Does the Arkansas Military Department have to pay C-Step and Youth Challenge teachers the new minimum salaries in the current fiscal year, or do the increases wait for future budgets?

Plain-English summary

Major General Mark Berry, the Adjutant General of the Arkansas Military Department, asked whether Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2406(b)(1), as amended by Act 1177 of 2015, "imposes a statutory stay" on the teacher salary increases the Act required for teachers in the Civilian Student Training Program ("C-Step") and the Arkansas National Guard Youth Challenge Program. The Act would require these teachers to be paid at least the minimum teacher compensation schedule under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2403 (which Act 1087 of 2015 had increased), "to the extent that funds are specifically appropriated by the General Assembly."

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge gave a two-part answer. The narrow legal question (does the Department's pay obligation require a specific reference to § 6-17-2403 in its appropriation act?) is no: as long as the General Assembly appropriates funds for teacher salaries in the programs, the obligation kicks in. The separate budget-calculation mandate in § 6-17-2406(b)(2) did not apply to the current fiscal-year budget because Act 1177 took effect after that budget had been prepared and the new fiscal year had begun. It applies to future budgets, subject to appropriations and funding. The AG did not determine whether the FY 2016 funds were sufficient to meet the salary schedule.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2016. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

The timing problem

The opinion's analysis turns on Arkansas's appropriation process and the effective dates of the 2015 legislation:

• Act 716 (the Military Department appropriation bill): Signed March 27, 2015, with a July 1, 2015 effective date. This was the Department's FY 2016 appropriation, already in force when Act 1177 came along.
• Act 1177 (the salary mandate): Signed April 7, 2015, with no emergency clause or specified effective date, so it became effective July 22, 2015. That was three weeks after FY 2016 started.

State agencies' budgets are calculated well in advance of a legislative session under Ark. Code Ann. § 19-4-201 et seq. The legislature drafts appropriations based on those pre-calculated budgets. Because Act 1177 was enacted after the Military Department's FY 2016 budget had already been calculated, passed, and gone into effect, the AG concluded the budget-calculation mandate in § 6-17-2406(b)(2) could not retroactively apply to the FY 2016 budget. It would, however, apply to future budgets.

Constitutional appropriations rule

The AG anchored her analysis in Ark. Const. art. 5, § 29 and art. 16, § 12, which together require that "no money shall be drawn from the treasury except in pursuance of specific appropriation made by law." Director of Bureau of Legislative Research v. Mackrell (1947) confirms the rule: "A specific appropriation is an absolute prerequisite to the drawing from or payment out of the state treasury of any money therein required to be appropriated."

Funds for C-Step and Youth Challenge teacher salaries had in fact been specifically appropriated in the Military Department's FY 2016 appropriation (Act 716, §§ 4 and 5). So the Department's obligation to pay at the minimum schedule was triggered in the sense that there was money available. The AG did not decide whether the appropriated funds were sufficient to meet the minimum schedule; that required factual determinations outside the opinion.

Why the budget-calculation rule applies to future budgets

The budget-calculation mandate in § 6-17-2406(b)(2) tells the Department to "include the calculation of teacher salaries ... based on § 6-17-2403" when it builds its budget. That instruction is naturally forward-looking. It governs how the Department prepares future budgets. The AG did not say that meeting the salary schedule in the current year would necessarily exceed the appropriation. She left the amount and availability of funds as factual questions.

The AG also noted a footnote that "Arkansas National Guard" in subsection (b)(2) appeared to be a typo and the legislature likely meant "State Military Department."

Common questions

Did the higher salary duty wait until the next fiscal year? The AG said the minimum-salary duty was triggered when the General Assembly appropriated funds for these teachers, and FY 2016 funds had been appropriated. Only the separate budget-calculation mandate was future-facing. The opinion did not decide whether the existing funds were sufficient to pay the required amounts.

Did the AG find enough money in the FY 2016 appropriation? No. The opinion says funds for teacher salaries were appropriated, but whether those funds were sufficient and available to meet the schedule required factual determinations the AG could not make.

When did Act 1177 take effect?
July 22, 2015, according to the opinion. The Military Department's FY 2016 appropriation had taken effect July 1, 2015.

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Subject

Does Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 6-17-2406(b)(1) impose a statutory stay to the teacher salary increases mandated by Act 1177 until funding can be specifically appropriated? RESPONSE: It is unclear what you

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Official summary

Does Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 6-17-2406(b)(1) impose a statutory stay to the teacher salary increases mandated by Act 1177 until funding can be specifically appropriated? RESPONSE: It is unclear what you mean by "a statutory stay." If the question is whether the appropriation act for the Military Department must specifically reference Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 6-17-2403 before the department is obligated to pay its teachers the salary increases to the minimum teacher compensation schedule, then the answer is "no." But the question is broader, and must also address whether the budgeting mandate in section 6-17-2406(b)(2) applies to the Military Department's current fiscal year budget. As to this question, my opinion is that the salary calculation required by Act 1177 applies to future fiscal-year budgets, and not the current fiscal-year's budget.

Original opinion text

STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Opinion No. 2015-109
January 8, 2016
Maj. Gen. Mark H. Berry
Military Department of Arkansas
Office of the Adjutant General
Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Bldg. 6000
North Little Rock, AR 72199-9600
Dear General Berry:
This is in response to your request for my opinion concerning salaries of teachers with the Civilian Student Training Program ("C-Step") and the Arkansas National Guard Youth Challenge Program. Your question pertains to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-14-2406(b) (Supp. 2015), as amended by Act 1177 of 2015. Section 6-14-2406(b), quoted below, appears to require that C-Step and Youth Challenge Program teachers be paid in accordance with the minimum teacher compensation schedule (codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2403 (Supp. 2015), as amended by Act 1087of2015): (1) To the extent that funds are specifically appropriated by the General Assembly, a teacher employed by the C-Step Program or the Arkansas National Guard Youth Challenge Program, or both, shall be paid no less than the minimum amounts under § 6- 17-2403. (2) The budget of the Arkansas National Guard [sic] shall include the calculation of teacher salaries for teachers in the C-Step 323 CENTER STREET, SUITE 200 · LITTLE ROCK. ARKANSAS 72201 TELEPHONE (501) 682-2007 · FAX (501) 682~8084 ARKAN SASAG .GOV Maj. Gen. Mark H. Berry Adjutant General Opinion No. 2015-109 Page 2 Program and the Arkansas National Guard Youth Challenge Program based on § 6-17-2403.1 With the foregoing background in mind, you have posed the following question: Does Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2406(b )( 1) impose a statutory stay to the teacher salary increases mandated by Act 1177 until funding can be specifically appropriated? RESPONSE It is unclear what you mean by "a statutory stay." If you are asking whether the appropriation act for the Military Department must specifically reference Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2403 before the department is obligated to pay its teachers the salary increases to the minimum teacher compensation schedule imposed by Act 1087of2015, the answer is "no." But I believe your question was intended to be broader, and address whether the budgeting mandate in section 6-17-2406(b )(2) applies to the Military Department's current fiscal year budget. As to this question, my opinion is that the salary calculation required by Act 1177 applies to future fiscal-year budgets, and not the current fiscal-year's budget. DISCUSSION It appears that your question is prompted, in part, by the phrase "specifically appropriated" in section 6-l 7-2406(b )( 1 ). Your question appears to ask whether the Military Department's obligation to pay its teachers under the minimum teacher compensation schedule depends upon there being a specific reference to that compensation schedule in the appropriation act for the department. If that is your question, my opinion is that the department's obligation to pay according to the minimum teacher compensation schedule is not dependent upon such a specific reference in an appropriation act. Rather, so long as-and to the 1 Act 1177 added new subsection (b)(2) to Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-17-2406. See Acts 2015, No. 1177, § 2 (N.B.: I believe subsection 2 meant to refer to the "budget of the State Military Department" and not the "budget of the Arkansas National Guard"). Maj. Gen. Mark H. Berry Adjutant General Opinion No. 2015-109 Page 3 extent that-the General Assembly specifically appropriates funds to pay teachers in the C-Step and Youth Challenge Program, the obligation is triggered.2 This answer to the narrow question you asked, however, cannot be the end of the analysis. The real issue underlying your question appears to be whether the budgeting mandate in section 6-l 7-2406(b)(2) applies to the Military Department's current fiscal year budget. In my opinion, the answer to that question is "no." State agencies' budgets are calculated well in advance of a legislative session. 3 The legislature drafts appropriation bills based upon those budgets, which are re- reviewed and considered prior to their adoption. 4 The General Assembly considered and passed its appropriation bill for the Military Department, and the Governor signed it into law as Act 716 on March 27, 2015, with an effective date of July 1, 2015.5 Act 1177 was not signed into law until April 7, 2015, with no emergency clause or expressly stated effective date. It therefore became effective July 22, 2015. 6 This was a full three weeks after the start of the new fiscal year, (when the Military 2 Funds for teacher salaries in the C-Step and Youth Challenge programs were in fact specifically appropriated in the Military Department's current fiscal year appropriation. See Acts 2015, No. 716, § § 4 and 5. Were that not the case, the Military Department would be constitutionally prohibited from drawing money from the state treasury to pay its teachers at all. The Arkansas Constitution clearly states that "no money shall be drawn from the treasury except in pursuance of specific appropriation made by law, the purpose of which shall be distinctly stated in the bill, and the maximum amount which may be drawn shall be specified in dollars and cents .... " See ARK. CONST., art. 5, § 29 (emphasis added). Accord ARK. CONST. art. 16, § 12 ("[N]o money shall be paid out of the treasury until the same shall have been appropriated by law; and then only in accordance with said appropriation."). See also Dir. of Bureau of Legislative Research v. Mackrell, 212 Ark. 40, 45, 204 S.W.2d 893, 896 (1947) ("A specific appropriation is an absolute prerequisite to the drawing from or payment out of the state treasury of any money therein required to be appropriated."). 3 See Ark. Code Ann. § 19-4-201 et seq. (Rep I. 2007 and Supp. 2015). 4 Id. at § 19-4-203 (Repl. 2007). 5 See Acts 2015, No. 716, § 21. 6 See Op. Att'y Gen. 2015-044 (opining that acts from the 2015 regular legislative session without an emergency clause or specified effective date became effective on July 22, 2015). Maj. Gen. Mark H. Berry Adjutant General Opinion No. 2015-109 Page 4 Department's current appropriation went into effect) and certainly well after its budget was calculated. In my opinion, this makes it clear that the budgetary mandate in section 6-17- 2406(b )(2) was not intended to apply to and could not have applied to the Military Department's current fiscal-year budget. It will, however, apply to the department's future budgets, subject to the state's appropriation and funding processes. 7 Sincerely,
~ LESLIE RUTL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
7 Like any state agency, the Military Department's spending is limited to the amounts that the General Assembly chooses to appropriate. See, e.g., Ark. Code Ann. § 19-2-104 (Repl. 2007) (expenditures in excess of appropriations prohibited). Whether the legislature has appropriated or will appropriate sufficient funds and whether those funds are available for teachers' salaries to meet the minimum teacher compensation schedule are factual determinations that I am neither authorized nor equipped to make.