# Arkansas SB417: TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS RELATED TO HIGHER EDUCATION. Arkansas SB417, TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS RELATED TO HIGHER EDUCATION., is a 2025 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Jim Dotson (Republican), John Maddox (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-03-31 (Notification that SB417 is now Act 402); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB417-2025 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas SB417 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO AMEND VARIOUS LAWS RELATED TO HIGHER EDUCATION. - Status: enacted - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-03-10 - Last action: 2025-03-31, Notification that SB417 is now Act 402 - Sponsors: Jim Dotson (Republican), John Maddox (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (109 yes, 16 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 7 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - More medical university workers qualify for overtime: benefit, high. At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, overtime eligibility now covers all jobs that provide or support patient care. Overtime pays 1.5 times the base rate. The Patient Care Administrator, Associate Administrator, and Assistant Administrator of Patient Care positions remain excluded. E… - College property deals lose approval step: benefit, low. Higher education boards no longer need Building Authority Division review and approval for the property transfers and leases covered by this repeal. This removes an approval step for those transactions. It does not specify transaction values or direct changes to household costs. - Nearby colleges no longer need service agreements: benefit, low. Arkansas colleges no longer have to sign written agreements to address duplicated services with nearby institutions. The repealed rule applied when a campus or center was within 25 miles of another college's main campus. The law does not specify changes to tuition or student services. - Two-year colleges gain construction contracting flexibility: benefit, low. State-supported two-year colleges can use the specified construction exemption for projects costing more than $5 million. Colleges must first adopt policies that follow state law for awarding and overseeing design and construction contracts. The law does not quantify project savings or changes in s… - Colleges drop required minority recruitment plans: cost, low. State-supported colleges no longer have to prepare affirmative-action programs to recruit African-Americans and other minority groups. Required annual summaries and five-year plans also end. Colleges no longer have to assign an employee to help with this recruitment. The repeal removes these requir… - State ends college energy research coordination: cost, low. The law ends the Institutional Energy Research Committee and required statewide coordination of participating public colleges' energy research. It also ends the Arkansas Energy Summary and Report requirements and related energy-data reporting. No replacement coordination process or funding amount i… - College workers face new leave rules: mixed, low. Arkansas state-supported colleges are no longer covered as state agencies under the Uniform Attendance and Leave Policy Act. The law does not specify replacement leave policies or changes in leave amounts. Colleges can choose to pay nonclassified employees for unused sick leave, using classified em… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Jim Dotson (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: John Maddox (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-03-19 | House | House Vote - Wednesday, March 19, 2025 3:13:41 PM | pass | 82 | 11 | 1 | | 2025-03-13 | Senate | Senate Vote - Thursday, March 13, 2025 3:11:35 PM | pass | 27 | 5 | | ## Actions (15) - 2025-03-31: Notification that SB417 is now Act 402 (Senate) - 2025-03-20: DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. (Senate) - 2025-03-20: Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor. (Senate) - 2025-03-19: ORDERED ENROLLED (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Returned from the House as passed. (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Returned to the Senate as passed. (House) - 2025-03-19: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-03-18: Returned by the Committee Do Pass (House) - 2025-03-13: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE (House) - 2025-03-13: RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE (House) - 2025-03-13: Ordered immediately transmitted to the House. (Senate) - 2025-03-13: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-03-12: Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass (Senate) - 2025-03-10: Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE (Senate) - 2025-03-10: Filed (Senate) ## Bill text - SB417 - Introduced, 2025-03-10: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FSB417.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=402.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 - [SB417 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FSB417.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=402.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-SB417-2025 (as of 2026-10-16).