By Aaron Newell Policy makers trying to create a better environment for businesses have many different options – but some are better than others. ACRE Policy Analyst Jacob Bundrick recently discussed some of these options with John Evans and Rachel Sapin of IntraFish.com. In an article published on March 12th, “Could incentives power more US […]
The ACRE Review
Arkansans’ Occupational Licensing Burdens May Lighten
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas’s lower income workers face some of the heaviest licensing burdens in the country. That hurts job seekers, entrepreneurs, and consumers. These regulations also disproportionately harm military spouses, ex-offenders, minorities and immigrants. But new legislation could lead to better rules and more opportunities for Arkansans. House Bill 1527, or the Red […]
Art Carden on the Unintended Consequences of Well-intentioned Policies
By Aaron Newell Prices are the conductors of the economic orchestra that guide resources from places where they have relatively low value to places where they have relatively high value. When these prices are interfered with, people are left worse off than if the prices had been left alone. Art Carden, Associate Professor of Economics […]
Could Arkansas’s New Minimum Wage Increase Poverty?
By Aaron Newell How is the new minimum wage increase going to affect Arkansans? After passing with 68% of the vote in November, the minimum wage will rise to $11 an hour by 2021. Some say it will provide Arkansans with a living wage. Others say it will force businesses to lay off employees. But […]
Momentum for Transparency Grows in Arkansas
By Caleb Taylor ACRE Policy Analyst Mavuto Kalulu recently praised two new steps toward transparency for Arkansas’s county governments: Faulkner County Circuit Clerk Crystal Taylor’s [no relation] work on transparency, and legislative efforts to require counties to publish their budgets online. In an article published in the Log Cabin Democrat on March 6th entitled “Circuit […]
New Protections for Property Rights in Arkansas: Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
By Aaron Newell Civil asset forfeiture reform has been on the minds of Arkansas legislators, as well as policymakers around the country. The US Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion in Timbs v Indiana, ruled that the excessive fines clause of the US Constitution applied to state laws, and in particular civil asset forfeiture laws. […]
What’s “Special” About Special Elections?
By Jeremy Horpedahl A new bill would limit special elections which have contributed to Arkansas having the third highest average sales tax rate in the country. HB1402 was approved by the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs February 13. The bill was amended twice after approval, and it currently is waiting to be heard […]
Time for Greater Transparency in Arkansas Counties: Let the Sun Shine In
By Mavuto Kalulu Transparency is one of the most powerful weapons against government corruption, but counties don’t make it easy for Arkansans to access their public financial information. Only 8 out of Arkansas’s 75 counties have their 2017 budget online. Corruption is a significant problem in Arkansas. Legislative audits detected nearly $40 million in public […]
Are Arkansas’s Burdensome Licensing Laws Increasing Crime?
By Caleb Taylor In an op-ed entitled “Let them work” in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on March 4th, UCA Associate Professors of Economics David Mitchell and Thomas Snyder say some licensing laws hinder ex-offenders from being able to get honest work and also burden Arkansas taxpayers with the added costs of incarceration. Mitchell and Snyder write: […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture in Arkansas May Change after US Supreme Court Ruling, But the State Could Do More to Protect Arkansans
Most people don’t realize that police officers can seize and keep the property of individuals even if that person is never convicted of a crime. It’s called “civil asset forfeiture,” and a new US Supreme Court decision is putting stricter limits on it. ACRE’s database of seizures was started as Maleka Momand’s ACRE Research Fellow […]