Unequal wage growth hurts average families
There will always be some people who make more than their neighbors, but when wage growth is concentrated at the top, many lower income families will never get the boost […]
AACF Statement on 5-Year Highway Funding Plan
Statement from Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) believes Governor Asa Hutchinson’s five-year highway funding plan, HB1009/SB11, doesn’t […]
5-Year Highway Plan Won’t Get Us Far
Governor Asa Hutchinson’s five-year highway funding plan, which appears on the verge of passing,* is a short-sighted gamble that eats away at funds for our child welfare system, our schools, and […]
The Arkansas Legislature’s Continued Attack on the Poor
By Rich Huddleston, AACF Executive Director The Arkansas legislature continued its attack on the poor today. A subcommittee of the Joint Budget Committee passed out special language placing unnecessary restrictions […]
Game On: How Would You Balance the Budget to Put the Needs of Arkansas Kids First?
Would you like Arkansas to become a national leader in children’s education and health? What if we reversed the recent $1 million cuts to libraries? Would you like for Arkansas to […]
Health Care for Thousands Left Hanging in the Balance
Yesterday’s failed Senate vote on the Medicaid appropriation was critical to keeping hundreds of thousands of Arkansans insured. Earlier this week, we wrote about the devastating impact to the state budget, if […]
The Future of Arkansas’s Education System Depends on Funding “Arkansas Works”
The state general revenue budget is often fluid. To arrive at a forecast, you look at long-term trends, national trends, local economic conditions … those calculations will tell you within […]
State agencies asked to do more with less
Tax cuts from the two most recent legislative sessions are making for modest forecasts and eating away at state agency budgets. The joint budget committee met today to go over […]
Small surpluses will foil highway plan
The modest $35.9 million surplus forecast for the state’s 2016 budget is an ominous sign for the governor’s highway plan (which will require at least $192 million a year in […]
Problems down the road with governor’s highway plan
There’s a real need for new highway funding, but without some form of fuel tax increase, millions of new dollars for Arkansas’s roads and bridges means someone is going to […]