Arkansas’s Missing Budget Piece
By David Ferguson
Every year after the Arkansas General Assembly passes a new general revenue budget, politicians brag – “We passed a balanced budget” and “We held down the budget increase.” Sounds good but it doesn’t answer the very important questions: “Is the state spending too much taxpayer money?” and “Is the state wasting money?”
The missing piece in Arkansas’ budget is that there is no process or effort like President Donald Trump’s DOGE (Department of Governmental Efficiency). DOGE has already saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by canceling programs determined to be wasteful.
Arkansas needs an ongoing effort to take a hard look at state contracts, programs, and agencies to determine if they are necessary, and if so whether the money is being used wisely and efficiently.
Arkansas government just doesn’t do that level of scrutiny and few politicians have the patience or gumption to take on the bureaucracy and special interests. Scrutinizing programs is hard because it requires a lot of time and effort to sort through both the good and the bad of Arkansas’ spending. Plus even ending a program that everyone agrees is unnecessary, will still be upsetting to those who rely on the program for a livelihood.
When Arkansas politicians talk about reducing waste, they normally focus only on finding ways to run programs more “efficiently.” That is a good step, but running a program more efficiently doesn’t help if the program itself is a poor use of taxpayer money.
The General Assembly holds budget hearings prior to legislative sessions and some agencies come under fire during those hearings, usually arising from constituent complaints, but by and large the annual budget process boils down to calculating how much of an across the board increase will be given to all agencies and evaluating agency requests for even higher funding.
Although there is no Arkansas equivalent to a DOGE effort, it does not mean politicians never ever take on waste. For example, in 2024 Arkansas legislators took a hard look at millions of dollars spent on contracts for one company’s teacher training program. Questions arose over the no-bid contracts awarded the company and complaints that the program was not serving to enhance the quality of education were explored. The demand for answers during the legislative hearings resulted in the company withdrawing its bid to get a huge new contract.
Without a concerted effort to evaluate programs, the rooting out of unnecessary spending is a hit or miss thing.
Failed Efforts
In decades passed there have been two efforts to do an across-the-board review of state agencies and their programs, but both efforts were spectacular failures. Neither effort provided results and both were quickly repealed.
In the late 1970’s, the Arkansas legislature passed a law called “Sunset Review.” Under the legislation all state agencies would automatically terminate, unless the agencies were specifically renewed by legislation. State agencies were scheduled to terminate over a six-year period. The first batch of agencies were reviewed over a two-year period, and all the agencies were continued except two or three inactive boards that hadn’t met in years. Making an up or down decision on entire agencies didn’t turn out to be helpful, no matter how much effort legislators put into the mind-numbing hearings. Soon legislation was passed to end Sunset Review and to continue all the remaining agencies without a review.
In the 1990’s legislation was passed to base state budgeting in part on the state agency’s performance. The problem with the effort was that the criteria for judging performance was not meaningful and became its own bureaucratic nightmare. State agencies were frustrated with having to respond to a long list of nebulous questions that had little to do with the realities of the agencies’ work. Legislators were also frustrated because they didn’t have useful information. The law was repealed without it ever being used to determine any agency’s budget.
Strong Leadership
DOGE wouldn’t have happened at the federal level except for the extraordinary personality and determination of the chief executive, Donald Trump. It is not like Congress didn’t already know there was waste. For example, take a look at the “Festivus Report” on federal government waste, prepared annually by Senator Rand Paul.
Cutting Waste versus Across the Board Cuts
President Trump’s effort to cut spending has two elements. First, a focus on cutting unnecessary or wasteful spending. Second, across the board cuts in government employment and an across the board suspension of many contracts in mid contract. I am not a fan of the across-the-board approach of arbitrarily dumping employees and contracts. The across-the-board approach brings a lot of pain without necessarily benefiting taxpayers. To me, it should be about eliminating waste and better using taxpayer dollars, or even better, letting taxpayers keep their money.
Review Ought To Happen
I am pessimistic about the prospect of a version of DOGE being implemented at the state (or local level). As I said, it is hard and thankless work and it doesn’t make politicians any friends among those who have been making money from programs terminated or scaled back. Yet, a DOGE-like effort is needed.
Does Arkansas have any determined politicians and business leaders who are willing to take on such a hard and thankless job? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing is certain, the answer will be “no” if you don’t nudge politicians in that direction.
David Ferguson is a former Director of Arkansas’ Bureau of Legislative Research, having a thirty-two-year career as an attorney for the Arkansas legislature. After retirement from state service, his primary focus has been beef cattle farming. He is also a former officer of Conduit for Action.
