Blog

(May 2026) Arkansas policymakers reduced the top state individual income tax rate from 3.9% to 3.7% in early May, using an estimated $334.4 million projected fiscal surplus in the current 2025-26 fiscal year.

(May 2026) One sentence in an annual state report explains how policymakers have achieved a serious fiscal goal: reduction of the top state individual income tax rate under three governors and a succession of Republican legislatures.

(March 2026) More than 135,000 Arkansas students attend charter, home or private schools, or are enrolled in a public choice program in the current school year, state Department of Education and other records show. The niche school choice market has grown from 66,627 students (2013) to 136,726 (2025-26), setting an all-time enrollment record in the current school […]

(February 2026) Arkansans are heavily dependent on private transportation. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports that 93% of Arkansans reach work by private motor vehicles, while only 0.4% use public transportation.  The 102,622 miles of roads in Arkansas dwarf the 2,505 miles of freight railroad and 1,860 miles of waterway cited by the BTS, […]

(January 2026) Arkansas’ job creation rate is greater than the U.S. average since state policymakers launched a new fiscal policy in 2015 to reduce income tax rates, reversing a trend that saw the state trail the nation in two earlier 21st century expansions, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show. Arkansas (15.8%) is one of […]

(December 31, 2025) Technology or “tech” is topical: the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for explaining technology’s role in creating “innovation-driven economic growth.”

(4Q-2025) Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the Natural State’s first female governor. Since taking office in January 2023, Sanders has also distinguished herself by advancing three separate reductions in Arkansas’ top income tax rate from 4.9 to 3.9 percent.

(September 2025) Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ administration is advancing Arkansas Forward, an efficiency initiative to save money and improve services for the people of Arkansas.

(Summer 2025) The Arkansas Policy Foundation is celebrating its 30th anniversary as a market-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank. Following is a brief history of the Policy Foundation that illustrates how reform ideas are later enacted by policymakers.

(2025-2Q) The Arkansas Policy Foundation was founded by business leaders to serve the community and advance ideas to create more prosperity for Arkansans. The Policy Foundation was founded 30 years ago as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that publishes credible research, hosts forums to encourage citizenship and is cited in national and state news […]