5.2.25 – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – by Josh Snyder
The 95th General Assembly is poised to adjourn Monday, formally ending the regular session after returning from a roughly two-and-a-half-week-long recess.
The Arkansas House and Senate recessed on April 16.
It didn’t mark an end to the session, more of an extended pause after completing all of the legislative heavy lifting that comes during a months-long regular session.
Arkansas’ 95th General Assembly convened Jan. 13.
While lawmakers concluded nearly all of their business in the days leading up to the recess, they are allowed to return by noon Monday if additional work remains.
House Concurrent Resolution 1006 by House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, and Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, was approved by the House and Senate about halfway through the session.
Under the resolution, if the General Assembly is not reconvened or adjourned before noon on Monday, the session is adjourned sine die.
What does “adjourn sine die” mean?
Adjournment signals the official end of the 2025 regular session for the 95th General Assembly.
“Sine die” is Latin for without “without a day,” meaning in this situation, the Legislature has not set a day or time to reconvene, according to multistate.us.
The chambers are not required to reconvene, however.
During the 2023 regular session, the Senate reconvened long enough to confirm 10 appointments by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to state boards and commissions, but the House didn’t return to the Capitol to reconvene, with House spokeswoman Cecillea Pond-Mayo explaining at the time that no further business had been brought to the attention then-Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado.
The Legislature cannot reconvene after adjournment to address further business from that session, further distinguishing it from a recess.
What happened during the recess? Why didn’t lawmakers adjourn April 16?
The recess allows bills approved by the Legislature to be presented to Sanders’ office for her consideration, according to Pond-Mayo.
“Returning later to adjourn allows both the House and Senate the opportunity to address any potential vetoes by the Governor,” Pond-Mayo said in a news release.
The recess also gives attorneys within the offices of the governor and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, as well as state agencies, time to proofread newly-passed bills for potential typos or other issues, said John Reed, Senate spokesman.
“Budget directors crunch the numbers one more time,” Reed said in an email. “The non-lawyers do something similar. I am still trying to get a handle on all that we did for teachers, the State Police, Medicaid providers, the environment, etc.”
When a bill comes before Sanders, she has three options as governor: sign the bill, allow it to become law without her signature, or veto it.
According to the 95th General Assembly’s website, a total of 1,026 bills have become law during the 2025 regular session. Of those, Sanders signed all but two — Act 48, and Act 972, which she allowed to become law without her signature.
In addition to a line-item veto, she also vetoed three bills during the recess.
No House or Senate floor sessions took place during the recess. Many lawmakers returned to their districts to attend to their constituents, their families and other matters.
Reed said that, throughout the 35 years he has worked at the Capitol, the Legislature “has always recessed for a couple of weeks” before adjourning.
What do lawmakers do after a legislative session ends?
With the session all but over, no bills remain for Sanders to consider and no new bills can be filed until the next legislative session begins. However, lawmakers will continue to meet in interim committees.
Interim committees include Arkansas Legislative Council, Legislative Joint Auditing and several other joint committees and subcommittees, according to Pond-Mayo.
The panels’ tasks during the period between sessions include more closely studying specific issues, hearing expert and public testimony and, sometimes, drafting proposed legislation for the next relevant session.
For instance, the Arkansas Game and Fish/State Police Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council conducted a yearlong study between 2023 and 2024 examining the state’s gun laws. The study concluded with the creation of a report and development of draft legislation for this year’s regular session, though the study largely did not result in expansive action.
Committees may also approve rules for the state’s various agencies. For instance, the State Board of Election Commissioners approved a rule in July that barred election officials from accepting voter registration forms signed with an electronic signature, though the rule was challenged in court and remains in litigation.
Is Sanders likely to call a special session?
The governor may bring back the General Assembly between regular and fiscal sessions by calling a special session.
Shortly after the Legislature recessed, Sanders declined to rule out calling a special session to consider further cutting state income taxes after the end of fiscal 2025 on June 30 based on state general revenue tax collections.
Through an executive order, the governor has extended the deadline to file a state income tax return from April 15 to July 31.
Asked whether this executive order will affect her decision about whether to call a special session to cut income tax cuts after fiscal 2025 by possibly reducing general revenue collections in fiscal 2025 and increasing collections in fiscal 2026, Sanders said that “certainly we will factor that in.”
Sanders called a special session in June 2024 following the 2024 fiscal session to cut the state’s income taxes and increase the Arkansas Reserve Fund, increase the homestead property tax credit and approve an appropriation for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for fiscal year 2025, which began July 1, 2024.
She also called a special session in September 2023 following the adjournment of the 2023 regular session. During that special session, the Legislature voted to pass bills that would trim the state’s income taxes an exempt records related to the governor’s security from the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
When do bills that become law during the session go into effect?
Many of the bills that become law during regular sessions go into effect in early August, 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die. However, some bills have emergency clauses and become law immediately upon receiving the governor’s signature, or July 1, the start of the fiscal year. Still other bills contain language specifying when they will go into effect.
When is the next session?
Unless Sanders calls a special session, the Legislature will next reconvene for the fiscal session starting in April of 2026.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline and Neal Earley of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Josh Snyder
Josh Snyder covers state politics for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A Phoenix native, he has worked for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 2018.