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HB 1802

Small Business and Supplier Diversity, Department of; powers and duties.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Laura Jane Cohen

The bill creates a Talent Recruitment Grant Program to fund incentives for municipalities and eligible nonprofits to recruit out-of-state individuals to relocate to Arkansas.

House sustained Governor's veto
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HB 1802

Summary — HB 1802 (Talent Recruitment Grant Program)

Note: The materials provided include multiple, partly inconsistent texts and action histories. This summary focuses on the substantive bill text supplied that would add a new “Talent Recruitment Grant Program” to Arkansas Code (Title 14, Chapter 173). The record in your packet also contains unrelated bill text from another jurisdiction (Illinois) and mixed procedural entries. Please verify status and text with the official state legislative website for final confirmation.

Purpose

Create a statewide Talent Recruitment Grant Program to provide grants to municipalities and qualifying nonprofits to fund local programs that incentivize individuals living outside Arkansas to relocate to municipalities in Arkansas.

Key provisions

  • Adds a new Subchapter 2 to Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 173 establishing the Talent Recruitment Grant Program.
  • Definitions:
    • “Individual”: a person who resides outside Arkansas when applying and who either (a) will relocate while continuing a remote job earning at least $55,000/year, or (b) has accepted a full‑time job offer in Arkansas.
    • “Applicant”: entity applying for a grant (municipality or eligible nonprofit).
    • “Individual goal”: the number of individuals the applicant targets to recruit.
  • Administration and funding:
    • Program administered by the Association of Arkansas Development Organizations.
    • Funding may come from federal, state, private, and other grants or donations; awards contingent on fund availability.
  • Eligibility and application requirements:
    • Applicants: municipalities or Arkansas nonprofits with missions including economic development, workforce/talent development, or community development.
    • Must submit a talent recruitment plan detailing incentives, estimated costs (design, administration, marketing, incentives), estimated economic and tax impact, individual goal, and per‑individual cost estimate.
    • Applicants must demonstrate at least a 20% local match (cash and/or in‑kind).
    • Repeat applicants must show prior grants met their recruitment goals.
  • Grant awards and disbursement:
    • Grants awarded annually; maximum $500,000 per applicant per fiscal year.
    • Disbursement: 50% upon approval; remaining 50% only after the recipient shows it has met at least one‑half of its individual recruitment goal. If it fails to reach half the goal, the second payment is withheld.
  • Program operations and oversight:
    • Recipients must approve/deny individual incentive applications consistent with their approved plan.
    • Quarterly reports to the administering association required, including: number of applications received/approved, cost per approved individual, annual income and occupation of each approved recruit, and estimated economic/state & local tax impacts generated.

Who would be affected

  • Municipal governments and eligible nonprofit organizations seeking to recruit out‑of‑state talent.
  • Individuals relocating to Arkansas who apply for locally administered relocation incentives (subject to program criteria, including the $55,000 remote salary threshold or accepted in‑state job).
  • State/local economic development planning and revenue projection processes (through reporting requirements and program incentives).
  • State finances to the extent funds are appropriated or donated to the program.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • The bill text indicates creation of a statutory program; awards are contingent on available funding.
  • Your packet lists the bill as “Introduced: January 9, 2025” and “Status: Died In Committee.” However, the action log includes conflicting entries (reads, referrals, even passage and enrollment entries). Because the provided documents are mixed, confirm the bill’s official status and final enacted text with the Arkansas General Assembly or the published session laws.

If you want, I can prepare a short briefing on likely fiscal impacts (budget range scenarios) or draft a one‑page explainer for municipal officials on how to apply if this program is enacted.

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

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