AACF News Feed

2010 Arkansas Election: Questions for Candidates on Children's Issues

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:59:11 -0500

This year promises to be an important year for elections at the state and national level. Child advocates and citizens need to get children and families into the minds and platforms of candidates before Election Day. That will ensure kids get the attention they deserve and have a voice in the Arkansas Capitol when policies are made and budgets decided.

This questionnaire offers key questions for you to ask at candidate forums, individual meetings or other events where candidates will be offering their vision for office. Suggested questions are marked with a ‘Q.' Contact information for AACF staff is included if you'd like more information on a particular topic. Printed handbooks of this guide are availble at AACF's office or by calling (501) 371-9678.

Please help Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and the Arkansas Kids Count Coalition learn from your experience. As you ask candidates the questions in this guide, please send us a summary: How did candidates answer questions? Do they need more information? Can AACF staff provide you with follow-up resources or information? We need information you gather and your candid feedback so we can better advocate for Arkansas children together. Send your thoughts to Elisabeth Wright Burak, AACF Director of Legislative Affairs, at 501-371-9678 Ext. 119.

Check in our website throughout the campaign for the latest news on children's issues and dates and locations of forums, town halls and debates.

Primary Election: May 18, 2010
Runoff (if necessary): June 8, 2010
General Election: Nov 2, 2010

You can learn more about local elections and candidates at the resources below, and to find out when forums will be held or how to contact your candidate.

• Arkansas Secretary of State's office http://www.votenaturally.org/
• County Clerk Offices: http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/elections_pdfs/county_clerks.pdf
• Arkansas Democratic Party: http://www.arkdems.org
• Republican Party of Arkansas: http://www.arkansasgop.org/

Making an Impact on Child Poverty

Child poverty has major consequences for our children, their families, future generations and the state economy. Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to live in families who lack the resources to meet a child's basic needs, including access to quality health care, good prenatal care and preventative care. They don't have easy access to nutritious foods, safe housing and supportive home environments. Finally, they have a hard time getting the educational resources and opportunities they need to help prepare them for school.

Child poverty hurts the state economy. With a child poverty rate of 25 percent, the cost of child poverty in Arkansas is estimated at about $6 billion annually.

Q: What is the role of state government in reducing poverty, promoting economic opportunity and alleviating the impact of poverty?

Q: If you had to focus on only two or three strategies to fight child poverty, what would they be?

For more information, contact: Pat Bodenhamer, State Budget and Tax Outreach Director at 501-371-9678 Ext. 108.

Closing the Educational Achievement Gap

There are many diverse and deep-rooted reasons for the gap in test scores and graduation rates between white students and African American and Latino students, as well as between middle class and low-income students. Closing the gap will not only improve the state's test scores and graduation rates, but also the state economy and long-term productivity. Closing the gap will give many students new opportunities to succeed in life. Early childhood education, after-school and summer programs and school-based health initiatives are proven strategies to close the gap.

After-school and summer programs
Quality after-school and summer programs keep children safe, support working families and inspire children to learn. Too many Arkansas children and youth are not spending their out-of-school time engaged in healthy and productive learning opportunities that enhance their full development. More than 125,000 Arkansas children and youth are responsible for taking care of themselves after school. Almost two-thirds of Arkansas children live in households where all caregivers are in the workforce. Knowing that their children are in safe and well-supervised activities helps working parents perform better on the job.

Q: What role should the legislature play in expanding access to quality after-school and summer programs?

Q: How would you help encourage and develop these kinds of collaborations in your district?

For more information, contact: Paul Kelly, AACF Senior Policy Analyst at 501-371-9678 Ext 102.

Increasing Access to Early Childhood Education

Arkansas is a national leader in providing quality preschool through the Arkansas Better Chance program, which was created in 1991 and serves children ages birth to 5 with a variety of risk factors.

Added in 2004-2005, Arkansas Better Chance for School Success (ABCSS) targets 3- and 4-year-olds who live in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($44,100 for a family of four) and who live in school districts that are in the school improvement status or in which at least 75 percent of children perform poorly on state benchmark exams in math and literacy.

Quality early learning and education is a public investment with immediate and long-term benefits, according to solid, long-term research. Children from all backgrounds who attend quality preschool programs are more likely to succeed in school. Also, high-quality early learning experiences can help close the achievement gap between low-income and middle-income children. A 2007 study of Arkansas pre-k programs conservatively estimated that if Arkansas were to offer high-quality pre-k to all 3- and 4-year-olds on a voluntary basis, the state could see $11.18 in savings for every dollar invested.

Q: What role should the legislature play in expanding access to quality early childhood education programs?

For more information, contact: Rich Huddleston, AACF Executive Director at 501-371-9678 Ext 114.

Creating and expanding school-based health initiatives

When children don't feel well, it's difficult for them to learn and pay attention in class. Schools have an important role to play in the health of children-but they cannot and should not address student health alone.

Through the Arkansas Coordinated School Health initiative, many schools are partnering with community health clinics, dental units and other organizations to make sure children get the health screenings, treatment and support they need to be healthy and productive students.

Coordinated school health includes health education, physical education, health services, nutritional services, counseling and psychological services, a healthy school environment, healthy school staff and involvement from parents and the community. In 2010, the state education and health departments will release money for several schools to start school-based wellness centers, so that children will be able to access services on campus.

Q: What role should the legislature play in expanding school-based wellness centers and the coordinated school health initiative?

Q: How can lawmakers encourage partnerships among schools, parents, medical providers, community-based organizations and other stakeholders to address student health?

For more information, contact: Elisabeth Wright Burak at 501-371-9678 Ext. 119.

Moving Families To Self-Sufficiency and Out of Poverty

Family finances and economic issues are critical to the overall well-being of children and their families. Many families work but earn incomes too low to meet expenses such as housing, food, child care and utilities. A quarter of Arkansas children live in poverty. Families who live in poverty can have unstable homes and home lives that can lead to neglect and abuse.

The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was enacted in 1975 to provide tax relief to low- and moderate-income workers so that they could better provide for their families. It has since been expanded with strong bipartisan support in the Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations. Research has proven the EITC to be one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in our nation. Without it, there would be nearly 25 percent more children in poverty.

There are many Arkansas families who are eligible, but aren't aware of the refund.

Q: What should the legislature do to help eligible working families receive their EITC refund?

For more information contact:Kim Reeve, Senior Policy Analyst at 501-371-9678 Ext. 105.

Giving all children and families access to quality health care

Every child needs health insurance. When children have health insurance, they're more likely to get regular check-ups, they do better in school, and they get the services necessary to make sure they grow up into healthy adults. Their parents have peace of mind knowing that they will be protected financially if an accident or injury occurs. In Arkansas, ARKids First has improved the physical and financial health of thousands of kids and families. But 65,000 Arkansas children still have no health insurance- enough to fill 1,000 school buses.

Q: What should the legislature do to ensure every Arkansas child has access to affordable health insurance?

Connecting all children with a "medical home"
Every child should be able to access health care when they need it. Health insurance gets children better access to health care, but doesn't guarantee a doctor will be available for regular check-ups or even urgent care visits. Thousands of children on ARKids First do not have a regular source of care, or "medical home" with a primary care physician (PCP).

Q: How can the legislature ensure more medical providers are available to treat children covered by ARKids First?

For more information, contact: Elisabeth Wright Burak, AACF Director of Health Policy at 501-371-9678 Ext. 119.

Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap

Addiction to drugs or alcohol is a life-or-death issue that should be treated like any medical problem. More than 180,000 Arkansans are addicted to alcohol or drugs and thousands of them are seeking treatment right now, but can't get it because the system is overloaded, their insurance doesn't cover it or they can't afford it.

In 2005, state spending on substance abuse-related costs was more than $800 million, mostly in the corrections and juvenile justice systems. Thousands of Arkansas lives are lost, families are destroyed, and children left without care because of untreated drug and alcohol addiction.

Q: What role can the legislature play in expanding access to quality drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services?

Q: How can the legislature help make substance abuse services available and affordable to those who need it?

For more information, contact: Paul Kelly, AACF Senior Policy Analyst at 501-371-9678 Ext 102.

Decreasing the Rate of Child Abuse and Neglect

The child welfare system is seeing more and more children as its budget shrinks. In State Fiscal Year 2009, there were 6,701 confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in Arkansas involving 9,721 children. The number of children in the Arkansas child welfare system increases each year (10 percent from 2008 to 2009), but the system has too few resources to get the job done.

Millions of dollars are spent each year on placement services for the most vulnerable children, but far less is spent on efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect or to intervene early. Child abuse and neglect contribute to numerous other social problems and concerns beyond the safety of the child, including school achievement, mental illness, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency.

Q: What role should the legislature play in reducing child abuse and neglect and making improvements in the child welfare system to assure that children get quality services?

For more information, contact: Jennifer Ferguson, AACF Deputy Director at 501-371-9678 Ext. 104.

Reforming the Juvenile Justice System

The Division of Youth Services (DYS) has developed a five-year comprehensive strategic plan that will revolutionize the juvenile justice system in Arkansas. This plan includes redirecting resources from incarceration and punishment to prevention and treatment. This will make the system more effective, less costly and lead to greater public safety for the citizens of the state.

Q: How can legislators help promote the juvenile justice system reform efforts now being considered?

The most effective approach to meet the needs of trouble youth and ensure safe communities is to keep youth in their communities where there is family involvement, access to ongoing services and less disruption in the child and family structure.

Q: How can the legislature expand community-based services to keep children out of institutions?

For more information, contact: Paul Kelly, AACF Senior Policy Analyst at 501-371-9678 Ext 102.

Support for this report was provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We thank the foundation for its support but acknowledge that the findings and the conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone, and do not necessarily relfect the opinion of the foundation.

The Arkansas Kids Count Coalition is a project of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. It works to promote, protect and unify the interests of the children and families of Arkansas.

The mission of AACF is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities they need to lead health and productive lives and to realize their full potential.

New Study: 8 in 10 Addicts Can’t Get Treatment

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:26:37 -0600

Lack of programs, high costs contribute to dearth of treatment options just as state holds off on an expansion approved in 2009.

LITTLE ROCK - Eight in 10 Arkansans addicted to drugs or alcohol who want treatment cannot get it because the state's treatment system is overloaded, their insurance doesn't cover it or they can't afford it, according to a new report by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

The lack of treatment options is devastating not only to the addict, their family and community, but also to the state budget. Arkansas spends $887.5 million a year in substance-abuse related costs, mostly on prisons, court systems and the juvenile justice system, according to "Addiction Treatment and Long-Term Recovery in Arkansas: Just Say Yes!"

"Addiction is a medical condition like any other and can be treated," said Paul Kelly, author of the report and senior policy analyst at AACF. "Yet individuals and families affected by addiction have few doorways out of a cycle that pushes them into our emergency rooms, prisons and child welfare systems."

Recently the Beebe administration announced that it was putting on hold an expansion of the treatment system approved by the 2009 Arkansas General Assembly. The expansion would be the state's first investment in treatment programs in 13 years and was to be paid for by an increase in the tobacco tax, which lawmakers approved in 2009 to pay for a host of healthcare programs. The expansion was slated to boost treatment programs for pregnant woman and youth.

"Due to the recession, more families are struggling with issues like addiction while the state's ability to help them shrinks," said Rich Huddleston, AACF's Executive Director. "We understand that cuts will have to be made in the state budget to keep up with declining revenues, but we need a more balanced approach that includes new revenue. One that helps families get the services they need so that they're able to help our state economy improve."

The study noted that the longer a person with an addiction experiences delays in getting treatment, the greater chance he or she will drop out of treatment. Those who are able to get into a program immediately have a better success. More than 2,500 Arkansas seeking publicly-funded treatment were placed on a waiting list in the first seven months of 2009.

Southern States’ Budget Cutting Endangers Pre-K Gains

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:14:44 -0600

Arkansas' 2011 budget for Pre-K flat funded, not protected from further cuts

Southern states are in danger of losing critical, hard-earned gains in early childhood education - the South's most effective innovation in public education - if state legislatures in the region enact substantial cuts to pre-kindergarten programs (Pre-K), according to a report to be released on March 2 by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) in Atlanta.

The South leads the nation in offering state-funded Pre-K to America's three- and four-year-old children. Southern states in 2008 provided Pre-K to 20 percent of the region's three- and four-year-olds --- double the rate in the rest of the nation. SEF also reports that Southern states lead the nation with indicators of high quality and educational impact. Six of the ten states with the highest standards for Pre-K quality are in the South.

The Southern Pre-K programs are the region's "comparative advantage in public education," according to Lynn Huntley, SEF's President, because high-quality Pre-K is the only area in which Southern states lead the nation in providing high-quality education to students. The SEF report cites a wide range of recent independent studies demonstrating Pre-K's positive effects on young children's learning in areas of language, literacy and math skills in Southern states.

"Today, proposed budget cuts jeopardize the significant gains that many state-supported Pre-K programs in the South have begun to provide in getting small children school-ready and capable of achieving at higher levels in future grades," Huntley stated. "It makes no sense, no matter how severe the economic crisis faced by Southern state and local governments, to make damaging reductions in the availability of quality pre-kindergarten services for children."

Southern legislatures are facing a collective shortfall of almost $30 billion in revenues, and many are considering deep cuts to education and related programs. In Virginia for example, legislators have submitted various budget amendments to cut or remove all state funds for the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI). The annual state General Fund for VPI is $75 million. In Georgia, Governor Sonny Perdue is proposing to gut the Pre-K program's resource coordinators who work with low income families to increase parental involvement and family support.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has twice trimmed spending in the current 2010 fiscal year to make up for declining revenue. Funding for the 2011 overall budget will be slightly higher than the revised 2010 budget, but barely back to 2009 levels. Total spending on the state Pre-K program in Arkansas was not cut in 2010 because of a transfer of federal dollars to make up for a reduction in state general revenue support. Early childhood programs are not considered part of educational adequacy and thus are not as protected as K-12 education in the event that budget cuts are needed.

"Pre-K is already doing more for less in the South," noted Steve Suitts, SEF's Vice President, and the report's author. "In most Southern states Pre-K is delivering the greatest impact for the least cost." The SEF report points out that the costs per child for Pre-K are on average one-third less than K-12 per pupil expenditures. In Alabama, for example, Pre-K costs are closer to half the K-12 costs of public education.

"Southern states would save very little - practically nothing - from cuts to Pre-K," the SEF report states. Across the South, Pre-K programs make up about ½ of one percent of the states' entire budgets. Georgia's Pre-K, one of the largest programs in the South, constitutes a little more than one percent of the state budget, but those funds come out of Georgia lottery revenues - not tax dollars. And the Georgia lottery has increased revenues and holds nearly $1 billion in reserves.

SEF also reports that high-quality Pre-K will save revenues for states in the long run. In Louisiana, for example, for each dollar invested in high quality Pre-K, the state can realize as much as $8.20 in direct and indirect benefits over the next 40 years.

"The economic impact of Pre-K comes from the fact that high-quality Pre-K has a proven capacity to help a child from a low-income family stay on grade in school, stay out of trouble, graduate from high school, and continue to college. In this respect, a good job in the South in a global economy begins with Pre-K," SEF's Huntley stated.

"In a world economy, a state can enlarge its income and quality of life only if it increases the high school and college education of its residents," observed Suitts. "Most of the South has been behind the nation in educational attainment primarily because too many students are not school-ready, never catch up, and drop out. Pre-K is where this cycle can be broken. It is one area where the South can not afford cutbacks."

###

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF), the nation's oldest education philanthropy, has origins in 1867 when George Peabody established a fund to advance the education of all children in the Southern states in the aftermath of the Civil War. Today, SEF is a public charity with offices in Atlanta working region-wide to advance fairness and excellence in education.

For more information on SEF or for an electronic copy of the report visit: www.southerneducation.org.

The mission of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential. Online at www.aradvocates.org.

AACF on President Obama's New Budget

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:11:16 -0600

Statement by AACF Executive Director, Rich Huddleston, on the President's Proposed 2011 Budget

The President's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 is a bold step towards addressing critical short- and long-term needs for our nation. The budget strengthens the economy and job creation, brings down the deficit and restores fiscal responsibility, and makes major investments to improve the lives of our nation's children and families.

This time last year our nation faced an economic crisis reminiscent of the Great Depression; the Gross Domestic Product fell rapidly; and families faced epic unemployment. In response, the President and Congress acted swiftly by implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which gave a substantial boost in funding to state budgets and to targeted, well-designed programs that not only served our most needy Americans but stimulated the country's economy. In Arkansas, ARRA removed more than 7,000 children from the waiting list to receive child care, saved or created 3,742 jobs, and lifted 58,000 people above the poverty line. Robust federal spending was appropriate and needed to prevent our country from slipping in to the second Great Depression. Now, as the economy recovers, the President rightfully acknowledges with this budget that it is time to shift legislative focus towards job creation, deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility.

The President's $3.8 trillion budget proposes an additional $266 billion to create jobs and strengthen the economy. Of that $266 billion, $100 billion are allotted for a jobs package and $166 billion for other policies. The jobs package could include a $33 billion tax credit to encourage small businesses to hire workers as well as additional funding provided directly to states to help stabilize their budgets. The remaining $166 billion is dedicated to other job creation and economic improvement policies, such as a one-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits; and a 6-month extension of Medicaid relief to states (FMAP) to save and create new jobs and protect health care coverage.

These initiatives should improve the economies and battered budgets of states across the country, including Arkansas, whose citizens have had to bear the brunt of the economic crisis. Arkansas has seen budget cuts of more than $200 million, or nearly 5 percent, in the current fiscal year.

The President sets the right targets for long-term deficit reduction. The President's budget reduces deficits by $1.25 trillion dollars over the next ten years and sets a critical goal of reducing the share of the debt to 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2015. While experts across the political spectrum agree that greater cuts need to be made after the economic recovery to reach the goal of keeping the debt from rising faster than the economy, the President's budget recognizes that cutting too much too soon risks smothering the economic recovery currently underway.

The President's budget would also take steps to fix one of the biggest fiscal mistakes of the past decade - the unpaid for tax breaks for the highest income earners that have significantly increased the budget deficit and national debt to historic highs. The budget proposal saves $750 billion over 10 years on the tax side of the budget by narrowing tax subsidies provided to oil and gas industries, multi-national corporations that maintain tax shelters overseas, and high-income households that receive more economic benefit than other Americans for the same tax breaks.

Rightfully, the budget allows most of the 2001-2003 tax cuts, which primarily benefited the highest income earners, to expire on schedule by the end of the year. To allow them to continue would cost $678 billion over ten years, plus interest. At the same time, the President proposes significant investments in low- and middle-income Americans by extending key tax improvements made in ARRA, such as the Child Tax Credit for 167,000 Arkansas families and the Making Work Pay Tax Credit for one million Arkansas families. These and other similar investments will be critical to reviving the middle-class.

The President does propose a three year freeze on discretionary spending and decreasing funding for lower priority programs. However, the budget would increase funding and make critical investments that are key to the education, health, and well being of Arkansas children and our state's future. Among the investments in children that would see increases: Education initiatives such as Race to the Top and early childhood programs such as child care, Head Start, Early Head Start, and the Early Learning Challenge Fund. The increase in child care alone would provide a $65.4 million dollar boost to our state's economy. These investments would have a significant impact on Arkansas, which has a disproportionately high share of low-income children.

Rising health care costs are the most significant driver of costs and fiscal imbalance. Although health reform is stalled in Congress, the President's budget acknowledges the passage of health reform by incorporating $150 billion in deficit reductions for health reform over 10 years. Without comprehensive reform like the bills already passed by the House and the Senate, health costs will continue to grow much faster than wages. Without reform, many millions of hard-working people and their families will join the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. And without reform, businesses, staggered by increasing employee health costs, will either drop coverage or will be unable to make needed investments. As a result, our nation's economy- and the ability to create good jobs- will continue to suffer.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families applauds the Obama Administrations' fiscal year 2011 budget but acknowledges that even if Congress implements the most aggressive budget targeted towards strengthening the economy and increasing jobs those efforts would be weakened without comprehensive health reform.

Deserting ARKids First Expansion Would Put Rising Number of Uninsured at Risk

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:38:13 -0600

New data show that enacting the delayed 2009 expansion would help the rising number of middle-income families who need child health insurance.

LITTLE ROCK - The number of uninsured children who would be eligible for ARKids First under an expansion passed in 2009 is growing, according to research by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, indicating that the expansion is needed now more than ever.

The most recent data show that the number of uninsured children living in families earning between 200 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level grew by 2,000 children between 2006 and 2008-just as the recession was beginning. As families suffer from declining employer-provided benefits and the rising cost of insurance, about 9,000 children in that income bracket have no coverage-the highest level in 10 years.

Abandoning the expansion because of declining state revenues doesn't make sense right now, said Elisabeth Wright Burak, health policy director for AACF. It would leave thousands of families in fiscal distress and leave millions of federal dollars on the table.

"Arkansas lawmakers saw the need to extend ARKids First to these struggling families in 2009, which is why they stepped up and passed the much-needed expansion. But now some are having second thoughts," Burak said. "Families are worse off in 2010 than they were in 2009. Unlike the state, they have no more room for cuts and have no money in reserves. Growing children can't wait for health insurance and we can't turn our backs on them when times get tough."

A portion of the tobacco tax increase approved by the 2009 Arkansas General Assembly was intended to cover the $6 million cost of covering 20,000 more children-two-thirds of whom were already eligible before the expansion. That $6 million would bring an estimated $31 million in federal matching dollars and related business activity into the state, Burak said.

"Arkansas leaders have good reason to be concerned about the rising cost of Medicaid," Burak said. "However, research shows that children are the least expensive group to insure. On top of that, keeping children in good health and preventing diseases like diabetes and heart disease ultimately reduces costs to the state as they grow into productive, healthy adults.

"Families are depleted. Clearly, now is not the time to take away this critical and effective health coverage," Burak said

News Media Coverage

FOX16

KARK

Seeking Development Director

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:57:11 -0600

AACF is seeking a full-time or part-time development director with a minimum of 5 years of experience in raising major gifts for nonprofits. Competitive salary. Equal-opportunity employer. Send cover letter, resume, and references to Nancy Leonhardt or 1400 West Markham St., Ste. 306, Little Rock, AR 72201.

Job Title: Development Director

Qualifications: Bachelors degree with experience in raising major gifts for non-profits.

Special Skills Required:

High level of energy and enthusiasm
Ability to work as a self-starter
Proven ability to obtain major individual and corporate gifts in Arkansas
Resident of Arkansas for more than 2 years
Proven oral and written communication skills

Reports to: Executive Director

Job Summary: Develop the financial resources needed for the long-term stability of AACF through major gifts for the general fund.

Job Responsibilities:

Development

Develop and implement a strategic resource development plan to include direct mail, individual and corporate strategies, a major donor campaign, an endowment plan, donor recognition, and fundraising events.
Work with the executive director and the board of directors in establishing fundraising goals for the organization and develop and implement a plan to meet those goals.
Research possible major donors and incorporate those potential donors into the fundraising plans.
Inform donors and potential donors about AACF's mission, results, process for giving, and timeframe for giving.
Provide personal attention to donors to help them understand the agency and how their money can support the agency.
Work with the executive director and board members in soliciting gifts from potential individual and corporate donors.
Promote involvement of potential donors with some function of the organization such as volunteers, advisors, committee members, friends, supporters, users of data, board members, donors, solicitors, speakers, historians, etc.
Overall responsibility for Soup Sunday in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, and other donor/fundraising events that may be developed.
Oversee all development work including: logistics and support on Little Rock Soup Sunday and other special events related to development, management of donor information database, production of thank you, and other tasks related to development.
Assist the Northwest Arkansas Director with recruiting major donors including developing fundraising plan, finding potential donors, and assisting with donor visits.

Health reform: Side-by-Side analysis of Senate and House bills

Health reform continues to progress through the House and Senate. On Saturday, November 7, the House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009 bill by 220 votes. AACF thanks Arkansas Representatives Marion Berry and Vic Snyder for voting in favor of the bill.

On the Senate side, lawmakers voted on Saturday, November 21 to begin debate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which merges bills passed by the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees. Floor debate will begin this week.

If the Senate passes their bill, lawmakers will go into conference to merge the House and Senate bills; the resulting bill would then need to pass both chambers before heading to President Obama‟s desk for signature.

Our latest analysis offers a look at the House bill passed November 7th and the Senate bill currently under consideration. The bills differ in important ways described below, but both would mean significant improvements in the lives of Arkansas children and families. Many steps remain, but advocates should keep in mind that health reform has never come this close to passage, and encourage lawmakers to continue moving forward and finish the job for Arkansans.

Watch AACF's e-newsletters and web site for updates on any changes as the reform debate continues.

Click here for the full analysis.

AACF Statement on Senate and House Health Reform bills

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:18:24 -0600

When a family loses their small business or first home through bankruptcy because a child suffers a serious injury in a football game, we know we can't afford to delay reforming our nation's health care system. There are tens of thousands of uninsured Arkansas children and their families who cannot afford health insurance. They live in fear of not being able to pay for medical care.

From the beginning of this debate, AACF advocated for a plan that ensures comprehensive, affordable and accessible health care for Arkansas's low- and moderate-income children and their families without burdening our nation's budget. We are pleased that proposals so far take steps to do this. As we see the finish line in sight, we remind our policy makers that Arkansas children and families need action, affordability and accountability from health care reform.

Children and families need swift action on reform. We urge Congress to pass health care reform because children and their families can't wait any longer. Doing nothing is not an option. With so many Americans unemployed and deep cuts to state budgets, help for children and families cannot come soon enough. Health care reform will improve the physical and financial health of our country. We applaud House and the Senate for introducing fiscally responsible health reform proposals that do not add to our nation's deficit. Both plans provide reasonable and well-targeted financing options that should not be reduced so that we can meet the health care needs of our most vulnerable Americans.

Children and families need affordable health care. Health care must be a cost families can afford. Medicaid has successfully provided care to vulnerable Americans for decades, helping families' health and pocketbooks. Making more families eligible for Medicaid- up to 150 percent of poverty included in the House bill-will ensure that low-income families do not get caught paying more than they are able for coverage. The House bill also offers much better financial support to low- and middle-income families to purchase private insurance.

Children and families need reform that is accountable for better care. Under current proposals, some children may transition to different types of public or private coverage. No matter where kids end up, reform should make sure they receive comparable benefits and coverage to what they have today under the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by including the Senate's two-year transition period to 2015. If a child's coverage changes, we cannot let them fall through the cracks and become uninsured or underinsured. Reform should provide concrete assurances that children smoothly transition into new coverage arrangements and that new plans will provide low-income children with comparable cost and benefits. Well over two-thirds of our state's uninsured children are already eligible for ARKids First. Enrollment for children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP (ARKids First in Arkansas) should be much easier for families. We also encourage our leaders to maintain critical preventive supports in the final bill, including evidence-based home visiting and better access to primary care through increased Medicaid reimbursement rates.

AACF thanks our delegation for their hard work on reform and urges them to take the best of both bills with our state's low-income, working families in mind. We have never been this close to meaningful reform and are counting on our leaders to finish the job and get a bill to the President's desk.

Rich Huddleston, Executive Director

Arkansas Taxes Hit Poor Twice as Hard as Wealthy

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:40:35 -0600

National study of state tax systems finds Arkansas among 10 states with highest taxes on the poor

LITTLE ROCK-Low- and middle-income families in Arkansas pay a far higher share of their income in state and local taxes than do the richest families in Arkansas, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

"Arkansas lawmakers may be forced to make difficult tax and spending decisions in the upcoming year," said Matthew Gardner, ITEP's executive director and lead author of the study, titled Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States. "They should be mindful that the Arkansas tax system already falls most heavily on the very poorest families in the state."

Arkansas's Tax Code: The Poor Pay More

When all Arkansas taxes are totaled up, the study found that:

Arkansas families earning less than $15,000-the poorest fifth of Arkansas non-elderly taxpayers-pay 12 percent of their income in Arkansas state and local taxes.
Middle-income Arkansas taxpayers-those earning between $26,000 and $42,000-pay 11.7 percent of their income in Arkansas state and local taxes.
But the richest Arkansas taxpayers-with average incomes of $911,500-pay only 5.9 percent of their income in Arkansas state and local taxes.

Click here for a fact sheet with graphics on Arkansas's tax structure.

Arkansas Sales, Excise, Property Taxes Hit Low-Income Families Hardest

The main reason for the unfairness of Arkansas taxes is the state's reliance on regressive sales and excise taxes, which fall disproportionately on the worst-off families, and on property taxes. The state's one progressive tax, the income tax, is not enough to offset the unfair impact of these other taxes.

"Low- and middle-income Arkansans are still shouldering the tax burden, said Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. "It's not right that these families are bearing a disproportionate share when they are already struggling to make ends meet, especially during this economic recession."

Huddeston said recent efforts by the governor and legislators to reduce the grocery tax and help poor families with income taxes will help a bit, but more needs to be done.

During the last two legislatives sessions, the grocery tax has been reduced from 6 percent to 2 percent, helping reduce the regressive nature of the Arkansas tax structure, Huddleston said. In addition, the 2007 Arkansas General Assembly exempted most families with children below the poverty line from paying state income taxes. However the law didn't give full benefits to nearly 50,000 single-parent families with two more or more children-a flaw the 2009 General Assembly failed to correct.

Huddleston said the state can reduce the burden on low- and middle-income workers by further cutting the grocery tax. Arkansas can also create a state Earned Income Tax Credit to assist working families when the economy turns around and more revenue is available.

Research in other states shows that a state Earned Income Tax Credit, modeled after the federal credit of the same name, helps reduce the tax burden on low-income working families while invigorating local economies. The federal EITC has been so successful in reducing poverty that 24 of the 42 states with personal income taxes (including the District of Columbia) have adopted state-level EITCs to build on the federal EITC.

As Arkansas faces declining revenue because of the recession, it may need to take steps to maintain state funding for critical services for families, such as education, Medicaid and child welfare, Huddleston said. State leaders need to consider raising new revenue that won't put more weight on low- and middle-income working families. Options include closing corporate income tax loopholes through combined reporting, eliminating the 30 percent percent exemption for capital gains, re-establishing the estate tax, or adopting an income tax surcharge.

"These options need to be part of a balanced approach to the state budget that doesn't rely on solely on cuts-because cuts alone would further hurt our most vulnerable families," he said.

Arkansas and Its Working Families Miss Out on up to $110 Million a Year in Unclaimed Federal Tax Credits

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:12:00 -0600

Working Families Also Spend $100 Million in High Tax Preparation Fees and Rapid Refund Loans

LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas working families are losing as much as $110 million every year because they don’t claim the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a significant loss in federal dollars to the hard-pressed Arkansas economy. They spend another $100 million on expensive, and unnecessary, tax preparation services and refund anticipation loans, according to a new report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

“In these difficult economic times, we need to make sure that every eligible Arkansas working family gets the full benefit of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit,” said Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. “The IRS free tax preparation sites, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites, and other volunteer tax services, can help families claim the EITC. These sites also won’t offer high-priced refund loans or charge the stiff preparation fees that too many private tax firms charge.”

Based on IRS estimates that one in four eligible tax payers don’t claim the EITC, the new report calculates that Arkansas working families are losing between $88.5 and $110 million every year in unclaimed federal EITC benefits. That has a ripple effect on all Arkansans, weakening local economies, since most EITC recipients spend their credits in their local communities, according to the report – "Rabid Refunds: Refund Anticipation Loans and High Tax Preparation Fees are Picking the Pockets of Arkansas’s Working Families."

The report provides county-by-county data on the number of tax payers that claimed the EITC and the amount of federal refund dollars that those claims brought into their local economies. It identifies 10 counties that have the lowest percentage of low-income tax filers claiming the credit and thus the greatest potential for increasing the number of eligible working families that claim the EITC. Ranked by percentage of claimants, those counties are Baxter, Benton, Cleburne, Saline, Marion, Washington, Faulkner, Grant, Boone and Garland. “We need to expand the number of VITA sites in Arkansas, and these 10 counties would be good places to start,” suggested Huddleston.

Even when Arkansans do claim the EITC, too often they lose much of its value to high tax preparation fees and very high interest loans using the refunds as collateral, the report found. For-profit tax preparation services take a big chunk of low-income family EITCs or other hard-earned dollars. On average these firms cost taxpayers $163 per filing. Refund Anticipation Loans, or RALS -- short-term loans secured by a taxpayer’s expected tax refund -- often charge interest rates in the triple digits, resulting in loans that cost on average $100 to put cash in the hands of the taxpayer only a few days earlier than the IRS would process their refunds. Nearly half of low income tax filers who used for-profit tax preparation services were sold RALs, and three out of four EITC filers who used for-profit tax preparation services were sold RALs.

The report estimates that all Arkansas low-income tax filers (not just those claiming the EITC), spent an estimated $21,688,000 in RAL fees and $77,954,098 in tax prepara¬tion fees in 2006, for a total of $99,642,098.

The report also notes that low-income African-American communities are hit hardest by the RAL fees. Of the top 10 counties with the highest percentage of tax filers using RALs in 2006, all but one are located in the Delta, and all have far higher levels of poverty and African-American residents than the rest of the state. Four out of five tax filers in counties with the highest number of African-Americans take out RALS, compared to a state average of just over one out of five. Huddleston pointed out that these counties—Phillips, Crittenden, Saint Francis, Mississippi, Lafayette, Hempsted, Desha, Lee, Chicot and Jefferson—would be important places to offer additional VITA and other free tax preparation sites.

“We could put up to $200 million more dollars in the pockets of hard-working Arkansas families by expanding the number of VITA sites in our state, thus helping these families claim the EITC and avoid expensive tax preparation services and loans, at very little additional cost to the state,” said Huddleston. The report finds that only 2.6 percent of low income Arkansans took advantage of VITA or other free tax payer assistance sites in 2006.

The report recommends cracking down on deceptive for-profit tax preparation firm practices, banning exorbitant RAL fees, and offering affordable alternative short-term loans to Arkansas working families. It also calls for partnerships between state agencies and community services programs to advertise both the VITA sites and the EITC, expansions of VITA sites throughout the state, a permanent extension of the temporary EITC increase that was included in the economic recovery act, and a state EITC to build upon the successful federal EITC.