Arkansas Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities

Arkansas State Legislature 92nd General Assembly - Fiscal Session, 2020

04/08/2020     Legislative Fiscal Session Session Officially Convenes
05/07/2020     Legislative Fiscal Session Scheduled Adjournment

IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES 2020 FISCAL SESSION
 
Election Day: Tuesday, March 3, 2020
 
Pre-fiscal session budget hearings:  Wednesday, March 4, 2020 

• Budget hearings tentative dates are Wednesday, March 4, 2020 through Thursday, March 12, 2020. 

 
Pre-filing:  Monday, March 9, 2020 

• Pre-filing begins the second Monday of March of each year for a fiscal session held in a year in which the preferential primary election is in March (this is the 2020 Fiscal Session) and the second Monday of January for a fiscal session held in a year in which the preferential primary election is in May (this is the 2022 Fiscal Session). 

 
Convening of fiscal session:  Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 12:00 noon  

• The General Assembly shall meet in a fiscal session at 12:00 noon on the second Wednesday in April in the years in which the preferential primary election is held in March (this is the 2020 Fiscal Session) and on the second Monday in February in the years in which the preferential primary election is held in May (this is the 2022 Fiscal Session).  The Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 5, permits the General Assembly to establish the dates of a Fiscal Session. 

 
Deadline for filing Identical Resolution for non-appropriation bills: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 

• Joint Rules state that identical resolutions may not be filed later than the first day of each fiscal session. A two-third (2/3) vote is required by the General Assembly. 

 
Deadline for filing appropriation bills: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 

• Joint Rules state: The deadline for filing appropriation bills is no later than the fifteenth (15th) day of the fiscal session. In order to extend the deadline, a two-third (2/3) vote is required by the General Assembly.  
• Deadline for filing General Legislation or non-appropriation bills that have been approved with the passage of Identical Resolutions.  However, the deadline for the Identical Resolutions needed to introduce General Legislation or non-appropriation bills is April 8, 2020.

Length of fiscal session:  Up to 30 days, which is Thursday, May 7, 2020 *unless extended   

• Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 17 states that the fiscal session shall not exceed thirty calendar days in duration. 

* The fiscal session may be extended one-time not to exceed fifteen calendar days by a vote of threefourths (3/4) of the General Assembly.  If extended by the maximum amount of time allowed, the last day of the 2020 Fiscal Session would be Friday, May 22, 2020.