by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
April 9, 2026
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday her plans to call a special session to cut income taxes depend on lawmakers sticking to her proposed budget and limiting spending.
Sanders, who’s faced resistance to her plans for a Franklin County prison, also said she’s open to other ideas on how to increase state prison capacity to alleviate overcrowding.
The governor made the comments during a 30-minute, wide-ranging interview with the Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Talk Business the day after delivering her State of the State address.
Kicking off this year’s legislative session Wednesday, Sanders said she’s prepared to call lawmakers immediately after the session to take up her tax cut proposal.
Arkansas governor urges school voucher, law enforcement funding boosts in State of State
Approving a two-tenths of a percent cut would lower the individual income tax from 3.9% to 3.7% and affect a mix of low- and high-income earners, Sanders said. If approved, this would be the fourth tax cut in four years and represent “insane progress” with a 25% overall decrease to the state income tax, she said.
When considering her nearly $6.7 billion budget, Sanders said lawmakers should fully fund commitments that have already been made, such as the state’s school voucher program and the new state employee plan.
The budget proposes up to $379 million for the voucher program and $53.4 million for the pay plan, with the majority supporting raises for corrections officers and state troopers.
“What I don’t want to see is us commit to huge, additional, long-term expenses,” she said. “If we do that and we don’t hold the line, then I think it makes it a lot harder to cut taxes.”
Top Republicans have said they believe there’s support for Sanders’ proposal. State Sen. Fred Love, Democrats’ nominee to challenge Sanders this fall, criticized the proposed cut and said it wouldn’t help working-class Arkansans.
Sanders said she’s focused on cutting individual income taxes during the special session, but noted lawmakers are also having conversations about lowering the corporate income tax rate. Additionally, legislators have filed resolutions to increase the homestead property tax credit.
“There are some members that want that to be part of the conversation, I’m not saying that it won’t be, but my priority focus is going to be on the income tax,” Sanders said. “And I don’t want us to go down the road of including other things until we’ve locked in on that and feel very comfortable in moving forward on that front.”
Work on simplifying tax brackets is expected to occur during next year’s legislative session, along with additional cuts, she said.
During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers will consider reappropriating nearly $74 million that had been set aside under former Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson to add 500 beds to the Calico Rock prison. Sanders’ administration is requesting that money instead go to “costs associated with prison expansion.”
Sanders said Thursday she would like to see some of that money support the expansion of a recidivism reduction pilot program beyond a Little Rock facility. Officials have some locations in mind, but Sanders declined to name specific sites.
Efforts to expand prison capacity have been a focus of Sanders’ administration following the passage of the Protect Arkansas Act in 2023. Among other things, the law eliminates parole for the most serious felonies, which is expected to increase the state’s prison population.
“We’re going to have a greater and growing demand and we are not in a position to frankly, fully enact what we need to do, and we have a fundamental responsibility to protect the people of this state,” Sanders said. “We should have the ability to lock up violent criminals who break the law and right now we simply don’t have a place to put them.”
The governor has backed plans to construct a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County that has been met with resistance by local residents as well as the Legislature, who blocked funding for the project last year. Legislative leaders have said there aren’t enough votes in either chamber for the prison appropriation this year.
“If you have an idea or solution, I’m all ears,” Sanders said. “I still firmly believe that we have to expand capacity and I’ve yet to see a better alternative than the Franklin County location, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be other things we’re doing.”
Feds considering immigration detention facility at Franklin County prison site
Officials have added 1,500 beds to existing facilities and are exploring other ways to expand capacity, Sanders said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who visited the Franklin County site last year told local law enforcement they were considering the location for a potential migrant detention facility. The state was asked and allowed the agents to look at the space, according to Sanders who noted “that’s not been our primary focus for that location.” The state’s focus is on expanding capacity for state prisoners, she said.
The governor confirmed there have been discussions about immigration detention sites elsewhere in the state, but said “as of right now, there are no immediate plans to move forward in any locations that we have had conversations with the federal side about.”
Plans for ICE detention centers have drawn opposition in communities around the country, even in predominantly Republican areas.
Sanders is widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, and has a book coming out the week after the midterm election. Asked what she might do when she’s done with politics, Sanders said she doesn’t know the long-term plan. For now, she’s focused on her reelection campaign.
“I’m one of the big believers of do really good work where you are and God pretty much takes care of the rest,” she said. “…I love this job and I’m going to keep working as hard as I can to do good things for the people of Arkansas and see what happens after that.”
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew DeMillo for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
