Policy Research

(June 2008) A long-stated goal of Arkansas state government officials is achieving 100 percent parity with the U.S. average in terms of per capita personal income (Bureau of Economic Analysis). Government economic development officials have...

One educational group escaped scrutiny in the consolidation debate that occurred after the Court's decision in Lake View: Arkansas' education service co¬operatives. Much of the debate about K-12 consolidation revolved around the student enrollment threshold...

Arkansas has the highest income tax rate among the states that border it, according to 2008 data compiled by the Federation of Tax Administrators. The group has published a chart that shows Arkansas has a...

(April 2008) Economists from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, the Univ. of Arkansas and the Policy Foundation participated in a recent forum on the Arkansas economy that aired statewide on public television (AETN). The monthly...

  "In order for Arkansas to move from a low-wage to a high-wage economy, the state needs to decrease marginal tax rates ...in order to attract (high-income) workers to Arkansas." ("Taxes And Savings in Arkansas."...

"The state's income tax should be reduced … Consider an across-the-board cut, reduce the marginal rates, exempt taxpayers below a certain income level from filing, and expedite the process of indexing for inflation (Improving Productivity...

Performance-based budgeting would require state government to develop quantifiable measures for all functions and then allocate tax dollars based on the effectiveness of meeting performance goals. Activities-based costing allocates tax dollars in a consistent and...

"Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico has cut income and capital gains tax rates to make the state's economy more competitive, and his state is creatng jobs at one of the fastest rates in...

Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the nation, and also one of the least healthy according to health surveys. Proponents of a 'Healthy Arkansas' emphasis on prevention contend that more widespread use of...

  “(T)ax proposals should be submitted to a process of dynamic scoring in order to assess the economic impact. Findings should be reported to the public before enactment of the policies.” (Murphy Commission, 1998)  ...