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 SENATE BILL 491 3
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By: Senator K. Hammer 5
By: Representative Achor 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO REQUIRE A VENDOR THAT CONTRACTS WITH THE 9
OFFICE OF STATE PROCUREMENT FOR SERVICES FOR THE 10
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS DIVISION TO SUBMIT DATA FOR 11
VERIFICATION BY AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR; TO IMPOSE A 12
CIVIL PENALTY ON A VENDOR THAT PROVIDES INACCURATE 13
DATA; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER 14
PURPOSES. 15
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Subtitle 18
TO REQUIRE A VENDOR THAT CONTRACTS WITH 19
THE OFFICE OF STATE PROCUREMENT FOR 20
SERVICES FOR THE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 21
DIVISION TO SUBMIT DATA FOR VERIFICATION 22
BY AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR; TO DECLARE AN 23
EMERGENCY. 24
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 26
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 21 -5-404(10), concerning the powers, 28
functions, and duties of the State Board of Finance concerning contracts with 29
qualified vendors, is amended to read as follows: 30
(10)(A) To direct the office to contract with qualified vendors, 31
as defined by the board, offering the plan options under the program as 32
prescribed by the board without regard to § 19 -11-228 or other statutes 33
requiring competitive bidding. 34
(B) Each contract shall : 35
(i) be Be for a term of at least one (1) year but 36 SB491
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may be made automatically renewable from term to term in the absence of 1
notice of termination by either party; and 2
(ii) Require a qualified vendor to agree to 3
verification of the vendor's data under § 21-5-425; and 4
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 21, Chapter 5, Subchapter 4, is amended 6
to add an additional section to read as follows: 7
21-5-425. Verification of data of vendor — Independent audit process — 8
Civil penalty — Rules. 9
(a) A vendor that contracts with the Office of State Procurement under 10
this subchapter and a fiscal impact is required shall agree to verify the 11
accuracy of the data the vendor provides to the state. 12
(b) The office shall not contract with a vendor for services for the 13
Employee Benefits Division that does not agree to submit to an independent 14
audit process to verify the accuracy of the vendor's data. 15
(c) The Director of the Employee Benefits Division: 16
(1) Shall develop an independent audit process to verify the 17
accuracy of the data a vendor provides to the state; and 18
(2) May request a vendor submit to an independent audit process. 19
(d) A vendor that is found through the independent audit process under 20
subdivision (c)(2) of this section to have provided inaccurate data to the 21
state is subject to: 22
(1) A civil penalty of: 23
(A) Five hundred dollars ($500) for a first violation; and 24
(B) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent 25
violation; and 26
(2) Loss of licensure or authorization to operate in this state. 27
(e) The director shall promulgate rules to implement this section. 28
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SECTION 3. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and determined by the 30
General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that using accurate data is 31
indispensable when considering the fiscal impact of legislation for this 32
state; that vendors may not provide accurate data and the state needs an 33
independent audit process to enable the state to verify the accuracy of 34
vendor data; and that this act is immediately necessary because it is vital 35
to know the fiscal impact of the passage of legislation to protect the 36 SB491
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residents of this state. Therefore, an emergency is declared to exist, and 1
this act being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public 2
peace, health, and safety shall become effective on: 3
(1) The date of its approval by the Governor; 4
(2) If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor, 5
the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the 6
bill; or 7
(3) If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is 8
overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto. 9
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