Stricken language will be deleted and underlined language will be added. Act 57 of the Fiscal Session Act 57 of the Fiscal Session 1 State of Arkansas 2 94th General Assembly A Bill 3 Fiscal Session, 2024 HOUSE BILL 1028 4 5 By: Joint Budget Committee 6 7 For An Act To Be Entitled 8 AN ACT TO MAKE AN APPROPRIATION FOR PERSONAL SERVICES 9 AND OPERATING EXPENSES FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF 10 EDUCATION - ARKANSAS STATE LIBRARY FOR THE FISCAL 11 YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12 13 14 Subtitle 15 AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - 16 ARKANSAS STATE LIBRARY APPROPRIATION FOR 17 THE 2024-2025 FISCAL YEAR. 18 19 20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21 22 SECTION 1. REGULAR SALARIES. There is hereby established for the 23 Department of Education - Arkansas State Library for the 2024-2025 fiscal 24 year, the following maximum number of regular employees. 25 26 Maximum Annual 27 Maximum Salary Rate 28 Item Class No. of Fiscal Year 29 No. Code Title Employees 2024-2025 30 (1) U031U STATE LIBRARY DIRECTOR 1 GRADE SE01 31 (2) N161N STATE LIBRARY DEPUTY DIRECTOR 1 GRADE GS12 32 (3) E012C STATE LIBRARY DIVISION MANAGER 1 GRADE GS10 33 (4) E021C STATE LIBRARY MANAGER 9 GRADE GS09 34 (5) E030C LIBRARY COORDINATOR 5 GRADE GS08 35 (6) E041C SENIOR LIBRARIAN 7 GRADE GS07 *KMW010* 4/1/2024 2:39:26 PM KMW010 HB1028 1 (7) A074C FISCAL SUPPORT SUPERVISOR 1 GRADE GS06 2 (8) E052C LIBRARIAN 3 GRADE GS06 3 (9) P027C PUBLIC INFORMATION SPECIALIST 1 GRADE GS06 4 (10) V014C BUYER 1 GRADE GS05 5 (11) C056C ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST III 2 GRADE GS04 6 (12) A098C FISCAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST 2 GRADE GS04 7 (13) C073C ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST II 2 GRADE GS03 8 (14) C069C LIBRARY TECHNICIAN 5 GRADE GS03 9 (15) C085C LIBRARY SUPPORT ASSISTANT 5 GRADE GS02 10 (16) C088C MAIL SERVICES ASSISTANT 1 GRADE GS02 11 (17) C089C LIBRARY TECHNICAL ASSISTANT 2 GRADE GS01 12 MAX. NO. OF EMPLOYEES 49 13 14 SECTION 2. EXTRA HELP - STATE OPERATIONS. There is hereby authorized, 15 for the Department of Education - Arkansas State Library - State Operations 16 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the following maximum number of part-time or 17 temporary employees, to be known as "Extra Help", payable from funds 18 appropriated herein for such purposes: seven (7) temporary or part-time 19 employees, when needed, at rates of pay not to exceed those provided in the 20 Uniform Classification and Compensation Act, or its successor, or this act 21 for the appropriate classification. 22 23 SECTION 3. APPROPRIATION - STATE OPERATIONS. There is hereby 24 appropriated, to the Department of Education, to be payable from the State 25 Library Fund Account, for personal services and operating expenses of the 26 Department of Education - Arkansas State Library - State Operations for the 27 fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the following: 28 29 ITEM FISCAL YEAR 30 NO. 2024-2025 31 (01) REGULAR SALARIES $1,750,087 32 (02) EXTRA HELP 10,000 33 (03) PERSONAL SERVICES MATCHING 668,326 34 (04) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 35 (A) OPER. EXPENSE 1,125,091 36 (B) CONF. & TRAVEL 10,000 2 4/1/2024 2:39:26 PM KMW010 HB1028 1 (C) PROF. FEES 0 2 (D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 3 (E) DATA PROC. 0 4 (05) PROMOTIONAL ITEMS 0 5 (06) BOOKS & SUBSCRIPTIONS 230,000 6 TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $3,793,504 7 8 SECTION 4. EXTRA HELP - FEDERAL OPERATIONS. There is hereby 9 authorized, for the Department of Education - Arkansas State Library - 10 Federal Operations for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the following maximum 11 number of part-time or temporary employees, to be known as "Extra Help", 12 payable from funds appropriated herein for such purposes: five (5) temporary 13 or part-time employees, when needed, at rates of pay not to exceed those 14 provided in the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act, or its 15 successor, or this act for the appropriate classification. 16 17 SECTION 5. APPROPRIATION - FEDERAL OPERATIONS. There is hereby 18 appropriated, to the Department of Education, to be payable from the federal 19 funds as designated by the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, for personal 20 services and operating expenses of the Department of Education - Arkansas 21 State Library - Federal Operations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, 22 the following: 23 24 ITEM FISCAL YEAR 25 NO. 2024-2025 26 (01) REGULAR SALARIES $502,646 27 (02) EXTRA HELP 22,000 28 (03) PERSONAL SERVICES MATCHING 224,084 29 (04) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 30 (A) OPER. EXPENSE 2,357,700 31 (B) CONF. & TRAVEL 145,000 32 (C) PROF. FEES 0 33 (D) CAP. OUTLAY 40,000 34 (E) DATA PROC. 0 35 TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $3,291,430 36 3 4/1/2024 2:39:26 PM KMW010 HB1028 1 SECTION 6. APPROPRIATION - AID TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES. There is hereby 2 appropriated, to the Department of Education, to be payable from the State 3 Library Public School Fund Account, to provide aid to public libraries by the 4 Department of Education - Arkansas State Library - Aid to Public Libraries 5 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the following: 6 7 ITEM FISCAL YEAR 8 NO. 2024-2025 9 (01) AID TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES $10,000,000 10 11 SECTION 7. APPROPRIATION - GRANTS ADMINISTRATION - CASH. There is 12 hereby appropriated, to the Department of Education, to be payable from the 13 cash fund deposited in the State Treasury as determined by the Chief Fiscal 14 Officer of the State, for operating expenses, grants to libraries, and 15 promotional items by the Department of Education - Arkansas State Library - 16 Grants Administration - Cash for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the 17 following: 18 19 ITEM FISCAL YEAR 20 NO. 2024-2025 21 (01) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 22 (A) OPER. EXPENSE $223,000 23 (B) CONF. & TRAVEL 150,000 24 (C) PROF. FEES 0 25 (D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 26 (E) DATA PROC. 0 27 (02) GRANTS TO LIBRARIES 0 28 (03) PROMOTIONAL ITEMS 0 29 TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $373,000 30 31 SECTION 8. APPROPRIATION - STATE LIBRARY REVOLVING. There is hereby 32 appropriated, to the Department of Education, to be payable from the State 33 Library Revolving Fund, for operating expenses of the Department of Education 34 - Arkansas State Library - State Library Revolving for the fiscal year ending 35 June 30, 2025, the following: 36 4 4/1/2024 2:39:26 PM KMW010 HB1028 1 ITEM FISCAL YEAR 2 NO. 2024-2025 3 (01) MAINT. & GEN. OPERATION 4 (A) OPER. EXPENSE $6,622 5 (B) CONF. & TRAVEL 0 6 (C) PROF. FEES 0 7 (D) CAP. OUTLAY 0 8 (E) DATA PROC. 0 9 TOTAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED $6,622 10 11 SECTION 9. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 12 CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. 13 CARRY FORWARD. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 2024, 14 any unexpended balance of monies provided from the State Library Fund Account 15 for Books and Subscriptions, as provided in the State Operations 16 Appropriation of this Act, shall be transferred forward and made available 17 for the same purpose for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 2025. 18 Any carry forward of unexpended balance of funding as authorized herein, 19 may be carried forward under the following conditions: 20 (1) Prior to June 30, 2024 2025 the Agency shall by written statement 21 set forth its reason(s) for the need to carry forward said funding to the 22 Department of Finance and Administration Office of Budget; 23 (2) The Department of Finance and Administration Office of Budget shall 24 report to the Arkansas Legislative Council all amounts carried forward by the 25 September Arkansas Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee meeting 26 which report shall include the name of the Agency, Board, Commission or 27 Institution and the amount of the funding carried forward, the program name 28 or line item, the funding source of that appropriation and a copy of the 29 written request set forth in (1) above; 30 (3) Each Agency, Board, Commission or Institution shall provide a 31 written report to the Arkansas Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee 32 containing all information set forth in item (2) above, along with a written 33 statement as to the current status of the project, contract, purpose etc. for 34 which the carry forward was originally requested no later than thirty (30) 35 days prior to the time the Agency, Board, Commission or Institution presents 36 its budget request to the Arkansas Legislative Council/Joint Budget 5 4/1/2024 2:39:26 PM KMW010 HB1028 1 Committee; and 2 (4) Thereupon, the Department of Finance and Administration shall 3 include all information obtained in item (3) above in the budget manuals 4 and/or a statement of non-compliance by the Agency, Board, Commission or 5 Institution. 6 The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2023 7 2024 through June 30, 2024 2025. 8 9 SECTION 10. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 10 CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. 11 TRANSFER OF FUNDS - PROMOTIONAL ITEMS. The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State 12 shall establish upon request from the Arkansas Department of Education - 13 Arkansas State Library a special appropriation line item to be used in the 14 acquisition of promotional items. When the Department of Education - 15 Arkansas State Library wishes to transfer monies from its operating expenses 16 to promotional items, the request shall be forwarded to the Chief Fiscal 17 Officer of the State for processing after prior approval by the Arkansas 18 Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee. Determining the maximum 19 number of employees and the maximum amount of appropriation and general 20 revenue funding for a state agency each fiscal year is the prerogative of the 21 General Assembly. This is usually accomplished by delineating such maximums 22 in the appropriation act(s) for a state agency and the general revenue 23 allocations authorized for each fund and fund account by amendment to the 24 Revenue Stabilization Law. Further, the General Assembly has determined that 25 the Department of Education - Arkansas State Library may operate more 26 efficiently if some flexibility is provided to the Department of Education - 27 Arkansas State Library authorizing broad powers under this Section. 28 Therefore, it is both necessary and appropriate that the General Assembly 29 maintain oversight by requiring prior approval of the Legislative Council or 30 Joint Budget Committee as provided by this Section. The requirement of 31 approval by the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee is not a 32 severable part of this Section. If the requirement of approval by the 33 Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee is ruled unconstitutional by a 34 court of competent jurisdiction, this entire section is void. 35 The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2023 36 2024 through June 30, 2024 2025. 6 4/1/2024 2:39:26 PM KMW010 HB1028 1 2 SECTION 11. SPECIAL LANGUAGE. NOT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ARKANSAS 3 CODE NOR PUBLISHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIAL, LOCAL AND TEMPORARY LAW. STATE 4 FUNDING FOR LIBRARIES PROVISIONS. 5 (i) The Department of Education – Arkansas State Library provides 6 grants and aid to Libraries across the state. The Arkansas State Library 7 has developed the Standards for State Aid to public libraries which creates 8 standards public libraries must meet to be eligible for state aid. 9 (ii) The Standards for State Aid to Public Libraries contains the 10 requirement that a public library shall maintain a one-mill county or city 11 property tax, and the requirement that the library have a qualified 12 librarian. 13 (iii) Less populated areas in the State may not have the ability to 14 pass and maintain a one-mill county or city property tax. 15 (iv) Due to the importance that the public library represents to rural 16 communities, the Arkansas State Library shall review and modify the 17 requirements that prevent rural public libraries from receiving state grant 18 and aid that is authorized by the General Assembly, as set out is subsection 19 (v). 20 (v) Therefore, the Arkansas State Library shall promulgate rules that 21 allow a public library to adequately demonstrate a source of revenue in lieu 22 of the requirement to maintain a one-mill county or city property tax. 23 (vi) One month prior to the distribution of state aid to public 24 libraries for the 2025 Fiscal Year, the Arkansas State Library shall report 25 to the Arkansas Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee, if meeting in 26 legislative session, the revised Standards for State Aid to Public Libraries 27 which shall address in writing the actions taken to address the issues as set 28 out in this section. The report shall include all criteria, including but 29 not limited to how a local public library may become certified to receive 30 funding from the Arkansas State Library.