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HB 1768

An Act establishing the Local Food Purchasing Incentive Grant Program, the Keystone Producer Grant Program, the Keystone Assistance Grant Program and the Keystone Fresh Farm to School Account; and imposing duties on the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Heather Boyd and 38 co-sponsors

Arkansas HB1768 would cap host-fee contracts with landfills at 4 years, require renewal, and force votes at regular meetings; not perpetual, signed by mayor or county judge.

Referred to Education
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HB 1768

Summary — HB 1768 (as provided)

Status: Died in conference (3/29/2025)
Introduced: January 8, 2025
Primary sponsors (Arkansas text): Rep. Lundstrum, Rep. Unger; Sen. Irvin
Companion: SB 2351

Note on source document: The file provided appears to combine text and amendment history from multiple, different bills (an Arkansas landfill-host-fee bill, an Illinois privacy bill, and a Mississippi Department of Education appropriation bill). The summary below focuses on the Arkansas HB 1768 language contained in the packet (the host-fee / solid waste landfill provisions), followed by brief notes on the document conflation and procedural status.

Purpose / Intent

The Arkansas-enacted-draft HB 1768 would regulate host-fee contracts between solid waste landfill operators and the local government unit(s) where a landfill is located. The bill’s purpose is to require that host-fee agreements be time-limited, voted on at a regularly scheduled meeting of the host community, and subject to renewal/renegotiation within specified periods — preventing perpetual host-fee provisions and ensuring local public consideration.

Key provisions (Arkansas language)

  • Definition: "Host community" means the county and the city in which a proposed, current, or expanded landfill site is located.
  • Contract term limit: A host-fee agreement may not exceed a contract term of four (4) years, ending in December of even-numbered years.
  • Renewal / renegotiation: A host-fee agreement may be renewed for an additional term not to exceed four (4) years; renewal may keep the same fee amount or be renegotiated to a new amount.
  • No perpetuity: A host-fee must have a beginning and an end (or extension date) and the host fee may not be a perpetual provision in the contract.
  • Local vote and signature: The host-fee agreement must be voted on at a regularly scheduled meeting of the host community and must be signed by the mayor (or, if a municipality is not the closest governmental unit, the county judge).
  • Amendments reflected: Committee and floor amendments in March 2025 changed the maximum term from two years to four years and clarified that the host community is the county and city in which the landfill is located.

Who is affected

  • Local governments (counties and cities) that host or propose to host solid waste landfills — they must place host-fee contracts on a regularly scheduled meeting agenda and adhere to term limits.
  • Landfill operators and companies that negotiate host-fee agreements with host communities.
  • Residents and local officials in host communities (increased transparency and periodic public votes on ongoing fees).

Procedural / timeline highlights

  • Introduced: Jan 8, 2025.
  • Committee consideration, amendments, and multiple floor actions occurred in March–April 2025 (amendments adopted 3/20/25 and 3/27/25).
  • The bill was amended several times and reported as engrossed (April 2, 2025).
  • Final procedural status in the provided record: Died in Conference (3/29/2025) — the bill did not become law in this session according to the status provided.

Potential impact / implications

  • Short-term (administrative): Requires municipalities/counties to schedule votes on host-fee contracts in regular meetings and to ensure contracts are not perpetual.
  • Fiscal: Limits long-term, open-ended host-fee revenue commitments; could affect how landfill operators structure multi-year financial arrangements with host governments.
  • Public accountability: Periodic renewal/renegotiation deadlines create recurring public review opportunities of host-fee terms.

Important caveat

The packet includes unrelated bill text and appropriation tables from other states (an Illinois “Public Safety and Justice Privacy Act” and a large Mississippi Department of Education appropriation act). Those are separate measures and are not part of the Arkansas landfill-host-fee provisions summarized above. If you want a focused summary of the Illinois or Mississippi material present in the file, I can produce separate, detailed summaries.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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