# Arkansas HB1917: TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT-ATHLETE PUBLICITY RIGHTS ACT; AND TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO ATHLETIC PROGRAM FUNDING. Arkansas HB1917, TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT-ATHLETE PUBLICITY RIGHTS ACT; AND TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO ATHLETIC PROGRAM FUNDING., is a 2025 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Bart Hester (Republican), Matthew J. Shepherd (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-04-17 (Notification that HB1917 is now Act 839); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1917-2025 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas HB1917 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT-ATHLETE PUBLICITY RIGHTS ACT; AND TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO ATHLETIC PROGRAM FUNDING. - Status: enacted - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-03-31 - Last action: 2025-04-17, Notification that HB1917 is now Act 839 - Sponsors: Bart Hester (Republican), Matthew J. Shepherd (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 3 (127 yes, 26 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 9 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - State tax break for college athletes: benefit, high. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, qualifying athlete income from colleges is exempt from Arkansas income tax. This covers pay for commercial use of an athlete's name, image, or likeness. It also covers shares of college athletic revenue allowed by the college's governing sports a… - Athletes can cancel certain paid contracts: benefit, medium. Athletes can cancel third-party publicity-rights contracts or related professional-representation contracts without breach-of-contract damages or returning payments already received. This right applies when the athlete is no longer eligible for any varsity college sports program. It also applies wh… - More paid opportunities for college athletes: benefit, medium. Arkansas colleges, their supporting foundations, and authorized groups can arrange opportunities and pay athletes for commercial use of their identity. Colleges can make exclusive or nonexclusive licensing deals, including with commercial businesses. Governing sports groups generally cannot block t… - Athlete contract details stay private: benefit, low. Athletes' personal and financial information in agreements authorized by the publicity-rights law is confidential. Those details are not available through Arkansas Freedom of Information Act requests. - Athletes face limits on employee claims: cost, medium. Sports-related pay, benefits, team membership, and participation rules do not establish employee status for state-law liability or money awards. This applies to claims against colleges, conferences, and associations. The exclusion does not cover hourly wages and benefits for actual work unrelated t… - College rules can limit athlete pay: cost, medium. Athletes and licensees need written approval from the athlete's committed or enrolled college for promotion during varsity team activities. Approval is also required for deals tied to an athlete's performance or nonperformance in competition. Deals cannot conflict with college terms or rules; contr… - Sports broadcasts need no participant releases: cost, low. Sports-event broadcasts, rebroadcasts, and other distributions do not require publicity-rights releases, licenses, or agreements from participants or spectators. This covers audio, visual, and audiovisual distribution of the event. - Legal claims against athletic groups narrow: cost, low. The law shields specified colleges, foundations, authorized groups, sports governing bodies, and personnel from damages for listed publicity-pay decisions. Covered actions include routine employment-related decisions affecting athletes' earning opportunities and enforcing governing-body rules that… - Colleges gain room for athletics funding: mixed, low. State-supported Arkansas colleges' percentage-based athletics funding ceiling rises from 2% to 4% of prior-year actual unrestricted educational and general revenue. Colleges need not spend the maximum; the existing fiscal year 2012–2013 funding limit also remains relevant. The Division of Higher Ed… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Bart Hester (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Matthew J. Shepherd (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brian S. Evans (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-14 | Senate | Senate Vote - Monday, April 14, 2025 4:01:52 PM | pass | 19 | 12 | | | 2025-04-14 | Senate | Senate Vote - Monday, April 14, 2025 3:28:10 PM | pass | 16 | 11 | 3 | | 2025-04-09 | House | House Vote - Wednesday, April 9, 2025 2:42:00 PM | pass | 92 | 3 | 3 | ## Actions (15) - 2025-04-17: Notification that HB1917 is now Act 839 (House) - 2025-04-15: Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office. (House) - 2025-04-14: TO BE ENROLLED (House) - 2025-04-14: Returned from the Senate as passed. (House) - 2025-04-14: Returned to the House as passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-14: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-14: Motion to Expunge the Vote by which HB1917 failed to pass. Motion Carried. (Senate) - 2025-04-14: Read the third time and failed. (Senate) - 2025-04-10: Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to INSURANCE & COMMERCE - SENATE (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Received from the House. (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-04-07: Returned by the Committee Do Pass (House) - 2025-03-31: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE (House) - 2025-03-31: Filed (House) ## Bill text - HB1917 - Introduced, 2025-03-31: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1917.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=839.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related bills - HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. (enacted) - HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. (failed) - HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO SET PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THE PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF INJURED INDIV… (failed) - SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE USE OF ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS; AND TO REGULATE ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS FACILITIES. (failed) - HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO PETITION TO SET ASIDE THE SALE OF PROPERTY TO CERTAIN P… (failed) - HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO REQUIRE THAT A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BE SELECTED A… (failed) ## Sources - [HB1917 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1917.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=839.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related - [HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1265-2025) - [HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1686-2025) - [HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO S…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1237-2025) - [SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE US…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB440-2025) - [HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1695-2025) - [HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HR1012-2025) - [Arkansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas/bills) - [Arkansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1917-2025 (as of 2026-10-16).