Not finding what you're looking for? Search with Google

• Article
• Discussion

• Page
• Discussion
• Edit
• History

Arkansas state budget

Gov. Beebe signed the $4.7 billion budget Arkansas FY2013 state budget into law on March 5, 2012.^[1] Highlights of the budget include $114 million funding increase for Medicaid and $56 million more for public schools while agency funding remained static.^[1]

Arkansas has a total state debt of approximately $25,020,643,000, when calculated by adding the total of outstanding official debt, pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) liabilities, Unemployment Trust Fund loans, and 2011 budget gap. ^[2]

See also: The Arkansas State Budget on State Budget Solutions

[edit] FY2013 State Budget

Gov. Mike Beebe proposed a $4.7 billion state budget on Jan. 17, 2012, which increases spending over the prior year by $163 million. ^[5] Many of the reductions come from one-time items in the FY2012 budget that do not continue in FY2013.^[6]

The new money in the governor's proposal included:

• $114 million would be used to pay for growth in Medicaid;^[1]
• $56 million in additional funding for public K-12 schools;
• $2.1 million in increased funding for prisons;
• $3.6 million for some higher education institutions.^[7]

The budget did not include a cost of living raise for state employees. The governor said he thought the raise would be a good idea but he did not know how to pay for it without reducing vital services.^[8]

The legislative fiscal session began Feb. 13, 2012, ^[9] and was designed to focus primarily on budget issues.^[10] The Joint Budget Committee's budget was nearly identical to the governor's proposed budget.^[11] The governor signed the $4.7 billion budget into law on March 5, 2012.^[12]

[edit] FY2012 State Budget

On Nov. 10, 2010, Gov. Beebe presented his FY2012 $4.6 billion budget proposal.^{[13][14] [15]}

Agencies may have more funds than expected because the state eliminated hundreds of state cars after an evaluation showed the state had more than 8,000 vehicles in its fleet.^[16]

[edit] Governor's Proposed FY2012 State Budget

The governor's proposed FY2012 budget of $4.6 billion is 2.5% higher than that of FY2011, with approximately $109 million more in spending.^[13]

The budget's only tax cut would be to reduce grocery taxes by half a percent, from 2% down to 1.5%.^[13] The budget calls for $55 million more for public schools, an increase of 2.9%, and increasing the Human Services budget by nearly $6 million, around 0.6%.^[13] It also provides state employees with a 1.86% cost-of-living increase in pay, which will cost about $23 million.^[13]

[edit] Budget transparency

• Evaluation of Arkansas state website
• See also: Constitutional provisions regarding reading of bills
• See sample transparency legislation at the Sunshine Standard

Arkansas does not have a constitutional provision providing a period of legislative review before the legislature can vote on a budget bill. Arkansas currently has no statewide, official spending database online. However, the Department of Finance and Administration has created a statewide contracts procurement Web site.

[edit] The good

• Site has a search function and is fairly easy to navigate.
• Budget is published.^[17]
• Elected officials are listed with contact information under their respective office.^[18]
• Administrative officials are listed with contact information under respective agencies.^[19]
• Information on the state ethics commission is provided.^[20]
• State tax information is posted.^[21]
• Annual financial audits are published.^[22]
• Statewide contracts are published.^[23]

[edit] The bad

• Full text of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act is posted, but no form/contact information for requesting records is provided.^[24]
• Only provides lobbyist forms^[25], no information on state paid lobbying or database of registered lobbyists.

[edit] Legislation

In 2011, the State approved a proposal by Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr to create a state "online checkbook." The website, which will contain information on all state expenditures, has an upfront cost of $600,000 and an annual cost of $225,000.^[26]

[edit] Government tools

The following table is helpful in evaluating the level of transparency provided by the state on budget and spending related activities. Arkansas does not have a specific state spending and transparency database, but it does provide spending information on its government website:

Criteria for evaluating spending databases

State Database	Searchability	Grants	Contracts	Line Item Expenditures	Dept/Agency Budgets	Public Employee Salary
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration	Y	P	P	N	Y	P

• The website has a search function.^[27]
• State contracts are posted, but dollar amounts are not included.^[28] Current bids and potential awards are listed. ^[29]
• Grant programs are listed, but specific information on them is not.^[30]
• Agency budget totals are available. ^{[31] [32] [33]}
• Line item, actual expenditures are not published.
• Public employee salaries are not available. Pay schedules are posted. ^[34]

[edit] Independent transparency sites

None.

[edit] FY2011 State Budget

Find the state’s FY2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government here.

Arkansas's state budget for FY2011 is $4.5 billion and it became law on Feb. 26, 2010.^[35] Arkansas is one of only four states in the U.S. to enter fiscal year 2011 without an official deficit.^[36] Governor Mike Beebe said “conservative budgeting and cautious spending have put Arkansas in an advantageous position.”^[37]

The state finished the budget with $23.7 million left over, due to the governor cutting $206 million from the state budget, using $25 million from the state’s $40 million “rainy day” fund, and moving $17.3 million from unspent revenue in the Education Facilities Partnership Fund to cover shortfalls.^[14]

Three months into FY2011, Gov. Beebe reported that revenue projections are above the forecast for the budget year. Beebe said that if the state’s revenues continue to be above forecast he may propose to the Legislature a further reduction in the sales tax on groceries next year.^[38]

Arkansas began FY2011 ahead of expectations as the state collected more taxes than predicted in July 2010, the first month of the fiscal year.^[39] The state Department of Finance and Administration said that Arkansas' net available general revenues totaled $370.6 million in July. Individual income tax collections totaled $181.2 million, which was $7.4 million above last year and $3.4 million above forecast, sales tax collections totaled $188.3 million, which was $15.4 million above last year and $4.9 million above forecast, and corporate taxes were also up.^[39]

The FY2011 budget does not include cost-of-living increases for state employees.^{[40] [41]}

Arkansas has borrowed more than $300 million from the federal government for its unemployment insurance fund.^[42] The state has yes not determined how it will repay that money, which is likely to be a major budget issue in January's legislative session.^[43]

[edit] Budget Background

Arkansas’ Revenue Stabilization Law (Act 311 of 1945) requires the state to designate budget funding to be prioritized into 3 categories: A, B-1, and B. FY 2010 budget funded all A level budgets 100% with partial funding for B level budgets at 54%. New programs must start in the B category. This innovative model has been credited with keeping the state’s budget deficits low and manageable during difficult times.^[44]

Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment in November, 2008 requiring annual legislative sessions and appropriations no longer than 1 fiscal year effective in 2009.^[45] Previously, Arkansas’ legislature met and budgeted on a biennial basis. Annual budget began in FY2010.^[46]

The budget schedule requires the Governor to submit his budget to the Legislature in November before they convene. The Legislature meets January to April (January 12 to May 1 in 2009) and needs a three-fourths majority to pass the budget. The fiscal year begins July 1st and ends June 30th.^[47]

When crafting the state budget, state agencies project what funding is needed to operate their programs and those funding requests are then divided into three categories: A, B and C.

• Category A is essential programs, including education, corrections, public assistance, transportation and Medicaid.
• Category B is cost-of-living increases for all agencies, necessary expansions of programs like Medicaid, and new programs that fill a critical need. The state’s $10 million community corrections project, for example, went into this category.
• Category C is a wish list of new programs lawmakers and agency heads would like to start.

Funding goes first to the items in category A, and then on to category B, and if anything is left over, some C projects may get funded. If revenues fall short of initial projections, the chief fiscal officer can make across-the-board cuts — first from C, then from B, and lastly from A.^[48]

See Arkansas state budget (2008-2009) for more information.

[edit] Accounting Principles

Main article: Arkansas government accounting principles

The Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit is responsible under the Legislative Joint Audit Committee (A.C.A. 10-3-407)^[49] for independent auditing of state and local entities.

Roger A. Norman is Legislative Auditor. Audit reports are published on the division’s Web site.^[50]

Arkansas currently has no statewide, official spending database online. However, the Department of Finance and Administration has created a statewide contracts procurement Web site.

[edit] Stimulus

Arkansas received $1.3 billion in federal funding.^[52]

[edit] Public Employees

Main article: Arkansas public employee salaries

Main article: Arkansas public pensions

According to 2008 Census data, the state of Arkansas and local governments in the state employed a total of 190,155 people.^[53] Of those employees, 155,216 were full-time employees receiving a net pay of $478,078,745 per month and 34,939 were part-time employees paid $24,804,627 per month.^[53] More than 40% of those employees, or 32,278 employees, were in education or higher education.^[53]

[edit] See Also

• Arkansas taxpayer-funded lobbying
• Arkansas public pensions
• Arkansas state government salary

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional reading

• The City Wire,"December jobless rate up to 7.7% in Arkansas," January 22, 2010
• Associated Press,"Gov. Beebe Agrees to Cut Arkansas Budget by $106M," January 11, 2010
• The City Wire, Arkansas’ budget issues less severe than most states, August 1, 2010

[edit] References

v • d • e State Budgets Cost of state transparency websites • State budget issues • Pubic employee salaries • Public pensions • States with spending online • Glossary of state budget terms Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming •

	v • d • e State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital)
Transparency	Arkansas Freedom of Information Act | Open Meetings Law | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | FOIA procedures | Transparency Advocates |
Divisions	State | List of counties | List of Cities | List of School Districts | Evaluation of State website | Evaluation of county websites | Evaluation of city websites | Evaluation of school district websites |
Government	Arkansas State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate | Local officials | Public school system |
State spending	State budget | State salaries | Stimulus allocations | Taxpayer-funded lobbying |
Judiciary	Arkansas Supreme Court | Arkansas Courts of Appeal | Circuit Courts | District Courts | Arkansas City Courts | Judicial News | Judicial selection in Arkansas |
Ballot Measures	Ballot measures | Ballot measures by year, from 1912-2008 | Arkansas 2008 local ballot measures | Initiative laws | Campaign finance requirements | Laws governing the initiative process |