ALC Executive Subcommittee: Nov. 20, 2025

Senator Ben Gilmore All right, we’ve got members coming in. We’ll go ahead and get started and call an Executive Subcommittee to order. All right. First on the agenda is the consideration of the emergency rule from Department of Human Services. Go ahead and invite them to the table, please. And this is the SNAP rule, right? 

Mary Franklin Good afternoon. I’m Mary Franklin, director of the Division of County Operations with the Department of Human Services. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Okay. If you would just briefly describe what the rule is and why and then we’ll see if there’s any questions. 

Updates to SNAP work requirements

Mary Franklin Yes. Today I’m bringing before you a rule that will affect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the SNAP program. This rule is necessary due to changes to the able-bodied adult without dependence work requirement in SNAP, and these changes came about in the passage of the One Big Beautiful Act of 2025. 

The changes include raising the age of individuals who are subject to that able-bodied adult without dependence work requirement from 54 at the upper limit to now 64 at the upper limit. It also changes the exception to the work requirement for individuals with children in the household. The new requirement requires parents of children age 14 or older to also be subject to this requirement to work, whereas previously before this new act, parents or households with children under age 18 were exempt. So that is a change. 

Previously, we had implemented exemptions or exceptions from the requirement to work in SNAP based on passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 23, and that act added homeless individuals, veterans, and individuals age 24 or younger and in foster care on their 18th birthday or higher that they were exempted from the requirement to work. But the new federal law removed those three exemptions, so those are no longer exemptions. 

This new federal law added some new exemptions for Indians, urban Indians, and California Indians, specifically as described in the Health Care Improvement Act. So we have added those exemptions. 

In addition to that, the federal law also changed some of the shelter deduction requirements. In the previous to this law, individuals who received like assistance like through the LIHEAP program or some type of shelter assistance were automatically qualified for what’s called a standard utility allowance. 

And now that is limited to age 60 or older. It does not mean other households can’t also have a standard utility allowance, but they have to meet the requirements. They’re just not automatically eligible by receiving something like LIHEAP. And that is a summary of the changes of this rule. Happy to answer any questions. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Great. So just to recap, this is as a result of the Big Beautiful Bill so that we meet the requirements associated with that. And then there’s– I know this is the emergency rule. We have the permanent rule coming. 

Mary Franklin Yes, sir. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Okay. All right. Any questions? I see Senator Boyd. You’re recognized. 

Change in Pronouns in rules

Senator Justin Boyd Yeah. Right here. Thank you, Mr. Chair. For clarity’s sake, I guess, on the third page it says 32-10. And I’m trying to understand. We changed some ‘his’ and replaced with ‘their’ and ‘he and she’ and replaced with ‘they.’ Are we going from singular to plural or any sense of why we needed to update that? I can’t find where– the paragraph to read how it fits in there. 

Mary Franklin  Those are just grammar changes we’re making throughout the manual, not just limited to SNAP. So anytime we update a section, we are just standardizing that. That’s the only reason. 

Senator Justin Boyd So for the record we’re just standardizing it to make it plural rather than singular? 

Mary Franklin Yes. 

Senator Justin Boyd Okay. I just wanted to clarify that we wanted to make it plural, and that’s what we were trying to do. Thank you. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Representative Rye. You turned it off, sir. Hit it again. And you’re recognized. 

SNAP recap and reimbursement

Representative Johnny Rye Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mary, before this meeting you and I spoke just a little bit. And I know people around the state have had some questions with the SNAP program due to the federal situation that came about about three or four weeks ago. Can you kind of explain to us what happened with us, as far as the food banks and things like that and when the SNAP is actually reunited with the people that belong in there? 

Mary Franklin Yes, sir. Due to the federal government shutdown, we were notified by the Food and Nutrition Service, which is part of the USDA, and is the agency that funds and regulates SNAP programs in the states. They provided us guidance to hold November benefits and not send them out. And they sent us this guidance midway through October. So based on their guidance, we held November benefits. So those benefits were late. 

We subsequently got guidance that gave us instructions to issue benefits based on a partial allocation of benefits based on 50% of the normal allocation. And then we got guidance that said now base it on 65%. And then we got guidance that said issue full. And then we got guidance that said hold, don’t do anything. And we finally, with the federal government reopening, got guidance to issue those full benefits, which we were able to do last week. 

And happy to report that we are current now on issuing November benefits. Anyone’s benefits who had been held during that time have now been issued, and so on a daily basis now we’re issuing any newly approved households that weren’t previously approved. So for all intents and purposes, back to normal as far as the operation of SNAP. 

Representative Johnny Rye Thank you, Mary. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Thank you, Representative. All right. Any other questions? Senator Rice, you’re recognized. Thank you. 

Senator Terry Rice Just a question I should have thought to ask before. And on the emergency funding that Arkansas did and the chairs signed off on, is that any way reimbursable? 

Senator Ben Gilmore Not to my understanding. I’ll allow the agency to speak to it, but we understood that on the front end, that that wasn’t going to be reimbursed by the feds. But happy to speak to that, if you will. 

Mary Franklin I don’t have any information that leads me to believe there’s any way that Arkansas could be reimbursed for that.  

Senator Terry Rice But it was totally caused by the federal shutdown, correct? 

Mary Franklin That is my understanding. 

Senator Terry Rice And there is a lot of agencies that get money back. Employees get back pay and all. So is that anything y’all can check into? 

Mary Franklin I could certainly ask the question of FNS. 

Senator Terry Rice Okay. Thank you.

Senator Ben Gilmore And Senator, if I may, that was one of the reasons you saw some other states like Louisiana was doing $45 million to help cover those SNAP benefits. And, as I understand, those states were told at that time that money would not be reimbursed by the Fed. So that was, again, just something that was looked at, I think, as I was told, to see, Do we want to do that and what is the likelihood that that gets reimbursed? And there wasn’t. So, yes, sir. Senator Hester, you’re recognized. 

Change in Pronouns follow up

Senator Bart Hester Yeah, I’m just going to lean in a little bit more on what Senator Boyd asked. And there’s no page numbers so it’s impossible to track where we’re at. But when we remove ‘he, she’ and put ‘they,’ what is the intent behind that? Is it the intent that the department thinks there’s more than a he and a she? 

Mary Franklin No, sir. I think it was just to mean it didn’t matter whether it was male or female, just that they. 

Senator Bart Hester Good. Thank you. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Okay. Any other questions? Seeing none, without objection, the proposed emergency rule is reviewed and approved. And the review and approval shall be effective upon adjournment of Legislative Council meeting Friday, November 21st, 2025. All right. 

Mary Franklin Thank you. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Looks like, I think that’s it. Thank you very much. And then Director Garrity. You’re recognized. 

Marty Garrity Thank you, Marty Garrity with the Bureau of Legislative Research. Before you, you have a revised security policy for the Big Mac building. The changes in this revision reflect the fact that the Bureau is no longer contracting with a private security company and the fact that State Capitol Police is now providing security for the Big Mac building. There is one correction under 4.01 under page 3, it should read, ‘by officers of the Arkansas State Capitol Police,’ and we’ll make that correction. But this would require a motion to approve the changes. 

Senator Ben Gilmore Okay. Any questions on this change? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion. I have a motion. I have a second. All right. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. All right, members. Thank you very much. Thank y’all. We’re adjourned.