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HB 1699

Public health and safety; Oklahoma Public Health and Safety Reform Act of 2025; effective date.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Cindy Roe

Expands Arkansas's August sales tax holiday to exempt firearm safety devices and firearm storage devices; includes emergency clause to take effect, but the bill died in committee.

Second Reading referred to Rules
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Bill Summary · HB 1699

Summary — HB 1699 (Arkansas, 95th General Assembly, 2025)

Status: Died in committee (House Committee at Sine Die adjournment). Introduced: December 20, 2024. Primary sponsors: Rep. McCullough; Sen. C. Tucker. Companion: SB 922.

Main purpose

To expand Arkansas’s existing August sales tax holiday to make purchases of specified firearm safety and storage products exempt from sales and use tax, and to declare an emergency so the change could take effect in time for the next August holiday.

Key provisions

  • Adds two new defined items to Arkansas Code § 26-52-444 (sales tax holiday definitions):
    • “Firearm safety device” — a device to be equipped or installed on a firearm that prevents unauthorized access or prevents operation until deactivated. (Explicitly excludes firearms sold with a safety device already installed.)
    • “Firearm storage device” — a container/enclosure primarily designed to safely store a firearm and secured by a combination lock, key lock, or biometric lock that cannot be opened without the authorized credential.
  • Adds both “firearm safety device” and “firearm storage device” to the list of products exempt from sales and use tax during the state’s annual sales tax holiday (begins 12:01 a.m. the first Saturday in August and ends 11:59 p.m. the following Sunday).
  • Emergency clause: declares the act immediately necessary and establishes that it must take effect on the governor’s approval (or upon veto override) so that the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) can provide at least 60 days’ notice to sellers (i.e., notify sellers by June 1 for an August holiday).

Fiscal impact (DFA analysis)

  • Estimated statewide sales and use tax revenue loss is modest:
    • FY2026 (partial-year/effective 10/1/2025 estimate — 8 months of reduced collections): approximately $65,190 total state loss; approximate local (city/county) loss: $33,096.
    • FY2027 (full year): approximately $67,146 total state loss; approximate local loss: $34,089.
  • DFA notes the estimate was derived using Tennessee revenue data adjusted for Arkansas population, estimated gun ownership, and Arkansas tax rates.
  • Distribution of lost receipts is broken out across General Revenue and several dedicated state/local funds in the DFA statement.

Affected parties / impacts

  • Consumers: Purchases of qualifying firearm safety and storage devices during the August holiday would be exempt from sales/use tax, lowering the out‑of‑pocket cost for those purchases during the holiday window.
  • Retailers and sellers: Must implement the temporary exemption, update online and point‑of‑sale materials, and DFA training/manuals and websites must be revised.
  • State and local governments: Small, measurable reductions in sales and use tax receipts during the holiday period (see DFA numbers).
  • Compliance note: DFA legal analysis concluded the bill’s product definitions align with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) definitions and that a 60‑day advance notice requirement applies for tax-holiday items.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • To be effective for the August sales tax holiday, the bill needed to become law before June 1 (60 days notice requirement). The bill included an emergency clause to meet that deadline.
  • Legislative outcome: HB 1699 did not advance to enactment; it died in committee at the Sine Die adjournment of the 2025 session.

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

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