Arkansas Governor Sanders Presents $6.97 Billion Balanced Budget, Drawing on Record Surplus for Medicaid and Education
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on November 6 presented her balanced budget to the state legislature, an executive recommendation totaling $6,969,073,258 — an increase of $311,625,372, or 3.94%, over last year's budget. Little Rock, the state capital in Pulaski County, is Arkansas's center of political and fiscal decision-making.
The proposal rests on strong state finances. Arkansas closed its last fiscal year with a $655 million surplus, one of the highest in state history, and revenues for the first four months of the current fiscal year have come in more than $150 million above forecast, including $45 million above forecast in October alone. The Governor's Office says state income tax rates have been cut by more than 25% cumulatively since 2023, while state reserves stand near $3 billion.
On spending, the budget adds funding for early childhood education, invests in operations at the state's Human Development Centers, expands services for Arkansans on the Community and Employment Support (CES) Waiver waitlist, and funds the Education Freedom Account program created under the Governor's LEARNS Act. For health care, Medicaid receives a $150 million increase, with a further $200 million in one-time surplus funds directed to Medicaid sustainability and about $75 million a year in interest earnings assigned to the program. The plan also sets aside $50 million to advance the State Water Plan.
The proposal now goes to the Arkansas Legislature, which will take it up item by item before approving a final budget.
(Source: Office of the Governor of Arkansas)
Source: Office of the Governor of Arkansas
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于小石城的阿肯色州议会大厦。xiquinhosilva 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock. Photo by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
