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Committee advances proposal to create a short-term fund for water and wastewater projects
Summary
Lawmakers and water-system managers told the Senate committee a proposed fund (House Bill 1681) would help counties and cities address urgent water and wastewater infrastructure needs; the committee voted the bill out after testimony from utilities and debate over funding sources and program structure.
A bill to authorize a short-term fund to support water and wastewater infrastructure projects was presented to the Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee as House Bill 1681.
The bill sponsor (presented in committee as a state representative) told the committee the measure responds to large, documented needs for water and sewer repairs and upgrades across the state. The sponsor summarized prior surveys and higher estimates of need: "When we started looking at this, 4 years ago, this was a $5,000,000,000 tag ... in 2024 ... it was 9,000,000,000 plus in water sewer or water and wastewater needs in Arkansas," the sponsor said. The sponsor described a structure that would split funds between larger, higher-capacity projects (requiring local matching) and smaller rural projects that would receive a larger share of grant assistance, and said projects must be shovel-ready or have an ability to start within the first year.
Jared Dismaine (senator) and other members asked procedural and funding questions about whether the bill sets a specific appropriation and how funding would be sourced. The sponsor said the bill sets up a fund and program structure but does not itself specify a single funding transfer in the statute; negotiations remain under way on whether to use interest earnings, surplus, or other permitted revenues. Dismaine described the bill as properly structured as a statutory funding vehicle rather than a direct appropriation and said any transfer of funds from surplus or reserve accounts would still require a legislative vote.
Representatives of water utilities testified in favor. Daniel Dawson, general manager of Searcy Water Utilities, described rising construction and equipment costs and the impact on small systems, saying an engineering estimate for a small replacement rose from about $1 million to roughly $4 million, and a later bid at $5.6 million forced the utility to accept the higher cost. Michael Clayton, executive director for North Little Rock Wastewater, and Heath Ward, executive director of Springdale Water Utilities, spoke in support and described workforce and contractor shortages that have increased project costs. Testimony emphasized that targeted state funding could help communities meet immediate repairs and qualify projects for leveraging federal funds.
Committee members debated whether funding decisions should come before the Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) or whether the statute's rulemaking and reporting language provides sufficient oversight. Several senators voiced concern about cash flow and the state's restricted reserve accounts; sponsors said the bill was written so program rules would be promulgated through the Agricultural and Natural Resources Commission with rule approval by ALC and regular reporting.
After committee discussion and testimony, the committee voted to pass the bill. The transcript shows the motion carried and the bill passed out of committee.
