Commerce emergency rule expands community assistance grants, raises award cap to $1.5 million
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Summary
The Arkansas Department of Commerce presented an emergency rule amending its Community Assistance Grant Program after a $10 million appropriation; the rule expands eligible applicants to certain nonprofits and raises the per-award cap from $50,000 to $1,500,000. The committee approved the emergency rule without objection.
Jay Quinley, director of legislative affairs for the Arkansas Department of Commerce, told the committee that an emergency rule amends the department's Community Assistance Grant Program to reflect a new appropriation of $10,000,000. The rule increases the pool of eligible applicants to include certain nonprofits and raises the award cap from $50,000 to $1,500,000.
"This was an existing grant program within the Department of Commerce. Prior it had never been adequately fund," Quinley said. He described the two major changes as the expansion of eligible applicants and the higher award cap.
When asked for examples of eligible nonprofits, Quinley said the rule targets nonprofits that participate in community development and assistance projects such as construction or renovation of community centers, libraries, public health projects, and purchases of police or firefighting equipment. The committee reviewed the emergency rule and approved it without objection; the review and approval were recorded as effective 12:01 a.m., Saturday, April 5, 2025.
The rule reflects the appropriation and administrative adjustments; no roll-call tally was provided in the transcript and the committee accepted the rule by voice vote. The department did not present a formal roll-call or a breakdown of how many awards will be made under the new appropriation.
