Council approves most subcommittee contracts but members hold aircraft maintenance and request separate vote on SAP integration contract

The Arkansas Legislative Council adopted multiple subcommittee reports and contract approvals by voice vote on March 18, while lawmakers singled out two items for additional scrutiny.

Senator Rice moved to hold the Department of Public Safety King Air aircraft maintenance item (reported cost roughly $142,000) and to request a separate vote on an Office of Personnel Management/Shared Administrative Services contract with Deloitte for SAP integration services (a one‑time purchase of roughly $3,388,000). The motion invited agency staff to the table to answer questions about the cost‑benefit analysis for the aircraft and the scope of the SAP integration contract.

State personnel and finance officials explained the SAP-related work to the committee. Kaye Barnhill (state personnel director), Jim Hudson (secretary of DFA) and Leslie Fiskin (secretary of Shared Administrative Services) answered questions; Marty Garrity described the SAP project as integration services for S/4HANA that will replace and integrate with the current ACES system. Agency representatives told the Council that licenses already were purchased and that the contract covers integration and performance‑evaluation modules tied to the new system.

Senator Johnson moved to adopt the review report but asked for a separate vote on contract number 22 (the Shared Services/Deloitte item); the committee adopted the report by voice vote and then proceeded to take the separate vote.

What’s next: the held aircraft maintenance item was to be deferred to the Joint Budget Committee for further review; the shared‑services contract received direct questioning about scope and ongoing support costs and will be subject to the separate roll call vote requested by members.