Rep. Les Warren

Maddy summaryThis is a memorial resolution (HMR 1004), not a substantive bill. It formally commemorates James "Jim" Guy Tucker, who served as Arkansas Attorney General, U.S. Congressman, and the state's 43rd Governor. The resolution honors his career and legacy without enacting any policy changes or affecting any group. It passed unanimously in the Arkansas House of Representatives on February 25, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1118 is a technical correction to Arkansas law regarding the Arkansas Fire and Police Pension Review Board's management of premium taxes. It amends a single line in the statute to clarify that the Board "may" manage these taxes (correcting a grammatical error in the original text). The bill does not change pension benefits, tax rates, or eligibility for firefighters and police officers. It was passed quickly as a procedural amendment and became Act 151 on February 25, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1119 shortens the deadline for political subdivisions (like cities and counties) to pay into the Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System from 10 to 5 days after the due date. If payments are late, the state treasurer must withhold all state funds owed to the subdivision until the debt and interest are paid. The bill also transfers administration of these payments from the retirement system to the Department of Finance and Administration, effective July 1, 2025, to improve financial management.

Maddy summaryHB 1353 regulates vision benefit managers and amends Arkansas' Vision Care Plan Act and Healthcare Contracting Simplification Act. It prohibits insurance contracts from automatically reducing vision benefits solely due to other coverage (e.g., multiple vision plans), requiring such reductions to follow Insurance Commissioner-approved rules instead. The bill defines key terms like "covered materials" (e.g., lenses, frames) and "vision benefit manager," while banning agreements that force providers to charge more for non-covered services than their standard rates. This directly affects Arkansans with vision insurance plans and eye care providers, ensuring fairer billing practices for covered vision care services and materials. The bill passed in February 2025 and became Act 142.

Maddy summarySB 59 requires all public schools to provide one free breakfast daily to every student upon request, without checking if they qualify for federally funded free or reduced-price meals. This policy directly affects all public school students in the state, eliminating eligibility barriers for breakfast access. The bill includes an emergency clause, allowing it to take effect immediately upon enactment. It changes school meal procedures by mandating universal breakfast availability as a standard practice, not tied to existing federal program eligibility. The bill became law as Act 123 on February 24, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1211 clarifies which payments count toward retirement benefits for Arkansas public employees, specifically defining "recurring remuneration" to include certain bonuses, lump-sum payments, and career recognition payments. It sets a 5% cap on the bonus or lump-sum amount considered for the final year's salary calculation and repeals outdated sections about termination requirements (sections 24-4-110 and 24-4-111). The bill directly affects current and former state/local government employees enrolled in the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System by standardizing how compensation is calculated for benefit purposes. These changes ensure consistent administration of retirement benefits without altering eligibility or benefit amounts.

Maddy summaryThis bill clarifies rules for Arkansas judicial retirees' benefit payments. It generally protects retirement payments from being seized by creditors or courts, except in cases of embezzlement/fraud by the retiree or when a court orders payments to cover willful child support violations. It also establishes clear procedures for correcting payment errors: overpayments must be recovered within five years (unless fraud occurred), while underpayments must be paid immediately in a lump sum with future payments adjusted. These changes aim to make benefit administration fairer and more efficient for all judicial retirees.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows Arkansas' public retirement system (APERS) to recover overpaid benefits from retirees who owe money to the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System or State Police Retirement System. It amends state law to explicitly include these two retirement systems as entities from which APERS can collect overpayments. The change directly affects retirees who received excess payments and the retirement systems themselves by expanding APERS' existing authority to recover such debts. This is a technical adjustment to streamline benefit recovery, not a new policy or funding change.

Maddy summaryHB 1210 establishes a new funding mechanism for administrative costs of Arkansas' judicial and state police retirement systems. Starting July 1, 2027, the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System (APERS) will receive annual transfers from both the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System and State Police Retirement System funds. The transfer amount is calculated using a 50/50 weighted average of each system's share of total assets and total membership within the combined retirement systems. This replaces previous methods, requiring APERS to submit transfer requests to the Chief Fiscal Officer for approval, with funds moving through state fiscal offices.

Maddy summaryHB 1207 makes technical corrections to Arkansas' State Police Retirement System to clarify benefit eligibility and administration. It specifically ensures surviving spouses and children of police officers killed in the line of duty qualify for benefits regardless of whether the officer was a system member or met service requirements at death (Section 1). The bill also updates pension calculation references (Section 2), repeals outdated benefit redetermination language (Section 3), and clarifies court levy protections for retirement benefits (Section 4). These changes primarily affect current and future state police retirees and their surviving families by ensuring consistent benefit access under existing rules. The bill does not create new benefits but streamlines administrative processes.