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(July 2007) The late Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the 1976 Nobel laureate in economics will be remembered at a July 31 event at 11: 45 a.m. at the Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock. The event, in the first floor auditorium room of the Reynolds Building, will feature a lecture, video of Dr. Friedman and free […]

  In 1998, the Murphy Commission, a Policy Foundation project, recommended Arkansas’ 311 school districts should be restructured into not more than 134 administrative units to save tax dollars. Through last summer (2006), 66 districts, more than 20 percent of Arkansas K-12 districts had been restructured.   (June 18, 2007) Recent events in Arkansas’ largest […]

Which Arkansas governor proposed an income tax cut during his tenure in office? William Jefferson Clinton Mike Huckabee Dale Bumpers None Of The Above (May 2007) Imagine an Arkansas governor who proposes cutting the state income tax. One media report describes the legislature’s reaction to the proposal as “only slightly warmer than Little Rock’s high […]

  Arkansas should join ·other states and move into the 21st Century as an innovator in the field of education; it should provide a genuine opportunity for charter schools for its children.• Define and implement a system of performance-based pay for all Arkansas state employees and public K-12 employees, including teachers.” (Murphy Commission, 1998, “Making […]

  (April 2007) Annualized Arkansas state and local government employment expanded at one of the largest percentage rates this decade in 2006, surpassing private sector job growth for the sixth consecutive year.   State and local government employment expanded 2.46 percent last year versus private sector employment growth of 1.76 percent, according to labor market […]

PA 1029 of 2007 (sponsor: Rep. Mike Kenney, R–Siloam Springs) establishes a pilot performance pay program for teachers in up to 12 public school districts or charter schools.   The measure includes a statement of legislative intent to provide “incentives that will encourage teachers to Improve their knowledge and instructional skills in order to improve […]

A record number of women and African-Americans are serving in the 86″‘ General Assembly yet an effort is underway to tum back the clock on the term limits approved by voters in 1992 and 2004.   (March 2007) The people of Arkansas, in 1992, approved an amendment to the state Constitution establishing three two-year terms […]

  “The Arkansas Policy Foundation estimates that a family of four will save $234 a year on grocery bills atone, a significant savings in a state where the average taxpayer shells out $3,088 a year in state and locaf taxes.• The Wafl Street Journal, Feb. 13, 2007 (Feb. 15, 2007) Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe signed […]

  “The Arkansas Policy Foundation estimates that a family of four will save $234 a year on grocery bills alone, a significant savings in a state where the average taxpayer shells out $3,088 a year in state and federal taxes.” Wall Street Journal, (February 13, 2007) Freshman Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe in 2007 proposed a 50 […]