By Caleb Taylor What are the differences between state and federal constitutional law? How do lawyers use state constitutions to protect their clients? How do state laws differ from those at the federal level in protecting individual rights? Come learn the answers to these questions and more from Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Justin Pearson […]
The ACRE Review
A Widely Supported Solution to Healthcare Shortages
By Caleb Taylor How diverse is the support for allowing nurse practitioners to practice up to their level of training? The consensus that nurse practitioners should be allowed to do more is “widespread,” according to a “A Broad Consensus on Expanding Nurse Practitioners’ Scope of Practice,” by ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics […]
Nurse Practitioner Rule Change Could Help Underserved Arkansans
By Caleb Taylor How can Arkansas improve its health and access to medical care throughout the state? In “Addressing Arkansas’s Health Services Shortages By Empowering Nurse Practitioners” by UCA Associate Professor and ACRE Director Dr. David Mitchell, notes that Arkansas doesn’t have enough primary care health service providers to keep up with demand. HPSAs are […]
Special Elections: How Arkansas’s Sales Taxes Got So High
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas legislators will make another attempt to rein in local special elections that have contributed to Arkansas having the third highest state and local sales tax rate in the nation at 9.51%. House Bill 1368 by State Rep. David Ray R-District 40 would limit special elections to primary and general election dates […]
Kanode Discusses Automatic Licensure With Senate Committee
By Caleb Taylor Should new Arkansans with occupational licenses in their previous residence be given automatic licensure in the Natural State? Senate Bill 78 by State Sen. Ricky Hill R-District 29 would do just that for some Arkansans. The bill expands automatic licensure to military members, military spouses and widows who move to Arkansas who […]
Denial of Economic Opportunities: The Case of Barber Licensing
By Caleb Taylor What was the motivation and reasoning behind the original state regulation of barbers in Arkansas? ACRE Research Fellow Tanner Corley explored this question and more in an op-ed, “Hairy regulations,” published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on December 11. According to Corley, Arkansas barbers were able to appeal to fears of unsanitary barber […]
What Changes Will Arkansas See to Occupational Licensing?
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas legislators just wrapped up their first round of sunset reviews of Arkansas’s occupational licenses. What changes are in store? A just-released policy statement, “Occupational Licensing and Arkansas’s Act 600,” by ACRE Economic Policy Analyst Alex Kanode discusses the reforms and missed opportunities of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Occupational Licensing Review Subcommittee’s […]
Severe Licensing Rules Hurt Economic Opportunity During Recessions
By Caleb Taylor Did a state’s occupational licensing requirements affect business creation during the Great Recession? “U.S. State Occupational Licensing: Measuring its Impact on Business Establishments during the Great Recession” co-authored by ACRE Policy Analyst Alex Kanode, ACRE Scholar and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Thomas Snyder and ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellow Elsa Mattson […]
Faulkner County Takes Another Step Forward on Transparency
By Joyce Ajayi and Mavuto Kalulu Faulkner County continued its transparency progress in 2020. On October 20, 2020, the Faulkner County Quorum Court passed into law the County Board Transparency Report Ordinance, Ordinance 20-21. Kris Kendrick, Justice of the Peace (Dist. 9), introduced this legislation to help enhance county government transparency. The ordinance will increase […]
ACRE Director Talks Property Rights Protection at State Capitol
By Caleb Taylor How much cash and property was seized by law enforcement in Arkansas since 2010? ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. David Mitchell explained how often and how much property was taken through civil asset forfeiture since 2010 at a state Senate Judiciary Committee meeting at 1 p.m. Friday, December […]