November 2011
ARKANSAS PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT DECLINES SINCE LAUNCH OF QUICK-ACTION CLOSING FUND
“Reduce the state's income tax…repeal the state's capital gains tax.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, 1998 “This week I signed into law the Quick-Action Closing Fund. This legislation will provide our State with an additional tool...
November 2011
ARKANSAS HAS HIGHEST INCOME TAX RATE AMONG BORDER STATES
“Reduce the state's income tax. Among the reforms, consider an across the board 10% cut...reduce the marginal rates, exempt taxpayers below a certain income level from filing, and expedite the process of indexing for inflation.”...
October 2011
STATE ISSUES NUMERICAL GRADES TO SCHOOLS
“Issue school-by-school performance report cards to parents and the public. Use the results of this report card to hold schools accountable--rewards for those performing on an exceptional basis and sanctions for low performing schools.” Murphy Commission...
October 2011
MOST CHARTERS EXCEL, FOUR APPROACH ALERT
(October 1, 2011) Most Arkansas charters1 meet or exceed standards in a state report that assigns a numerical grade to K-12 public schools but four are named as “approaching the standards alert” set by PA 35...
October 2011
LITTLE ROCK HAS HALF OF FAILING SCHOOLS IN STATE EDUCATION REPORT
(October 1, 2011) The Little Rock School District, the state’s largest, has half of the failing schools in the first state education report required by a 2003 law that requires a numerical grade for...
September 2011
WEAK RECOVERY
“Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (0) in August, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent.” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) (September 2, 2011) Today’s monthly BLS report noting zero employment growth last month provides...
September 2011
MUNICIPAL BROADBAND: A CAUTIONARY TALE
(September 2011) The municipal government claimed its plan would expand broadband, a telecommunications process providing greater bandwidth. The idea was to provide universal coverage to all residents. Ten years later, residents in the city of...
July 2011
MANUFACTURING LOSSES LEAD TO WEAKEST POSTWAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH
(July 2011) Total national payroll employment growth in the current and preceding expansion are the weakest in the postwar era due to Manufacturing losses that started under former President Bill Clinton. Employment has grown less than...
July 2011
FEW EMPLOYMENT SECTORS GROWING
(July 15, 2011) U.S. and Arkansas payroll employment has increased slightly since the recession’s end two years ago, though few sectors are growing. The following U.S. employment sectors have expanded since June 2009: ...
July 2011
DISCUSS DR. MILTON FRIEDMAN’S EDUCATION REFORMS AT JULY 29 FORUM IN CONWAY
(July 2011) The education reform ideas of Dr. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the 1976 Nobel Economics laureate will be the topic of a July 29 forum hosted by the Policy Foundation at the Faulkner County Library...
