Policy Research

(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,...

RIGHT TO TRY 2.0   (2025-2Q) The idea behind Right-To-Try is that "terminally ill patients who have exhausted their government-approved options" should have the freedom to access treatments that may help them.(1)  The idea originated...

(2025-2Q) Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom TV show was founded in 1963 after discussions between V.J. Skutt, the private insurance firm's CEO and zoologist Marlin Perkins.(1) The program, viewed by millions, won multiple Emmy awards...

(April 2025) Total operating expenditures for cabinet level Arkansas state agencies totaled $19.4 billion in FY 2024, a 3% decrease from the previous year ($19.9 billion), state Department of Finance and Administration records show. Federal...

(March 2025) Arkansas continues to top the U.S. average in jobs creation since state policymakers first cut the state income tax rate starting in January 2015, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of...

(March 28, 2025) Arkansas led the nation (#1) in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 4Q-2024, according to a news release today from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).(1) Arkansas also led the...

(December 2024) More than 120,000 Arkansas students attend charter, home or private schools, or are enrolled in a public school choice program in the current school year, state Department of Education and other records show....

(October 2024) A public forum on the state income tax will be held Tuesday, November 19 at 5 p.m. at the Red & Blue Event Center (1415 W. 7th Street) in Little Rock.  The venue...

(September 2024) Arkansas policymakers delivered the second biggest income tax cut in the U.S. in the last decade, a 43.5% reduction that narrowly trailed national leader Arizona (44.9%) since January 1, 2015. (more…)

September 2024) The chart shows top rates in 41 states with an income tax from lowest to highest.  Sources: Federation of State Tax Administrators (2015) and Tax Foundation (2024). (more…)