LobbyComply Blog

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a vacancy in nomination for House District 44 following the death of Rep. Stan Berry on March 23.  A special primary election will be held on June 2 for purposes of the November 3 general election. Election dates to fill the unexpired term of office have not yet been set.

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The Arkansas Secretary of State promulgated the Combating Hostile Foreign Influence Rule to implement a 2025 state law requiring registration and disclosure by representatives of hostile foreign principals and foreign-supported political organizations. The rules expand the information that must be disclosed for foreign-supported political organizations; create a method for submitting complaints; and provide details of investigation, hearing, and enforcement procedures. The rules took effect January 18, 2026.

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The Arkansas Ethics Commission has reported a website outage, due to an attack by malicious actors. Estimated full restoration time is unknown. It is recommended to reach out to the commission at (501) 324-9600 or (800) 422-7773, or email jill.barham@arkansas.gov for any specific website need. The website is ordinarily a resource for ethics rules, opinions, complaints, and guidance for campaign finance reporting entities. Website visitors are cautioned to confirm the outage is restored before attempting to navigate to the site.

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered new dates for the special elections for House District 70 and Senate District 26.  The special primary elections will be held on January 6, 2026, and special runoff elections are scheduled for February 3, 2026, if necessary. The special general elections are set for March 3, 2026. Two trial court judges in separate lawsuits ordered the original dates moved forward and the Arkansas Supreme Court denied the governor’s requests to stay the orders. The new dates were set “with objection” while the cases remain open on appeal. 

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered a special election to fill the vacancy in House District 70 after  Rep. Carlton Wing resigned to become CEO of Arkansas PBS. A special primary election will be held on March 3, 2026 and a special runoff election is scheduled for March 31, 2026, if necessary. The special general election is set for June 9, 2026.

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered a special election to fill the vacancy in Senate District 26 following the recent death of Sen. Gary Stubblefield.  A special primary election will be held on March 3, 2026 and a special runoff election is scheduled for March 31, 2026, if necessary. The special general election was initially set to coincide with the November 2026 Election Day, but subsequently moved forward to June 9, 2026.

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The Arkansas Legislature adjourned sine die on May 5. Several campaign finance bills were passed during this session. Contribution limits were reset to a base of $2,000, and emergency filing of paper campaign finance reports has also been approved. Additionally, rules have been put into place to prevent individuals from acting as agents of foreign principals without true and complete registration statement and supplements with the Arkansas Ethics Commission. This does affect lobbying reporting. The final monthly legislative lobbyist report will be due on June 10.

Arkansas lawmakers adjourned from their special session on August 11.

Legislation passed includes an expedited process for corporate and individual tax cuts.

The Legislature also approved an appropriation of $50 million for a school safety grant.

This does affect lobbying reporting.

The August special session triggered a lobbyist activity report due September 10.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has called for a special session in August to discuss possible tax cuts.

The previously estimated Arkansas budget surplus for the 2022 fiscal year of $1.4 billion grew to a record $1.6 billion.

The special session will be held the week of August 8.

This affects lobbyist reporting.

Lobbyists who are registered to lobby the General Assembly are required to file a monthly report for any month the General Assembly is in session.

The report will be due August 10, which is 10 days after the month of the session.

The 93rd Fiscal Session of the Arkansas General Assembly adjourned sine die on March 15 after about 30 days in session.

During the session, appropriations bills were enacted that will determine how taxpayer money is spent in the fiscal year 2023, which begins July 1.

The acts would also transfer $150 million from the state’s general reserves to a restricted reserve fund to pay for various improvements and projects.

The adjournment sine die date does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Lobbyists who are registered to lobby the General Assembly are required to file a monthly report for any month the General Assembly is in session.

The next report is due April 10 for the period of March 1 through March 31.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will call the Legislature back into a special session beginning December 7 to take up a tax cut plan.

The primary focus of the special session will be on the tax cut package that calls for reducing the state’s top income tax rate from 5.9% to 4.9%.

The package, which also includes corporate tax cuts and a low-income tax credit, would cost the state $135 million in the current fiscal year and grow to nearly $498 million when fully implemented in 2026.

While the session’s agenda will include several other items, Hutchinson said he does not plan to include a proposal to enact neighboring Texas’ unique law banning abortions six weeks into pregnancy.

Lawmakers, however, could vote to extend the session to take up abortion or any other items with a two-thirds vote of both chambers after the items on the agenda are considered.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson set a February 8 special election date to replace Sen. Lance Eads of Springdale.

Eads resigned to take a lobbying job. Former state Rep. Jim Bob Duggar is the only announced candidate so far.

The governor’s proclamation also sets December 14 for party primaries.

A special runoff primary, if needed, is set for January 11.

Candidate filing begins at noon November 15 and ends at noon one week later.

The Arkansas Legislature will return from its extended recess on September 29, continuing the regular session of the 93rd General Assembly.

According to the schedule released by Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, the General Assembly will return to vote on redistricting before adjourning the 2021 session sine die.

After each census, the state redraws the boundaries for seats in the General Assembly as well as the boundaries of the districts for its seats in the United States Congress.

The legislative districts are decided by the Board of Apportionment, which consists of the governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. The board and its staff use census data to redraw the 100 districts of the Arkansas House of Representatives and the 35 districts of the Arkansas Senate so districts within each chamber represent roughly the same number of people.

Drawing boundaries for the state’s federal congressional districts is the responsibility of the General Assembly. The number of districts in the state will remain at four based on the population count from 2020, but the distribution of the population has shifted away from rural areas toward more urban areas.

A registered lobbyist who lobbies members of the General Assembly is required to file a monthly report due 10 days after the end of the month for any month the General Assembly is in session.

Hickey stated he hoped the General Assembly would continue for only three days, meaning the session will likely continue into the month of October. If the session continues into October, a monthly lobbyist activity report will be due November 10, which is 10 days after the end of the month.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson reinstated the states’ general health emergency July 29 and called for a special legislative session to convene in the first week of August.

Hutchinson cited staffing shortages at hospitals along with the rising number of COVID cases.

His emergency directs the state to seek help from other states and to ease licensure rules for health care professionals. Huthcinson also contacted the White House for possible assistance.

The special session will amend Act 1002, which prohibits the state government from requiring face masks for most entities, including schools.

The Arkansas Legislature is currently in extended recess and is still considered to be in session for purposes of lobbyist activity reports. Lobbyists who are registered to lobby the General Assembly are required to file a monthly report for any month the General Assembly is in session.