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Commerce emergency rule expands eligible applicants, raises awards to $1.5 million after $10M appropriation
Summary
The Arkansas Department of Commerce presented and the committee approved an emergency rule to reflect a new $10 million appropriation for the Community Assistance Grants Program, expand eligible applicants to certain nonprofits, and raise per-award caps from $50,000 to $1,500,000.
The Arkansas Department of Commerce told the Legislative committee it had prepared an emergency rule to amend the Community Assistance Grants Program following a session appropriation that increased the program pool to $10 million.
Jay Quinley, director of legislative affairs for the Department of Commerce, told members the rule reflects two major changes: expanding the pool of eligible applicants to include certain nonprofits that participate in community development and assistance projects and raising the award cap from $50,000 to $1,500,000.
Quinley said eligible projects typically include construction or renovation of community centers, libraries, public health facilities, and procurement of police or firefighting equipment. He said the appropriation “increased it to $10,000,000 and the new rule reflects those changes.”
A committee member asked for examples of the nonprofits that would qualify. Quinley replied the rule text covers nonprofits “that participate in the type of projects that are covered in the program” and listed community development applicants as examples.
Without further questions the committee reviewed and approved the proposed emergency rule; review and approval were recorded as effective 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 5, 2025 according to the transcript.
