Making financial education instruction a graduation prerequisite and a required component of public education.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Andrew Barkis and 54 co-sponsors

HB 1915 would require DHS to seek a USDA waiver for broad-based SNAP eligibility and set assets at $6,000 (inflation-adjusted), with a temporary $5,500 cap for some households.

By resolution, returned to House Rules Committee for third reading.

Summary — HB 1915 (Arkansas, 2025 session)

Status: Introduced January 16, 2025; Died in Committee (Sine Die adjournment 05/05/2025)

Primary sponsors: Rep. Eubanks; Sen. J. Dismang
Note: The legislative file includes extraneous text from unrelated legislation (an Illinois bill). This summary covers the Arkansas SNAP-related provisions that constitute the core of HB 1915.

Purpose / Intent

HB 1915 would have changed Arkansas law governing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by directing the Department of Human Services (DHS) to seek a USDA broad‑based categorical eligibility waiver and by amending state asset (resource) rules for SNAP eligibility. The stated intent is to align state asset limits with federal benchmarks and to allow automatic inflation adjustments.

Key provisions

Require DHS to request a broad‑based categorical eligibility waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to:

exempt SNAP applicants and enrollees from the federal resource limit (subject to the bill’s asset provisions), and
permit DHS to implement the revised asset rules if a waiver is necessary.

Asset limit changes (effective upon DHS obtaining the waiver):

Sets the SNAP asset limit at the federal resource limit — expressly stated as six thousand dollars ($6,000).
Requires the asset limit to be automatically adjusted for inflation on a biennial basis.
Provides for a temporary increase of the asset limit for an enrolled household found to have countable assets greater than the federal resource limit:
DHS would set the temporary limit by rule for up to one year.
The bill explicitly directs DHS to set that temporary limit at five thousand five hundred dollars ($5,500) and allows DHS to seek USDA approval to modify that amount to match future federal changes.
A household may receive such a temporary increase no more than once every five years.

Who is affected

SNAP applicants and enrollees in Arkansas (potentially expanding eligibility or reducing disqualifications tied to asset tests).

Arkansas Department of Human Services — required to request a federal waiver, adopt rules, and administer temporary asset exceptions.

Potential indirect fiscal impact on state budgets and federal SNAP outlays depending on implementation and waiver approval.

Fiscal impact (estimated)

Arkansas Department of Human Services fiscal estimate (Prepared by DHS) — “graded range”:

Total computable impact: approximately $975,842 (low) to $1,776,683 (high).
Administrative cost shown: $87,500 (same in low/high scenarios).
These figures reflect projected program benefit and administrative changes contingent on waiver implementation.

Procedural / timeline notes

The bill conditions the asset-rule changes on DHS obtaining a USDA broad‑based categorical eligibility waiver.

Asset limit would then be subject to automatic biennial inflation adjustments.

HB 1915 progressed through the House but ultimately died in committee in the Senate at sine die adjournment on May 5, 2025.

Observations / drafting notes

The draft contains an internal inconsistency: it sets the permanent asset limit at $6,000 but directs DHS to set a temporary asset increase at $5,500 for households exceeding the federal resource limit. That language may require clarification in future drafts regarding the interplay of permanent vs. temporary limits.