Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday touted her major accomplishments during her first 15 months as governor and called on state lawmakers to enact her proposed general revenue budget.
"Compared to last year's inaugural address, today is a bit more low-key," the Republican governor said in her first State of the State address on the opening day of the state's eighth fiscal session.
"But what today lacks in fanfare, we make up for it in substance. Last year, I made promises. This year, I'm reporting results," she said in the Arkansas House of Representatives chamber with senators, representatives and other state officials on hand along with her husband, their three children and her parents.
Sanders said it was the partnership and work of the Republican-dominated Legislature that helped her administration bring about transformational change in state government.
When she assumed office as Arkansas' first female governor and the youngest governor in the nation in January of 2023, Arkansas was ranked low in the nation in starting teacher pay and literacy but ranked high in its tax burden and violent crime rate, she said.
"Arkansas had deep, entrenched problems when I took office," Sanders said. "We weren't going to solve those problems with the same failed policies that got us here in the first place."
Sanders said her administration charted a new course last year.
"We are building" a better, safer and stronger Arkansas, and "our work is making Arkansas a model for the nation," she said.
Sanders maintained that "our national economy is dragging" and "blue states are shrinking, but Arkansas is roaring ahead," and "we're smashing tourism records left and right."
She said her proposed general revenue budget for fiscal year 2025 that begins July 1 increases spending by 1.76%, which she said is smaller than the 3% year-over-year average of recent years. The governor has proposed increasing the state's general revenue budget by $109.3 million to $6.31 billion in fiscal year 2025 with most of the increase for education initiatives.
If state lawmakers send her a general revenue budget that funds critical services for Arkansans while slowing the growth of state government, the governor said she would sign it.
"That's because as revenues climb and costs slow, we'll have room to cut taxes," she said, noting the enactment of more than $300 million in tax cuts in her first 15 months as governor.
She said she is committed to responsibly phasing out the state's income tax and letting every Arkansan keep more of the money they earn.
Legislative leaders have said they expect to wait until after the end of the fiscal year 2024 on June 30 before considering the possibility of enacting more income tax cuts in a special session later this year or in the 2025 regular session.
The state Department of Finance and Administration projects a $240.5 million general revenue surplus in fiscal year 2024. The governor's proposed general revenue budget projects a general revenue surplus of $376.6 million in fiscal year 2025 if the state's general revenue meets the state Department of Finance and Administration's latest forecast of $6.68 billion for net general revenue in fiscal year 2025.
Sanders said education is her top priority and she worked with the Legislature to enact the LEARNS Act in 2023 and launch what she described as the largest transformation of Arkansas education in modern history and the single largest investment in the state's public schools ever.
Among other things, the LEARNS Act increased the starting annual teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, gave teachers making above the minimum a $2,000 raise, and created a voucher program, known as Educational Freedom Accounts, for students to attend a private or parochial school or home school. The vouchers are worth 90% of the per-pupil funding schools receive from the state.
Sanders said starting teacher pay in Arkansas is now fifth in the nation.
The LEARNS Act expanded the vouchers to more than 5,000 students in one year and 50% of the students have learning disabilities, she said.
"Year one of the LEARNS Act targeted the most at-risk students in our state," Sanders said. "But education freedom should be for everyone and, soon, Education Freedom Accounts will be too."
Sanders' proposed budget for fiscal 2025 would increase general revenue for the state's Education Freedom Accounts by $65.7 million to $97.4 million and increase the state's general revenue for the public school fund by $38.2 million to $2.48 billion.
A total of 5,915 students were approved for the accounts this year, of whom 5,406 are using the publicly funded vouchers for costs at more than 90 private schools. The number of participating students could go as high as 14,000 in the 2024-25 school year, which is equal to 3% of the state's public school enrollment this year.
The accounts currently provide up to $6,672 per student for the 2023-24 school year, unless the students were part of the now-discontinued Succeed Scholarship Program. The former Succeed Scholarship students qualify for $7,413, which is the amount of state and local tax aid guaranteed for students in public schools.
In the coming 2024-25 school year, Educational Freedom Accounts will provide up to $6,856 per student, which is 90% of the $7,618 minimum funding per public school student. Former Succeed Scholarship students also will be eligible for up to $7,618 to apply to private school tuition and related costs.
Sanders said if lawmakers send her a budget that fully funds the LEARNS Act she would sign it.
She also asserted that "some of our leaders think it's compassionate to coddle criminals," and "they need a reality check.
"I've been to the southern border and see how Joe Biden's 'compassion' lets the cartels traffic millions of people and deadly drugs into our country," said Sanders, a former White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, who lost to Biden in the 2020 presidential election and is seeking to oust Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
She said she thanked 40 Arkansas National Guardsmen last week before they headed out for a mission to the southern border.
Sanders said she and the Legislature enacted the Protect Act in 2023 to "keep the most dangerous criminals off our streets.
"We're paving the way to build a new 3,000-bed prison," she said. "In the meantime we've opened up 1,000 beds to in our existing capacity to take pressure off our local jails."
Sanders said the Arkansas State Police ranks have increased by more than 17% in one year since she has taken office and she is working to grow their ranks by more than 100 additional officers. She said she proposed allocating $3.8 million in the general revenue budget to replenish the ranks of the Arkansas state troopers.
Arkansas was one of the first states to pass legislation protecting children from dangerous and addictive social media, "but we cannot stop there," she said.
"It's time to start a conversation and make this issue one of our next big priorities," Sanders said, and she promised to fight "big tech" in court.
Experts suggest goals such as no smartphones before high school, no social media before children are 16 years old, phone-free schools and more outdoor play and childhood independence, she said.
Asked whether he expects social media restrictions to be part of this year's fiscal session or to come up in next year's regular session, House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said "As we stand here today I don't anticipate that that's going to be a part of what's brought up in the session.
"I think that that probably alludes more to moving forward, as we move further into the calendar year and then begin to prepare for the next regular session," he added.
Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said Sanders started her speech spot-on by referring to making promises a year ago and now having accomplishments.
"There is plenty to be proud of in [Arkansas] and plenty of work that still needs to be done," he said.
Senate Democratic leader Greg Leding of Fayetteville said it was nice to hear the governor talk about a partnership with the Legislature and recognize the Legislature as an equal branch of government.
He said Sanders could have touted the success of Arkansas' economy without "misrepresenting" the national economy. Fifteen million jobs have been created during the past three years and there has been the longest stretch with the unemployment rate under 4% since the 1960s, he said.
Rep. Rick Beck, R-Center Ridge, said he liked Sanders' address.
"I mean, she's basically confirming the points that we already knew were important to her: the tax breaks, efficiency in government, those types of things, as well as her commitment to the LEARNS Act," he said.
"I think there were no big surprises as far as I was concerned," Beck said.
But state Rep. Ashley Hudson, D-Little Rock, described Sanders' remarks as "one of the kind of less fiery, and less newsy of her speeches."
"She relied pretty heavily on past events, didn't really give much of a vision for the future, and sort of referred back to things that have happened over the past few years without any real direction for us. I thought she was kind of subdued, actually," she said. "I think what stood out the most was the lack of any substance. There was a lot of talk about what she considers her past accomplishments, but there wasn't a lot of discussion about what she sees as the way forward for the state, which surprised me."
Information for this article was contributed by Josh Snyder and Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.