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(March 2022) The natural state of the U.S. economy is expansion, though recessions occur as a result of the business cycle. The economy is in the 13th expansion of the postwar era, according to the Cambridge-basedNational Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the arbiter of the U.S. cycle. In the post-war era, the U.S. economy expanded […]

(2Q-2021) Cutting Arkansas’ top income tax rate to 4.79% would place it among the third of states with the lowest rates, a reversal of its relative position in 2015 when it ranked among states with the highest rates. Gov. Asa Hutchinson will call a special legislative session to consider income tax cuts. Since Hutchinson took […]

“Arkansas would benefit from comprehensive, pro-growth reform; Arkansans are not under-taxed; taxes and rates do matter to entrepreneurs; dynamic scoring of tax changes and effects provides benefits.” Arkansas Policy Foundation Mission Statement (December 2021) A pending proposal to reduce Arkansas’ top income tax rate from 5.9% to 4.9% would improve the state economy’s competitive position […]

(UPDATED: November 12, 2021) More than 110,000 Arkansas students will attend charter, home or private schools,or are eligible to participate in a public school choice program in the current (2021-22) school year, state Department of Education and non-profit records show. The niche school choice market has grown from 66,627 students (2013)(1) to an estimated 110,496 […]

(November 2021) More than 20,000 K-12 students participate in the Pulaski County school choice market in the current school year, public records show. The market includes students enrolled in Pulaski County charter and private schools, along with public schoolstudents eligible for a choice program. Home school students are also part of the market but the […]

“The most callused aspect of the (Arkansas) education monopoly 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 and daughters.” […]

(September 2021) Arkansas policymakers have taken action to boost Arkansas’ economic competitiveness by cutting the top income tax rate from 7.0% to 5.9%. Gov. Hutchinson and state legislators are poised to take the next step by reducing the rate again in a special legislative session this Fall. Tax cut opponents maintain there is no economic […]

“There is significant evidence that reductions in marginal state tax rates encourage state economic growth.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, 1998  (July 2021) Opponents of tax cuts argue they do not impact economic growth. Yet federal data show border states without income taxes lead jobs growth. Payroll employment is the broadest state-level economic indicator. Among six states […]

“There is significant evidence that reductions in marginal state tax rates encourage state economic growth … Rates on productive behavior should be reduced.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, 1998 (July 2021) Four of six states that border Arkansas have acted this year to reduce state income tax rates. They are Tennessee, Oklahoma, Missouri and Louisiana. A fifth […]

“There is significant evidence that reductions in marginal state tax rates encourage state economic growth …Rates on productive behavior should be reduced.” “Arkansas Policy Foundation, Murphy Commission project, 1998 (June 2021) Three states that border Arkansas have taken action this year to reduce their top state income tax rates.The states are Tennessee, Oklahoma and Louisiana. […]