While a comprehensive plan for improving the Arkansas tax system is beyond the scope of this brief, there are some obvious changes that Arkansas could make to (1) strengthen the revenue foundation for the services needed to improve the...
Arkansas is home to one of the largest populations of Marshallese individuals in the world — people who were born in the Republic of the Marshall Islands but moved here for employment and to have a better life. They...
People from all over the state – who have interests as varied as the counties from which they come – routinely ask us how they can make a difference. This question has several answers, but every one of them...
Now that the dust has settled from the 2013 legislative session, it’s a good time to take stock of the impacts of tax policy changes made by the Arkansas General Assembly. By any objective standard, the tax changes passed...
The quality of school facilities can have a major impact on the education that our children receive and whether they succeed in school. State funding for school facilities should be increased to meet the needs of all districts. The official...
Poverty numbers don’t look good for Arkansas Numbers released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau show poverty is on the rise in Arkansas. The 2011 American Community Survey numbers show that total poverty has increased to just under 20...
Beginning in October 2013, more than 500,000 Arkansans who are uninsured will have a new way to shop for, compare, and purchase insurance. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a good deal for children and families, our local communities,...
The vote on whether or not to approve funding for Arkansas’s Private Option, a bipartisan solution passed during the 2013 legislative session to provide health coverage to low-income Arkansans by using federal dollars to buy private insurance plans, was...
AACF statement on delay of employer mandate in ACA Much has been said about the administration’s decision to delay the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Employers will not be penalized for failing to offer coverage to their...
Charter schools underperforming in Arkansas A recent study found that Arkansas is one of the states where charters are not doing as well as public schools. According to the report by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes...