Murphy Commission

Led by Madison Murphy of El Dorado, the Murphy Commission devoted almost three years (1996-1999) to a detailed study of Arkansas state government. More than 100 community leaders and volunteers developed recommendations to make Arkansas government smaller, more cost-effective and more accountable to taxpayers.

The Murphy Commission is a project of the Arkansas Policy Foundation, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization headquartered in Little Rock. The Foundation distributes Commission reports free at its online website (www.arkansaspolicyfoundation.org).

Arkansas state government will be unable to meet the demands of the 21st Century without a sound rebuilding of its accounting and financial infrastructure. The Commission encouraged adoption of the following recommendations:

• Performance-based budgeting.
• Activities-Based Costing (ABC) accounting.
• A form of compensating state employees that embodies rewards for extraordinary job performance.

The Murphy Commission used 1972 as its benchmark year because the last major reorganization of state government occurred following passage of Act 38 of 1971.

Reports published from 1996 to 1999 by the Murphy Commission include:

• Summary of Key Recommendations
• The Role and Function of State Government
• Current Structure of State Government in Arkansas: Trends in Growth, Organization, and Spending
• Improving Productivity by Reducing Taxes & Taxes and Savings in Arkansas
• Making Arkansas' State Government Performance Driven and Accountable: Four Reforms State Government Can Implement Now to Save Taxpayers Millions
• Arkansas' Public Schools: A Thirty Year $20 Billion Taxpayer Investment Yields An Unprecedented Crisis in Academic Performance
• Streamlining and Cost-Saving Opportunities in Arkansas' K-12 Public Education System
• Restoring Public Education's Academic Mission: High Expectations, Rigorous Academic Standards & Proven Methodologies and Curriculums
• Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System
• Executive Summary: The Current Structure of State Government in Arkansas