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(December 2020) Nearly 100,000 students attend charter, home or private schools, or are eligible to participate in a public school choice program, state Department of Education and non-profit records show.1 The following 25 counties have the largest number of charter, home and private school students.2 Most Arkansas public companies are based in one of the […]

The “Policy Foundation was established in 1995 as an independent research organization … The Foundation has established the Efficiency Project … (which) allows a nonpartisan, independent group of citizens to volunteer their time and efforts to directly impact the improvement of state government … to make it more cost-effective and citizen accountable.” Gov. Asa Hutchinson, […]

“CPI-Expenditures Link. A short-term budgetary link should be established between the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and total operational expenditures by agencies.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, Efficiency Project report (October 2016) “As Governor, I would like to recognize the Arkansas Policy Foundation for its contribution to transforming government in the State of Arkansas. This independent research organization […]

“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.” […]

(October 2020) Four counties led Arkansas income ranks in the last decade, recording levels greater than the state average, according to federal data. The counties are Benton, Pulaski, Union and Arkansas. They were the only counties to report per capita personalincome levels greater than the Arkansas average in 2009 and 2018, U.S. Bureau of Economic […]

(September 2020) Arkansas’ job creation rate topped 21 states in the national expansion that started in June 2009 and ended earlier this year in February,1 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)2 records show. Arkansas’ 10.4% growthrate in the period3 topped four states each in the Southeast, New England, Great Lakes and Midwest, and Plains; three in […]

(September 2020) Arkansas’ job creation rate topped 21 states in the national expansion that started in June 2009 and ended earlier this year in February,1 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)2 records show. Arkansas’ 10.4% growthrate in the period3 topped four states each in the Southeast, New England, Great Lakes and Midwest, and Plains; three in […]

“The COVID-19 crisis is challenging the private, government and non-profit sectors to provide assistance in Arkansas … One goal is economic: expand the supply of medical services in response to increased demand from individuals.”Jonesboro Sun, April 24, 20201 (August 2020) The market response to COVID-19 is to increase the supply of medical services in response […]

(July 2020) The Policy Foundation’s Efficiency Project (2015-16) , funded with support from private foundations represented an investment in Arkansas’ economic future. Savings from the Project and subsequent efforts to transform and reorganize Arkansas state government (2017-19) are leading to the achievement of fiscal policy goals. Arkansas’ economy will become more competitive as Gov. Asa […]

(June 8, 2020) The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the official arbiter of the U.S. business cycle announced today that the economy entered a recession in February, according to a release from the Cambridge,MA., nonprofit. The Policy Foundation announced last month that a recession began in February based on peaks in four coincident indicators […]