News and Views on Politics, Policy and More
This morning, by a vote of 24-9, the Senate passed SB1020 or the “private option” version of Medicaid expansion. Two members did not vote. While the passage of the bill is no doubt significant, this is only the beginning of a long legislative process. The bill now goes to the House and, assuming it passes there, it will go to the governor and become law -- but that’s not the end of the ballgame. The legislature also would have to pass a separate appropriations bill to fund the … [Read more...]
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe generated a windstorm with his comments during a speech in Atlanta Monday regarding the renewal of federal tax breaks for the windpower industry. Apparently he is not too pleased with opponents of government favoritism. According to the Log Cabin Democrat, Beebe told conference attendees, “Anyone standing in the way of this industry, frankly, they’re un-American.” What is the governor saying? Does he think it is ‘un-American’ to eliminate any tax … [Read more...]
Here’s a new (OK, newish, last week, whatever, get over it) article from The Economist on state level film subsidy programs, which questions the subsidies’ value as economic development tools. Here, I’ll summarize it for you, since the average Arkansas Project reader doesn’t subscribe to The Economist and is, at best, semi-literate: Film subsidies are a “stupid trend” and states should do away with them. Well, all right then, The Economist! Thank you for not beating around the … [Read more...]
