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(January 15, 2013) Policymakers across the Arkansas political spectrum agree that a proposed Medicaid expansion is the biggest issue in the legislative session that began this week.  Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe told the General Assembly today, “(I)t is clear that Medicaid will receive the lion’s share of attention, and rightfully so.”2 “Medicaid is certainly the biggest elephant in […]

Taxes were raised in 1983 and, again, in 2004 with the following result: Arkansas ranked 47th, 48th or 49th nationally in per capita personal income, with a level 75 to 78 percent of the U.S. thru 2006. In sum, income improved by a mere three-hundredths (3/100ths) in nearly a quarter-century.  This is the sad economic record defended by tax […]

“The most callused aspect of the current education monopoly in Arkansas is that it willingly and deliberately forces children–except those whose parents have wealth–to attend bad schools. And it does so with financial resources taken from parents already struggling financially and at the expense of their ability to choose a better school for their sons […]

“Reduce the state’s income tax…repeal the state’s capital gains tax.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, Murphy Commission project, 1998   (November 2012) The policy climate has shifted dramatically in Arkansas, with Republicans winning control of the state Senate, 21-14, and state House, 51-48-11, for the first time since Reconstruction.  The stage is set for a serious policy debate […]

(October 2012) Former President Bill Clinton noted Arkansas and Michigan are sister states1 during a March 1997 speech to the Michigan legislature.  Arkansas and Michigan share another distinction: the number of female legislators has increased significantly since the people2 approved similar term limits constitutional amendments3 by landslide margins4 in 1992.   Legislators in both states are limited to no more […]

The Orange County treasurer managed the pools, which totaled approximately $7.6 billion.  The treasurer used reverse repurchase agreements, a type of derivative. The deposits were leveraged to more than $20 billion.  Orange County declared bankruptcy in December 1994. (U.S. Senate testimony)1   (September 2012) The Arkansas State Treasurer has no written policy regarding financial derivatives, according to […]

  “Governor Beebe has repeatedly said that the current rate of Medicaid growth is unsustainable.” The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, November 2011   (September 2012) Long-term Arkansas Medicaid spending exceeded the U.S. average and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) before Gov. Mike Beebe supported expanding the program after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding nationalized […]

“The long-term liabilities of the ARKids First program should be identified.” Policy Foundation memos, 2006 (August 2012) The unfunded liabilities of the state’s ‘ARKids First program,’ a major component of Arkansas Medicaid are conservatively estimated at $3.5 billion, according to enrollment, federal reimbursement and average annual cost data obtained by the Policy Foundation. ‘ARKids First’ was established under former Gov. Mike Huckabee with […]

(July 2012) The 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the 1976 Nobel Economics laureate will be commemorated at a July 31 forum hosted by the Policy Foundation in Conway.   The forum will start at Noon at the Faulkner County Library (1900 Tyler).   Dr. Friedman, a 1928 graduate of Rahway, N.J. […]

(June 2012) Dr. Milton Friedman, the 1976 Nobel Economics Laureate advanced the idea of a negative income tax.  He argued “outright cash grants” were more efficient than welfare bureaucracies.    Summary   President Richard Nixon proposed a negative income tax.  His proposal was antecedent to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), part of a tax reduction […]