Did you know that the Arkansas Supreme Court requires the state to conduct an ongoing study of whether Arkansas is providing an “adequate” and “equitable” public education to all students? Over half of our state’s budget is spent on...
Arkansans kicked off Arkansas Works health insurance should reapply for coverage. In our third and final brief examining the work reporting requirements placed on Arkansas Works Medicaid enrollees, we find confusion, complications and long-lasting consequences of the now-disallowed policy. More than 18,000...
The Trump administration is moving forward with its effort to radically change the federal policy under which immigrants are deemed a “public charge.” Unless the rule change is defeated in a legal challenge, we can expect millions of children...
This is the second post in our education blog series about what legislative changes we can expect for students and schools in the 2019-2020 school year and beyond. As the new school year quickly approaches, Arkansas’s public schools are preparing...
An accurate count in the 2020 Census is critical to ensuring Arkansas receives enough money for health care, education, roads and bridges, and other programs that children and families rely on. Our state receives nearly $10 billion in federal funding...
Benefits of state-level EITCs go beyond economic, have positive effects on children’s health Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, along with Children’s HealthWatch, today released an assessment examining the potential health-related effects of creating a state-level, refundable Earned...
by John Cook, Ph.D., M.A.Ed., Research Scientist and Principal Investigator, Children’s HealthWatch; Richard Sheward, MPP, Deputy Director of Innovative Partnerships, Children’s HealthWatch; Bruno Showers, Senior Policy Analyst, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families; and Eduardo Ochoa, Jr., MD, Principal Investigator,...
It’s Wednesday, July 24, 2019 — 91 days after the legislative session officially adjourned on April 24, 2019. What’s so special about today? All bills passed by the state legislature become laws 91 days upon adjournment (unless they contained...
Growing evidence shows that minimum wage increases help to increase take-home pay and reduce poverty without reducing employment. That’s why Arkansans overwhelmingly voted to raise the minimum wage in 2018. As we wrote last week, the CBO confirmed the...
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report analyzing the economic impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 in 2025. They find that a federal $15 minimum wage would boost worker pay, increase the income of...