A
MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUT
Summary:
Gov. Mike Beebe's proposed grocery tax cut would benefit
more middle class Arkansans than a competing state earned
income tax credit proposal.
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ROAD MAP FOR ARKANSAS
PROSPERITY
Policy
Recommendations for the New Administration
(December 2006) Governor-Elect Mike
Beebe inherits an Arkansas economy characterized, in the
last 10 years, by an abysmal income rank and sub-par employment
growth. Many public policies enacted in the last decade
have not altered one sobering fact: Arkansas has ranked
second or third worst in the nation in per capita personal
income for nearly the entire postwar era (U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis). In 2005, Arkansas ranked 48th, ahead
of hurricane-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi. Arkansas
income actually fell as a percentage of the U.S. in the
last decade. Job creation has also lagged since 1996. Arkansas
employment grew at a 1.0 percent annual rate versus a 1.3
percent rate for the nation (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
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FISCAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
EDUCATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
PRESIDENT
BILL CLINTON ON CHARTER SCHOOLS
A Charter school is a K-12
public school created and operated by a group of teachers,
parents, or other qualified individuals that is largely
free from that regulation
Mr. Clinton championed charter
schools during his two terms (1993-2001) in the White House.
His presidential papers show he spoke in favor of charter
schools on many occasions during his presidency
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ARKIDS FIRST
"B" PROGRAM SPENDING EXCEEDS INFLATION, INCOME
GROWTH
Second in a series
of APF memos on the ARKids First program
(November 2006) The
ARKids First "B" program promoted by Republican
Gov. Mike Huckabee provides government health insurance
to minors in families earning up to 200 percent of the federal
poverty level. It is also draining down a record volume
of tax dollars from the state budget, which is funded by
taxpayers.
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GAO:
SPOT PRICES DETERMINE
GASOLINE PRICES AT THE PUMP
(October 2006) Gasoline
prices at the pump have declined in recent weeks, reversing
price increases earlier this year that led some Arkansas
politicians to search for a scapegoat. They should review
a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office
(GAO), which found "crude oil prices are the major
determinant of gasoline prices."
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DIVISION
OVERSEEING ARKIDS FIRST
SPENDS MORE ON ADMINISTRATION THAN PROGRAMS
First in a series on the
ARKids First program.
(September 2006) The Division of County Operations, which
oversees the ARKids First program within the Arkansas Department
of Health and Human Services, has spent more on administrative
costs than on programs serving the needy, public records
show.
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ALTHEIMER
RESTRUCTURED INTO DOLLARWAY
(July 2006) Administrators
in the Altheimer School District will be restructured into
the Dollarway district, the sixty-sixth restructuring to
occur since the Murphy Commission, a Policy Foundation project,
recommended eliminating K-12 administrators to save tax
dollars in 1998.
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ARKANSAS
PER CAPITA INCOME GROWTH
ANEMIC SINCE 1971 INCOME TAX HIKE
(June
2006) Democratic Gov. Dale Bumpers and the General Assembly
raised Arkansas' top income tax rate to "broaden the
tax base" in 1971(1). Yet Arkansas' per capita
income, expressed as a percentage of the U.S. total, has
barely improved, moving from 71 (1971) to 77.7 percent (2005)
over the 34-year period, according to data from the U.S.
Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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MEMO TO JODIE
MAHONEY
Arkansas Government Employment Is Still Expanding