A bill has been filed that would limit growth in spending from Arkansas’s General Revenue Fund. The upper limit on spending would be no more than the percentage growth in total state disposable personal income. This would avoid the situation where the public is worse off because of general revenue spending despite their income going up.
The bill, HB1902, was filed by Representative David Ray (R-Maumelle). The Senate cosponsor is Senator Ben Gilmore (R-Crossett).
HB1902 is similar to a bill filed in 2013.[i] Based on the vote on the 2013 bill, this bill should have lots of support. The 2013 bill nearly passed at a time when the House was basically evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Now Republicans have a supermajority and you would think that would translate into more votes for limiting general revenue expenditures.
HB1902 is a good start and we hope it passes. In the future there is much more work to be done on Arkansas’ bloated spending. The bill addresses general revenue spending but there are other spending sources that need to be addressed in the future, such as special revenues, trust funds, cash funds, and rainy day funds.
Let your state Representatives and state Senator know you support HB1902.
[i] https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=HB1041&ddBienniumSession=2013%2F2013R
