Committee hears proposal to create Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism; members raise placement and qualification questions

A Senate committee reviewed House Bill 1118, a transformation bill to form a Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism by reorganizing existing parks, tourism and heritage components into one department and creating divisions for tourism, heritage and parks.

Representative Andy Davis summarized the bill as combining the Department of Parks and Tourism with the Department of Heritage and adding commissions and divisions, including Keep Arkansas Beautiful. "This creates the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism," the presenter said.

Senators asked why the board of visitors for the School of Math and Science appeared in the parks and heritage bill; staff said the language was included only to rename references (from department to division) and that the item will end up in the education code when bills are combined. Members also questioned new code citations inserted in the bill and about the deletion of a museum review committee; staff said the committee no longer operates and was removed at the agency’s request.

Committee members raised concerns about removing longstanding qualification language for certain commissions (for example, prior media-experience minimums), noting those qualifications may preserve institutional knowledge in tourism-related roles. Staff said the department recommended removal of some century-old restrictive language and will consult on possible replacement qualifications.

No final committee vote on HB1118 was recorded in the transcript; staff agreed to follow up on drafting clarifications and code citations before finalizing the bill language.