Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders touted her record after her first 15 months in office in her State of the State address on Wednesday, to open the first day of the 2024 fiscal session.
The Republican governor outlined her accomplishments in her first year in office and called for lawmakers to pass budgets that fund police and education.
[Read text version of Gov. Sanders' speech]
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Sanders contrasted her speech Wednesday with last year's inaugural address, saying "today is a bit more low-key." Rather than announcing new policies, she spoke about her accomplishments from last year's legislative session now that they have had time to take effect.
"But what today lacks in fanfare, we make up for it in substance," Sanders said. "Last year I made promises; this year I am reporting results."
Sanders said Arkansas was plagued by a long list of issues, including low teacher pay and literacy rates, violent crime and a tax burden that she said was not competitive with neighboring states.
"Arkansas had deep, entrenched problems when I took office, and we were not going to solve those problems with the same failed policies that got us here in the first place," Sanders said. "So we charted a new course, and that meant changes. Sometimes a lot of it. And it made a few people uncomfortable."
Sanders specifically championed her education bill, the LEARNS Act, which includes increased starting pay for teachers and a new voucher program, and the Protect Arkansas Act, which requires violent offenders to serve most, if not all, of their sentence. She also pledged to continue to phase out the state's income tax.
The General Assembly meets in even-numbered years to primarily take up a budget issues in what is known as the fiscal session. Sanders has proposed increasing the state's general revenue budget by $109.3 million for fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1, and would increase the general revenue budget to $6.31 billion.
In her speech to lawmakers, Sanders said her budget was a 1.76% increase from last year, which she said is "far below the 3% year-over-year average that we have had in recent years."
"If you send me a budget that funds critical services for Arkansans while slowing the growth of government, I will sign it," Sanders told lawmakers.
Most of the increase in Sanders' budget is for education, particularly the new voucher program -- known as Education Freedom Accounts -- established under the LEARNS Act. Sanders has called for increasing funding for the program by $65.7 million in the upcoming fiscal year, bringing its total to $974 million.
The governor also has said she wants to increase the state's general revenue for the public school fund by $38.2 million to $2.48 billion in fiscal year 2025.
The governor also has proposed a modest increase for the Department of Corrections, increasing its budget by $535,285 to $434.8 million, and a $571,531 increase for Arkansas State Police for a total budget of $105.3 million in fiscal year 2025.
The proposed general revenue budget also calls for a $4.4 million increase for the Department of Human Services to $1.83 billion for fiscal year 2025.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.