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The Arkansas Government Transparency & Performance Act (AR-GT&P)

Arkansas state companion to GT&P. Extends the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (Title 25 Ch. 19), Arkansas Legislative Audit oversight, and the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act (Title 20 Ch. 77).

THE ARKANSAS GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY & PERFORMANCE ACT (AR-GT&P)

Vehicle: State passage. Arkansas General Assembly, regular session. Primary referral to House / Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs; civil-service to House / Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Arkansas Government Transparency & Performance Act (AR-GT&P).”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT

The General Assembly finds that Arkansas operates the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act under Ark. Code Ann. Title 25 Ch. 19; that Arkansas Legislative Audit operates under Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 10-4-101 et seq.; that state-agency performance reporting operates through the Department of Finance and Administration and the Office of Budget; that whistleblower protection for state employees operates under the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act, Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 21-1-601 et seq.; that state employment is governed by Ark. Code Ann. Title 21; and that the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act under Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 20-77-901 et seq. provides a qui-tam-style recovery mechanism for Medicaid fraud. This Act extends these frameworks.

TITLE I — DEFINITIONS & COORDINATION WITH ARKANSAS LAW

Sec. 101. Definitions

  1. (a) “State agency” has the meaning in Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 19-4-201.
  2. (b) “ALA” means Arkansas Legislative Audit under Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 10-4-101.
  3. (c) “AMFFCA” means the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act under Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 20-77-901.

Sec. 102. Coordination with Existing Arkansas Law

  1. (a) Consistent with:
  • Ark. Code Ann. Title 25 Ch. 19 (FOIA).
  • Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 10-4-101 et seq. (ALA).
  • Ark. Code Ann. Title 19 (finance and administration).
  • Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 21-1-601 et seq. (Whistle-Blower Act).
  • Ark. Code Ann. Title 21 (State Personnel).
  • Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 20-77-901 et seq. (AMFFCA).
  • Ark. Code Ann. Title 25 Ch. 15 (Administrative Procedure Act).

TITLE II — STATE-AGENCY OUTCOME PUBLICATION

Sec. 201. Arkansas Agency Outcome Dashboard

  1. (a) The Department of Finance and Administration, in coordination with ALA, shall maintain an Arkansas Agency Outcome Dashboard (“AR-AOD”).
  2. (b) Each State agency shall publish, for each major program in its budget submission, machine-readable performance data on cost per unit, output volume, and outcome measurement.
  3. (c) Updated at least quarterly.

Sec. 202. Integration with Budget Submissions

  1. (a) Each State agency shall include AR-AOD data in its biennial budget submission.

TITLE III — STATE CIVIL-SERVICE ACCOUNTABILITY

Sec. 301. Published Performance Expectations

  1. (a) Ark. Code Ann. Title 21 (State Personnel) shall be applied so that executive-level and director-level positions have published annual performance expectations tied to agency program measures.
  2. (b) Two-cycle failure grounds non-retention.

TITLE IV — REGULATORY PARTICIPATION

Sec. 401. Arkansas Regulatory Participation Dashboard

  1. (a) The Bureau of Legislative Research, in coordination with agencies that adopt rules under Ark. Code Ann. Title 25 Ch. 15, shall publish an Arkansas Regulatory Participation Dashboard.
  2. (b) Informational.

TITLE V — WHISTLEBLOWER REWARDS

Sec. 501. Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act Reward Alignment

  1. (a) Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 20-77-911 (recovery awards) is hereby amended so that a qui tam relator under AMFFCA may receive a share aligned with the federal range under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3730(d).
  2. (b) Amounts payable drawn from amounts recovered to the State.
  3. (c) This Section does not create a general state false-claims cause of action outside the Medicaid-fraud context of AMFFCA.

TITLE VI — IMPLEMENTATION & GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 601. Severability

If any provision is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect the remainder.

Sec. 602. Effective Date

This Act shall take effect July 1 of the year following enactment.

Canonical federal version: GT&P. Other Arkansas bills: AR-ACSA, AR-MEWRA, AR-AI-Workforce.