Section 12-88-102 - Legislative findingsThe General Assembly finds that:
(1) During times of storm, flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane, and other disasters or emergencies, many businesses bring resources and personnel from other states into Arkansas on a temporary basis to expedite the often enormous and overwhelming task of cleaning up, restoring, and repairing damaged buildings, equipment, and property and building replacement facilities in the state;(2) These disaster-response activities may require out-of-state businesses, including out-of-state affiliates of businesses based in the state, to bring in resources, property, and personnel that previously have had no connection to the state to perform activities in the state, including without limitation repairing, renovating, installing, and building facilities and rendering services and other business activities for which personnel may be located in the state for extended periods of time;(3) During the temporary period of time out-of-state businesses are operating in the state solely for the purpose of helping the state recover from a disaster or emergency, these out-of-state businesses and the individual employees of the out-of-state businesses should not be burdened by regulatory requirements and taxes that would normally apply to the activities that the out-of-state businesses and their employees are conducting in the state;(4) The state's nexus and residency thresholds are intended for businesses and individuals in the state as part of the conduct of regular business operations and those who intend to reside in the state, and these thresholds should not be directed at out-of-state businesses and individuals coming into the state on a temporary basis to provide help and assistance in response to a declared state disaster or emergency; and(5) To ensure that out-of-state businesses may focus on providing a quick response to the needs of the state and its citizens during a declared state disaster or emergency, it is appropriate for the General Assembly to determine that certain activities performed for a reasonable time before, during, and after a state disaster or emergency is declared to repair the often devastating damage to critical infrastructure in the state should not establish presence, residency, or doing business in the state or any other criteria for purposes of state and local taxes, licensing, and regulatory requirements.Added by Act 2015, No. 864,§ 1, eff. 3/31/2015.