pension administration system, which will be is utilized to administer 18
Judicial pension transactions for members and retirees. Said transfer shall 19
sunset at the end of fiscal year 2025 2026. Such transfer request shall be 20
made to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and upon his approval, said 21
transfer shall be made on his books and those of the Treasurer of State and 22
the Auditor of the State. 23
The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2024 24
2025 through June 30, 2025 2026. 25
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SECTION 14. COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER LAWS. Disbursement of funds 27
authorized by this act shall be limited to the appropriation for such agency 28
and funds made available by law for the support of such appropriations; and 29
the restrictions of the State Procurement Law, the General Accounting and 30
Budgetary Procedures Law, the Revenue Stabilization Law, the Regular Salary 31
Procedures and Restrictions Act, or their successors, and other fiscal 32
control laws of this State, where applicable, and regulations promulgated by 33
the Department of Finance and Administration, as authorized by law, shall be 34
strictly complied with in disbursement of said funds. 35
36 HB1120
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SECTION 15. LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the General 1
Assembly that any funds disbursed under the authority of the appropriations 2
contained in this act shall be in compliance with the stated reasons for 3
which this act was adopted, as evidenced by the Agency Requests, Executive 4
Recommendations and Legislative Recommendations contained in the budget 5
manuals prepared by the Department of Finance and Administration, letters, or 6
summarized oral testimony in the official minutes of the Arkansas Legislative 7
Council or Joint Budget Committee which relate to its passage and adoption. 8
9
SECTION 16. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and determined by the 10
General Assembly, that the Constitution of the State of Arkansas prohibits 11
the appropriation of funds for more than a one (1) year period; that the 12
effectiveness of this Act on July 1, 2025 is essential to the operation of 13
the agency for which the appropriations in this Act are provided, and that in 14
the event of an extension of the legislative session, the delay in the 15
effective date of this Act beyond July 1, 2025 could work irreparable harm 16
upon the proper administration and provision of essential governmental 17
programs. Therefore, an emergency is hereby declared to exist and this Act 18
being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health 19
and safety shall be in full force and effect from and after July 1, 2025. 20
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