Bill > HB1326

This bill amends Arkansas law to provide more flexible early retirement options for faculty and staff at publicly supported colleges and universities. The bill removes previous restrictions on early retirement incentives, such as limiting special allowances to 5% of personnel costs and removing age and tenure requirements. Instead, institutions can now negotiate voluntary early retirement agreements with full-time employees who meet retirement program requirements. The board of trustees for each institution can now provide special allowances to encourage early retirement from any available salary or funding sources, with the condition that they report the exact details of these allowances to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee annually. An emergency clause is included to emphasize the urgency of implementing these changes before the end of the spring 2025 semester, suggesting that the bill is designed to help institutions quickly manage their staffing and budget needs by offering more attractive early retirement options. The bill aims to create more efficient management of higher education resources by giving institutions greater flexibility in managing their workforce.

Labor and Employment

https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=hb1326&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R