By Terra Aquia Who were the winners of the 2021 Arkansas Economics Challenge? Twenty-seven students from seven Arkansas high schools met virtually on April 8th to compete in the Arkansas Economics Challenge. Winning teams from this competition are eligible to advance to additional stages with other high school students from all over the U.S. The […]
ACRE Review
ACRE Expert Testifies on Transparency for Economic Development Incentives
By Caleb Taylor Should local public officials be able to meet in secret to discuss economic development projects? House Bill 1280 sponsored by State Rep. Delia Haak R-District 91 and State Sen. Lance Eads R-District 7 would amend Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to allow for an executive session to be called by local […]
Kanode Testifies on Licensing’s Effect on Low-Income Arkansans
By Caleb Taylor Should Arkansas exempt low-income residents from initial licensing fees? ACRE Economic Policy Analyst Alex Kanode testified on how occupational licensing in Arkansas can serve as a barrier to opportunity for low-income workers at a Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Labor committee meeting on March 17th. Committee members were deliberating on whether to […]
ACRE Experts Featured in “Believe in Arkansas”
By Caleb Taylor Three ACRE experts recently appeared in “Believe in Arkansas” segments hosted by Americans for Prosperity. UCA Assistant Professor of Economics and ACRE Scholar Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl discussed state government spending and Arkansas’s tax rates on March 25th. For more on Horpedahl’s recent research and testimony on sales taxes in Arkansas, check out […]
Brighter Lights in Faulkner County
By Mavuto Kalulu Kudos to the Faulkner County Quorum Court, the legislative body of Faulkner County government. Before the pandemic, on August 21, 2018, it enacted Ordinance 18-16 to enhance the transparency of its public meetings by posting recordings on the county website. This allows citizens to listen or watch what transpired in the quorum […]
Transparency: Everyone Has a Role to Play
By Joyce Ajayi A popular adage says, “Many hands make light work.” This means things are done quickly and efficiently when people work together. Transparency is a way to get more hands to lighten the work of making government accountable. Transparent governance creates platforms and initiatives for sharing information freely and openly. Many sets of […]
ACRE Director Discusses Medical Scope of Practice Reform
By Caleb Taylor What changes can Arkansas legislators make to improve residents’ access to care? Arkansas’s primary care shortage is a result of its “excessively restrictive” medical scope of practice laws, according to ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. David Mitchell in “Let them practice” published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on March […]
ACRE Experts Testify on Licensing Research
By Caleb Taylor Two ACRE economic experts shared their research on occupational licensing legislation last week. House Bill 1465 would have mandated that a licensing entity consider the “good moral character” of an individual before granting an occupational license. “Good moral character” is defined in the bill as a personal history of honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, […]
Arkansas’s Most Web-Transparent Counties in 2020
By Caleb Taylor What counties are leading the rest of the state when it comes to online transparency in 2020? You can find out through the just-released third annual “Access Arkansas: County Web Transparency” from the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, co-authored by ACRE Policy Analysts Joyce Ajayi and Dr. Mavuto Kalulu. Improvement The […]
Our State is Freer Than Yours: How State Constitutions Protect Individual Rights
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 […]