By Joyce O. Ajayi and Joseph Johns Since our last blog post titled “Enhancing Arkansas FOIA for Accountability and Transparency” on Tuesday morning, September 12, there have been significant developments. By Tuesday night, lawmakers had introduced a new set of Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (AFOIA) bills. Notably, Senate Bill 10 and House Bill 1012 […]
ACRE Review
Enhancing Arkansas FOIA for Accountability and Transparency
By Joyce O. Ajayi and Joseph Johns On Friday, September 8, 2023, Governor Sarah Sanders announced that a special session would begin at the Arkansas Capitol on Monday, September 11. In her announcement of the special session, the Governor hinted at potential amendments to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (AFOIA). She specifically mentioned a […]
More Tax Relief Could be On the Way in Arkansas’s Special Session
By Jeremy Horpedahl, ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics The first “Extraordinary Session,” or special session, of the 2023 Arkansas General Assembly will once again take up the important issue of tax reform. The proposed bill HB1007 (and the companion bill SB8) makes three changes to Arkansas tax law. First, the top personal income tax rate […]
Fall 2023 — Welcome Back!
by Jeremy Horpedahl, Director, Arkansas Center for Research in Economics Welcome back from summer! We at ACRE are excited for the new academic year to begin at UCA and for all the students to return to campus. UCA students will have a lot of opportunities through ACRE to learn more about the world of economics […]
Arkansas Center for Research in Economics Awards 70 Scholarships this Academic Year
by Michelle Stoll, ACRE Communications Manager Each semester, The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) gives UCA students the opportunity to apply for scholarships by participating in one of its weekly reading groups, such as the economics group, law group, philosophy group and Biz@Bear group. This academic year $28,700 was awarded for 70 reading […]
Transparency at the Local Level: Report Shows Progress, but Work Still Needed
By Michelle Stoll, ACRE Communications Manager The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) has released its 2023 County and City Web Transparency Report, Access Arkansas. The report assesses the information that county and city governments publish online, as well as how accessible that information is. Localities are then ranked according to this analysis. Previous […]
A Taxpayer Bill of Rights in Arkansas?
By Jeremy Horpedahl, ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Every session the Arkansas legislature considers many major and minor changes to both tax and budget policy. But it’s much rarer to see proposals to dramatically reform the entire fiscal process in Arkansas. As state legislators have begun to debate potential constitutional amendments to […]
What’s Happening with Corporate Taxes in Arkansas?
As the legislative session continues, one major topic that has still not been addressed is tax reform. While the personal income tax will likely get some attention this year, changes to corporate taxation are just as important and several bills may be considered. Despite the progress made in reducing the state’s corporate income tax from […]
Shedding Light on FOIA: Celebrating Sunshine Week and Promoting Transparency
by Dr. Joyce O. Ajayi, ACRE Policy Analyst This week is Sunshine Week, and I couldn’t be more excited! For those unfamiliar with it, Sunshine Week is an annual event across the country that celebrates government transparency and encourages the public to participate in the democratic process. One of the things I am most excited about […]