During the special session in 2004, the Arkansas General Assembly passed landmark legislation, greatly expanding access to ABC programs. Act 49 created the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success programs, a state-funded quality preschool program for at-risk 3 and...
A report released today by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) describes how Arkansas families are faring after the recession and subsequent economic recovery that have gripped the U.S. for the first half of the decade. The 2005...
The last six years have been an unpredictable rollercoaster ride for the Arkansas economy, Arkansas workers, and families. During the last part of the 1990s, a thriving national economy led to near record employment (by recent historical standards), growing...
Congress was still in session late in December, 2005 debating the USA Patriot Act, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and how to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year. Congress is rarely still in session...
If you are elected to a state public office, you will make hundreds of decisions about public policies impacting children and families – decisions that can either make life harder for families or ones that can improve their lives....
In 1999, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 1005, legislation cutting the Arkansas capital gains tax. Since that time, recent events have dramatically altered the fiscal landscape at both the federal and state levels. In response to an Arkansas...
The Check Cashers Act of 1999 classified the charge for borrowing from a payday lender as a “fee” rather than as interest. As a result of this legislation, Arkansas now has more payday lenders (281) than McDonald’s restaurants (127)....
Payday lenders are a major source of instant cash for Arkansas’ low-income working families and consumers with heavy debt burdens and poor credit histories. Instead of benefiting borrowers, payday loans trap them in high-cost debt. To qualify for a...
The federal minimum wage was originally passed as a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act to ensure that low-income workers would earn a “decent living.” The idea that no one who works full-time should live in poverty is...
The federal Food Stamp Program (FSP), which was established as a pilot project in the early 1960s and was expanded nationwide in the early 1970s, helps low-income families and individuals purchase a nutritionally adequate diet. The Food Stamp Program...