Featured Article

NEA Membership Declined In Arkansas In 2007

(June 2008)
The National Education Association (NEA), the largest government-sector labor union in the United States, lost members in Arkansas in 2007, records show.

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Arkansas Government's Holy Grail—The Quest for 100% Income Parity

(June 2008)
A long-stated goal of Arkansas state government officials is achieving 100 percent parity with the U.S. average in terms of per capita personal income (Bureau of Economic Analysis).

Government economic development officials have led this quest, which at times as appeared similar to the search for the Holy Grail. That is to say, elusive.

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Mission Statement

The Arkansas Policy Foundation is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that analyzes the impact of public policy on Arkansas and makes recommendations.

The Foundation emphasizes the importance of tax policy and education reform.

Principles of tax policy: Arkansas would benefit from comprehensive, pro-growth reform; Arkansans are not under-taxed; taxes and rates do matter to entrepreneurs; dynamic scoring of tax changes and effects provides benefits.

Education reform: The Foundation seeks intellectual honesty and complete openness in reporting the lack of academic progress in Arkansas' school system.

The Foundation encourages citizenship.

Recent Articles

The Biggest Middle Class Tax Cut In Arkansas History

(May 2008)
Individual income tax brackets, in response to inflation should be retroactively indexed to the Consumer Price Index as part of a multi-year plan that would reduce the tax burden on Arkansas's middle class, and provide further reductions in the state grocery tax.

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AETN Public TV Forum

(April 2008)
Economists from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, the Univ. of Arkansas and the Policy Foundation participated in a recent forum on the Arkansas economy that aired statewide on public television (AETN). The monthly show, ‘Unconventional Wisdom,’ is hosted by Stephens News Bureau columnist David Sanders, and can be viewed at:
http://www.aetn.org/production/podcast/unconventional_media/march_28,_2008

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Arkansas Employment Growth Trails U.S. For Fourth Consecutive Year

(April 2008)
Arkansas employment growth trailed the U.S. in 2007, the fourth consecutive year that job creation in the Natural State failed to equal or exceed the national average, federal economic data show.

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Dynamic Analysis & the Severance Tax Hike

(March 24, 2008)
National gas, like other commodities, increases and decreases in price in response to market forces. Commodity price movements are cyclical. The state estimate of projected revenues from a proposed 5 percent severance rate is based on an $8 natural gas price. Policymakers should understand a lower price would effect revenues.

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Record Number of Charter Schools to Operate in Arkansas in 2008-2009 School Year

(February 2008)
Twenty-six charter schools, a record number, are scheduled to operate in Arkansas in the 2008-2009 school year.

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Education Reform Forum In Conway On Feb. 20

(January 2008)
Education reform will be the topic of a Policy Foundation forum Feb. 20 at the Univ. of Central Arkansas in Conway. The forum, which will feature UCA President Lu Hardin and academics Roy Whitehead, Jr., and Walter Block1, will occur from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the the ballroom of the UCA Student Center.

We are trying to organize support for our Feb. 20 event.

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