As 2024 is approaching we would like to take this time to give Arkansans a look at what is ahead for the General Assembly.

Pre-fiscal session budget hearings will begin Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Over the course of the budget hearings, the committee will hear budget requests for all state boards, commissions, and agencies. These hearings will continue through Friday, March 8, 2024.

The pre-filing period for appropriation bills begins on March 11, 2024.

The General Assembly will convene for the 2024 Fiscal Session on April 10, 2024, at noon.

Fiscal Sessions began after Arkansas voters approved what would become Amendment 86 in 2008. This will be the 8th Fiscal Session held in state history.

Fiscal Sessions are held in February in years in which the primary elections are held in May. The Fiscal Sessions begin in April in years, like this year, in which primary elections are held in March.

Amendment 86 states that each Fiscal Session shall not exceed 30 days.

The Fiscal Session may be extended one time, however, for no more than 15 days, by a ¾ vote of both the House and Senate.

If the General Assembly is to take up any bills outside the scope of the budget, they must first have a 2/3 vote in both chambers for a resolution describing the bill. The deadline for those resolutions is by the end of the first day of the session, April 10.

As always, we will post all meeting times and locations on our website, arkansashouse.org.