Arkansas General Assembly

Arkansas voters overwhelmingly approved using lottery funds for vocational scholarships, enhancing workforce development in high-demand trades. read more >

The Arkansas Insurance Department will start enforcing state legislation to regulate a federal discount drug program that generates millions of dollars for Arkansas hospitals and community health centers. read more >

In addition to facing staffing shortages, higher labor costs and low reimbursement rates, Arkansas Children’s faces a new threat: a rise in workplace violence. read more >

If Arkansas politicians succeed in a push to abolish the state personal income tax, partly to avoid losing ultra-wealthy residents, the state must reckon with what it will give up: $3 billion a year in revenue. read more >

The Arkansas General Assembly is expected to pass legislation to forgive taxes on unemployment benefits paid to Arkansans in 2020 and 2021, in part because unemployment scams ran rampant. read more >

Senate Bill 3, commonly known as the “hate crimes bill,” boils down to a crucial chance to burnish Arkansas’ image and remove a hurdle to recruiting companies and workers, government officials and business leaders say. read more >

The Arkansas Legislature will return to session in January but, like nearly every other part of American life, it won’t quite be a return to normalcy. read more >

Arkansas’ hospitals and other industries have urgent concerns for the Legislature to address in the regular session that will commence on Jan. 11, but a key piece of the hospitality industry has needs that are more urgent. read more >

Whether Arkansas legislators have confidence in Arkansas voters to know what’s best for them pretty much depends on the issue. read more >

Can the General Assembly alter an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution? The question is relevant because Clarksville has indicated interest in hosting a casino if Pope County rejects it. read more >

The power, and danger, of Issue 1 is in the third provision which shifts the courts’ rule-making authority from the Arkansas Supreme Court to the Arkansas General Assembly. read more >

Norman, a past president of the National State Auditors Association, serves on the board of the Arkansas Society of CPAs. read more >

Our roads are in need of repair and expansion, but the money necessary to meet these needs isn’t there. Decisions made in the coming months by elected officials, and possibly the voters, will shape the future of our transportation infrastructure for years to come. read more >

The 91st General Assembly passed bills that allows employees to bring their concealed handguns to their employer’s private parking lot and requires employers that conduct background checks to share the results with the employee or applicant upon request. read more >

The state’s iteration of the Affordable Care Act has been praised for reducing the ranks of the uninsured, giving thousands more Arkansans access to primary health care and lessening reliance on emergency care. read more >

This week is Sunshine Week, a time to celebrate access to public information and open government. It’s timely, considering that the 91st General Assembly has been busily chipping away at the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, already less robust than it was when it was a national model 50 years ago. read more >

The Arkansas Bar Association said last week that it isn’t looking at another proposed state constitutional amendment creating a system in which state Supreme Court justices would be appointed rather than elected. read more >

If voters know exactly what a sales tax is for — a new jail or community center or fire station, an economic development incentive for a new factory, a local road project — the likelihood local voters will support the local tax is greatly increased. read more >

In a few days, many of us will gather with friends and family to give thanks. Last week, two Arkansas legislators — one a Republican, one a Democrat — provided us with a couple of reasons to thank them for good service. read more >

The Arkansas General Assembly, in a move generating little publicity, last month enacted Act 1102, which exempts local option taxes, also called hotel-motel-restaurant or HMR taxes, from the state’s Freedom of Information Act. read more >