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The new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a burden on Arkansas taxpayers, though executive branch officials are in denial about its budget exposure. Legislators need to understand that nationalized medical insurance, in the economic long term, will restrict their ability to fund services like public education that are required under the Arkansas […]

  (March 2010) New Arkansas Medicaid Director Gene Gessow will be the Policy Foundation’s guest at an April 6 luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at Frankie’s restaurant in downtown Little Rock. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Region’s Bank Building at the corner of Broadway and Capitol. Mr. Gessow brings a wealth […]

Arkansas government is like the kudzu plant.  It grows when the private economy is contracting.  It grows when the private economy is expanding.  Through rain or shine Arkansas government grows, advancing policies that interfere with private sector entrepreneurs, job creation and income growth.   The majority of Arkansans recognize there is a fiscal problem that must be solved […]

(February 2010) Government will emerge as Arkansas’ largest labor market sector this decade if two long-term employment trends continue to advance. The Policy Foundation published a 2003 memo (“Convergence”) that forecast total Arkansas Government employment would exceed Manufacturing employment given long-term trends. The memo identified two trends: long-term contraction in Arkansas Manufacturing, and growth in […]

How weak is the current Arkansas jobs market? The recession officially ended in June 2009 (National Bureau of Economic Research) but the number of employed Arkansans is less than December 2007 when it started. In fact, Arkansas nonfarm employment has declined to 2004 levels, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Arkansas entrepreneurs created world-famous […]

  “ARKids First ‘B’ program spending exceeds inflation, income growth.” “The long-term liabilities of the ARKids First program should be identified.” Policy Foundation memos, 2006 (January 21, 2010) The public (government) option that served as the basis for various congressional proposals failed for several reasons including grass-roots opposition from taxpayers sympathetic to the Tea Party […]

  (December 2009) Arkansas will see a reduction in job growth, with 17,100 to 23,300 fewer jobs in 2030 under a ‘Cap-and-Trade’ proposal, according to a new study by the Arkansas Policy Foundation and the American Council for Capital Formation. Margo Thorning, Ph.D, and Pinar Cebi Wilber, Ph.D authored the study, which concludes: “If federal […]

  “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.” (Murphy Commission, 1998) “Commodity booms in the 1970s and the last decade were an important factor in propelling growth in two western states (Wyoming, […]

  “Dynamic scoring of tax rate changes should be utilized in budgetary projections for the State of Arkansas. It is irresponsible to ignore the behavioral impacts of tax rate changes on consumers and suppliers of labor and capital.” (Murphy Commission, Policy Foundation, 1998) (October 12, 2009) State revenues from a 2008 severance tax hike are […]

  “Dynamic scoring of tax rate changes should be utilized in budgetary projections for the State of Arkansas. It is irresponsible to ignore the behavioral impacts of tax rate changes on consumers and suppliers of labor and capital.” (Murphy Commission, Policy Foundation, 1998) Dynamic analysis can provide legislators with more information when considering fiscal proposals. Legislators, […]