(a)

(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the State of Arkansas utilize federal funding to the fullest extent possible to provide care to persons eligible for assistance or benefits under programs wholly or partially federally funded or fundable.

(2) The General Assembly recognizes that the Department of Human Services is presently charged with, among other things, all welfare activity in the state, including:

(A) Services to children and to the aged, blind, and individuals with disabilities;

(B) Public assistance; and

(C) Medical assistance.

(3) The General Assembly further recognizes that federal laws and regulations affecting such programs are the supreme law of the land and change frequently, sometimes with little or no advance notice to the state, such that it is impractical to prescribe the operations of such programs by statute.

(4) It is therefore the intent of the General Assembly to clarify and consolidate the authority of the department to assure conformity with all applicable federal dictates by empowering the department and its divisions to, by rule, adopt or implement all federal statutes, rules, and regulations as may be currently in force, or as may be adopted or amended in the future, when such rule is necessary to conform to federal statutes, rules, and regulations affecting programs administered or funded by or through the department.

(b) The department and its various divisions are hereby authorized and directed to promulgate rules, as necessary to conform to federal statutes, rules, and regulations as may now or in the future affect programs administered or funded by or through the department or its various divisions, as necessary to receive any federal funds which may now or in the future be available to the department or its various divisions.

(c) All rules promulgated pursuant to this section shall be promulgated in conformity with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., and after legislative review and approval as required by § 10-3-309.