Some needed help for children and the disabled in proposed state budget, but not enough

Gov. Sarah Sanders popped into a meeting of lawmakers at the Capitol Friday morning for a little under 10 minutes, just long enough to share some fiscal priorities and say that she believes Tuesday’s election results are an endorsement from Arkansas voters who like the direction the state’s headed.

Sanders herself won reelection, although by a much slimmer margin than four years ago. Republicans once again swept competitions for statewide offices, but lost ground in the Legislature to the tune of 11 seats.

Sanders did not acknowledge the slips as she dashed through the highlights of a budget proposal that she said sets Arkansas up as a “disciplined, conservative model for the rest of the country.”

The budget includes some new money for early childhood education and services for disabled Arkansans who have been languishing, many for years on end, on the CES (Community and Employment Support) waitlist.

The budget proposal would continue to feed Arkansas LEARNS and the school vouchers for all that it wrought. Those vouchers for private school tuitions and homeschool expenses will cost the state nearly $400 million this school year alone. The governor made the exceedingly dubious claim that her LEARNS legislation “already has improved student performance by 20% across every single grade in every single category.” Doubters might say that’s what happens when you change the performance test to suit your own needs.

Sanders’ budget also sets the stage for another income tax cut, which would be the fifth of those in five years.

Policy experts at the nonprofit Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families applauded what looks to be additional investment in Medicaid, SNAP and pre-K, but cautioned the budget is “light on details,” leaving many questions unanswered; it will be important to keep an eye on how lawmakers work out the fine print to make sure the needs of Arkansas children and vulnerable populations are met.

“Most importantly, we oppose the governor’s call for additional income tax cuts. The state budget witnessed a $655 million budget surplus last fiscal year. But Arkansas families have pressing needs,” a statement from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families said, and the bold is theirs.

While the governor touted another tax break as a cure for the affordability crisis that has us all paying out the nose for groceries, goods and gasoline, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families cautioned against buying that particular argument: 

“These cuts come to the highest income brackets and therefore do not “put more money in the pockets” of working families (the lowest 20% of earners in Arkansas received $0 from the most recent Arkansas income tax cut). This means that low- and middle-income Arkansans will fund the tax breaks for the wealthiest as they are facing rising prices. Arkansas already has the 9th most regressive tax system in the country: the middle 60% of Arkansas workers pay 10.7% of their income in taxes, while the top 1% pays only 5.8%. Additional income tax cuts will shift an even larger burden to 80% of Arkansans. 

Instead, the state should invest in programs that help Arkansans afford basic needs, such as: 

• Paid family and medical leave
• Improved private and home-school accountability
• 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage
• Increased early childhood education funding, including investments in the workforce
• A strong families’ tax credit 

The reaction of state Rep. Andrew Collins of Little Rock, the Democrats’ House minority leader, was much the same.