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(January 2019) Sixty-five percent (65%) of the nearly 4,800 K-12 students enrolled in Little Rock open-enrollment public charters in 2018-19 attend schools in zip codes with median household incomes less than $62,258, Arkansas Department of Education1 and U.S. Census Bureau2 data show. Three percent (3%) of students attend a charter in one of Little Rock’s […]

“Capital flight is an economic problem in Arkansas. Entrepreneurs have fled Arkansas, which has the highest top income tax rate (6.9) among border states. Three in the region … do not levy an individual income tax.” Policy Foundation column, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, December 28, 2018 (January 2019) Various factors such as a skilled work force, infrastructure […]

(January 2019) Only 17 states have job creation rates1 greater than the U.S. average in the current economic expansion that is in its ninth year.2   Utah 29.6% Nevada 23.6% Colorado 23.4% Texas 23.1% Florida 22.9% Idaho 21.9% Washington 21.5% Oregon 20.2% California 19.8% Arizona 19.0% North Dakota 18.6% South Carolina 18.2% Georgia 17.5% North […]

“There is significant evidence that reductions in marginal state tax rates encourage state economic growth …Rates on productive behavior should be reduced.” “Reduce the state’s income tax.” Policy Foundation, Murphy Commission project, 1998 (January 30, 2019) A fiscal proposal by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state legislators is being described as the “two-four-five point nine” (2-4-5.9) […]

  (December 2018) More K-12 students are participating in the Pulaski County school choice market in the current school year (2018-19) than total enrollment in three of four local public school districts, Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) records and other data show. The school choice market includes K-12 students attending charter, private and home schools. […]

“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.” Policy Foundation report,11998   (December 2018) The Arkansas school choice market continues its explosive growth rate, expanding from an estimated 66,627 K-12 students (2013)2 to more than 83,000 […]

(November 2018) The Policy Foundation is joining with the Indiana-based Center for the Study of Liberty (CSL) to host a Nov. 15 dinner on the conversational topic “Poverty and Education.”   CSL is “Building A Free Society, One Conversation At A Time.”  The Indiana non-profit is teaming with the Policy Foundation, founded in 1995, for their first event […]

“The Foundation encourages citizenship.” Excerpt from the Policy Foundation’s Mission Statement   (November 2018) On Nov. 27 the Policy Foundation hosted a Fiscal Policy Forum at Heifer Village in Little Rock to provide Arkansas citizens with information on ideas likely to emerge in 2019.  A diverse group of students, senior citizens, researchers and policymakers participated in […]

(October 2018) The Policy Foundation will host a fiscal policy forum Nov. 27  (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) at Heifer Village in Little Rock to examine ideas expected to be considered in the 92nd General Assembly (2019) of the state legislature.    The forum will feature three panel discussions and lunch.  State Sen. Jim Hendren of Gravette will serve as […]

  (September 2018) Utah leads the United States in jobs creation since the end of the Great Recession in mid-2009, expanding payroll employment at a 28.4% rate versus the 14% national average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics records show. Arkansas trailed the U.S. in the period,1 creating new jobs at a 7.5% rate. Employment growth […]