The Joint Budget Committee met April 1 and approved a series of appropriation and special-language recommendations for state agencies, including the Department of Education, Department of Commerce, Division of Higher Education, UAMS and several House department items, while voting down one contested youth-organization grants appropriation.

Committee members adopted personnel and special-language subcommittee reports and then moved a series of “do pass as amended” recommendations to forward bills and attachments for further action. Most motions were approved by voice vote with no substantive floor debate.

The committee approved do-pass recommendations for bills including Senate Bill 88 (Division of Higher Education), Senate Bill 37 (Department of Commerce), Senate Bill 39 (Division of Workforce Services), Senate Bill 359 (Out-of-School Time Program Grants), Senate Bill 332 (Department of Education appropriation only), and a number of house-file items across departments (examples below). The panel also approved a special-language packet that includes adopted attachments on pages 2–27 of the committee packet.

One contested item — Senate Bill 362 (Youth Organization Grants) — generated extended discussion about whether the bill’s eligibility and compliance language effectively targeted specific organizations and whether language drawn from the LEARNS Act and related Supreme Court precedent was an appropriate condition for grant eligibility. Senator Hammer, the bill sponsor, said the bill “establishes parameters” derived from the LEARNS Act and that compliance would be overseen by the Department of Education. Representative Collins requested a roll-call by chamber on the funding motion; after a division vote in the House the motion failed and the chair announced, “Bill failed.”

Other substantive items discussed included appropriations and reports on: an appropriation-only request to allow the Department of Education to explore expanding evidence-based school health programs (Senate Bill 332); an appropriation proposal to help perpetual-care cemeteries with infrastructure repairs (House Bill 1577), which committee members discussed and moved for consideration on the next calendar; and an appropriation-only request proposing $5 million toward an Arkansas veterinary teaching hospital at the Little Rock Zoo (House Bill 1635), which passed an initial voice vote but failed on a subsequent roll call in the Senate division vote.

Votes at a glance (selected items from the April 1 packet):
- Senate Bill 88 — Division of Higher Education: do pass as amended; motion carried.
- House Bill 1089 — (department not specified in transcript excerpt): do pass as amended; motion carried.
- House Bill 1191 — (department not specified in transcript excerpt): do pass as amended; motion carried.
- Senate Bill 37 — Department of Commerce: do pass as amended; motion carried.
- Senate Bill 39 — Division of Workforce Services: do pass as amended; motion carried.
- Senate Bill 359 — Out-of-School Time Program Grants (Sen. Petty): do pass as amended; motion carried.
- Senate Bill 362 — Youth Organization Grants (Sen. Hammer): contested; motion to advance failed after a roll-call by division.
- Senate Bill 332 — Department of Education appropriation only: do pass; motion carried.
- House Bill 1577 — grants for perpetual-care cemeteries (Rep. Crawford): committee discussion; motion to pass carried; sponsor asked members to bring follow-up questions and the item may appear again on Tuesday for further detail.
- House Bill 1635 — $5,000,000 (appropriation-only) toward a veterinary hospital at the Little Rock Zoo (Rep. Lundstrom): initial voice vote indicated passage but a subsequent roll-call by division in the Senate failed.
- House Bill 1639 — covering assault nurse examiner program (Rep. Lundstrom): motion passed.
- House Bill 1927 — correction to a previously passed appropriation date: motion passed.
- Senate Bill 93, 128, 130 and Senate Bill 25 (various agency appropriations): motions passed.
- A slate of house department items including House Bills 1090, 1091, 1095, 1097, 1102, 1124, 1127, 1152 and 1176 were moved on do-pass motions by the committee and carried without floor debate listed in the transcript excerpt.

Several members reminded colleagues that multiple budget subcommittee meetings will meet the following week (personnel subcommittee at 8:00 a.m. and special language at 8:30 a.m., with full committee sessions at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday–Thursday) and asked members holding budget items to reconcile outstanding holds with agencies or be prepared to state reasons for holds Tuesday; absent members’ holds will be released.

The committee adjourned until 9:00 a.m. Tuesday.