ArkansasSB3922025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION OF STATE EMPLOYEES; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.

Sponsored By: Breanne Davis (Republican), John Maddox (Republican)

Enacted

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

17 provisions identified: 12 benefits, 1 costs, 4 mixed.

Student loan help for state employees

Participating Arkansas state agencies can pay employees’ student-loan creditors directly, using existing agency funding. Employees must finish six months of probation and document unpaid loans for a degree related to their job. Each payment is limited to $2,000, with no more than five payments and $10,000 total per employee. Employees must agree to stay for a reasonable period set by the agency, which can add eligibility rules. Payments are not guaranteed and can stop if the employee resigns or is fired.

Extra pay for qualified state workers

State agencies can approve up to 10% extra pay for job-related education or professional certification beyond minimum job requirements. Education must be documented and come from an accredited institution. Certification must come from a recognized organization and remain current, with renewal or continuation documented. Certification pay ends when the employee no longer holds a covered position or maintains the certification.

Extra state pay for difficult jobs

State agencies can authorize up to 10% extra pay for documented recruitment or retention problems in a geographic area. Hazard pay requires unavoidable hazards during at least half of regular work time, without other compensation for that exposure. High-risk plans need approval from the shared-services secretary, consulting the chief fiscal officer, and the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee during sessions. Funds reserved for other programs cannot pay for these plans, and qualifying maximum-security workers can receive an additional differential. Workers reassigned from high-risk jobs to normal duty return to their otherwise applicable pay.

Promotion raises for state employees

Promoted state employees are eligible for raises of up to 10%, but a raise is not guaranteed. Resulting pay cannot exceed the new grade’s maximum. The personnel office can set policies for promotion raises. Those policies require Legislative Council review, or Joint Budget Committee review while the legislature is in session.

Severance help for laid-off state employees

Agency directors or cabinet secretaries can authorize one-time severance for regular employees affected by qualifying workforce reductions. Reasons include restructuring, budget cuts, abolished positions or duties, lost agency responsibilities, or lost federal funding, grants, or special funds. Payments are $800 for over 1 through 5 completed service years, $1,200 for over 5 through 15, and $1,600 above 15. The shared-services secretary must approve payment; no amount is stated for employees with one or fewer completed years.

Updated pay ranges for state employees

Beginning July 1, 2025, Arkansas sets updated minimum, midpoint, and maximum pay levels for six state job groups. Across grades, the lowest minimum and highest maximum are $33,280–$136,702 for government services and $41,265–$255,673 for technology. Those endpoints are $47,820–$387,378 for medical jobs, $46,223–$195,182 for law enforcement, and $58,700–$207,064 for specialized services. Executive ranges are EXE01: $141,125–$191,930; EXE02: $155,238–$211,123; EXE03: $170,762–$232,235; and EXE04: $187,838–$255,459. The personnel office can approve bringing below-minimum salaries up to grade entry pay; actual pay still follows funding laws.

Benefit limits for extra-help state workers

Employees hired into or transferred to extra-help state jobs cannot receive benefits beyond holiday pay unless the personnel office approves. This restriction now applies generally, not just to former state employees who return to work. New hires must meet the minimum qualifications and requirements in the official job description. The general work limit remains 1,500 hours per fiscal year. Another law, including an agency spending law, can allow additional hours.

Special state pay with added controls

The personnel office can approve special pay up to 40% above grade entry pay, including for retention or permanent extra duties. Higher rates need prior Legislative Council approval, or Joint Budget Committee approval during a legislative session, and cannot exceed the grade maximum. Extra-duty awards normally require freezing a position; an approved new-or-changed-program exception requires the agency not to hire staff for those duties. The same employee cannot receive an extra-duty special rate more than once every two years, and agencies must use existing funding. Agency directors join the Governor and cabinet secretaries in having authority to suspend discretionary special salary actions.

Easier state hiring for officers’ spouses

Spouses of elected Arkansas constitutional officers can take state-agency jobs without the usual employment approval when starting pay is $50,000 or less. This replaces the old threshold tied to a level in the state pay plan. The exception changes approval requirements; it does not set anyone’s salary.

Higher pay option for cabinet secretaries

The Governor can set a cabinet department secretary’s salary up to 50% above the assigned grade’s maximum. The Legislative Council must approve, or the Joint Budget Committee must approve while the legislature is in session. No secretary is guaranteed a raise.

State personnel office sets shift-pay steps

The Arkansas Office of Personnel Management can set percentage steps for extra pay on different shifts. This authority supports shift pay for eligible state workers but does not guarantee extra pay for any employee.

State workers gain career advancement options

Beginning July 1, 2025, the law assigns listed Arkansas state jobs to job groups, grades, and personnel types. The Office of Personnel Management can approve advancement within a job group when employees meet its eligibility criteria and show satisfactory performance. Advancement cannot exceed that group's highest career-path grade, and neither advancement nor a raise is guaranteed. The office must submit eligibility criteria for legislative review and report approved changes for review at the next regular meeting.

Career paths and training for state workers

The state personnel office must establish career paths for job classifications within the same job series. It can also move positions into different job series or families between legislative sessions to correct classifications or meet unexpected needs. Positions keep their realigned classifications, and the office must set procedures for these changes. State agencies can start apprenticeship programs with personnel office approval. These powers do not guarantee promotions, raises, or an available apprenticeship.

Step-pay option for state safety workers

The state personnel office can create a step-based pay plan for the Law Enforcement and Safety pay table. The plan must state each step’s percentage increase and the requirements for advancement. It needs Legislative Council approval, or Joint Budget Committee approval while the legislature is in session. The law does not require a plan or set any step increase.

Smaller pools for state staffing changes

The state’s pool for reclassifying agency positions drops from 1,500 positions to 500. Agencies use this pool when they lack a vacant position with the right classification and grade. The central pool for adding positions also drops from 500 to 250. That pool helps agencies meet required duties when they lack enough properly classified positions; these changes do not directly eliminate existing jobs.

New job grades for state employees

Beginning July 1, 2025, the law updates approved job titles, grades, employment types, and position counts across state agencies. Employees gain a common job framework, but assigned grades and agency funding laws limit available pay. Examples include 2,253 correction corporal positions at LES03, 721 correction-sergeant positions at LES04, and 307 registered nurses at MED05. The schedules alone do not establish whether any employee receives a raise or pay cut. For fiscal year 2026, the personnel office can adjust authorized positions and classifications to match salary laws enacted during the 2025 regular session.

State staffing flexibility comes with limits

Agency directors and covered department secretaries must certify that appointees meet their jobs' minimum education and experience requirements. Cabinet departments can request transfers of positions and budget authority within or between their units. The state chief fiscal officer and Legislative Council—or Joint Budget Committee during legislative sessions—must approve requests before the personnel office. Transfers cannot exceed 5% of a department's total authorized appropriation and funding, with at most four approved requests per fiscal year. An emergency process requires chief fiscal officer and applicable legislative cochair approval to immediately protect public peace, health, and safety.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Cosponsors

Jim Wooten
Republican • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 143 • No: 9

House vote • 4/2/2025

House Vote - Wednesday, April 2, 2025 3:51:09 PM

Yes: 92 • No: 1 • Other: 3

Senate vote • 4/1/2025

Senate Vote - Tuesday, April 1, 2025 2:57:19 PM

Yes: 29 • No: 1